Ukrainian sniper broke the world record
6 December, 2023 Viacheslav Kovalskyi and his Horizon's Lord rifle. Photo credits: The Wall Street Journal Ukrainian sniper Viacheslav Kovalskyi broke the world record by hitting the Russian invader at a distance of 3800 meters.
The Wall Street Journal released an interview with the serviceman. Viacheslav Kovalskyi, a 58-year-old former businessman and now a sniper with the counterintelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine, made his shot shortly before dawn on November 18. Together with his partner, who calculated the distance, wind speed, and other parameters, he set up a position on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region from the Russian military.
The two soldiers were watching groups of Russian soldiers cutting down the forest. They considered them insignificant targets to shoot at. However, later in the afternoon, a group of five soldiers arrived, and Kovalskyi noticed one of them instructing the others - it was an officer.
After deciding to shoot, Viacheslav's partner started measuring the distance to the soldiers. He calculated the parameters of the shot, air humidity and temperature, which affected the speed of the bullet.
The sight of the Horizon's Lord rifle (??????? ?????) from which the record-breaking shot was made. Photo credits: The Wall Street Journal
Using all of these parameters, Kovalskyi fired a test shot 300 meters toward the target.
His partner informed him of the miss - they had miscalculated the wind speed, which blew the bullet 60 meters away. The sniper quickly reloaded his rifle and re-aimed. "You have to shoot immediately as the wind is constantly changing," Kovalskyi shared.
And Kovalskyi fired another shot. The footage taken by the soldiers shows that the bullet took about nine seconds to reach its target at a distance of 3,800 meters.
Kovalskyi's shot was similar to an artillery shot, as the bullet flew in a parabola about 100 meters above the target before falling to its level under the influence of gravity. According to Kovalskyi, the bullet hit the Russian's chest or abdomen. He is sure that the soldier died.
According to him, the bullet they used was so large and traveled at such a speed that it would have been impossible to survive such a hit. "There is no chance that he survived," Kovalsky said.
Viacheslav Kovalskyi and his Horizon's Lord rifle. Photo credits: The Wall Street Journal
The shot broke the previous world-record hit of 3,500 meters set in 2017 by a Canadian sniper from Joint Task Force 2, who hit a target at 3,540 meters with a .50 BMG McMillan TAC-50 rifle.
"I think the Russians will now know what Ukrainians are capable of. Let them stay at home and be afraid," Kovalskyi said.
Horizon's Lord rifle
Viacheslav Kovalskyi and his partner set a new world record using the Ukrainian rifle MCR Horizon's Lord of 12.7x114 mm HL caliber. The rifle uses a unique Ukrainian-designed cartridge, which is a 12.7 mm (.50 BMG) bullet in a re-compressed cartridge case from the 14.5x114 mm cartridge used by the KPVT machine gun.
It is 16 cm long.
A 12.7x114 mm HL cartridge on the left, and a conventional .50BMG army cartridge on the right. Photo credits: The Wall Street Journal
The large powder load in the Soviet-style machine gun cartridge case allowed the heavy bullet to accelerate to high speed and transfer enough energy to it for a stable flight over distances of more than 2000 meters. The Horizon's Lord rifle was developed with the participation of Ukraine's leading snipers and engineers.
It is a multi-caliber rifle that can be easily converted to six different calibers.
The Horizon's Lord rifle. Photo credits: Horizon's Lord enterprise
The 12.7x114 mm HL rifle is 1.82 meters long and weighs 16.7 kg. It is capable of accurate fire at a distance of up to 3,200 meters.
The rifle is designed with a barrel made by Bartlein Barrels and a Japanese sight that can withstand the energy of a shot.
At the same time, the receiver, mechanisms, and chassis are made in Ukraine.