A tribute to Carlos Hathcock: Examining the infamous "shot through a scope" shot...

[badness]

i seen the mythbuster episode. But damn, i didn't think anyone would actually go out and try it themselves. Pretty impressive.

[40Arpent]

I had typed something about an interview I saw with him, but can't remember exactly what he said.

Excerpted:
Carlos served in Viet Nam in 1966-1967, and again in 1969. On his first tour, he used primarily
the Winchester Model 70 Target rifle in .30-06, with an 8X Unertl target scope having outside
adjustments. Speaking of this combination, he noted, "I loved it. I thought it was great, at the
time." Was the scope reliable in its adjustments and return to zero? "Yes, it worked well. I did
take off the recoil springs, however. I preferred returning the scope to battery myself each time I
shot, because then I knew it went back to the same place each time." [Readers may recall that
Hathcock had extensive competitive experience with this rifle/scope combination prior to his
arrival in Viet Nam.] Despite his prior exposure to handloaded target ammunition in .300 Win.
Mag. for competition, Carlos commented that the accuracy of the rifle was good with issued Lake
City Match ammo. and that he never used handloads to enhance accuracy. However, the Unertl
target scopes did have a tendency to fog in wet weather, which hampered his effectiveness.

[chavez_e_chavez]

I had typed something about an interview I saw with him, but can't remember exactly what he said.

It was a lucky and ideal situation for the shot. I believe he was using a 30-06, plus can you imagine the scope he was using? They went into detail on one of those shows about a few other of his few hundred kills and not only did the guy possess great ability, he had the mindset and held his shit together when it mattered most.

I don't know about anyone elses experiences here, but when someone is trying to kill you, it makes the simplest of tasks much more complicated and reactions have to be in split seconds.

I don't follow this stuff at all, but it's interesting to watch if there's a show about it.

totally agree with you!! This was a Awesome sniper-vs-sniper duel and WE WON!!!!! Great documentary I watched on it..

[Cameron]

That is awesome!

Great job Trident!


Cameron

[usmcvet]

Semper FI Gunny!

[Ferris2son]

History Channel
Sniper-Inside the Crosshairs

Great show. They looked at great shots in history and tried to duplicate them. They got the same results as Trident reports.

They featured two Hathcock incidents. The second was a 16 kill incident with an M-14, at night.

Great show.

[Army Chief]

Very much enjoyed reading this report.

I would have never thought to do this, much less set up the shots, though I too was left to wonder what (if anything) the Mythbusters experiments really proved when I saw them on television.

Nice work on the video, too - well worth the time.

AC

[xrayoneone]

I believe the 16 kills at night with an M14 were done by Chuck Mawhinney, all head shots they said.

[DiabhailGadhar]

Was it just me or did the last shot send a cold chill up your spine? Nice video work that last couple of seconds really brought the lethality of that man (legend or hero would have also fit here) home...SEMPER FI and RIP!

For those of you that haven't read any of the books on that walking weapon I HIGHLY recommend them!

[TOrrock]

I had the privilege of meeting GySgt. Hathcock twice before he passed away in 1999.

Hell of a man.

I'd like to see someone pick up one of the PSO-1 scopes, which would be very similar to what was mounted on a SVD, and try it out.