The longest shot

[Waterloo50]

I have just finished reading an article called 'The Longest Shot', the shot (Scratch Shot) in question was made by Billy Dixon in 1874, he apparently dropped a man at a distance of 1,538 yards. In order to make this shot he would have to aim 26.5 feet above the target to allow for the drop. He used a 50-90 Sharps rifle to make his kill.

In more recent times the longest shot record was made by a British Soldier Craig Harrison, of the UK's Household Cavalry, who recorded a 2,707 yd shot which he made in November 2009.

Were there any long shots made during the Civil War that have become legendary?

Many Thanks
Waterloo

 

[alexjack]

What about the one that killed John Sedgewick?

 

[Borderruffian]

Dixon used a Sharps 'Big Fifty" he was a Buffalo Hunter used to longer shots,which is why he was at Adobe Walls. I,m sure there were some long shots in the WBTS,but I can't tell one off the top of my head.

 

[nitrofd]

I think the best longest shot was the canon ball that nailed Bishop Polk.

 

[TinCan]

On 5 December 1864, an unknown Confederate soldier stationed at Ft. Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, saw a Union soldier walking about Battery Gregg, a distance of 1,390 yards away. He raised his rifle (probably a Whitworth) and fired killing the soldier. That is longer than any confirmed sniper kill of WWI or WWII, and only 400 yards from making the modern top 10 list. It is listed as the 14th longest sniper kill in history.

 

[Aussie Billy Sherman]

I think the best longest shot was the canon ball that nailed Bishop Polk.

I hear bishop Polk was in pieces over that one lol

 

[Aussie Billy Sherman]

What about the one that killed John Sedgewick?

Hey they couldn't hit an elephant at that distance!

 

[Michael W.]

I think the best longest shot was the canon ball that nailed Bishop Polk.

I agree. Using a artillery piece as a sniping weapon to kill off one person....a Confederate General, at that....well, that is just classic.

 

[Private Watkins]

I have just finished reading an article called 'The Longest Shot', the shot (Scratch Shot) in question was made by Billy Dixon in 1874, he apparently dropped a man at a distance of 1,538 yards. In order to make this shot he would have to aim 26.5 feet above the target to allow for the drop. He used a 50-90 Sharps rifle to make his kill.

In more recent times the longest shot record was made by a British Soldier Craig Harrison, of the UK's Household Cavalry, who recorded a 2,707 yd shot which he made in November 2009.

Were there any long shots made during the Civil War that have become legendary?

Many Thanks
Waterloo

I have visited the Adobe Walls site and seen what I think was the approximate shot & distance, and it really was impressive...

http://www.hutchinsoncountymuseum.org/adobe-walls.html

 

[Waterloo50]

I have visited the Adobe Walls site and seen what I think was the approximate shot & distance, and it really was impressive...
View attachment 93853
http://www.hutchinsoncountymuseum.org/adobe-walls.html

Fantastic picture, was the shot taken from the same position as the photograph was taken, I forgot to mention in my original post that Billy Dixon would also have to have aimed approximately 26 feet to the left of target to allow for windage. one hell of a shot or he was extremely lucky. I like to think that he was an extremely good shot.

Meanwhile, if any among the Indians were watching, they might have seen a cloud of smoke in the yard in front of the main house. It is easy to imagine their mirth at the thought of some foolish White-Eyes wasting powder and lead. Then, an eternal 4.1 seconds later, if they were quiet enough, they would have heard the distant rumble of the Big-Fifty Sharps.
Then, about 1.2 seconds after that distant sound reached them, the impossible happened! One of the assembled chiefs took a bullet. He then toppled from his horse--most undignified! Not surprisingly, the remaining assembled chiefs recognized that little incident as bad medicine; they therefore and forthwith terminated the Battle of Adobe Walls without any further consideration of dignity.
Masterson claimed and Dixon believed that he had killed the rider. Dixon never made such a claim; he only said that a rider clearly toppled from his horse. Indian accounts claim that the rider survived as the bullet hit him above the elbow, breaking his arm. Regardless, that one shot did the intended job--it ended the Battle of Adobe Walls, as it likely would have done if it had merely ricocheted into a horse.

