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A sniper rifle is a somewhat vague class of rifle purpose-built, modified, or adopted to fulfill requirements for power, accuracy, range, and stealth as needed by snipers and sharpshooters in the deliberate and selective engagement of specific targets.

There is usually very little distinction between rifles used for sniping, and rifles used for any other activity that requires a moderate degree of reliability and accuracy. For instance, many civilian bolt-action rifles, including obsolete models, can be used as sniper rifles with little or no modification. However, sniper rifles typically have capabilities quite different from most other small arms.

History

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The military role of sniper dates back hundreds of years, but the sniper rifle is a much more recent development. Advances in technology, specifically that of telescopic sights and more accurate manufacturing, allowed armies to equip specially-trained soldiers with rifles that would enable them to deliver precise shots over greater distances than regular infantry weapons. The rifle itself could be a standard rifle (at first, a bolt-action rifle); however, when fitted with a telescopic sight, it would become a sniper rifle.

Only since the beginning of the First World War have specially-adapted sniper rifles come to the fore, with one of the first scoped military sniper rifles being the SMLE Mk III* (HT).

Typical World War II-era sniper rifles, such as the Mosin-Nagant M91/30, Mauser K98, Lee-Enfield No 4 Mk I (T), Springfield M1903A4, and the Arisaka Type 97 were generally standard-issue rifles (hand-picked for accuracy) with a 2.5x telescopic sight and cheek-rest fitted, with the bolt turned down (if necessary) to allow operation with the scope affixed. By the end of the war, forces on all sides had specially-trained soldiers equipped with sniper rifles, and they have played an increasingly important role in military operations ever since.

Classification

Modern sniper rifles can be generally divided into two basic classes: military and law enforcement. Military sniper rifles may be further divided into anti-personnel and anti-materiel rifles, while police sniper rifles are, among themselves, generally similar in configuration, and employed in multiple different roles.

Several other highly-specialized rifles are sometimes employed for sniping, such as ultra-quiet suppressed .22 caliber rifles, short-barrelled rifle caliber pistols, remote-controlled rifles, suitcase-portable rifles used in assassination, and even some varieties of gadget guns.

Military

Sniper rifles aimed at military service often sacrifice ultimate accuracy for durability, reliability and ease of operation under battlefield conditions. Military snipers and sharpshooters might also be required to carry their rifles—along with other equipment—for long distances, and as such weight considerations are very important. Military organizations often operate under strict budgetary constraints, which could influence the type and quality of sniper rifles just as it would any other weapon system.

Anti-personnel military sniper rifles are usually employed at ranges of roughly one kilometer, while high-powered anti-materiel rifles may be used at distances of roughly two km.

Anti-personnel

Anti-personnel sniper rifles are, as the name implies, used to inflict damage upon human targets. The configuration of these rifles varies widely, depending on the nature of the mission they are built for. For instance, assassination of a high-profile enemy normally calls for the sniper to be at a great distance from the target, thus requiring a rifle capable of accurate long-range shots, mounted with the appropriate accessories—in this specific case, a bolt-action rifle is normally employed, due to the potential for higher accuracy and reliability that the design offers. In contrast, other roles may require a rifle capable of engaging multiple targets at shorter ranges—these rifles are usually semi-automatic, which provides higher rate of fire. Although sometimes called designated marksman rifles (DMR) in certain military roles, these weapons can be considered sniper rifles in that they possess many characteristics of typical sniper rifles. Other military names for sniper rifles include special purpose rifle, squad advanced marksman rifle and sniper weapon system.

Examples of anti-personnel military sniper rifles:

• M24 SWS (Sniper Weapon System) bolt-action rifle, used by the U.S. Army (7.62 × 51 mm NATO)
• Dragunov (SVD) semi-automatic rifle, used by former Soviet alligned states (7.62 × 54 mm R)

Anti-materiel

Military forces also employ sniper rifles in anti-materiel roles, that is, destruction of non-human targets, such as vehicles, general equipment and structures, or long-range detonation of explosive devices. Although designed or employed primarily as anti-materiel rifles, they may also be used against personnel in certain situations.

These rifles tend to be semi-automatic, and of a larger caliber than anti-personnel rifles, using .50 caliber (12.7 mm, such as the .50 BMG) or even 20 mm cartridges. Due to their large size and heavy weight, such rifles are normally deployed by 2- or 3-man teams rather than a single shooter.

Examples of anti-materiel military sniper rifles:

• M82 SASR (Special Applications Scope Rifle) and M107 (.50 BMG)
• Denel NTW-20 (20 × 83.5 mm or 14.5 × 114 mm)

Law enforcement

Some of the first examples of sniper rifles designed specifically to meet police requirements were those designed to meet West German police requirements following the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics. The Heckler & Koch PSG1 is one of the rifles designed to meet these criteria, and is often referred to as an ideal example of this type of sniper rifle. The FN Special Police Rifle is another example of a rifle aimed at law enforcement rather than military agencies.

