Four kilometers. That's basically two and a half miles. If you're standing at one end of that distance, the person at the other end isn't even a speck; they are literally invisible to the naked eye. Yet, in August 2025, a Ukrainian sniper from the "Pryvyd" (Ghost) unit pulled the trigger and changed everything we thought we knew about long-range ballistics.
The bullet didn't just fly; it traveled for what felt like an eternity. We're talking about a 14.5mm round fired from a Snipex Alligator rifle. It reportedly stayed in the air for nearly ten seconds. Imagine that. You fire, you could probably take a sip of water, and then—only then—does the target even know they’re in trouble.
The record-breaking shot at 4,000 meters
Honestly, people used to think the 3,540-meter shot by a Canadian JTF-2 operator in 2017 was the hard limit for physics. Then came November 2023, and Viacheslav Kovalskyi, a 58-year-old former businessman turned soldier, hit a target at 3,800 meters. People were stunned. But the newest record, set on August 14, 2025, pushed the boundary even further to the 4,000-meter mark.
This wasn't just a "lucky shot." It was a coordinated tech-heavy operation. The sniper wasn't just squinting through a glass scope and hoping for the best. They used a reconnaissance drone and artificial intelligence to crunch the numbers. When you're shooting that far, you aren't just accounting for wind. You're accounting for the curvature of the planet. It’s called the Coriolis effect. Basically, the Earth rotates underneath the bullet while it's in flight. If you don't calculate for the spin of the globe, you miss by a mile.
The shot took place in the Donetsk region, specifically near Pokrovsk. According to reports from military journalist Yurii Butusov, the round actually went through a window to hit the target. Two Russian soldiers were eliminated in that single engagement.
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Why the Snipex Alligator is a beast
The gun itself is sorta terrifying. It’s not your grandpa’s hunting rifle. The Snipex Alligator is an anti-materiel rifle. It’s two meters long—that's over six and a half feet. It weighs about 55 pounds. You don't "carry" this thing; you deploy it.
- Caliber: 14.5×114mm (massive, usually meant for punching through armored vehicles).
- Muzzle Velocity: About 980 m/s.
- Effective Range: Nominally 2,000 meters, but obviously capable of double that in the right hands.
Comparing the world's longest sniper shots
It’s wild to look at how these records have jumped over the decades. For a long time, Carlos Hathcock held the crown with a 2,286-meter shot made in 1967 using an M2 Browning machine gun with a scope strapped to it. That record stood for 35 years.
Then the Canadians took over in the early 2000s during the War in Afghanistan. Rob Furlong and Arron Perry were hitting targets at roughly 2,400 meters. The British sniper Craig Harrison pushed it to 2,475 meters in 2009. But the jump from 2,475 meters to 4,000 meters in just about 15 years shows how much ballistics tech has evolved.
| Sniper / Unit | Country | Year | Distance | Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed (Pryvyd Unit) | Ukraine | 2025 | 4,000m | Snipex Alligator |
| Viacheslav Kovalskyi | Ukraine | 2023 | 3,800m | Horizon's Lord |
| Unnamed (JTF-2) | Canada | 2017 | 3,540m | McMillan TAC-50 |
| Unnamed (2nd Commando) | Australia | 2012 | 2,815m | Barrett M82A1 |
The "Luck" factor vs. AI precision
Is it still sniping if a drone does the math for you? Some purists say no. They argue that using AI and drone spotting takes the "art" out of it. But honestly, at 4,000 meters, "art" gets you a miss. The atmosphere is too chaotic.
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Think about it. A bullet traveling for 10 seconds passes through multiple different wind pockets. The wind at the muzzle might be blowing left at 5 mph, but 2 kilometers downrange, it might be gusting right at 15 mph. You can't see that through a scope. You need a drone sitting at the midway point or near the target to feed real-time data back to a ballistic computer.
The Ukrainian teams are now using "integrated sniper complexes." It’s a team effort. You’ve got the shooter, a spotter, a drone operator, and sometimes a technician handling the AI software. It’s more like a mobile missile launch than a traditional hidden marksman.
Limitations and controversies
We should be real here: these records are "confirmed" by the militaries that claim them, but there isn't exactly a referee on the battlefield. The 4,000-meter shot was verified via drone footage, which helps. However, organizations like Guinness World Records don't touch combat kills.
There's also the question of "first-shot" accuracy. In many of these extreme long-range cases, the sniper fires a "cold bore" shot or a ranging shot first. They see where it hits, adjust the scope, and then fire for effect. Does that make it less impressive? Maybe to some. But in a war zone, the only thing that matters is if the target is neutralized.
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What’s next for long-range shooting?
The commander of the "Phantom" sniper group, known by the callsign "Ghost of Bakhmut," recently suggested that with more modifications to the Alligator rifle, 5,000 meters is actually possible. 5 kilometers. That's three miles.
To get there, they'll need even better stabilization and perhaps custom-machined "monolithic" bullets made from solid brass or copper. These rounds are more consistent than standard lead-core ammo.
If you're interested in the mechanics of this, look into the Horizon's Lord rifle and the 12.7x114 HL wildcat cartridge. It’s a 14.5mm casing necked down to hold a .50 caliber bullet. This creates insane pressure and velocity, which is exactly what you need to keep a bullet supersonic for as long as possible. Once a bullet drops below the speed of sound (the transonic zone), it becomes unstable and starts to "tumble." Keeping it fast is the key to distance.
Next Steps for Enthusiasts:
- Study External Ballistics: Research the "G7 ballistic coefficient" to understand why certain bullet shapes fly further.
- Follow OSINT Channels: Watch for released drone footage from the Ukrainian 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade; they often post technical breakdowns of long-range engagements.
- Explore Anti-Materiel Rifles: Look up the technical specs of the McMillan TAC-50 compared to the Snipex Alligator to see how "heavy" calibers are replacing traditional sniper rounds.