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 :
NameLivedActiveNotesConfirmed
sniper kills		Nationality
Noah Adamia1919–19421938–1942A Soviet Georgian naval infantryman who is credited with over 200 kills and several tanks knocked out within a couple months during WWII.200+
Josef Allerberger1924–20041943–1945Allerberger was a German sniper, fighting with the II Battalion of the 144th Gebirgsjäger Regiment of the 3rd Mountain Division. He operated in the Eastern Front, and was credited with 257 kills. Second most successful German Sniper.257
Hiram Berdan1824–18931861–1864Commanded 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters during the American Civil War.N/A
Herman Davis1888–1923191860
Fedir Dyachenko1917–19951932–1945425
Rob Furlong1976–1996–2003A Canadian Army sniper who held the record for the kill from the greatest distance.1+
Gary Gordon1960–19931978–1993Delta 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
Craig Harrison1974–1990–2014British Army sniper who achieved the second longest confirmed kill shot in history using the Accuracy International L115A3 Long Range Rifle.1+
Carlos Hathcock1942–19991959–1979Renowned United States Marine Corps sniper with 93 confirmed kills.93
Simo Häyhä1905–20021925–1940A Finnish sniper known as the "White Death" from his habit of lying out in the snow in white snow camouflage, wearing a white face mask and waiting for a target to appear. Reportedly killed as a sniper between 505 and 542 soldiers with an iron sights-only SAKO M/28-30, as well as over 200 soldiers with a submachine gun while fighting as a group leader with the rest of his unit during the 1939–40 Winter War. All of Häyhä's kills were accomplished in less than 100 days before he was seriously wounded—an average of just over 5 per day, with the highest daily count of 25 kills—at a time of year with very few daylight hours.505–542
Musa Herdem1987–20152006–2015A YPG sniper known as 'Musa' with allegedly more than 80 confirmed kills, mainly during the fighting for Kobani.80
PJAK
PKK
Matthäus Hetzenauer1924–20041943–1945Austrian sniper on the Eastern Front during World War II who was credited with 345 kills between 1943 and 1945.345
Abukhadzhi Idrisov1918–19831939–1944A Soviet Chechen sniper with an alleged 349+ kills during World War II.349+
Nikolay Yakovlevich Ilyin1925–19431941–1943469
Nicholas Irving1987-2004–2010A sniper nicknamed "the reaper" with the 3rd Ranger Battalion deployed in Afghanistan in 2009, with 33 confirmed kills.33
Juba2005–2007Juba 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.37+
Tatang Koswara1947–20151975–1976A sniper credited with at least 41 confirmed kills during the Indonesian invasion of East Timor in the 1970s.41
Ivan Kulbertinov1917–19931941–1945Credited with 487 kills.487
Vasilij Kvachantiradze1907–19501941–1945A Soviet Georgian sniper who is credited with 534 kills during World War II, one of if not possibly the highest Soviet kill counts. Known for almost single-handedly thwarting a German assault on Shumilino in Belarus.N/A
Chris Kyle1974–20131999–2009A US Navy SEAL credited with 160 confirmed kills by the Pentagon, but supposedly killed 255 people.160
Marie Ljalková1920–20111942–1953A Czech sniper fighting in the Soviet Army during World War II, with at least 30 confirmed kills.30+
Charles Marlowe1968–1987-1990A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record solo missions completed.46
Chuck Mawhinney1949–1967–1970A United States Marine Corps sniper who holds the record for most confirmed kills by a US Marine.103
Herbert W. McBride1873–19331914–1918US citizen and captain in the 21st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force, during the First World War.100+
Philip McDonald1886–19161914–19168th Battalion, CEF, 70 confirmed kills during the First World War. Killed in action 3 January 1916.70
Neville Methven1916–1918Big game hunter and target shooter who served as an officer with Sir Abe Bailey's South African Sharpshooters on the Western Front.100
Timothy Murphy1751–18181775–1780An American Revolutionary War sniper who killed British General Simon Fraser during the Battle of Saratoga.1+
