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.

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Some notable military snipers include

More information Name, Lived ...

Name	Lived	Active	Notes	Confirmed sniper kills	Nationality
Noah Adamia	1919–1942	1938–1942	A Soviet Georgian naval infantryman who is credited with over 200 kills and several tanks knocked out.[1] Trained another 80 snipers within a couple of months during the Second World War.[2]	200+	Soviet Union
Josef Allerberger	him	1943–1945	A German sniper who fought with the II Battalion of the 144th Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division; he served on the Eastern Front, and was credited with 257 kills. Allerberger is the second most successful German sniper.[3]	257	Nazi Germany
Hiram Berdan	1824–1893	1861–1864	The commander of the 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters during the American Civil War.[4]	N/A	United States
Herman Davis	1888–1923	1918	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.[5][6]	60	United States
Fedir Dyachenko	1917–1995	1932–1945	Soviet Ukrainian sniper during World War II, credited with as many as 425 kills and awarded with the Hero of the Soviet Union.	425	Soviet Union
Rob Furlong	1976–	1996–2003	A Canadian Army sniper who held the record for the kill from the greatest distance during Operation Anaconda, War in Afghanistan.[7]	1+	Canada
Lucky Bisht	1988–	2003–2019	An Indian Secret Service Sniper, Nickname Lima[8] who has a record that he shot the heads of two gangsters with a single bullet, killing both but till date no agency has been able to find out how he did this.[9] He is also alleged to be a contract killer.[10][11][12] [13]	139	India
Gary Gordon	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.[14]	N/A	United States
Craig Harrison	1974-	1990-2014	A British Army sniper who achieved the fourth longest confirmed kill shot in history (2,475 m) using the Accuracy International L115A3 Long Range Rifle.[15]	N/A	United Kingdom
Carlos Hathcock	1942–1999	1959–1979	A renowned United States Marine Corps sniper who is credited with 93 confirmed kills.[16][17]	93	United States
Dejan Berić	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	Serbia
Simo Häyhä	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.[18] 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.[19][20]	259-542	Finland
Musa Herdem [ku; pt]	1987–2015	2006–2015	A YPG sniper known as 'Musa' with allegedly more than 80 confirmed kills, mainly during the fighting for Kobani during the Syrian Civil War.[21]		Rojava PJAK PKK
Matthäus Hetzenauer	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.[22]	345	Nazi Germany
Abukhadzhi Idrisov	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. [23]	349+	Soviet Union
Nikolai Ilyin	1925–1943	1941–1943	Soviet sniper with 494 kills, who fought in the 50th Guards Rifle Division during the Battle of Stalingrad, World War II.[24]	494	Soviet Union
Nicholas Irving	1987–	2004–2010	A sniper nicknamed "The Reaper" with the 3rd Ranger Battalion deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, with 33 confirmed kills.[25]	33	United States
Juba	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.[citation needed]	100+ (Allegedly) 37 (confirmed)	Iraq
Tatang Koswara	1947–2015	1975–1976	A sniper credited with at least 41 confirmed kills in only a single mission during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in the 1970s. Other story said he killed 49 in a single mission, because he saved one bullet for himself out of 50 bullets he brought [26]	41+	Indonesia
Ivan Kulbertinov	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.[27][28]	252	Soviet Union
Vasilij Kvachantiradze	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.[29] Known for almost single-handedly thwarting a German assault on Shumilino in Belarus.[30]	500+	Soviet Union
Chris Kyle	1974–2013	1999–2009	A US Navy SEAL credited with 160 confirmed kills by the Pentagon, but who allegedly killed 255.[31]	160	United States
Marie Ljalková	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.[32]	30+	Czechoslovakia
Charles Marlowe	1968–	1987–1990	A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most solo missions completed (27).[33]	46	United States
Chuck Mawhinney	1949–	1967–1970	A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most confirmed kills by a US Marine (103),[34] with an additional 216 "probable kills".	103 - 319	United States
Herbert W. McBride	1873–1933	1914–1918	A US citizen who serves as a captain in the 21st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during World War One.[35]	100+	United States
Philip McDonald	1886–1916	1914–1916	8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF, 42 confirmed kills during the First World War. Killed in action 3 January 1916.[36]	42	Canada
Neville Methven	N/A	1916–1918	A big game hunter and target shooter who served as an officer with Sir Abe Bailey's South African Sharpshooters on the Western Front during World War One.[citation needed]	100	South Africa
Olga Minchakievich	1898-1920	1917-1920	World War One and Russian Civil War sniper. Regular member of The 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death.	129	Russian Republic
Tatianna Minchakievich	1900-1920	1918-1920	World War One and Russian Civil War sniper. Regular member of The 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death. One of the highest confirmed number of kills of any female at 93 kills using only the iron sights of a 7.62x54mm Mosin-Nagant Model 1891.	93	Russian Republic
Timothy Murphy	1751–1818	1775–1780	An American Revolutionary War sniper credited with killing British General Simon Fraser during the Battle of Saratoga.[37]	1+	United States
Semyon Nomokonov	1900–1973	1941–1945	A Soviet Russian World War II sniper with 367 logged kills.[38]	367	Soviet Union
Henry Norwest	1884–1918	1915–1918	A sniper in the 50th Canadian Infantry Battalion during the First World War. He had 115 confirmed kills and was killed by a German sniper on 18 August 1918.[39]	115	Canada
Fyodor Okhlopkov	1908–1968	1941–1945	A Russian Soviet sniper credited with 423 confirmed kills during World War II.[40]	423	Soviet Union
Johnson Paudash	1875–1959	1914–1918	A member of the 21st Battalion (Eastern Ontario), CEF during World War One who made 88 confirmed kills.[41]	88	Canada
Lyudmila Pavlichenko	1916–1974	1941–1953	Soviet sniper. The most successful female sniper 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[40]	309	Soviet Union
Vladimir Pchelintsev	1919–2001	1941–1945	Credited with 152 kills using a Mosin-Nagant 1891 rifle during the Second World War.[42]	152	Soviet Union
Francis Pegahmagabow	1891–1952	1914–1919	An Ojibwe sniper in World War I who is credited with 378 kills, and an unknown number of unconfirmed kills.[43]	378	Canada
Friedrich Pein	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.[citation needed]	200+	Nazi Germany
Arron Perry	1972–	1999–2005	A Canadian Army sniper who briefly held the record for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill in 2002.[7]	1+	Canada
Stepan Petrenko	1922–1984	1941–1945	Soviet sniper during the Second World War with 422 confirmed kills, awarded the HSU (Hero of the Soviet Union).[24]	422	Soviet Union
Ranjith Premasiri Madalana (Nero)	1969–2009	2000–2009	A sniper in the Sri Lanka Army during the country's civil war alias "Nero" who is recorded as having made 217 confirmed kills of Tamil Tigers.[44]	217	Sri Lanka
Graham Ragsdale	1969–	1988–2003	A former Canadian Army sniper who fought in Afghanistan in 2002[7] and 2005-2014 as a designated defensive marksman with private military companies.	56	Canada
Patrick Riel	1876–1916	1914–1916	A Métis Canadian attached to the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF during the First World War with 30 confirmed kills. Killed in action by shell fire on 14 January 1916.[45]	30	Canada
Ben Roberts-Smith	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.[46] Subsequently, awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia in 2011.	N/A	Australia
Ian Robertson	1927–2014	1945–1953	A sniper with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment after the Second World War, becoming one of the most effective snipers of the Korean War. In a single morning, Robertson killed 30 enemy soldiers.[47]	30+	Australia
Roza Shanina	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.[48]	60	Soviet Union
Justin Dygert	1986-	2005-2011	JSOC A Scout Sniper who was awarded for protecting the injured crew of a downed helicopter during a firefight in Somalia.[14]	41	United States
Ivan Sidorenko	1919–1994	1939–1945	A Soviet sniper credited with over 500 kills during the Second World War.[citation needed]	500+	Soviet Union
Billy Sing	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.[49]	150+	Australia
Mikhail Surkov	1921–1953	1941–1945	Soviet sniper in World War II. Official documents indicate a tally around 236 kills, although newspapers inflated his tally to over 700 kills.[50][51]	236	Soviet Union
Bruno Sutkus	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.[citation needed]	209	Nazi Germany
Abu Tahsin al-Salhi	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.[52][53][54] However, his kills in other wars other than against ISIS are unaccounted for and unknown.	341+ (against ISIS only) (Alleged)	Iraq
Adelbert Waldron	1933–1995	1968–1970	A United States Army sniper who formerly held the record for the most confirmed kills by a US military sniper (109).[55]	109	United States
Alvin York	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.[citation needed]	28[citation needed]	United States
Vasily Zaytsev	1915–1991	1937–1945	A Soviet sniper who fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. Zaytsev is credited with 242 kills (including 11 snipers).[40]	242	Soviet Union
Zhang Taofang	1931–2007	1953–1985	A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 214 confirmed kills over 32 days.[56]	214	China
Abdorrasul Zarrin	1941–1984	1979–1984	An Iranian sniper in the Iran–Iraq War. He had 700 kills during the war. According to Seyyed Ahmad Mousavi, his friend and Intelligence Commander of the Younis Diver Battalion of Imam Hussein army asked Zarrin how many kills did he had, and he said more than 3,000 kills. The Jamejam newspaper agreed on this number.	700+	Iran
James George Smith Neill	N/A	1857	An unknown Indian sniper, who fought for the Oudh state during the Siege of Lucknow in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, nicknamed "Jim the nailer" by defending British soldiers.[57]	N/A	Oudh
Zhou Xixiang	1931–	1950–???	A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 203 confirmed kills with 206 bullets.[58]	203	China
	N/A		A soldier who is reputedly the deadliest sniper alive as of 2009 with 173 confirmed kills, mostly with the L115A3 on a single tour with British Army in Afghanistan in 2006–2007, including over 90 Taliban members in one day.[59]	173	United Kingdom

