I’m not so sure I’d do it that way. You?

84 COMMENTS

  1. I believe I would try to get a second barrel to rest my elbows on. With that much wobbling going on, I don’t see how he could keep the target in his scope. Also should set up farther back from the window to make himself harder to see.

  2. Jeez. Among the many items of fail, move the hell back from the window, and use something to damp down the dust when you fire.

    I’m no sniper – that’s just basic FIBUA stuff.

    • Yep: “God is really pretty good. Yeah. OK, now make the shot good. Hit the target, my hirsute friend. This is important. Oh, and God is really quite good, you know? Don’t miss. Be careful. Make a good shot. Don’t miss, like before. Abdul, are you listing?”

    • “Come on, it’s my turn. You took the last shot!. I’m telling on you! God is Great!”

  3. Uhm, yeah… I see he’s using what I believe is one of chineese 12.7mms captured from gaddafi. As mentioned previously, the muzzle blast from a. 50 or equivalent can create quite a bit of dust. No real way around it in a place like That, I suppose. Besides perhaps, firing from back inside the room, through something a bit smaller than the hole where a picture Window used to reside. If I was desperate, i’d perhaps take a shot up the tanks butt, at the engine, or perhaps the main gun sight. A SINGLE shot, and hoof it. None of that matters though, as his cameraman is nice and exposed. I do admire their spirit though.

  4. Don’t stand when you can squat. Don’t squat if you can kneel. Don’t kneel if you can sit. Don’t sit if you can go prone.

    Get your damn barrel inside the structure. Go prone in the doorway if you can.

  5. First; you’d be taking up a position further inside, you’d be prone and you wouldn’t be firing multiple rounds from the same position…of course we are talking about one side that’s just as incompetent as the other here – and both just as cowardly.

    Next; if possible, wetting the area (dust control) would be a good idea. This whole thing reminds me that in this part of the world, not only is accuracy relative, but in general they are all carrying some pretty brutally crafted variants of the AK that are even more horribly cared for (of course I am talking about his possible targets…actually in this case it almost looked like they were targeting the tank crew). And acquiring a precise sight picture requires a little patience and commitment, neither of which these 7th century thugs possess.

    • Where was the cowardice? It isn’t like he was using a Galil to shoot kids throwing rocks or blowing up wedding parties with a drone fired missile. Do you consider the recently deceased sniper Kyle a coward?

    • How got to Syria may not be known but you can bet Santa Barak paid for the shipping if not for the hardware/CL V.

      • That or Syria bought them and the rebels got their hands on them by theft or defection. Syria and China have a pretty buddy buddy arms sales relationship.

  6. Sure, every other breath it’s “Allahu Akbar” but they’re not radical Islamists. Amirite?

    • Every time I hear that my blood pressure goes up a few points. I have NEVER heard those words uttered just prior to something good happening, other than a video I saw in which a terrorist says it, drops a mortar round down the tube, then the whole thing blows up in his face.

      • I think you disproved your “nothing good ever follows hearing that” theory with the mortar anecdote. 🙂

      • that video is amazing. puts me in a good mood.

        we had a terp yell that shit in the middle of the firefight to be funny. he almost got shot by us, but looking back its pretty hilarious to remember this guy running behind a bunch of Americans shooting it out with the Taliban and yelling Allah Akhbar. Oh Afghanistan.

    • They were using it in a way that would be similar to if I was nervously chattering,”Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.” Which makes me think that is simply a casual thing.

      • All kidding aside, yes, it’s said so often in their culture that it’s practically devoid of meaning most of the time. It’s more like a westerner saying “OK” than anything religious.

    • Is there any real difference between that and a Southern Baptist or Pentecostal saying “Praise the Lord” ten times a minute?

      Damned Christianityists…

      • You mean, other than the fact that the “Christianityists” aren’t trying to cut your head off, rape camels, or mutilate female genitals?

      • I’m with Splashman on this one. I do also think the “praise The Lord” stuff is obnoxious, but I can handle it better because I don’t associate it with something exploding or poorly aimed AK fire.

      • “allahu akbar” means allah is great, yes. in a cultural and historical perspective what they are really saying is “Allah is greater” or “Allah is greater than you” or “Allah is greater than your god.”

        It is a challenge, in a sense.

        Not really comparable to “praise the Lord”.

      • Dude! Didn’t you hear about those bible beating christian fanatics murdering hundreds of school kids in Russia; or how about shooting hundreds of people In Mumbia, India; or that Christian Major Hasan that shot up Fort Hood or those Christian fanatics flying those planes into the twin towers murdering over 3000 Americans on 9/11?

        Oh, wait a minute, Darn! Those were MUSLIM Koran beating fanaticts.

        Just wait, one christian nut somewhere will one day murder a bunch of people and then FINALLY we can blame ALL Christians to be just as bad as the mass of mass murdering Muslims.

