A sniper has described how he managed to pull off an impressive shot which saw him hit a training target that was around 2,300 metres (1.4 miles) away with a .50-calibre sniper rifle.
Staff Sergeant Hunter Bernius, a veteran scout sniper from the Marine Corps, has previously been deployed across the Middle East, including stints in Iraq - but says the most technically difficult shot he made was during his advanced sniper training course.
He told Business Insider: "When I came through as a student at the course I am running now, my partner and I were shooting at a target at approximately 2,300 meters.
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"We did in fact hit it, but it took approximately 20 to 25 minutes of planning, thinking of everything we needed to do with calculations, with the readings."
Opening up about the sort of 'hard maths' involved in making such a shot and working out how to hit the target he added: "You have all kinds of considerations."
He went on to say snipers must consider 'the rotation of the Earth, which direction you are facing, wind at not just your muzzle but at 2,300 meters, at 1,000 meters, you name it'.
Snipers usually operate at ranges of between 600 and 1,200 metres - but the furthest confirmed kill shot was made in 2017 when a Canadian special forces sniper shot and killed an ISIS militant from 3,540 metres (2.2 miles).
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Before the record was taken by the Canadian sniper, it was Brit Craig Harrison who held the top spot.
Harrison was serving in the British Army in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in 2009 when he shot and killed two Taliban machine gunners from a distance of 2,475 metres (1.5 miles).
Recalling how he made the shot, former Corporal of Horse Craig told LADbible: "I looked up and I could see two guys with a PKM belt-fed Russian machine gun and they were hammering down on the lads.
"It was a long way. It was 2,475 metres away, which is just over a mile and a half - and my rifle only shoots 1,500 metres. So I had to... I call it 'lob in'. I had to lob in, I lobbed the bullet in.
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"It took me nine shots to get there, because I was bracketing - what bracketing is, is that you fire the first shot, see where it lands, add a bit more on, add a bit more on, add a bit more on, until you hit it.
"And I managed to hit the compound wall. So I fired, and I could see it just hit next to him.
"So I fired again - as I fired again, he stood up and I hit him here [points to centre of chest]. He fell backwards."
Featured Image Credit: US Marine Corps/Corporal Tommy HuynhTopics: Interesting, US