Russian shooter Andrey Ryabinsky says he and his Lobaev team members are the new world record holders. (Photo: The Sun)
Update 10/25/17: We have a new world record! Americans have taken it back! Click here to read more.
It seems like every few months the “unofficial” long distance shooting record is broken by a team from Finland, the United States or Russia.
Lobaev Arms, a Russian company that makes precision rifles, claims it recently broke the world record, shooting a 1-meter target at 4,604 yards or approximately 2.6 miles, reports the Daily Star.
The Lobaev team used a modified version of their SVLK-14S “Twilight” rifle. The SVLK-14S is a production rifle that is made for shooting targets past 2,000 yards. It is capable of 5-shot, .2 MOA groups at 100 meters and is chambered in .408 Cheytac, .338 Lapua Magnum, and .300 Winchester Magnum.
The SVLK-14S that the Lobaev team used had a 935 mm/36.8 inch, 1/10 twist barrel and was chambered in .40 Lobaev Improved. The .40 Lobaev Improved cartridge launches a 419-grain projectile 3,200 feet per second and is based on the .408 Chey Tac round.
The SVLK-14S “Twilight” rifle from Lobaev Arms. (Photo: Lobaev Arms)
The Lobaev team was composed of Yuri Sinichkin, Evgeny Titov, Vladimir Grebenyuk and shooter Andrey Ryabinsky.
Atop the custom SVLK-14S rifle was a March 5-40 power riflescope. The March riflescope was most likely mounted on a scope base that had an 80 to 100 MIL cant.
SEE ALSO: Shoot a Target at 2.5 Miles!
Overall I am very impressed with the shot. Hitting a 1-meter target at 4,604 yards would require a rifle that is capable of sub-MOA accuracy. Aside from the necessary mechanical accuracy, the ammunition would have to have even velocities, with standard deviations in the single digits. The bullets were most likely monolithic and turned on a lathe. After being turned, they were measured for concentricity and loaded by hand. Perfect concentricity is necessary for a bullet to maintain its gyroscopic stability when crossing through the transonic barrier.
A breakdown of the shot (Photo: The Sun)
Hardware aside, a 2.6-mile shot would require a shooter to account for variables such as spin-drift, powder temperature, Coriolis effect, Eotvos effect, temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, density altitude, aerodynamic jump, and wind direction and speed.
Lobaev makes some very nice hardware. Their rifles are in use by law enforcement, military and competitive shooters around the world.
Though impressive, the unofficial world records are amusing due to the lack of a sanctioning by a governing body. It is hard to consider a long distance shot a world record when dozens of rounds were likely sent down range in the hope of hitting a target.
Earlier this year, Bryan Litz created a website called ELR Central. He came up with some standards and best practices for the Long Range shooting community, and though ELR Central is not a governing body, it does include some guidelines in regards to shooting for an “official record”.
Overall much respect to the Lobaev team. Okay team America, time to bring the “record” back to the United States!
Bob McCoy might be reading this, but I’m going to tell the world about it anyway.
On September 10, 2001, I was fortunate ( lucky) enough to fire a .4” group at 100 yards. My rifle was bone stock ‘03 Springfield 30-06. Fred Davis of Indianapolis worked up the load, 49 gr. IMR 4064 behind Nosler 168 competition bthp’s
.4” isn’t any kind of record, but considering it was fired with iron sights ( Lyman Receiver peep ), I’ll go ahead and boast about it anyway.
The next day was 9/11.
Wasn’t in combat, and not at a live target. Nice shot, that’s all.
When they hit a b27 at 1975yards
With a sharps 50/90 they can brag
Right on ej, I have several modern rifles that will put 10 rounds into a 5″ paper plate at a grand but the most challenging and fun one to shoot is my Sharps M-74 chambered in 577/500 NE (black powder) that will do the same. I’ve taken rock chucks at over 1200y on several occasions with it.
