There was a cook from the 7th Light Horse around the same time frame that did pretty well too. He'd get done preparing meals and whatever and then go off hunting.
IMO It is impossible to figure out the best. Some people were working in target rich environments, confirmed kills were recorded differently, different equipment and so on.
Chris Kyle was a bad ass there is no doubt but he also had an advanced technology over Carlos Hathcock, Carlos had much less to work with and I'd bet if CK was asked this question he'd give it to CH.
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
The coverage is what makes the diff. Every long shot now is reported worldwide on internet. In the White Feather era everything done covertly and was top secret.
It is better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by 6.
Not to dismiss any of the work that Hathcock, or any of the more "modern day" snipers have done, but they pretty much pale in comparison to what the German and Russian snipers did in WW2, and the conditions under which they had to fight. Same way with the Finn, Simo Hayha, who just might have been the best of the lot.
How is that?
As Americans, we like to think that "our" side is always the best at whatever we're discussing. If you take it by the numbers, no one comes to close to the kills made by the WW2 Soviet snipers, and the Finn. Although war is Hell no matter where it's fought, WW2 was fought under much harsher conditions that most wars, and the equipment used was much inferior to modern day weapons.
I'm not taking anything away from any American sniper, they did very good work, and deserve a lot of credit. But, my vote goes to other soldiers who did even greater work.
Chris Kyle was a bad ass there is no doubt but he also had an advanced technology over Carlos Hathcock, Carlos had much less to work with and I'd bet if CK was asked this question he'd give it to CH.
Correct. I met Hathcock and his son, Carlos Jr, and they were both talented and humble. You always hear about the long shots, but I wonder what the breakdown is for "sniper" shots, by yardage. It seems like much of the Iraqi work was in built up areas, so the ranges would have been shorter.
Then thing about Hathcock was, he would wound a couple first to draw in more targets and start killing them. Now that would be highly frowned upon. Now most of the modern day confirmed kills are a target of opportunity whereas Hathcock went hunting, unless he was sent specifically looking for a particular target.
Writing from the gateway to the great BluMtns in southeastern Washington.
Just remember, "You are the trailer park and I am the tornado". Beth Dutton, Yellowstone.
the fat Russian woman from WWII , can't remember her name.... I guess she is not very well known, after all
I would second this I believe her count was over 500 confirmed IIRC and I believe she had been wounded once or twice as well if memory is correct. Cheers NC
Lyudmila Pavlichenko?
She is credited with 309 confirmed kills, and regarded as one of the top military snipers of all time.
Snipers do so much more than is captured in a kill count. Hathcock's fame exploded with Henderson's book. Similarly Chris Kyle and American Sniper. Some of the others named on this thread were great snipers as well but without the legend that a popular book or movie brings. If you want to hear about one not named on this thread look up Eric England. He shunned the publicity and I'm glad the Marine Corps got him to talk a little about his views on what he did;
Snipers do so much more than is captured in a kill count. Hathcock's fame exploded with Henderson's book. Similarly Chris Kyle and American Sniper. Some of the others named on this thread were great snipers as well but without the legend that a popular book or movie brings. If you want to hear about one not named on this thread look up Eric England. He shunned the publicity and I'm glad the Marine Corps got him to talk a little about his views on what he did;
I have a copy of a book about him. Books name is the Phantom of Phu Bai and was written by Joseph Blair Turner, PHD.
I have been searching high and low for a copy of that book. Finally bought the kindle edition. Would still like a hard copy of that book if you ever run across another.
Depends if we are talking about the Craft or the Shooting.
If we consider both together Hathcock had no equal.
If you look at just number of kills it would go to our enemies. WWII was a target rich environment.
Chris was good no doubt about it. He was in a target rich environment as well. But he had to adhere to rules of engagement. I think we love Chris as a person so much that is what brings him up as one of the greatest.
I have been searching high and low for a copy of that book. Finally bought the kindle edition. Would still like a hard copy of that book if you ever run across another.
It looks like it was a "print on demand" as inside it has a "printed especially for Fxxxx Sxxxxxx Distinguished Shooter". Fxxxx Sxxxxxx was the man I got the book from after he died.
Reading about one of Hathcock's forays to take out a high ranking North Vietnamese officer, it became apparent that getting the bullet placed is only a small part of what a sniper had to do. When he killed the officer, the whole camp erupted into a search for him. Getting home in one piece was no small trick. IIRC, it took him three weeks, and when he got home he was 15 pounds thinner. That's impressive.
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