History Channel - Sniper Deadliest Missions

He's the deadliest weapon on the battlefield, but his next shot could be his last. Outnumbered... Outgunned... Behind enemy lines... What happens when the tables are turned and the hunter becomes the hunted? This is SNIPER: DEADLIEST MISSIONS. From the treacherous jungles of Vietnam and the bloody war zones of Iraq, to danger high in the skies of the Alaskan wilderness, this two-hour special puts you behind the scope with the men who pulled the trigger on some of the deadliest missions in military and law enforcement history. Gripping firsthand accounts, 3-D graphics and jaw-dropping shooting demonstrations take you inside the shadowy world of top snipers and the missions that made them living legends. Outmanned and outgunned - will the next shot be their last?

BAIT AND KILL

Sgt. Byron Hancock, USMC Sniper

M40A3 Sniper Rifles (7.62×51mm - 175 gr. M118LR)

Hit, Iraq 2004

Counter-Sniper Operations

Operation Phantom Fury: Fallujah, Iraq 2004 – he took out a two-man mortar team at 1,050 yards the longest kill with a 7.62mm round at that time.

"There's no greater bait than live bait”

Enemy was a skilled Syrian-trained sniper.

Scouting for potential enemy hides and ranging it.

Counter sniping Crack / Thump method. Crack is the sound of the bullet whizzing by at supersonic speed. The thump that follows is the actual report of the rifle. The time elapsed between the crack and the thump reveals the distance between the shooter and his target. In this case it was 2 seconds which translates to 600 yards for the M40A3. Entered distances for every landmark in that 600 range into his Data Book. He catches a glint from the enemy sniper's scope. You concentrate on your breathing, trigger control, sight alignment, sight picture. Focusing on the crosshairs. You're not focusing on him as a target.


STALKING THE APACHE

GySgt Carlos Hathcock II, USMC

Winchester Model 70 (30.06)

Hill 55 Vietnam, 1965

Female Viet Cong sniper who tortured captured Americans.

Hathcock: “She's a very bad woman.”

600 yards


THE SUICIDE MISSION

GySgt Carlos Hathcock II, USMC

Winchester Model 70 (30.06)

Take out NVA General

2,000 yards from the enemy. Crawl (skull drag -- your face is on the ground, on the deck, and you are dragging slowly towards your target) 1,300 yards in three days and take a 700 yard shot from the Final Firing Position (FFP) – Use of dead space, movement.

Aim for the heart and adjust for wind using mirage.

Traveling at over twice the speed of sound, the bullet hits the general before he hears the shot.

“High Caliber Training Facilities” in Memphis, Tennessee. 10% Ballistic Gelatin for reenactment


DEATH FROM ABOVE

Lt. Jeff Hall and his partner Troy Duncan, SERT State Troopers

M16-A1 (5.56x45mm) with 4x fixed Colt scope semi-auto and one with iron sights in full auto. 20 round magazines with tracers.

Alaska, 1984

Drifter/End-of-the-roader: Michael Alan Silka, 30.06 hunting rifle with 4x fixed Weaver scope, ex-military and an expert shot

Helicopter shots hovering 50 yards from the target

Helicopter moving to the right and missed to the right so he took a negative lead to compensate for the forward momentum of the helicopter. Second burst from Hall hit Silka eight times.

Reenactments and helo training:

Dillon Arerial Platform System: Leads and points of aim are dependent on a number of factors: speed, height and direction of aircraft, as well as speed, distance and direction of target. It's about math formulas and training. Hall references an aerial rifle chart and adjusts his DOPE. He corrects for a number of secondary forces acting on the bullet, including jump, from the slipstream of the aircraft, gravity, the effects of aerodynamic drag and spin drift. The helicopter moves past the target at 40 knots. The target is 100 meters away, meaning his lag, or negative lead, is 9.2 feet.


HOG’S TOOTH

When a Marine graduates Scout Sniper School, he makes the transition from PIG (Professional Instructed Gunman) to HOG (Hunter OF Gunmen). When a marine graduates Scout Sniper School, he's given a symbolic HOG's Tooth necklace. It's a cord and they have a bullet that has a hole drilled through it, and they put that around your neck. And that's supposed to mean that you have control of the round that was meant for you. It's more of mythical thing than reality, but it's kind of something that symbolizes a Marine sniper. To get your real HOG's Tooth, you're supposed to kill an enemy sniper and take the round out of his chamber, and that's considered, the round that was meant for you, and therefore you're immortal.

Sgt Ethan Place, former Marine Sniper

M40A3 Sniper Rifles (7.62×51mm - 175 gr. M118LR)

Fallujah, Iraq 2004

Operation Vigilant Resolve

Vehicle moving towards them. 600 yards away hits the driver through the windshield.

Reenactment through the glass with a 3 degree down difference from point of aim


FIST OF DEATH

US Army Sniper 1st Sgt Brandon McGuire

Iskandariya, Iraq, 2007

Barrett M107 SASR ("The Light Fifty": .50 BMG - 12.7x99mm)

Eliminate enemy mortar and IED teams

Pattern Analysis

Target was 13,10 meters away but he only had DOPE (they call it Data On Personal Equipment and not Data On Previous Engagement) for up to 1,000 meters.

“You always have your spidy sense while in Iraq because you’re never safe”.

Triangle measurement: Chin to Nipples

Full value wind at 10 knots (11.5 mph) left to right
Hold off for bullet drop and crosswind
2 Mils left and 2 mils high (12-14 feet)

Even at 1,310 meters the 50 caliber round hits with the force of a 9mm point blank

Million Dollar Shot


ARMY OF ONE

Sgt Ed Eaton, US Army sniper

Mekong Delta, Vietnam 1969

Night raid on Viet Cong Platoon

XF21 Sniper Rifle (modified M14 - 7.62x51mm - .308 Winchester) with Starlight NV Scope

After their chooper is downed he holds off a whole platoon – outnumbered 30 to 1 and only 200 yards away

Scope was out of adjustment but after observing a splsh he used Kentucky Windage

Gets on top of the chopper and alternates with an M16 and broken sniper rifle

When the injured got medevaced Ed stayed behind to protect another soldier who was pinned

Summary

Terminal Ballistics & Wound Ballistics

Various reenactments using blocks of ten-percent ballistic gelatin.

Experts:

* Craig Sawyer, Former Navy Seal / Marine Sniper
* Sgt. Maj. William Skiles, USMC
* Chuck Mawhinney, Former Marine Sniper
* Maj Edward J Land, Jr., Former Marine Sniper
* Ethan Place, Former Marine Sniper
* Steve Reichert, Former Marine Sniper
* Fernando Coelho, Ballistics Expert
* Sergeant Major Mark Spicer, Former British Army Sniper
* Jeff Hall, Former Sniper with Alaska State Troopers
* 1st Sgt James Gilliland, Former US Army Sniper