        • Anyone who goes out and kills (murder) is not a Christian (not the same as self- defense), If you want to understand about sniping get a copy of a “A Rifleman Went to War” (out of print) Jeff Cooper even said this book about WW1 is the classic book of all times on and about a Sniper (Canada)… He learned the Art and wrote what many later had to do and learn >TIP never Snipe from a building , return fire will always be returned to the building ,,, but if you were 75 yards away behind a bush and in a fox hole , they most likely will miss your location…

  7. check out the VICE magazine vid (snipers of Aleppo) where one guy says he got a 1500 meter kill with an AK/Acog. I bet he went to tactical response to learn that……….

  8. When do we get to see the video from the other point of view. You know, the guys with the tank. Show them chanting God Is Great while the 125mm main gun on their tank pounds out the building where dummy proved he didn’t know jack shit about successfully engaging the enemy.

    • Y’know, a round or two down the muzzle of Mr. Tank might get some interesting results…

      • I don’t know, if you’re shooting down the muzzle, guess where it’s pointed and the tank canon trumps your .50.

  9. Shoot off a table from a chair or prone in the back of the room with a piece of netting or muslin taped to the front ceiling and pulled back down at an angle to the foot of your table.

    • Umm, why would you tape a muslim to the ceiling? Seems like a waste of good duck tape. 🙂

  10. Never shoot from a building, that’s the first place to return fire to, If he was a combat sniper he would be behind some bushes , rocks, sand pile, trees, in a hole , but not a building .. so much for field craft!

    • Lots of successful sniping done from buildings, through history and in every war since guns become common-use items for soldiers. However, they WERE using bad field-craft for their particular shooting position. See comments above. Move to back of room where there’s less glare coming at you, and less visibility in for those looking for you. Use some techniques to reduce the dust-plume. Use a better supporting platform. Etc., etc.

  11. Sure – you could do it that way – if you wanted to let everyone know exactly where you were.

    Sun at your front lighting up the room and the gun barrel. Makes a great silhouette of your face and body looking through a scope. If that isn’t obvious there is the two hundred cubic feet of dust blown out the window when he fires. All very professional.

    Even a guy that watched “enemy at the gates” would be better trained than this guy. If he would stop saying “Allah Akbar” for ten seconds and go rent that DVD it might be beneficial.

  12. We have to remember that these guys most likely have jack crap in terms of gear. No netting, no buckets of water. And no, he wouldn’t shoot from a lower elevation like the ground, the tank is behind a mound, and you can hardly get a good profile on it as it is. Add that to the lack of training, and you realize they need all the help they can get. I also disagree that they should have been further in. The brake is the only thing outside, and they most likely stir up less dust by having it outside than the massive cloud off the floor. And, since they are that far away, the profile of the barrel, and the mitigated muzzle flash out in the bright sunlight, (as opposed to the dim interior), is less of an indicator, than the flash and telltale cloud of dust that would have occurred from inside the building. The only thing I have a problem with is the lack of support for the shooter’s arm.

    • You can underestimate them all you want. I see some poorly trained, marginally equipped dudes who nonetheless pull their shit together and try to take on a tank. That deserves some healthy respect, if only because next time around the survivors will have just as much guts, more experience, and possibly some more training.

      Dismissing guys like this as inbreeders would be a mistake. They’re not going to build a nuke anytime soon, but they’re willing to put it all on the line even against poor odds.

      • Y’know, a round or two down the muzzle of Mr. Tank might get some interesting results…

      • Guts doesn’t mitigate the fact that broad swathes of the Muslim world HAVE been inbreeding for centuries to take advantage of sharia property inheritance laws. And while many of ’em are silly enough to think that Allah will guide the bullets (which may explain the guy with the camera chanting and praying), to quote one of my instructors once upon a time, “The problem is, sometimes, Allah DOES guide a bullet or two.”

        Though I will admit for the entire video I was listening for the sounds of Return Fire. I’ve never heard anyone saying “Allah Akbar” that many times in a row when he was up to anything I’d particularly like.

        • no doubt they have balls, but religious fanaticism and a lifetime of indoctrination (memorize the Koran by like age 12 or something?) can’t be healthy for the reasoning centers in their brains. I don’t care if they need help, I don’t want to give it to either side. Let’s see, help government thugs who rape and murder their civilians or help religious thugs who think I’m an infidel and lower than pig shit, who rape and murder their countrymen… We should just ignore the whole show over there.

        • The fact that the USA support tthe rebels with equipment and indoctrination isn’t relevant? Is it?

  13. If I were _him_.. I would put on a bright-hot-pink jacket with a neon sign and stick that barrel out the window a little further. No really, if any snack-bar snipers are out there.. that’s how they teach it in the Marines. Remember, hot-pink, neon signs and stick the barrel out really far.. stand up straight and wave to your target like you have a pair.

  14. Would like to have one of those selective fire AK’s,and the ammo that they shot.would be a nice package.Keep your powder dry.

  15. He just shot at a probably very unhappy tank crew who were in or around their tank. I would say it was time to relocate before that second floor becomes a one level ranch.

  16. It’s kind of disappointing how much racism is going on here.

    It’s true that that fella keeps repeating “Allahu Akbar,” but as was said upstream, it’s just the guy being nervous. (as Dracon1201 said: “Oh God, Oh God, Oh God.”)

