For those who are not familiar w/ this truly amazing gentlemen, wiki has a good summary and I'm quoting it's actual text on the "shot through a scope" by Carlos Hathcock which has been the source of much debate, and interest as to whether this is really fact or fiction.
"One of Hathcock's most famous accomplishments was shooting an enemy sniper through the enemy's own scope, hitting him in the eye and killing him. Hathcock and John Roland Burke, his spotter, were stalking the enemy sniper in the jungle near Hill 55, the firebase from which Hathcock was operating. The sniper had already killed several Marines and was believed to have been sent specifically to kill Hathcock. When Hathcock saw a flash of light (light reflecting off the enemy sniper's scope) in the bushes, he fired at it, shooting through the scope and killing the sniper. Surveying the situation, Hathcock concluded that the only feasible way he could have put the bullet straight down the enemy's scope and through his eye would have been if both snipers were zeroing in on each other at the same time and Hathcock fired first, which gave him only a few seconds to act. Given the flight time of rounds at long ranges, both snipers could easily have killed one another."wikipedia link
After being wildly curious about this topic, and then watching Mythbusters all but call this humble warrior a liar while trying to confirm or deny this "shot through a scope" kill, I went ahead and started to formulate how I might try this for myself and incorporate the gun I love, the AR15...and in this case, specifically a light precision AR suited for the particular task at hand.
Mythbuster's footage:
http://splodetv.com/shot-through-scope-myth"]http://splodetv.com/shot-through-scope-myth
**Basically their attempt wasn't accurate since they did not account for the optic that the NVA sniper would have been using vs. the much, much more robust modern day optics.
Mythbuster's footage take 2
So the mythbusters amended their procedures and revisited the myth and produced this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCV75G88-cs&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCV75G88-cs&feature=related
Upon even further researching...I came across a better attempt at shining light on the possibility of this and after watching this video concluded I would be at least attempting to evaluate this on my own the best way I could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9As6AMGifSY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9As6AMGifSY
So now you guys should be pretty well caught up or versed on this topic and so I present to you my own personal tests, findings, and ultimately conclusion on whether Carlos Hathcock's "Shot through a scope" kill could be possible in real life.
The setup and procedure:
I used both modern day 3-9x typical hunting optics as well as modern day red dot's that from all accounts are very close to what the NVA's optic would have been like to shot through vs. the modern variable optics being no where close to what the NVA sniper would have been using and all should agree on that point.
I spent several days constructing the overall setup and how I would record it so that I could document it, and share it with others. I used 3 camera's in the testing, all shots were fired from 100yds on the tee. Both my SPR and my make shift optic device had bubble levels that were raised to the same height and then leveled perfectly. Now considering that in order to do this evaluation the way I did, sub MOA precision is mandatory for each shot given the objective lenses are what they are, and the distance being covered...Between the shooter, the AR15, and the ammo, this turned out to be quite a challenge even @ 100yds. If you note I was just slightly off the only one I didn't get just where I wanted it, and it missed it's intended mark by no more than 1/4". So with that said, I couldn't use FMJ or really anything but a few loads and I picked the hornady 55gr. vmax since I knew it would land where I wanted it to every last time.
Here is the entire setup just prior to testing.:
Zeroing the gun perfectly for these particular shots....note the two diff. groups, with the final 2 zeroing shots being those two on the upper circle that perfectly split across the bullseye from one another.
Results and conclusion:
My Youtube video...Carlos Hathcock's "shot through a scope" using a SPR:
Various shots of the aftermath and a few "money shots" captured from still frames of the video footage.
Here is the perfectly executed model of the lot....perfect shot placement and a perfect through and through that just vaporized the internal components and glass, note in the video how little the actual optic moves when shot. Bottom line is that is one dead NVA sniper behind that optic.
Another perfect through and through and this would be the last 100% successful "shot through a scope" of the day which was more than enough and was tickled to get two really spectacular results in them which go a long way into putting validity into the original acct. of Carlos's shot.
More carnage...
Few action stills....
As you can see somewhat in the pics and video that I failed to exit any of the variable powered scopes however the last one filmed in the sniper's pov really came close but no cigar. It went through the red dots like a knife threw hot butter but on the very far left one was the one mistake I made and I hit the optic but it was low and to the left by about 1/4" results in not actually going lens to lens through. Ultimately, I concluded for myself that at least nobody can ever say he is a liar given that this is in my estimation a very achievable shot when looking specifically at his reported shot. This would mean shooting through a non modern optic with a larger caliber at a cpl. hundred yds. and while it would be tough as hell to hit the actual objective lens at that distance, it's certainly doable...just maybe not repeatable, one shot to the next.