 

[Dave Wilma]

Have any reenactors been able to recreate any of these shots? I would find the accounts more believable if they did.

 

[Waterloo50]

Have any reenactors been able to recreate any of these shots? I would find the accounts more believable if they did.

Yes the reenactors have recreated the shot with varying degrees of success.

'In all, we fired about 130 shots at the target after we got the gun properly zeroed. The majority of those shots were fired during bad wind conditions--when shooting 7/8 mile, bad wind conditions include even the slightest gusting, I could not even feel the changes that Bill was doping for, some of which required aiming-point changes of better than 30 feet! Nevertheless, we made thirteen hits on the silhouette. We could not keep track of all our near-hits. Similarly, we could not keep track of where every shot went. We can say, however, that most of those shots would have represented a considerable threat to a huddled group of about fifteen riders'.

Source:

Replicating Billy Dixon's Legendary Long-Shot

McPherson
Sunday, October 05, 2008

 

[Dave Wilma]

Yes the reenactors have recreated the shot with varying degrees of success.

That makes me question the accounts of one shot, one kill.

 

[Waterloo50]

That makes me question the accounts of one shot, one kill.

Well, the

That makes me question the accounts of one shot, one kill.

A further comment from the re-enactors that continued to experiment with the shot, their conclusion....
'If the question is, "Could Billy Dixon have toppled a hapless horseman from among a group of about fifteen riders located 7/8 of a mile distant," our study demonstrated that the answer is, most assuredly, YES.

 

[Waterloo50]

Well, the

A further comment from the re-enactors that continued to experiment with the shot, their conclusion....
'If the question is, "Could Billy Dixon have toppled a hapless horseman from among a group of about fifteen riders located 7/8 of a mile distant," our study demonstrated that the answer is, most assuredly, YES.

Its interesting that Bat Masterson originally tried to claim the credit for the shot.

 

[Dave Wilma]

Well, the

A further comment from the re-enactors that continued to experiment with the shot, their conclusion....
'If the question is, "Could Billy Dixon have toppled a hapless horseman from among a group of about fifteen riders located 7/8 of a mile distant," our study demonstrated that the answer is, most assuredly, YES.

Possible, but not probable. I think a lot of post war veteran accounts enjoy a certain license. I don't see a mention in the OP of one rider out of a group of fifteen.

I'd be interested to know how Dixon calculated the distance. Did the exigencies of combat allow for triangulation?

 

[Waterloo50]

Dixon was a renowned rifle shot. Not only did he employ his marksmanship skills in making a living, but he also practiced the sport of long-range target shooting. Further, he had the best equipment then available and that, I must add, was equipment that would rival some of our best today. Keep in mind that some of the long-range target records set in the 1870s & 1880s stood for generations, e.g., a 1000-yard group measuring 8.6-inches fired in 1886. Dixon was not handicapped by lack of equipment. In competent hands, given a good estimate of the range and calm conditions, Dixon's 50-2½ Sharps (a chambering introduced about 1872) was a formidable long-range combination. We do not know details of his load. However, almost certainly he used a paper-patched, pointed bullet that weighed well over one-ounce. Also, it is likely that he handloaded, using the best powder then available, and due care. After adjusting his long-range sight, Dixon took careful aim and, no doubt, made a few fine adjustments for any slight breeze, bullet rotation, alignment of the planets, that itch behind his neck, and any other affects he might have though significant. Then he touched the finely adjusted set trigger, to loose a projectile. His stated target was "The group of riders."

Perhaps the shot was more probable than possible given that he was aiming at a 'group of riders' rather than a single individual.

 

[Waterloo50]

I think Kurt Russell could play the part of Billy Dixon, they look similar, I feel a new movie coming on. 'The Longest shot staring Kurt Russell

 

[bankerpapaw]

I can't see that far, much less hit anything.

 

[Private Watkins]

Possible, but not probable. I think a lot of post war veteran accounts enjoy a certain license.

Question it all you want... you don't have to believe it even if it's been shown it was possible and that multiple eye witness accounts support it. There's no way to prove it did or did not happen... but just because it may not have been probable does not mean it didn't happen.