Wikipedia / List of snipers
Wikipedia / List of snipers
A sniper is a trained sharpshooter who operates alone, in a pair, or with a sniper team to maintain close visual contact with a target and engage the targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the detection capabilities of enemy personnel.
Military snipers
Some notable military snipers include:
Name | Lived | Active | Notes | Confirmedsniper kills | Nationality |
1919–1942 | 1938–1942 | A Soviet Georgian naval infantryman who is credited with over 200 kills and several tanks knocked out. Trained another 80 snipers within a couple of months during the Second World War. | 200+ | ||
1888–1923 | 1918 | An American sniper of the First World War, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Croix de Guerre with palm, the Croix de Guerre with Gilt Star and the Médaille Militaire awards from the American and French governments. | 60 | ||
1988– | 2003–2024 | Indian secret service agent who has had several books published about his life. | 139 | ||
1917–1995 | 1932–1946 | A Soviet Ukrainian sniper during World War II, credited with as many as 425 kills and awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union. | 425 | ||
1976– | 1996–2003 | A Canadian Army sniper who held the record for the kill from the greatest distance during Operation Anaconda, War in Afghanistan. | 1+ | ||
1960–1993 | 1978–1993 | A Delta Force sniper who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for protecting the injured crew of a downed helicopter during the Battle of Mogadishu. | N/A | ||
1974- | 1990–2014 | A British Army sniper who achieved the fourth longest confirmed kill shot in history (2,475m) using the Accuracy International L115A3 Long Range Rifle. | N/A | ||
1942–1999 | 1959–1979 | A renowned United States Marine Corps sniper who is credited with 93 confirmed kills. | 93 | ||
1974- | 2014–present | Simply known as Deki (Деки) is a Serbian volunteer in the forces of the Donetsk People's Republic with the rank of Major, who is fighting as a sniper in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. | N/A | ||
1905–2002 | 1939–1940 | A Finnish sniper during the 1939–40 Winter War known as the "White Death" from his habit of lying in the snow wearing snow camouflage and a white face mask, waiting for a target to appear. Antti Rantamaa, who served as a field chaplain in Häyhä's regiment, credited him with 259 confirmed kills by sniper rifle and equal number of kills by light machine gun and submachine gun during the war. All of Häyhä's kills were made over the course of fewer than 100 days, before he was seriously wounded—an average of just over 5 per day, with the highest daily count numbering 45 kills—at a time of year with few daylight hours. | 542 | ||
1924–2004 | 1943–1945 | An Austrian sniper on the Eastern Front during World War II who was credited with 345 kills between 1943 and 1945. | 345 | ||
1918–1983 | 1939–1944 | A Soviet Chechen sniper credited with 349+ kills during World War II. He was reported to have killed 100 soldiers in only 10 days of fighting. Awarded multiple of the highest state orders of the Soviet Union. | 349+ | ||
1925–1943 | 1941–1943 | A Soviet sniper with 494 kills, who fought in the 50th Guards Rifle Division during the Battle of Stalingrad, World War II. | 494 | ||
1986– | 2004–2010 | A sniper nicknamed "The Reaper" with the 3rd Ranger Battalion deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, with 33 confirmed kills. | 33 | ||
N/A | 2005–2007 | Juba (Arabic: جوبا) (also called "Joba") is the pseudonym of an alleged sniper involved in the Iraq War's insurgency. He participated in Iraqi Civil War as well as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. | 63 (confirmed) 700+ (alleged) | ||
1917–1993 | 1941–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper credited with 252, or alternatively 487 kills using a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle during the Second World War. | 252 | ||
1907–1950 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet Georgian sniper who is credited with 534 kills during World War II, one of the highest Soviet kill counts. Known for almost single-handedly thwarting a German assault on Shumilino in Belarus. | 534 | ||
1974–2013 | 1999–2009 | A US Navy SEAL credited with 160 confirmed kills by the Pentagon, but who allegedly killed 255. | 160 (confirmed)255 (alleged) | ||
1920–2011 | 1942–1953 | A Czech sniper fighting in the Soviet Army during World War II who was credited with at least 30 confirmed kills. | 30+ | ||
1949–2024 | 1967–1970 | A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most confirmed kills by a US Marine (103 kills), with an additional 216 "probable kills". | 103 - 319 | ||
1751–1818 | 1775–1780 | An American Revolutionary War sniper credited with killing British General Simon Fraser during the Battle of Saratoga. | 1+ | ||
1900–1973 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet Russian World War II sniper with 367 logged kills. | 367 | ||
1884–1918 | 1915–1918 | A sniper in the 50th Battalion (Calgary), CEF during the First World War. He had 115 confirmed kills and was killed by a German sniper on 18 August 1918. | 115 | ||
1908–1968 | 1941–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper credited with 423 confirmed kills during World War II. | 423 | ||
1875–1959 | 1914–1918 | A member of the 21st Battalion (Eastern Ontario), CEF during World War One who made 88 confirmed kills. | 88 | ||
1916–1974 | 1941–1953 | The most successful female sniper of all time, during World War II she served in the Soviet army and had 309 confirmed kills. Pavlichenko was called "Lady Death" for her ability with a sniper rifle. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odesa and the siege of Sevastopol. She was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union | 309 | ||
1919–2001 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet sniper credited with 152 kills using a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle during the Second World War. | 152 | ||
1891–1952 | 1914–1919 | An Ojibwe sniper in World War I who is credited with 378 kills, and an unknown number of unconfirmed kills. | 378 | ||
