Posted on Nov 7, 2015
Have You Heard About The Two Amazing Feats of Marksmanship of Yesteryear?
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This is a short, but interesting story about snipers in war, 140 and 150 years ago. If you are interested in snipers and long range shots, you'll be amazed when you read this.
Marksmanship is an essential military skill. And in truth, hitting a man-sized target out to around 300m isn’t that difficult with a well-zeroed weapon.
But hitting a target of that size at extreme ranges is a different story. Doing that takes extraordinary marksmanship skill.
Wikipedia maintains a reasonable list of the longest verified sniper kills in history. Two shots in particular on that list stand out.
They stand out because they were done over 140 and 150 years ago, repectively.
In late June 1874, buffalo hunter Billy Dixon performed such a shot – at Adobe Walls, Texas. Dixon and a party of settlers had been besieged by a party of Native Americans under Chief Quanah Parker. The siege lasted 3 days. During the siege, Dixon – using a borrowed Sharps .50-90 buffalo rifle – fired at a group of warriors near Chief Parker. His third shot dropped one of the warriors. The siege ended shortly afterwards, and the settlement was thereafter left alone.
The distance for Dixon’s shot is credited today as being 1,406 meters – nearly a mile. It’s still the 11th longest confirmed sniper kill in history.
Dixon later worked for the Army as a civilian scout. He was one of only 8 civilians ever awarded the Medal of Honor.
1400+ meters, with a borrowed rifle, on the 3rd shot. Amazing.
And IMO, there’s one shot that’s even more amazing.
During the US Civil War, Union forces blockaded the Confederate port of Charleston. During this blockade, Union forces occupied Battery Gregg; Confederate forces occupied Fort Sumner – 1,390 yards (1,271 meters) away. On 5 December 1864, an unnamed Confederate sharpshooter shooting from Fort Sumner – believed to have been using a muzzle-loading Whitworth rifle firing hexagonal .451 cal bullets – shot and killed a Union soldier at Battery Gregg. This shot today still ranks as the 14th longest confirmed sniper kill in history.
Think about that: over 1,250 meters – with a muzzle-loading rifle. Also amazing.
No confirmed sniper kills in World War I, World War II, or Korea (and only one from Vietnam) are longer than these two amazing shots from 140+ years ago. For close to 100 years – until Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock’s legendary shot in Vietnam in 1967 – these two shots from 1864 and 1874 ranked as the longest confirmed sniper kills in history.
Picture is an 1874 Sharps snipe rifle.
Marksmanship is an essential military skill. And in truth, hitting a man-sized target out to around 300m isn’t that difficult with a well-zeroed weapon.
But hitting a target of that size at extreme ranges is a different story. Doing that takes extraordinary marksmanship skill.
Wikipedia maintains a reasonable list of the longest verified sniper kills in history. Two shots in particular on that list stand out.
They stand out because they were done over 140 and 150 years ago, repectively.
In late June 1874, buffalo hunter Billy Dixon performed such a shot – at Adobe Walls, Texas. Dixon and a party of settlers had been besieged by a party of Native Americans under Chief Quanah Parker. The siege lasted 3 days. During the siege, Dixon – using a borrowed Sharps .50-90 buffalo rifle – fired at a group of warriors near Chief Parker. His third shot dropped one of the warriors. The siege ended shortly afterwards, and the settlement was thereafter left alone.
The distance for Dixon’s shot is credited today as being 1,406 meters – nearly a mile. It’s still the 11th longest confirmed sniper kill in history.
Dixon later worked for the Army as a civilian scout. He was one of only 8 civilians ever awarded the Medal of Honor.
1400+ meters, with a borrowed rifle, on the 3rd shot. Amazing.
And IMO, there’s one shot that’s even more amazing.
During the US Civil War, Union forces blockaded the Confederate port of Charleston. During this blockade, Union forces occupied Battery Gregg; Confederate forces occupied Fort Sumner – 1,390 yards (1,271 meters) away. On 5 December 1864, an unnamed Confederate sharpshooter shooting from Fort Sumner – believed to have been using a muzzle-loading Whitworth rifle firing hexagonal .451 cal bullets – shot and killed a Union soldier at Battery Gregg. This shot today still ranks as the 14th longest confirmed sniper kill in history.
Think about that: over 1,250 meters – with a muzzle-loading rifle. Also amazing.
No confirmed sniper kills in World War I, World War II, or Korea (and only one from Vietnam) are longer than these two amazing shots from 140+ years ago. For close to 100 years – until Marine sniper Carlos Hathcock’s legendary shot in Vietnam in 1967 – these two shots from 1864 and 1874 ranked as the longest confirmed sniper kills in history.
Picture is an 1874 Sharps snipe rifle.
Sniper
Rifles
Military History
Long Range Shooting
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
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SGT (Join to see)
Thanks for sharing. It just goes to show you that the most modern weapons and latest technology will only get you so far. Natural talent is still the best skill to have!
Though my hero SOC(SEAL) Chris Kyle still have a confirmed kill of over a mile! :)
Thanks for sharing. It just goes to show you that the most modern weapons and latest technology will only get you so far. Natural talent is still the best skill to have!
Though my hero SOC(SEAL) Chris Kyle still have a confirmed kill of over a mile! :)
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SGT (Join to see) - Sometimes we asked the militia to form a picket and were asked to fire two volleys at the Brits, then conduct rearward passage of lines with the Continental Army. The militia were considered notoriously good shots and conducting sniper operations to kill the British Officers, thereby, causing consternation amongst the British ranks.
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SGT (Join to see)
MAJ Ken Landgren, I've read about the militia snipers. They were deadly. It was a new tact to use in a war and the Brits had never seen that done. The militia were like gorillas, if I'm not mistaken. It took some brave men, British and American, to stand in the face of a volley.
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SGT (Join to see) - Yes America changed how they fought and changed the rules of warfare. It's funny to think we were insurgents. That followed all of Mao's steps to a successful revolution.
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Pretty amazing. The Sharps pictured is a more standard model. For long ranges, a tang sight was developed. That's what the "Quigley" rifle was based on. Considering the bullet was going about 2000fps at best, the drop was something incredible, i.e. the aim point would be over 20 feet high. Since "doping" wasn't a science yet, the shooters must have shot many times in their lives to get a feel for long distance. You reach a point where luck has less to do with it although there would have been some involved.
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SGT Thomas Lucken
Friend of mine was a sniper in Vietnam and we were just talking about his being a sniper and luck! He said he got commend for more luck then ability when in Vietnam.
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SGT (Join to see)
Thanks for your interesting input CAPT Kevin B.. Aiming over 20 feet to hit your target sounds impossible, but their guns were something they used and carried everyday. They would have to practice a lot to come close to a shot like that. Those guys were something else.
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Not only the fact that Dixon was using a borrowed rifle, but consider the wild increase in performance of optics.
As in, I am not sure that he used anything but iron sights?
As in, I am not sure that he used anything but iron sights?
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