At 2.4 miles away I'd have had no qualms about my safety. As hard as that shot is it is even harder trying to figure out where it came from at that distance, especially given the lag. The shot was fired ten full seconds before impact. At that distance I doubt the sound of the shot would register and unless someone was looking right at you they would not see the muzzle flash. So the chances of them finding me as the putative shooter are worse than at one mile, which I gotta say is still difficult with specific training.

To me the question would be the lethality at that range with that caliber. I was trained to only take lethal shots. You'd probably be surprised how often a stationary target presents itself. Add to that the predictive movement training and it is not out of question. Just really damned rare. If you look at body movements of your fellow dinner patrons you'll find there are often considerable lengths of time where there is minor movement at best and not enough to throw off a trained predictive shot.

While not common it isn't hard to conceive of an opportunity to take a couple shots at that range. It would require those shots not impact the target's surroundings. An open backdrop would do. A restaurant would not. With serious practice and uv laser sighting I could see this being quite practical.

The long term threat to me in sniper combat is single-suit lasers. We don't have them yet but we will. Then you'll see sniper shots out to several miles. I've done laser shots out to nearly ten miles on moving targets. The adjustments are dramatically easier though they still consequential. It won't make sniping common but will extend the range dramatically.

All that said that shot is damned incredible, putative practicality aside. Serious kudos to all involved. Even just the trigger pull ... Dayum.

I don't know at 2.4 miles the reaction on the receiving end would be "What the hell?"

Fascinating. Thanks for the insight.