Top Gun

On 13 July 2024, during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shots were fired while U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump was speaking. It's been over 40 years since a shooter targeted such a significant figure in American and global politics; the last attempt was in 1981 when President Ronald Reagan was shot, an event recently covered by The Gaze. Today, as during the Cold War era with the USSR, Trump's victory in the election holds significant implications for future geopolitical dynamics, the war in Ukraine, and its potential to escalate into a global conflict. Amid these political speculations, Trump's raised fist over his bloodied head has already become a symbol of the former president's unequivocal triumph for many.

Trump narrowly escaped death by sheer luck – he simply turned his head at the moment of the shot, and the bullet, intended to pierce his temple, grazed his ear. Sometimes, fortune decides which side the coin will land on and how impactful a shot that could change the course of history will be. Rather than engaging in political speculation about where this fateful shot will lead our world, let's talk about something else – the shooters.

Mass “Bestseller”

For example, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old Republican from a Pittsburgh suburb, shot at Trump with a semi-automatic ArmaLite AR-15 rifle – one of the most common legal rifles used in U.S. mass shootings since the 2010s. The shot was fired from a fairly close range – 110-150 meters from the podium – and would have been effective if not for Trump's luck.

Crooks made a historic shot, but from a military and sports perspective, this shot is of no particular interest. Long-range shots at a target or an enemy in a combat zone have their Hall of Fame and record holders. Sniper skills are evaluated by various criteria, but the most important indicator of mastery remains the distance of an accurate effective shot.

Sporting Record

When it comes to purely sporting shooting for records, the top shot is 4,210 meters with a Lobaev rifle in 2018. This shot required eight years of preparation, 13 seconds of bullet flight, and a stationary target. Impressive. But could the shooter repeat this record “on the move”: in real combat conditions, in unfamiliar terrain, with real-life risk, and with minimal time and opportunity for shot correction? Not necessarily.

The technical aspect of sniper shooting has advanced significantly compared to the work of legendary snipers of World War II or the achievements of the famous Carlos Hathcock during the Vietnam War – Hathcock, by the way, started the history of long-range records. Today, snipers have access to a plethora of optical equipment, from rangefinders and ballistic calculators to software that accounts for air density, humidity, wind speed, even the Earth's rotation and curvature, and the Coriolis effect. Not to mention weapon laboratories that develop the most sophisticated sniper weapons and ideal ammunition for them. However, the end result – hitting the enemy – still depends on the human factor, the preparation of the shooter, and the spotter (observer-corrector).

"Horizon's Lord"

Photo: Ukrainian sniper Vyacheslav Kovalsky is leading the list of the longest confirmed successful sniper shots in combat conditions, Source: SBU

For well-known tragic reasons – the full-scale invasion of Russian occupiers in Ukraine – the "tournament table" of sniper records set in combat zones is currently topped by Ukrainian snipers.

Ukrainian sniper Vyacheslav Kovalsky, 58, from the 13th division of the SBU military counterintelligence, is leading the list of the longest confirmed successful sniper shots in combat conditions. His "Volodar obriyu" ("Horizon's Lord"), a multi-caliber sniper rifle, is developed by leading Ukrainian gunsmiths from the company of the same name with expert input from the best Ukrainian snipers.

According to data confirmed by The Wall Street Journal, on 18 November 2023, in the Kherson region, partially occupied by Russian troops, Kovalsky set a new sniper record by eliminating a Russian officer from a distance of 3,800 meters. The shot was fired from the right bank of the Dnipro, where Kovalsky and his spotter had positioned themselves, to the left bank, where the Russian occupiers were located. It took the bullet 9 seconds to cover the distance and "force peace" on yet another Russian war criminal.

"I think the Russians will now know what Ukrainians are capable of. Let them stay at home and be afraid,"

said former businessman Vyacheslav Kovalsky, who now serves as a sniper in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to the sniper, he and his spotter were monitoring the Russian military base, and when an officer arrived, they decided to shoot. The spotter used a laser to measure the distance, then adjusted the shot using special software and meteorological data. Kovalsky made a test shot 300 meters from the target, and with the second shot, he completed the task.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Kovalsky fired in an arc, aiming the barrel above the target because gravity affects the bullet's trajectory – essentially, given the specially developed 12.7×114 "HL" caliber for the "Horizon's Lord," it was more like a mini-artillery shell. According to Kovalsky, "the bullet was so large and flew so fast that there was no chance of wounding the occupying officer."

Brothers in Arms

Second and third places among combat sniper record holders go to a Canadian special forces sniper during the Iraq war in 2017 (3,540 meters) and an Australian commando during the Afghan war in 2012 (2,815 meters). Fourth place is again held by a Ukrainian National Guard soldier, whose name is not disclosed – in November 2022, he "demilitarized" a Russian occupier from a distance of 2,710 meters, again using a Ukrainian Snipex Alligator rifle produced by the Khado-Holding company.