distance of hathcock shot

[bigbrowndog]

Does anyone know the distance of the bullet thru the scope shot? Even an aprox. distance would be OK, I just want to know within 50yds or so.

trapr

[davidwiz]

http://www.grunt.com/scuttlebutt/corps-sto...loshathcock.asp says 500 yards.

[bigbrowndog]

I can accept that but another confirmation would be nice, thanks

Trapr

[M118LR]

225 yards. Carlos Hathcock White Feather by Chandler.

[bigbrowndog]

See now thats where I really dislike, "the Facts" can anyone confirm from other sources besides the 2 already mentioned?

trapr

[benelli2]

Well when I was having dinner with him many years ago, he said, oh well we didn't talk about that, sorry Trap don't know any other sources, but I did get to hang out with him some, what a privelage. What are you up too?

jc

[SA Friday]

Sounds to me like Trap has an old scope and is going to go Mythbusters on it...

Good luck on getting "from the horses mouth" info on Hathcock shots. He didn't like to talk about it from what I've heard from people who knew him. There was an old recorded interview of him and his missions done years ago. It's pretty hard to find now a days. A good friend of mine has a copy of it. When watching it, it's clearly obvious he hated talking about the missions, and flat out refused to talk about one of them.

[dqshooter]

Attend the military sniper school and they cover carlos in depth, it is still unclear if the shot was ever actually taken. Myths and ledgends grow faster than weeks after rain. Watch myth busters and decide for your self. CH was the best sniper to live and that is an accomplishment by itself. Some of the shots that CH made are unreal but well documented. There are now more sniper with more kills, marines in the AOR have tagged quite a few more. No one quite has the style of the legend.

[bigbrowndog]

No. I do not have an old scope, well yes I do but No i'm not going tio shoot it.

I am just trying to come up with a shooting challenge, and what I came up with is very close to the scope shot he made, but I have not determined the distance that I want this challenge to be, so I figured I'd see what distance he did it at.

From what I have heard and read, a true MOA rifle under field conditions is a rare and much sought after thing, now I'm not talking about from a bench, but from an improvised shooting position, and off of a bipod or something.

Being able to fire one shot, from this position and hit a 1" ish, item, is what I am trying to do, not fire a 1"ish group but actually hit an item with a single shot, if you miss go home, and try again the next day, how many days would it take? Coming up with a doable but challenging distance, is the challenge. I originally thought 500yards, but I think that borders on very remotely doable, to just plain lucky. I am leaning towards maybe 300, but I think that may be too easy, we'll see and when I do figure it all out, I'll post the challenge here so, you can try it.

I just fired a 2" group at 500 meters, but could not hit a 3" target at the same distance????????

Jeffe, I'm just taking care of the bigbrowndog, and am very thankful that he is getting much better, i was afraid I'd have to put him down before leaving for Norway. i have misplaced your address, send it to me and I'll get those preparty pics sent to you on a DVD.

Trapr

[M118LR]

Trapr, I shot an event at a match that was like the Hathcock shot. They placed a target at 225 yards. The target was a shooter behind a scope rifle. You had to hit the scope to score. Of the 60 shooters that shot the event only 10 shooters hit the scope. Of course you only had one shot.

As for the Hathcock shot, I am going to say it was 225 yards.

[davidwiz]

Charles Henderson's book "Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills" recounts the shot but provides no yardage.

[zhunter]

As for hitting that 1" target on the first try, well, we messed around with golf balls a while back.

A golf ball is 1.68" tho. Used to shoot them at 200 yards on a regular basis, not a big deal, but our range only went to 230 yards, so that was our max. It was done prone, with bi-pod. It was a rare day that we missed on a cold shot.

Got tired of that, so we graduated to string hung from a "cross-beam" with a weight attached to hold it taught. This was done at 100 yards from a bench. Left plenty of grease marks on that string, but no one ever cut it to make the weight drop. The string was typical "kite string", so you get the idea of the diameter.

Good luck on your 1" target at 500, it will be a great shot.

BTW, I have two rifles in my safe, one that will shoot 1/4" 5 shot groups, the other 1/2" 5 shot groups.

