Sniper - One shot, One kill

The military role of sniper (a term derived from the snipe, a bird which was difficult to hunt and shoot) dates back to the turn of the 18th century, but the true sniper rifle is a much more recent development. Advances in technology, specifically that of telescopic sights and more accurate manufacturing, allowed armies to equip specially-trained soldiers with rifles that enable them to deliver precise shots over greater distances than regular infantry weapons. The rifle itself could be a based on a standard rifle (at first, a bolt-action rifle); however, when fitted with a telescopic sight, it becomes a sniper rifle. (Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper_rifle)

See Canadian Snipers in Afghanistan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiFvo9UeTE4&feature=related

Sniper Training - Qualification Course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T061DzOg2Dk&feature=related

Sniper School http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGo8iXbWJPI

A US Marine sniper in a ghillie suit

A M82A1 SASR (Special Application Scope Rifle) also featured in the Movie "Shooter" used by Mark Wahlberg as Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger, watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa2ENgXVrvg

Comparison of 0.5, 1, and 3 MOA (Minute of angle) extreme spread levels against a human torso at 800 m (left) and a human head at 100 m (right)

Notable Snipers in the 21st century

• British Army CoH Craig Harrison of the Household Cavalry successfully engaged two Taliban machine gunners south of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in November 2009 at a range of 2,475 m (2,707 yd), using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. These are the longest recorded and confirmed sniper kills in history.

• Canadian Corporal Rob Furlong, formerly of the PPCLI (Operation Anaconda, Afghanistan) - achieved a recorded and confirmed sniper kill at 2,430 m (2,657 yd) in 2002 using a .50 caliberMcMillan TAC-50 rifle.(12.7 mm)

• Canadian Master Corporal Arron Perry, formerly of the PPCLI (Operation Anaconda, Afghanistan) - briefly held the record for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill at 2,310 m (2,526 yd) in 2002 after eclipsing US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock's previous record established in 1967. Perry used a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) McMillan TAC-50 rifle.

• U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Timothy L. Kellner - regarded as one of the top snipers still active in the U.S. Army with 78 confirmed kills during Operation Iraqi Freedom and 3 in Haiti.

• U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Jim Gilliland - Holds the record for the longest recorded confirmed kill with a 7.62mm rifle at 1,250 m (1,367 yd), while engaging an Iraqi insurgent sniper in Ramadi, Iraq on September 27, 2005. Gilliland used an M24 7.62mm rifle.

• U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Steve Reichert - Killed an entire Iraqi insurgent machine gun crew of three behind a brick wall, with a single shot from 1 mile in Lutayfiyah, Iraq on April 9, 2004. Reichert was using a Barrett M82A3 .50BMG rifle loaded with Raufoss Mk 211multipurpose rounds.

• Sri Lankan Army Sniper, Corporal I.R. Premasiri alias ‘Nero’, of the 5th Battalion in the Gajaba Regiment was responsible for the deaths of 180 L.T.T.E. cadres.

• Iraqi insurgent Juba, a sniper who features in several propaganda videos. Juba has allegedly shot 37 American soldiers, although whether Juba is a real individual is unknown. He may be a constructed composite of a number of insurgent snipers.

• British Army Corporal Christopher Reynolds of the 3d. battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Black Watch, shot and killed a Taliban commander at a range of 1,853 m (2,026 yd) using a .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 mm) L115A3 rifle.

(Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sniper)

Famous Soviet snipers

• Ivan Sidorenko (WWII, 781 kills)
• Fyodor Okhlopkov (WWII, 429 kills)
• Lyudmila Pavlichenko (WWII, 309 kills)
• Nina Lobkovskaya (WWII, 308 kills)
• Vasily Zaitsev (WWII, 225 kills)
• Aliya Moldagulova (WWII, 91 kills)
• Roza Shanina (WWII, 54 kills)
• Tania Chervova(WWII, over 50 kills)

(Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_sniper)

Vasily Zaytsev

Vasily Grigorevich Zaytsev (Russian: Василий Григорьевич Зайцев, IPA: [vʌˈsʲilʲɪj ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjevʲɪtɕ ˈzajtsɨf]; March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II, notable particularly for his activities between November 10 and December 17, 1942 during the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 6 enemy snipers.

Prior to November 10, he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue Mosin-Nagant rifle. Between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev made 242 verified kills.

In 2001, a feature length film, Enemy at the Gates, starring Jude Law as Zaytsev, was loosely based on the Battle of Stalingrad, most notably displaying a fictional ongoing rivalry with a Nazi marksman, Major Erwin König. Although Zaytsev really took part in the Battle of Stalingrad, the movie was mostly a work of fiction. Although Zaytsev himself indicates that a three-day duel did indeed occur in his own memoirs and that the sniper he killed was the head of a sniper school near Berlin, there is no evidence that any Major Erwin König ever existed, despite the claim made by the Armed Forces Museum of Moscow that they are in possession of his telescopic sight, which remains there to this date.

On January 31, 2006, Vasily Zaytsev was reburied on Mamayev Kurgan with full military honors. Zaytsev's dying wish was to be buried at the monument to the defenders of Stalingrad.

His coffin was carried next to a monument where his famous quote is written: "For us there was no land beyond (the) Volga."

Colonel Donald Paquette of the US Sniper School was present, and laid a wreath as a sign of respect to a legendary sniper. US Army News quoted Colonel Paquette: "Vasily Zaytsev's is a legend and every USA sniper must memorize his tactics and methods. He is a legend in the sniper community. May he rest in peace."

(Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Zaytsev)