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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, as well as police sharpshooters. Some non-military snipers include:

More information Name, Lived ...

Name	Lived	Notes	Nationality
Frank Carter	1881–1927	A notorious murderer in Omaha, Nebraska, who claimed to have murdered 43 victims.[60]	United States
Michael Andrew Clark	1949–1965	A teenage sniper who killed three and wounded six in Highway 101 shooting spree on 25 April 1965.[61]	United States
Byron De La Beckwith	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.[citation needed]	United States
William "Billy" Dixon	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.[citation needed]	United States
Tha'ir Kayid Hamad	1980-	A Palestinian sniper who killed 7 Israeli soldiers and 3 Israeli civilian settlers with a WWII-era Mauser rifle during the Second Intifada in 2002. He would be arrested two years later and sentenced to life imprisonment.[62]	Palestine
Jack Hinson	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.[63]	United States
Lon Horiuchi	1954–	A Federal Bureau of Investigation sniper who shot Randy Weaver and shot and killed Vicki Weaver at Ruby Ridge.[64]	United States
Thomas "Tom" Horn, Jr.	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.[65]	United States
John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo	1960–2009 1985–	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.[citation needed]	United States
Lee Harvey Oswald	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.[66]	United States
Stephen Paddock	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.[citation needed]	United States
Charles Whitman	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.[67]	United States

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• Snipers of the Soviet Union