Semyon Nomokonov1900–19731941–1945A Soviet World War II sniper with 367 logged kills.367
Henry Norwest1884–19181915–1918A 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 1918.115
Fyodor Okhlopkov1908–19681941–1945One of the most effective Soviet snipers, credited with 423 confirmed kills during World War II.423
Johnson Paudash1875–19591914–191821st Battalion, CEF during World War One. 88 confirmed kills.88
Lyudmila Pavlichenko1916–19741941–1953The most successful female sniper during World War II. She served in the Soviet army and had 309 confirmed kills.309
Vladimir Pchelintsev1919–20011941–1945456
Francis Pegahmagabow1891–19521914–1919An Indigenous North American sniper in World War I who is credited with 378 kills, and an unknown number of unconfirmed kills.378
Friedrich Pein1915–19751943–1945Austrian fighting in the German Army credited with over 200 kills on the Eastern Front between 1943 and 1945 during the Second World War.200+
Arron Perry1972–1999–2005A Canadian Army sniper who briefly held the record for the longest-ever recorded and confirmed sniper kill in 2002.1+
Stepan Petrenko1922–19841941–1945422
Ranjith Premasiri Madalana 1979–20092000–2009Sniper in the Sri Lanka Army during the country's civil war, who is recorded to have 217 confirmed kills.217
Graham Ragsdale1969–A former Canadian Army sniper who fought in Afghanistan in 2003.N/A
Patrick Riel1876–19161914–1916Métis Canadian attached to the 8th Battalion, CEF during the First World War with 30 confirmed kills. Killed in action by shell fire on 14 January 1916.30
Ben Roberts-Smith1978–1996–2015Served as a sniper with the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. He was awarded the Medal of Gallantry for his actions in 2006 during Operation Perth in the Chora Valley of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan.N/A
Ian Robertson1927–20141945–1953Served as a sniper with Australia's 3RAR after World War 2. He became one of the most effective snipers during the Korean War. In one morning he killed 30 enemy soldiers.30+
Roza Shanina1924–19451943–1945A Soviet sniper during the Second World War, credited with 59 confirmed kills, including 12 soldiers during the Battle of Vilnius.59
Randy Shughart1958–19931976–1993Delta Force sniper who posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for protecting the injured crew of a downed helicopter during the Battle of Mogadishu.N/A
Ivan Sidorenko1919–19941939–1945A Soviet sniper credited with over 500 kills during the Second World War.500+
Billy Sing1886–19431914–1918Australian First World War sniper credited with over 150 confirmed kills.150+
Mikhail Surkov1921–19531941–1945According to Soviet sources, Surkov had 702 confirmed kills during World War II, but the total is more likely down to Soviet propaganda.N/A
Bruno Sutkus1924–20031944–1945Lithuanian fighting in the German Army. Credited with 209 kills on the Eastern Front between 1944 and 1945 during the Second World War.209
Abu Tahseen2005–2007Participated in the Yom Kippur War, the Iran–Iraq War, the invasion of Kuwait, the 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+
Zhang Taofang1931–20071951–1953A Chinese sniper who fought in the Korean War with 214 confirmed kills in 32 days.214
Adelbert Waldron1933–19951968–1970A United States Army sniper who formerly held the record for the most confirmed kills by a US military sniper.109
Alvin C. York1887–19641917–191882nd Infantry Division, an expert sharpshooter using an M1917 Enfield rifle during the Meuse-Argonne offensive near Chatel-Chéhéry, France, 1918 in World War I. Medal of Honor recipient.28
Vasily Zaytsev1915–19911937–1945A Soviet sniper who fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. Zaytsev is credited with 242 kills.242
Unnamed Royal Marine corporalReputedly the deadliest sniper alive as of 2015 with 173 confirmed kills, mostly with the L115A3 on one tour of Afghanistan in 2006–2007, including over 90 Taliban in one day.173

Non-military snipers

Not all snipers are highly trained professional soldiers. The term is sometimes used to describe criminals firing from cover at long range with a rifle and police sharpshooters. Some notable non-military snipers include: