| From: | Oliver McDonald oliver@*********.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Long Range Shots |
| Date: | Fri, 12 Mar 1999 17:53:36 -0800 (PST) |
> Both incidents happened within two days of each other, in February
>of 1967. Both involved the M2 .50 caliber machine gun
>fitted with an 8x Unertl scope.
> The first incident was with the courier. Hathcock's first
>2000 yard shot was aimed at the bicycle's front fork. It hit. When
>the kid grabbed for a rifle, Hathcock shot at him, and hit again.
> The second incident ocurred a day or two later. Hathcock
>had been sniping at VC soldiers for most of the day. One soldier
>crept out of the woods in order to take a drink. It happened that
>Hathcock had zeroed his M2 for 2500 yards at exactly the point where
>the VC was standing. Hathcock took the shot, and hit.
>
> Yes, given examples like this, Shadowrun's firearm range
>tables seem rather... short. However, Shadowrun games are set mostly
>in urban areas, where 100 *yard* shots are rather uncommon. Sniping
>at extremely long ranges requires a stable rest for the rifle, some
>type of vision magnification, and a high degree of skill.
The other detail, is that for long range sniping the 50 calibre is the single most
accurate.
This is for a number of reasons, that all relate to the mass of the round. A 50 calibre
rifle
round is a huge chunk of lead, travelling at a very high speed, as such it is not affected
nearly as much by air movement (wind) as the typical rifle round. It also travels much
faster, so the drop over a distance of 2.5 Km is less than the drop a .556 has over 250
metres. I had the graphic opportunity to observe flight trajectories of both weapons by
firing tracer rounds from both at night.... The 50 cal was flat out to the target at 1
km,
nearly flat to 2 km. The .556 fell sharply off, to even hope to hit the target at 1 km,
we
would have had to use techniques more common in archery.. (aim about 30 degrees
high). Of course, the tracer burnt out long before attaining that sort of range.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Oliver McDonald - oliver@*********.com
http://web2.spydernet.com/oliver/
-----------------------------------------------------------
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