Longest Serving Weapons In The US Military: Memory Lane for Some

SatCong said:

But in 1967 or 68 a Marine Carlos Hathcock did a shot around 2,500 yards with M-2 50 cal. He use standard ammo and a old scope and hit the Weedmonkey. That's around 48 years ago + or -. Now that was a shot! :yup:

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For 35 Years, The Longest Sniper Kill Was With a Ma-Duece
While the current record for the longest “confirmed” sniper kill is over 2,700 yards (just over 1.5) miles, with a .338 Lapua Magnum round, for nearly 35 years the record stood not with a traditional centerfire rifle, but with a modified M2 Browning Heavy Machine Gun, affectionately known as the “Ma Duece”

The “sniper?” None other than the famous US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock III. Using a 8x scope common for the era (a Unertl), Hathcock engaged the Vietcong from a stabilized tripod mounted M2. Per the book Inside the Crosshairs: Snipers in Veitnam, by Colonel Michael Lee Lannig stated that Hathcock engaged a moving target on a bicycle at over 2,500 yards, requiring two shots.

Hathcock’s first round disabled the bicycle (blowing off the handlebars), the second struck the enemy soldier in the chest.

The record stood for over 35 years including US missions in various low-intensity conflicts such as Somalia, Panama, etc., and larger wars including Desert Storm. It was finally broken in 2002 by a Canadian sniper using the same round, albeit this time in a purpose-built highly-accurate platform using likewise purpose-built ammunition.


Gunnery Sergeant Hathcock is still a legend within and outside the Marine Corps. Post-Vietnam, Hathcock helped established the Marine Corp’s Scout Sniper school along with training the best of Tier 1 units including Navy SEALS, Army Delta, and others.



For 35 Years, The Longest Sniper Kill Was With a Ma-Duece - The Firearm Blog

SatCong said:

My river boat, I was brown water Navy.

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Fantastic pic. Did you wear earplugs?

My Uncle wanted to join so badly with his five brothers, that he forged his birth certificate. There parents brought them here, they are Arabic. So he was thrown into a P.T Boat crew. He did not know how to swim. The night before the swim test they all ate and ate, it was a going away party they threw themselves. He was asleep and the guy that came and woke our Uncle to go take his test, saw that he was not feeling well, so he ask my Uncle if he wanted him to take the test, so he he did and my Uncle passed it. He told us his friends pulled him out of the water four times during his tour, saved him from drowning. True story we just heard at this years family reunion for the first time. He is 87?. WWII

Daughter just corrected me, he is 90 turning 91.
I will tell him, And Thank you for your service!