BTW, Coriolis effect? Only relevant if you shoot north-south, east-west will have no effect. Eotvos effect? YHGTBFKM!
You are wrong. It doesn’t matter which way it is shooting, it will still be effected.
You obviously do not know what the Coriolis force is. Plus, learn some grammar!
Grammar?!?! We’re here for guns and not some chair jockey to worry with anything but that
when an object starts to move north or south and is not firmly connected to the ground (air, artillery fire, etc) then it maintains its initial eastward speed as it moves. An object leaving the equator will retain the eastward speed of other objects at the equator, but if it travels far enough it will no longer be going east at the same speed the ground beneath it is.
The result is that an object travelling away from the equator will be heading east faster than the ground and will seem to be forced east by some mysterious force. Objects travelling towards the equator will be going more slowly than the ground beneath them and will seem to be forced west. In reality there is no actual force involved, the ground is simply moving at a different speed than the object is “used to”. “Kudos” to the Russian Team for their Savage Skillz!!!! \m/ \m/
As soon as I see anyone talk about MOA to describe a bullet’s path, I know he does not know what he is talking about. Bullets fly in curved paths; MOA is about angles, in other words, straight lines. You might use an MOA correction to adjust your point of impact at a certain range, but anyone saying a rifle has “MOA accuracy”, let alone, “subMOA accuracy”, is F.O.S.!
That aside, we can do some math. Start with the presumption that the bullet follows a parabolic arc. (You will have to show me some other equation of motion if you say that is not correct.) If a rifle can shoot a 0.1″ group at 100 yards, the curved path of the bullets will yield a 10″ group at 1000 yards. At 4604 yards, the result is a group of 212″, or about 5.4 meters.
Since they claim this rifle can shoot a 0.2″ group at 100 yards, if they hit a meter target at 2.6 miles, it was plain, dumbass luck.
You are absolutely correct!!
I’m sorry Phil, but you are the one who is F.O.S.
Says the guy who gives no proof. Show me your math.
Not arguing with you, everything you said sounds pretty good. Just one error, 1″moa group@100 = 10″moa@1000. A 0.1″moa@100 will = 1″moa@1000, easy error though. I’ve shot benchrest for a long time now, 22 rimfire br50 matches to 600yrd heavy gun matches and it’s always interesting, and aggravating at the same time, at armchair masters that come out when you try and talk about something on the computer, lol
Impressive,maybe. Makes me wonder what White Feather could do with today”s technology,being that his incredible shots were made with a Model 70 Winchester with the old-fashioned 30.06 round!
‘
Long live Carlos!
Yes, with the technology he had compared with what is available today, his accomplishments are truly legendary.
Respects to all the sharp shooters before and since.
CARLOS ALSO SHOT A 300 WIN MAG
Wrong. Carlos used a Winchester Model70 chambered 10 30-06 for most of his shots. He also used from time to time a Springfield Armory M-14 modified with a Douglas Barrel chambered in .308. For that long shot he took, he used a Ma Duce 50cal of course with an Unurtl scope. That shot was around 2500 yards.
Good shooting, indeed!
Enjoy the trophy until it returns to America!
The picture is photo-shopped, so why wouldn’t the shot be?
OK then – duplicate it with arbitrary expert witnesses= then I’ll accept it.
UNTIL THEY SHOT A HUMAN AND KILL THEM AT THAT DISTANCE, IT IS MOOT! ANYBODY CAN SHOOT PAPER. SHOOTING A LIVING HUMAN THAT NEEDS PUT DOWN IS SOMETHING ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT!
Hello.
Which picture appears to be photoshopped?
congrats are in order as it IS an impressive feat of engineering coupled with skill and a good deal of luck.
Not as impressive as some of the incredible long range kills by the snipers in Iraq and Afghanistan though, where the target is moving and capable of shooting back at friendlies.
I agree. As soon as I posted this article on Facebook, numerous long range guys claimed that the record has already been brought back to the USA. I have reached out for further comment.
Have a great weekend!