Pictured: The supergun that kills from a mile - and the camouflaged crackshots using
 

Pictured: The supergun that kills from a mile - and the camouflaged crackshots using it against the Taliban


By Christopher Leake
Last updated at 9:51 AM on 15th February 2009




British Army snipers call it 'the Silent Assassin' and it is the weapon the Taliban fear the most.
It is the British-made L115A3 Long Range Rifle which, in recent weeks, has killed scores of enemy fighters in Afghanistan.
In a new initiative on the front line, the Army is using sniper platoons to target the Taliban and 'The Long', as the snipers call it, can take out insurgents from a mile away.

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Made to measure: Army sniper Yuppie in his home-made camouflage suit

Many of the elite marksmen who use the rifle make their own extraordinary suits of camouflage to stay hidden from the Taliban.
Some have been known to go 'under cover' for two days while they pick off the enemy.
Last week Army snipers were training with the rifle and full camouflage on the snow-covered ranges of the Support Weapons School at the Land Warfare Centre at Warminster, Wiltshire.

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Deadly: The rifle is known as 'The Long' and can take out insurgents from a mile away

One of them, known as Yuppie, said: 'You could call it made-to-measure camouflage.
'This one is green string tied into sheets, then covered in straw with straps attached so it fits tight. It took three months and a lot of patience to make.'
His comrade Dean, who like Yuppie is a veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, said: 'I wouldn't say us snipers are an elite, but we think we're a cut above the rest.'
The L115A3 Long Range Sniper Rifle - based on a weapon used by the British Olympic shooting team - weighs 15lbs, fires 8.59mm rounds and has a range of 1,100-1,500 yards.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...g-Taliban.html

This is the ammunition for the above rifle.


The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6x70mm or 8.58x70mm) is a specialized rimless bottlenecked centerfire cartridge developed for military long-range sniper rifles. The Afghanistan War and Iraq War made it a combat-proven round with ready and substantial ammunition availability. The .338 Lapua is a dual-purpose anti-personnel and anti-materiel round; however, its anti-materiel potential is limited, due to the bullet's lower kinetic energy compared with that of the .50 BMG's 35.64 to 55.08 gram (550 to 850 grain) projectiles. The loaded cartridge is 14.93 mm (0.5878 in) in diameter (rim) and 93.5 mm long. It can penetrate better-than-standard military body armour at ranges up to 1000 meters (1094 yd) and has a maximum effective range of about 1750 meters (1914 yards). Muzzle velocity is dependent on load and powder temperature and varies from 880 to 915 m/s (2887 to 3002 ft/s) for commercial loads with 16.2 gram (250 grain) bullets, which results in about 6525 joules (4813 ft·lbf) of muzzle energy.




left to right: 5.56 mm NATO, 7.62 mm NATO, .338 Lapua Magnum

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One of my accounts is Horus Vision. I worked their booth at the Shot Show one year and talked to and received many interesting Cards. Marine Snipers, Secret Service etc.
They make very special rifle scopes for these folks.

Check it out http://www.horusvision.com/#
Dave

put that little gun away
This gun will cut you in half at 1 1/2 miles away and you can be standing behind a tree for cover.
Ron

ps
you said "8.59mm round has a range of 1,100-1,500 yards." A mile is 1760 yards. Falls a little short, eha?