Tools of War: The M82A1 (aka M107) Sniper Rifle

Game-changers. In every genre of firearms, there is one. The blunderbuss. The Colt revolver. The M1 Garand. The Gatling gun. You get the idea...

The Barrett .50cal sniper rifle is another. Sure, there are other extremely accurate sniper rifles out there, don't get me wrong. And the vast majority of them fire the tried-and-true NATO .308cal rounds. That round has very good ballistics and makes for a very effective sniper rifle. And those rifles are still perfectly good weapons on the modern battlefield. By no means are they obsolete. But.....

The M21 and M24 .308cal sniper rifles had maximum effective ranges of about 700m and 800m, respectively. The M82 is good out to TWICE that range, with far, far, FAAAR superior terminal ballistics. Just look at the SIZE of this round! Compare the .50 BMG round to the NATO .308 Win round two to its right. It's just HUUUGE!



So, not only can your snipers hit targets much further out than they were previously able to, they can now do so at ranges where counter-sniper fire is a non-issue. And there is no denying the shock-value of the enemy having their leader's chest explode in front of their eyes, and having NO IDEA WHERE THE ROUND CAME FROM. Crapping their shorts? Hell yeah!!!

There is one drawback to this weapon system that will keep other sniper rifles in business for years to come - weight. For all the ballistic beauty that she possesses, the Barrett is one heavy bitch. 31 pounds heavy. Not that big of a deal when you have a machinegun, but incredibly heavy for something that you have to try to get all stealthy and low-crawl with in a Ghillie suit. But once you get to that firing position, it's all worth it.

Finally, the .50cal round is big enough to go beyond the traditional anti-personnel mission of the sniper. Now, a sniper can target and destroy trucks, lightly armored APC's, and even enemy weapon systems like mortars and machineguns. A large variety of .50 BMG rounds assist this new role.

I know you missed him last week, so here he is....your annoying, whispering ex-SEAL.



By: Steve