In military and law enforcement terminology, a special application sniper rifle is a crew service, man-portable, high precision, shoulder-fired rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. It is a common misconception that any scoped rifle is a sniper rifle, and while certain long guns are more suited for the application than others, it is the act of using a firearm weapon strategically as a sniper qualified-specialist that designates it as such.
A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military centerfirecartridge. The term is often used in the media to describe any type of accurized firearm fitted with a telescopic sight that is employed against human targets, although "sniping rifle" or "sniper's rifle" is the technically correct grammatical term for such a rifle.
CheyTac Intervention .408
The CheyTac Intervention an American bolt action sniper rifle manufactured by CheyTac LLC. It is fed by a 7-round detachable single stack magazine. It fires .408 Chey Tac or .375 Chey Tac ammunition. CheyTac LLC states that the system is capable of delivering sub-MOA accuracy at ranges of up to 2,500 yards (2,300 m), one of the longest ranges of all modern-day sniper rifles. It is based on the EDM Arms Windrunner. The Intervention holds the world record for best group at a distance, landing 3 bullets within 16-5/8 inches at 2,321 yards near Arco in Idaho. On the Discovery Channel TV show Future Weapons, the April 9, 2007 episode “Massive Attack’ the host Richard Machowicz, a former United States Navy SEAL, made 3 out of 6 shots, hitting a human-sized sheet of metal at a distance of 2,530 yards at Arco Pass in Idaho. CheyTac states that “the CheyTac LRRS is a solid anti-personnel system to 2,000 yards.”
Accuracy International AWM
Designated L115A3 AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a bolt-action sniper rifle manufactured by Accuracy International designed for magnum rifle cartridge chamberings. The Accuracy International AWM is also unofficially known as the AWSM (Arctic Warfare Super Magnum), which typically denotes AWM rifles chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum. In November 2009, British Army sniper Corporal of Horse (CoH) Craig Harrison, a member of the Household Cavalry, set the current record for longest recorded sniper kill by killing two Taliban machine gunners consecutively south of Musa Qala in Helmand Province in Afghanistan at a range of 2,707 yards using a L115A3 Long Range Rifle.
The Accuracy International AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a bolt-action sniper rifle manufactured byAccuracy International designed for magnum rifle cartridge chamberings. The Accuracy Int.
AWM is also unofficially known as the AWSM (Arctic Warfare Super Magnum), which typically denotes AWM rifles chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum.The Accuracy International AWM rifle is a variant of the British Accuracy International Arctic Warfare (AW) rifle that was the basis of a family of sniper rifles using the Arctic Warfare name. As such the design details of the AWM variant are similar to the ones found in the basic AW rifle system. Compared to the AW, the AWM has a longer bolt to accommodate dimensionally larger magnum-length cartridges such as the .300 Winchester Magnum and the .338 Lapua Magnum. The bolt head, locking ring, and extractor and magazines were also revised to work with the increased size and operating pressures of magnum rifle cartridges.
AWP
Barrett M82
The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a family of bolt-action sniper rifles designed and manufactured by the British company, Accuracy International. It has proved popular as a civilian, police and military rifle since its introduction in the 1980s. The rifles have some features which improve performance in very cold conditions, without impairing operation in less extreme conditions.
Arctic Warfare rifles are generally fitted with a Schmidt & Bender PM II telescopic sight with fixed or variable magnification. Variable telescopic sights can be used if the operator wants more flexibility to shoot at varying ranges, or when a wide field of view is required. Accuracy International actively promotes fitting the German-made Schmidt & Bender PM II/MILITARY MK II product line as sighting components on their rifles, which is rare for a rifle manufacturer. The German and Russian Armies preferred a telescopic sight made by Zeiss over Accuracy International's preference.
The AWP was a version intended for use by law enforcement as opposed to military, with AWP standing for Arctic Warfare Police. The most notable features were that the distinctive frame was black coloured, not a light green colour. It also has a shorter 24 in (610 mm) barrel than the AW model. The AWP is normally chambered for 7.62 mm NATO/.308 Winchester or .243 Winchester ammunition, though it could be chambered for other cartridges. The AWP is distinct from the Accuracy International AW AE, which also has a black finish but is a cheaper non-military version of the AW series.
The M82, standardized by the US Military as the M107, is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifledeveloped by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. Designated as a heavy SASR (Special Application Scoped Rifle), it is used by many units and armies around the world. Despite its designation as an anti-materiel rifle, it is used by some armed forces as an anti-personnel sniper rifle. It is also called the "Light Fifty" for its .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) chambering. The weapon is found in two variants, the original M82A1 (and A3) and the bullpup M82A2. The M82A2 is no longer manufactured, though the XM500 can be seen as its successor.
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing was founded by Ronnie Barrett for the sole purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the powerful 12.7×99mm NATO (.50 BMG) ammunition, originally developed for and used in M2 Browning machine guns. Barrett began his work in the early 1980s and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett designed every single part of the weapon personally and then went on to market the weapon and mass-produce it out of his own pocket. He continued to develop his rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986.
The first conventional military success was the sale of about 100 M82A1 rifles to the Swedish Army in 1989. Major success followed in 1990, when the United States armed forces purchased significant numbers of the M82A1 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwaitand Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by the United States Marine Corps, and orders from the Army and Air Force soon followed.
The M82A1 is known by the US military as the SASR—"Special Applications Scoped Rifle", and it was and still is used as an anti-materiel rifle and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) tool. The long effective range, over 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) (1.1 miles), along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such asAPI and Raufoss Mk 211, allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins, trucks, parked aircraft and the like. The M82 can also be used to defeat human targets from standoff range or against targets behind cover.
However, anti-personnel use is not a major application for the M82. There is a widespread misconception that a number of treaties have banned use of the .50 BMG against human targets. However, the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's office has issued a legal opinion that the .50 BMG and even the Raufoss Mk 211 round are legal for use against enemy personnel.
