Hi guys, recently I read two books based on the legendary life and career of Carlos Hathcock.
For those who are not familiar w/ this truly amazing gentlemen, wiki has a good summary and I'm quoting it's actual text on the "shot through a scope" by Carlos Hathcock which has been the source of much debate, and interest as to whether this is really fact or fiction.
"One of Hathcock's most famous accomplishments was shooting an enemy sniper through the enemy's own scope, hitting him in the eye and killing him. Hathcock and John Roland Burke, his spotter, were stalking the enemy sniper in the jungle near Hill 55, the firebase from which Hathcock was operating. The sniper had already killed several Marines and was believed to have been sent specifically to kill Hathcock. When Hathcock saw a flash of light (light reflecting off the enemy sniper's scope) in the bushes, he fired at it, shooting through the scope and killing the sniper. Surveying the situation, Hathcock concluded that the only feasible way he could have put the bullet straight down the enemy's scope and through his eye would have been if both snipers were zeroing in on each other at the same time and Hathcock fired first, which gave him only a few seconds to act. Given the flight time of rounds at long ranges, both snipers could easily have killed one another."(Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Hathcock)
After being wildly curious about this topic, and then watching Mythbusters all but call this humble warrior a liar while trying to confirm or deny this "shot through a scope" kill, I went ahead and started to formulate how I might try this for myself and incorporate the gun I love, the AR15...and in this case, specifically a light precision AR suited for the particular task at hand.
Mythbuster footage:
http://splodetv.com/shot-through-scope-myth
**Basically their attempt was garbage since they did not acct. for the optic that the NVA sniper would have been using vs. the much, much more robust modern day optics.
Mythbusters footage take 2
So the shortbus riders amended their procedures and revisited the myth and produced this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCV75...eature=related
Upon even further researching...I came across a better attempt at shining light on the possibility of this and after watching this video concluded I would be at least attempting to evaluate this on my own the best way I could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9As6AMGifSY
So now you guys should be pretty well caught up or versed on this topic and so I present to you my own personal tests, findings, and ultimately conclusion on whether Carlos Hathcock's "Shot through a scope" kill could be possible in real life.
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