A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away -- a distance so great, experts say the terrorists wouldn't have even heard the shots.

Craig Harrison killed the two insurgents from an astounding distance of 8,120 feet -- or 1.54 miles -- in Helmand Province last November firing an Accuracy International L11583 long-range rifle.

"The first round hit a machine-gunner in the stomach and killed him outright," said Harrison, a corporal of horse in the British Army's Household Cavalry, the equivalent of a sergeant in the American military.

Read whole story:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/sniper_kills_qaeda_from_mi_away_sTm0xFUmJNal3HgWlmEgRL#ixzz0mzBzNeSW

I have no experience with long range shots over 400 yards, can you even see something that far? And just think how high above you'd have to aim.

Ok here is food for thought...

that gun is chambered in the .338 LM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Lapua_Magnum

Now,lets assume its at 3000Ft/s with a zero at 500 yards as is typical for most military rifles of its type. So this means zero deflection at 500 yards. At 8,125 feet that bullet deflects (drops) almost 30 inches! (gravity's affects are universal and are only affected by the bullets larger mass causing air resistance to affect it less). This means he aimed a full 30" above the targets head to get that shot! how crazy is that.

dont know if you saw this, but its at the very bottom, easy to miss.

"Harrison learned of his record nine days ago, when he returned to England. In the weeks after his record shot, he suffered a minor gunshot wound and broke his arms when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb."

Yeah I saw it. 

my friend sent me this link before i saw this thread on here:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaigns/our_boys/2956579/Sniper-Craig-Harrison-kills-2-Taliban-from-a-record-154miles.html

in that article he says he aimed 6 feet above the target and 20 inches to the left.

amazing shot!

He missed like three times before making the kill. They had it on the Military channel the other night.

Ok here is food for thought...

that gun is chambered in the .338 LM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.338_Lapua_Magnum

Now,lets assume its at 3000Ft/s with a zero at 500 yards as is typical for most military rifles of its type. So this means zero deflection at 500 yards. At 8,125 feet that bullet deflects (drops) almost 30 inches! (gravity's affects are universal and are only affected by the bullets larger mass causing air resistance to affect it less). This means he aimed a full 30" above the targets head to get that shot! how crazy is that.

Your math is a little off.  30" of drop at 8 000 feet?  Even a 50 BMG will drop almost 110" at 2400 yards.