Shughart and Gordon

‘I will not fail those with whom I serve.’ On October 3, 1993 members of the elite US Army rangers and SOCOM’s Delta Force executed a mission to attempt the capture of Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid. The opposition was much larger and better organized then originally thought and the mission began to take a turn for the worse. In the ensuing battle two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters were shot down. As the second Blackhawk, containing Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant, was hit and crashed, Master Sergeant Gary I. Gordon and Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart, were in a nearby Blackhawk monitoring radio traffic. Gordon and Shughart were a sniper team… Read more »

Carlos Norman Hathcock II

Carlos Hathcock is perhaps the most famous American sniper out there. Chris Kyle would probably be the only other sniper with as much notoriety. Much of his popularity is well deserved as his legendary exploits during the Vietnam war set him apart as perhaps the most pure of the successful snipers. By pure we mean someone who is a master of the fieldcraft and not just the marksmanship and the way he operated is what comes to mind when someone thinks of what a sniper does. While he was a world class marksman, having won the Wimbledon Cup 1000 yard competition against the best in the world, he was more… Read more »

Marie Ljalkova

Marie Ljalkova pictured above with an SVT-40 sniper variant.

Roza Shanina

Roza Shanina became famous in the Soviet Union during World War 2 not only because she was an accomplished female sniper, but also because she was beautiful as well.

Yelizaveta Mironova

Yelizaveta was one of the more famous female snipers with the U.S.S.R. during W.W.II. Over 100 confirmed kills.

Joseph Pilyushin

Joseph Pilyushin was an accomplished sniper that fought for the U.S.S.R. on the Eastern Front up at and around Lengingrad which was his home before and after the war. At 38 years old, Joseph was quite old when he went off to war but had been in the civil defense forces before the war and that is where he learned to shoot well by competing on a rifle team. Like many soldiers, Joseph was injured a number of times during combat and even lost his right eye, which was his shooting eye, at which point he learned to shoot left handed. While the Red Army labeled him unfit for combat… Read more »

Henry Norwest

Henry Louis Norwest is one of the most famous Canadian snipers in the First World War. Norwest was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, of French-Cree ancestry. In his nearly three years of service with the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion, the lance-corporal achieved a confirmed kill record of 115. Norwest is one of only about 830 members of the CEF to be awarded the Military Medal and bar. Norwest enlisted in January 1915 under the name Henry Louie, and was discharged after three months for misbehaviour. Eight months later, he signed up again, under a new name and with a fresh slate. Ultimately, Norwest proved to be an inspiration to his… Read more »