SEAL shooters: What did they use?

What hardware do you believe may have been used to rescue Capt. Phillips?

  • M40A3

    Votes: 23 14.3%
  • M16-based Special Purpose Rifle (SPR)

    Votes: 27 16.8%
  • Accurized M14

    Votes: 61 37.9%
  • Barret .50 cal. or other make/model

    Votes: 28 17.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 22 13.7%

  • Total voters
    161
  • Poll closed .
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Surprised there hasn't been any discussion on this. A non-shooting friend of all people just asked me out of the blue what I thought they might have used.

Since specualtion is the new national pastime, I'll toss it out there until some sort of official confirmation is issued.

I'll add a poll, which I've never done. Feel free to discuss your general thoughts on the operation. I still can't fathom how they pulled it off. Yes, with scopes the bad guys heads were probably the size of Subarus. But the complexity of not just one, but three timed shots from a moving platform, shooting at another moving platform, with everything moving in multiple axis, just makes me respect the skill of these guys that much more. And I was pretty already maxed out in the respect of skill department for your typical military sniper.

Anyway, I figure the options are pretty straightforward, and feel free to correct, add, or generally inform as things warrant. I am assuming they used something in a .308, but what do I know? My best guesses would be one or more of the following: -M40A3 -Special Purpose Rifle/M16 variant -M14 -accurized FWIW, I never would have guessed they'd have gone this route. I voted for the M14 only because I have a nice new one with a few NM touches in a black McMillan stock, not because I have any real idea what these incredible professionals would have used. SDM these guys ain't, but I felt I had to include the M14 as an option. And no, I don't really think a .50 would have been used at this distance, but I tossed it in the poll since there were already so few options.

As an aside, I woulda bet all my armchair commando money that it would have been three or four SEALS popping up from one of the few recently converted SSBN's, doing their business from the sides of the boat with MP5 type weaponry at close distance. Shows ya what I know.

Discuss..
 
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Reports I have heard said the shots were taken from 100 feet Just over 30 yards.
Well within the range of MP5s and above. Too close for the Barrett though.
 
The video clip they kept showing today showed a gentleman on the ship with what looked like a customized m14. Can't be certain that he was one of the trigger pullers though.
 
i wonder if they put the newly adopted m110 to use? supposedly its going to replace the M40.
 
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It was close enough that they could have done it with sidearms (although it would have been difficult on a moving target like that).

Coulda just been an M-16 variant, which is my guess.
 
I am pretty sure the rifle was a bolt gun consisting of a badger ordnance receiver with a Mike Rock 5R barrel. The optic used was from "Countersniper" optics... The SEAL I met at the last gun show I went to confirmed this...
 
Outstanding point! I will try and ammend the poll to reflect the glaring ommission of this system.

Well, if a poll can be edited once its started, I can't figure it out. That said, voters for the MK11 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) can certainly check off "other" and mention their choice in a post and we can see how the voting shakes out in the end. Sorry, my bad for missing that system as an option!

Greg, I hear you loud and clear on the whole "what they want us to know" thing. I have those concerns too. And your suggestion is more in line with my original armchair theory, which just feels tactically more realistic than the amazing triple shots being describd. Plus, there had to be some witnesses to this op. My flipside to that worry is that regardless of the method, the haters out there are gonna hate anyway, and would an "up close" and personal operation be that much more frowned upon than head shots at X number of yards. The haters will scream "execution" either way. I can already hear that coming... Good input though. Thanks.
 
We will never know the details. It does not matter to me,the scumbags are dead,the SEAL'S are ok as well as the captain. Enough said.[grin]
 
A supressed USP.45 from about 3 feet away.

We are hearing what they WANT us to hear.

I completely agree! It was a forced entry. The Navy wouldn't just give up its playbook.

Besides, the pirates (all three of them) would have to have been extremely cavalier/idiotic to stick their heads out of that lifeboat, knowing that they were within earshot of their enemy.
 
I completely agree! It was a forced entry. The Navy wouldn't just give up its playbook.

Besides, the pirates (all three of them) would have to have been extremely cavalier/idiotic to stick their heads out of that lifeboat, knowing that they were within earshot of their enemy.

Good to see I'm not alone with the idea that it just seems like they did it the extra hard, low percentage way according to the official story.

As far as them all sticking their heads out at once, I have this image in my head that some U.S. female language expert sailor yelled out in a sexy, perfectly accented Somali voice: "Hey guys, I got a heaping plate of fresh roasted goat out here for ya."
 
Honestly, I could care less how they did it, or what they used I just see 3 Pirates KIA, 1 family getting one hell of an easter present courtesy of the USN Seals.

As far as 'up close and personal' I highly doubt it given the layout of the lifeboat.

Singe entrance/exit and its fully covered.
 
A supressed MK23 from about 3 feet away.

We are hearing what they WANT us to hear.

+1 if they didn't just pull them into the water and knife them... There is NO WAY that even SEAL snipers could hit a target bobbing up and down in the ocean from platform that is also bobbing up in down (even at 100 meters or so)... 6 guys in scuba gear handled this operation [mg][mg][mg][mg][mg][mg]
 
A small radio controlled boat with a large tray of Khat attached to it was
motored out to the lifeboat.... when the pirates went to retrieve it, that's when the shooting started. [laugh]

-Mike
 
I agree with the posters above. My stepfather was a seal and we were at my house watching the news on Easter Sunday and he laughed when they reported the whole sniper story. He said it would be impossible to make that shot in those conditions from that distance with 3 different shooters. Plus, they would not take the chance. They had to be 100% sure they killed them the first time or El Capitahn was a dead man. He said they swam out to the boat, boarded, and took out the trash from maybe 4-5 feet away but they will never tell us that.
 
+1 if they didn't just pull them into the water and knife them... There is NO WAY that even SEAL snipers could hit a target bobbing up and down in the ocean from platform that is also bobbing up in down (even at 100 meters or so)... 6 guys in scuba gear handled this operation [mg][mg][mg][mg][mg][mg]

it was like 25 yards away. bobbing or no bobbing, still an easy shot for those guys.

Although I wouldnt rule out the covert snipe from feet away, I will go with a standard 308.
 
They probably got in close and punched their tickets point blank... but they can't tell anyone that's what they did because Obama didn't give them the order to assault the boat, he only told them to use violence if the Captain's life was in immediate danger... and as we all know if they waited until he was in immediate danger it would have already been too late to do anything about it.
 
I don't know what they used, but this gets my vote for next time, before they get on board. The first news reports said there was several minutes of shooting, as pointed out we won't ever know how it was done. I'm just happy for a good job and if they don't tell how fine by me.

http://blackrod.blogspot.com/2009/04/war-in-afghanistan-2009-week-14.html
A Taliban commander was hit in the chest with a 35 pound shell fired from the gun 1.8 miles away. The blast killed him instantly and blew apart two of his subordinates. Time from firing to detonation: 5 seconds.
 
242.jpg
[smile]
 
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