1915–1975 | 1943–1945 | An Austrian fighting in the German Army credited with over 200 kills on the Eastern Front between 1943 and 1945 during the Second World War. | 200+ | ||
1922–1984 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet sniper during the Second World War with 422 confirmed kills, awarded the HSU (Hero of the Soviet Union). | 422 | ||
Ranjith Premasiri Madalana (Nero) | 1969–2009 | 2000–2009 | A sniper in the Sri Lanka Army during the country's civil war alias "Nero". The Sri Lankan LTTE war ended on 18 May 2009 just 20 days after Corporal Premasiri's death. At the time of his death, he had served 18 years in the Sri Lanka Army and 9 years of it as a sniper with 217 confirmed kills of Tamil Tigers. | 217 | |
1969– | 1988–2003 | A former Canadian Army sniper who fought in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005–2014 as a designated defensive marksman with private military companies. | 56 | ||
1978– | 1996–2015 | A sniper with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment who was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in 2006 during Operation Perth in the Chora Valley of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. Subsequently, awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2011. | N/A | ||
1924–1945 | 1943–1945 | A Russian Soviet sniper during the Second World War, credited with 60 kills, including 12 soldiers during the Battle of Vilnius in 1944. | 60 | ||
1919–1994 | 1939–1945 | A Soviet sniper credited with over 500 kills during the Second World War. | 500+ | ||
1886–1943 | 1914–1918 | An Australian First World War sniper credited with over 150 confirmed kills. Contemporary evidence puts his tally at close to 300 kills. | 150+ | ||
1921–1953 | 1941–1945 | A Soviet sniper in World War II. Official documents indicate a tally around 236 kills, although newspapers inflated his tally to over 700 kills. | 236 | ||
1924–2003 | 1944–1945 | A Lithuanian sniper fighting in the German Army during the Second World War. He was credited with 209 kills on the Eastern Front between 1944 and 1945. | 209 | ||
1953–2017 | 1973–2017 | A sniper who fought in the Yom Kippur War, Iran–Iraq War, invasion of Kuwait, Gulf War, as well as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. However, his kills in other wars other than against ISIS are unaccounted for and unknown. | 341+ (against ISIS only) (Alleged) | ||
1887–1964 | 1917–1918 | An expert sharpshooter with the 82nd Infantry Division who used an M1917 Enfield rifle during the Meuse–Argonne offensive near Chatel-Chéhéry, France, 1918 in World War I. Medal of Honor recipient for leading an assault on machine gun positions. | 28 | ||
1915–1991 | 1937–1945 | A Soviet sniper who fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. Zaytsev is credited with 242 kills (including 11 snipers). | 242 | ||
1931–2007 | 1953–1985 | A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 214 confirmed kills over 32 days. | 214 | ||
1911 – 1943 | 1941–1943 | A Kazakh sniper in the Red Army during World War II who killed an estimated 289 enemy soldiers. He was nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 9 July 1943, but was initially awarded only the Order of Lenin. In 2022 he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Kazakhstan, the highest state honor of Kazakhstan. | 289 |
Police and federal snipers
Name | Lived | Notes | Kills | Nationality |
1954– | A Federal Bureau of Investigation sniper who shot Randy Weaver and shot and killed Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge. | 1 | ||
1860–1903 | An American Old West lawman, scout, and hired gunman, known for shooting cattle rustlers and sheepherders at long range with a Sharps rifle. | 17 (believed) |
Civilian snipers
Not all snipers are highly trained professional soldiers. The term is sometimes ambiguously used to describe criminals firing from cover at long range with a rifle. Some civilian snipers include:
Name | Lived | Notes | Kills | Nationality |
1881–1927 | A notorious murderer in Omaha, Nebraska, who claimed to have murdered 43 victims. | 43 (claimed) 2 (confirmed) | ||
1949-1965 | Michael Andrew Clark, A 16-year-old teenage sniper who killed three and wounded ten in Highway 101 shooting spree on 25 April 1965. | 3 | ||
1920–2001 | An ex-US Marine and white supremacist, assassinated NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers after the civil rights activist arrived home in Jackson, Mississippi on 12 June 1963. | 1 | ||
1850–1913 | Defended the Adobe Walls settlement against Native American attack with his legendary buffalo rifle, and was one of eight civilians in United States history to receive the Medal of Honor. | N/A | ||
1980– | A Palestinian sniper who was responsible for the Wadi al-Haramiya sniper attack with a WWII-era M1 Garand rifle during the Second Intifada in 2002. Israeli sources claim he killed 10 soldiers and settlers and injured 6 others, while Palestinian sources claim he killed 11 soldiers and injured 9 others. He would be arrested two years later and sentenced to life imprisonment. | 10 | ||
1807–1874 | A farmer who engaged Union troops at long range during the American Civil War and recorded 36 officer "kills" on his custom-made .50 caliber Kentucky long rifle with iron sights. | 36 (recorded) | ||
1960–20091985– | Perpetrators of the Beltway sniper attacks, a series of coordinated shootings that took place over three weeks in October 2002 in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Ten people were killed and three other victims were critically injured in several locations throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and along Interstate 95 in Virginia. | 10 | ||
1939–1963 | A former US Marine who assassinated President John F. Kennedy and shot Governor John Connally in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963, and shot at General Edwin Walker on 10 April 1963. | 2 | ||
1953–2017 | Perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting using multiple high-powered modified rifles from the 32nd floor of a high-rise hotel, killing 60 people and wounding over 800 others on 1 October 2017. | 60 | ||
1941–1966 | A college student and former US Marine who fired from a clock tower on the University of Texas Austin campus, killing 14 and wounding 32 on 1 August 1966. | 14 |
See also
References