Neither has been fired since 1994

[kgunz11]

I have found in my match experiences that a consistent 1 MOA shooter under time does not exist. Take your 1" dot to 300 yards and recreate the scenario, and it changes all of the dynamics of the shot.

Put the shooter behind the rifle, show him the target and give him the distance. Don't let him dial any corrections, give him 30 seconds to make the shot from the time you show him the target. You have to remember, when Hathcock took this shot he was engaging an enemy sniper that was also engaging him. Add the stress of a timer into things and some of the best shooters can and will fall apart. It's amazing how few folks can hit something as simple as a 1" dot at 300 yards, and remember, 1" is .33 MOA at 300 yards. Very few field rifles hold that degree of accuracy from the bench, let alone field conditions.

Sounds like a good event for our next Practical Marksman Challenge. I'll let you know what the results are.

[Stuck in C]

When I took a civilian hunting rifle class, the instructor always set out some eggs (held end on in cardboard) to shoot at along with whatever targets we were shooting. 100 yards even I could hit them. 200 yards I was about 35%. 300 yards and over-forget it. Quite a challenge. We weren't shooting off a bench but field prone, sitting, etc.

[Sterling White]

Great information contained in this thread. I have read the stories and wondered about the distance as well. I cannot seem to recall what scopes and power of scopes being used during that time period?

[kgunz11]

3x9x36mm Redfield vs Dragunov which I think was an early PSO Russian made scope.

[bigbrowndog]

I appreciate the Moderators reopening this thread,

My intent is not to recreate the Hathcock shot, it is something else entirely. It just occured to me that what I am trying to do was similar to what the Gunny had accomplished, and that knowing the yardage that he had for his shot would assist me in nailing down an effective yardage for the challenge that I want to put up for other shooters.

I do not intend to shoot a scope, or facsimile of a scope, merely a 1"ish size item.

Since most people seem to thing that 200yds is doable and 300yds is going to be pretty much a difficult shot I will probably try 300, first, and see how well it turns out.

If things work out I'll post a new topic and let everyone here know what I am doing.

trapr

[uscbigdawg]

Next time I get a weekend off Trapr, I'll give it a shot. On my 308, I've got pretty good dope out to 600. This will be an interesting test.

Rich

[AlamoShooter]

I can hit a 1" target at 500 yards. I will have to move the target after I shoot at it though

[bigbrowndog]

Jamie, I didn't realize shotgun pellets would go that far with any accuracy?!??!?!?

Trapr

[sargenv]

I thougt Hathcock used a Unertl?

Edited May 21, 2009 by sargenv

[bigbrowndog]

I've been warned that this topic is borderline, the topic was closed and I was able to get it reopened, so please do not discuss the Gunny's equipment or ability here. I am just interested in the yardage, and "MY" challenge.

thanks for understanding, Trapr

[ChrisMcCracken]

With respect for the thread's intent, I would say a more interesting study... not a challenge exactly, would be to setup a head sized target with a circle over one of the eyes. Aim for the head, shoot at the head, but see what percentage of the shots actually land within the circle. I can think of no reason to actually need to shoot anything less than 3" in size, ever. Being able to hit a head sized target or a target the size of the triangle made by both eyes and the mouth, every single time at many different yardages... now that is a good goal.

[uscbigdawg]

Never been to a sniper match then. 1/4" targets at 100 yards all the time.

Rich

[bigbrowndog]

Eruculindon, to each their own?????

knowing where you're group is would in my opinion be an advantage, I'm trying for no group, just a hit, read the wind, mirage, hope your loads are consistent enough, all the things that you should be doing, just know that you only have one shot, so many people talk about their rifles accuracy at 100yds. I really do not get interested in accuracy with an optically driven rifle until you get beyond 200yds, at those distances its the rifle AND the shooter, fieldcraft and pulling the trigger, rifle building and shooter ability. A group shows consistency, but its placement shows precision, and one shot leaves NO room for error, luck can play a part, but who here wouldn't accept a bit of luck, at any time!!!!!

Personally, my intent is to do it, and then do it again, and see how many times it takes to accomplish and then re-accomplish.

There is no doubt in my mind that some will claim to be able to do the shot when they cannot, just like we have some claim to be former "spec ops" when they know they were not!!!!!!!!

trapr