Craig Harrison (sniper)

Craig Harrison (born 1975) is a Corporal of Horse (CoH) in the Blues and Royals RHG/D of the British Army, and holds the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill in combat, at a range of 2475 m. Established in November 2009, this exceeds the previous record set by Rob Furlong in 2002 by 45 m. This record was certified by Guinness World Records.

Record details
In November 2009, Harrison struck two Taliban machine gunners consecutively south of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in Afghanistan at a range of 2475 m using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle. In a BBC interview, Harrison reported it took about nine shots for him and his spotter to initially range the target successfully. Then, he reported, his first shot "on target" was a killing shot followed consecutively by a kill shot on a second machine gunner then a third which disabled the machine gun.

In the reports, Harrison mentions the environmental conditions were perfect for long range shooting: no wind, mild weather and clear visibility.

Creative use of environment and equipment by Harrison
According to JBM Ballistics, using drag coefficients (Cd) provided by Lapua, the L115A3 has an approximate supersonic range (speed of sound = 340.3 m/s) of 1375 m under International Standard Atmosphere conditions at sea level (air density ρ = 1.225 kg/m3) and 1548 m at the 1043 m altitude or elevation (air density ρ = 1.1069 kg/m3) of Musa Qala. This illustrates how environmental condition differences can significantly affect bullet flight.

The Schmidt & Bender MILITARY MKII 5-25x56 0.1 MIL RAD parallax, illumination, double turn telescopic sight used by Harrison on the L115A3 Long Range Rifle can be adjusted in 0.1 milliradian or mil increments (at a distance of 2475 m 1 adjustment increment of 0.1 milliradian equates to a 24.75 cm point of impact shift) and has a maximal vertical elevation range of 26 milliradian. To increase the maximal elevation range Accuracy International produces mounts for telescopic sights with a 13.09 mil (45 MOA) built in vertical cant designed for their .338 Lapua Magnum rifles fitted with the 5-25x56 telescopic sight. Even with a 13.09 mil canted mount the employed sighting system is not able to dial in over 39.09 milliradian of vertical aiming correction, which is significantly less than Harrison required during his record shot.

The external ballistics software program by JBM Ballistics predicts that the bullets of British high pressure .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges using 16.2 g (250 gr) Lapua LockBase B408 bullets fired at 936 m/s (3,071 ft/s) muzzle velocity under International Standard Atmosphere conditions at 1043 m elevation (air density ρ = 1.069 kg/m3) and assuming a flat fire scenario (a situation where the shooting and target positions are at equal elevation) and a 100 m zero (the distance at which the rifle is sighted in) arrive at 2475 m distance after approximately 6.017 seconds flight time at 251.8 m/s (826 ft/s) velocity and have dropped 120.95 m (396.8 ft) or in angular units 48.9 milliradian (168 MOA) on their way. Harrison had to use the P4 reticle offering 0.5 mil spaced holdover hash marks in his 5-25x56 telescopic sight to compensate for the lack of vertical aiming correction and thus achieve the required aiming solution. The long horizontal line at 5x zoom or magnification represent 49.09 milliradian (168.6 MOA) or slightly over the required assumed vertical elevation.