    I’m all for making fun of religion (Islam deserves it, as does Christianity, Judaism, Hindusim, Buddhism, etc.), and ripping on religious people…but I don’t see how the scene we watched is different from any other rebel group since WW1: poorly trained (if at all), doing something incredibly difficult with the tools at hand.

    Filming it is truly 21st century, but the “God is Great” stuff is culturally the same as any white American saying “Oh God,” “praise Jesus,” or any number of weird religious utterances people make when they are shooting at a tank that is probably fixing to shoot back.

    • Yeah, no

      Ive spent a shit ton of time with Afghans in combat. They never once said Allahu Akhbar in combat (and yes, while they spoke Pashto instead of Arabic, since all prayers of Islam must be spoken in Arabic, you do hear Allahu Akhbar in the daily prayers), even when we were pinned down and they were scared shitless. It is not a cultural equivalent at all. Particularly when you consider that not all Muslims share the same cultural identities. Such a broad assumption about the culture and context is a bit shortsighted. It is part of a prayer. When it is uttered, it is a prayer praising the glory of Allah. The meaning and intent varies in context. In the most amazing mortar video ever, they are praying for guidance for the mortars to hit their targets, much like the sniper in this video. Suicide bombers say it in hopes they will go to heaven. Ive seen detainees say it as an insult to their captors and in defiance of their captivity. We have training videos of dudes emplacing IEDs and saying it, presumable for protections against accidental detonations (happily this happens all the time) and to bless the IED.

      So no, it is not just “oh god”. Its meaning varies with context. It overwhelmingly pops up, however, in circumstances where ones training and skills aren’t enough to instill confidence, and divine intervention is requested.

      Ive witnesses muslim prayers and heard Allahu Akhbar hundreds of times in a non threatening manner. But I’ve also seen it said in hate and violence.

      If I were the shooter here, I would tell that dude to shut the F*** up so I can concentrate. Also, as pointed out above, id probably be set up a bit more professionally. And probably not shooting at a tank. It is what it is though.

    • First, the depth of stupidity engaging a tank with that weapon at the range in that building with that set up is beyond words.

      A comment on the immigration piece per the Blaze above. I took a 45 minute ride in a cab this week in a city out West. Long story, but my driver and I had a discussion about guns,among other things, on the long ride to the airport. He hates them and thinks no “regular people” should have them. He is a Somalian refugee and has been in the US about 20 years. He was a “fighter” and when he dropped me off showed me 2 of his 3 gunshot wound scars on his lower legs. The dude was literally covered with scars. I asked who he fought for and he shrugged, saying who ever was in charge in his neighborhood. As I departed, I asked if he had ever fought against the US Military or the UN. He shook his head no, but gave me a crooked smile of his perfect teeth and shrugged. I $h!t you not. Based on his age now, he was a child when ‘fighting’ but he along with 20 of his family are the types of people that we allow to immigrate as refugees.

  17. I see guys shooting repeatedly from a painfully exposed position, at a tank that managed to silhouette itself almost perfectly to allow a sniper from the buildings below to pick off any crew outside, with a cameraman hanging his lens out of the adjacent window and into the sun as if lens flash is an urban myth.

    It’s kind of a kaleidoscope of fail. At this rate, I expect the civil war to continue indefinitely, because I don’t see how anyone can possibly win.

  18. Okay… gotta weigh in. All of you offering up critiques and suggestions to these hirsute “freedom fighters” are wrong…. these guys are doing everything exactly right and using the best tactics available…. please Ahmed… keep doing this precisely the way shown in this video… with one minor improvement. Mirrored sunglasses will cut down on the glare.

  19. Wow, way to be racist dinks. These people are probably more on your side than against you, right? They’re fighting for their freedom. Which a lot of you like to talk about as some honorable thing…except when a brown person is doing it. What they’re doing takes some real guts. They don’t have your expertise with guns. They don’t have sniper training. But they’re doing shit instead of just armchair quarterbacking.

    Is it any wonder the public is siding with grabbers? You guys are making your own cause hard for John Q Public to support.

  20. I won’t repeat the obvious tactical blunders. The religious chattering is as far as I can tell likely a combination of prayer and nerves. I think what’s being missed is that there are many types of tanks that are vulnerable to .50BMG fire. Given the state of the optics on the average Russian cast off tank however I certainly would prefer some concealment since it tends to beat a rifle scope. I can’t help but observe that the tank never moves or even sweeps it’s gun which makes me think it’s abandoned or disabled, or perhaps that the ‘sniper’ missed completely (which, given his form is possible). I cannot imagine a tank crew who would simply ignore .50cal rounds hitting their vehicle, not only because it’s dangerous and apt to damage something, not only because it’s annoying and at least off putting to be shot at even if the fire is ineffective, but because a tank crew generally consists of soldiers who in turn generally do things like ‘engage the enemy’.

    Combine the incessant prayer with the non-reaction of the tankers and I have to suspect this was staged for the camera.

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