Longest recorded sniper kills

Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kill that contain information regarding the shooting distance and the identity of the sniper have been presented to the general public since 1967. Snipers in modern warfare have had a substantial history following the development of long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and aids to determine ballistic solutions improved, so too did the distance from which a kill could be targeted.

Although technology such as electronics has improved optical equipment such as rangefinders and ballistic calculators have eliminated manual mathematical calculations to determine elevation and windage, the fundamentals of accurate and precise long-range shooting are the same as throughout the history of shooting, and the skill and training of the shooter and his spotter where applicable are the primary factors. Accuracy and precision of ammunition and firearms are also still reliant primarily on human factors and attention to detail in the complex process of producing maximum performance.

The modern method of long-distance sniping (shots over 1.1 kilometres or 0.7 miles) requires intense training and practice. A sniper must have the ability to accurately estimate the various factors that influence a bullet's trajectory and point of impact, such as range to the target, wind direction, wind velocity, air density, elevation, and even the Coriolis effect due to the rotation of the Earth. Mistakes in estimation compound over distance and can cause a shot to only injure, or to miss completely. Any given combination of firearm and ammunition will have an associated value, known as the circular error probable (CEP), defined as the radius of a circle whose boundary is expected to contain the impact points of half of the rounds fired.

If the shooter wishes to improve accuracy and precision, wishes to increase range or wishes to do all of these things, the accuracy of "estimates" of external factors must improve accordingly. At extreme ranges, extremely accurate "estimates" are required and even with the most accurate estimates, hitting the target becomes subject to uncontrollable factors. For example, a rifle capable of firing a 1/2 MOA (approximately 1/2" center to center of the two holes furthest apart) 5-round group (often referred to using the verb "grouping") at 100 yards will fire a theoretical 12.5 group at 2700 yards. Unless the group is centered perfectly on the target at 100 yards, the 2500- yard group will be centered 25 times the off-center error at 100 yards. This example ignores all other factors and assumes "perfect" no-wind shooting conditions and identical muzzle velocities and ballistic performance for each shot.

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