Some of the main differences of police sniper rifles when compared to military rifles are:

• Use of less powerful ammunition to minimize collateral damage
• Shorter overall length for increased maneuverability in urban areas
• Heavier weight
• Superior accuracy and tighter tolerances in construction
• Extreme outdoors durability is of less concern
• Higher price since budgetary restrictions on police departments often allow more expensive rifles to be acquired

Distinguishing characteristics

Sniper rifle features can vary widely depending on the specific tasks the sniper rifle is intended to perform. Features that may distinguish a sniper rifle from other weapons are:

• The presence of a moderately powerful telescopic sight
• The caliber is usually more capable, with greater range and accuracy
• Bolt-action or semi-automatic actions, which are largely obsolete in military weapons.
• Overall weapon length is unusually long
• Stock designed for firing from a prone position
• Fitted with a suppressor, especially if small caliber such as .22 Long Rifle
• The range of accessories carried with the rifle

Caliber

Nothing is of more importance in a sniper rifle than the selection of a caliber. The caliber determines nearly all of its other features and capabilities, and sets hard limitations on how it can be used. The following is a short list of only some of the issues that are affected by the caliber chosen:

• Engagement range
• Types of targets that can be effectively engaged
• Sniper speed and range on foot, due to weight issues
• Cost, and consequently, the number of rifles purchased and employed
• Collateral damage risk in police settings due to overpenetration

In a military setting, logistical concerns are the primary determinant of the caliber used, so sniper rifles are usually limited to rifle cartridges commonly used by the military force employing the rifle. Since large national militaries generally change slowly, military rifle ammunition is frequently battle-tested, and well-studied by ammunition and firearms experts. Consequently, police forces tend to follow military practices in choosing a sniper rifle caliber instead of trying to break new ground with less-perfected (but possibly better) ammunition.

Before the introduction of the 7.62 × 51 mm NATO in the 1950s, standard military calibers utilized were the .30-06 Springfield (US), .303 British (Britain) and 7,92 x 57 mm (8 mm Mauser) (Germany). The .30-06 Springfield continued in service with US Marine Corps snipers during the Vietnam War in the 1970s, well after general adoption of the 7.62 × 51 mm. At the present time, in both the West and within NATO, 7.62 × 51 mm NATO (.308 Winchester) is the current primary caliber of choice for over 90% of military and police sniper rifles.

Worldwide the trend is similar. The preferred sniper rifle in Russia is another .30 caliber military cartridge — the 7.62 x 54 mm R, which has similar performance to the 7.62 × 51 mm NATO. This cartridge was introduced in 1891 and both Russian sniper rifles of the modern era, the Mosin-Nagant and the Dragunov (SVD), are chambered for it.

Certain commercial cartridges designed without the logistical constraints of most armies and only performance in mind have also gained popularity in the 1990s, these include the .338 Lapua and .300 Winchester Magnum. These cartridges outperform 7.62 × 51 mm NATO in terms of effective range and ballistic performance. Though they are not as powerful as the .50 calibre, they also don't suffer any weight penalty as is the case for rifles chambered for the .50 calibre and as such they offer a significant improvement over rifles chambered for the 7.62 × 51 mm NATO.

Action

The choice between bolt-action and semi-automatic is usually determined by specific requirements of the sniper's role as envisioned in a particular organization with each design having advantages and disadvantages.

For a given cartridge, a bolt-action rifle has the following advantages:

• Cheaper to build and cheaper to maintain
• More accurate since there are no moving parts
• Longer effective range since no gas is utilized in operating the action
• Better stealth since there are no ejected cases or noisy moving parts
• More versatile fire-positioning since there is no need for a large magazine
• More reliable, with fewer components that may fail or become jammed
• Lighter weight, once again due to fewer components

For semi-automatic actions, the following advantages are available:

• Cross-purpose use as both a battle rifle and a sniper rifle
• Greater volume of fire when needed in a suppressing support role
• Faster followup shots (important in law enforcement)

A bolt-action is the most commonly used in both military and police sniper rifles due to its more numerous advantages over a semi-automtics.

In military usage, bolt-actions are used almost exclusively. Anti-materiel applications such as mine clearing and special forces actions see higher usage of semi-automatics.

A semi-automatic designated marksman rifle (DMR) is less specialized than a typical military sniper rifle, often only intended to extend the range of a group of soldiers, and so when a semi-automatic action is used it is due to its ability to cross-over into roles similar to the roles of standard issue weapons. There may also be additional logistics advantages if the DMR uses to same ammunition as the more common standard issue weapons. These rifles enable a higher volume of fire, but sacrifice some long range accuracy. They are frequently built from existing selective fire battle rifles or assault rifles.

In police usage, even in situations where a semi-automatic may seem to have advantages, a police force may instead prefer to employ several snipers armed with bolt-action rifles, rather than only one sniper armed with a semi-automatic. This operational decision will allow the individual snipers to devote more attention to the careful placement of each shot.

A police semi-automatic sniper rifle may be used in a fast moving raid, or in an uncontrolled situation that will require the sniper to engage multiple targets in quick succession. These rifles tend to be used comparatively rarely due to the danger that a faster-firing semi-automatic may present to innocent bystanders. The flight time of the bullet combined with the limited field of view of a sniper peering through a scope may allow an innocent victim to cross into a bullet's path, similar to what happened in the Ruby Ridge incident.

Barrel

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Military sniper rifles tend to have longer barrels of around 23.5 inches (600 mm) to allow the cartridge propellant to fully burn and get the highest bullet velocity. This also reduces muzzle-flash, helping to keep the sniper concealed. Some police sniper rifles have shorter barrels to make them easier to handle. The shorter ranges at which police operate permit lower bullet velocities. The effect of barrel length on accuracy is negligible.

Stock

The most common special feature of a sniper rifle stock is the adjustable cheek piece where the shooter's cheek meets the rear of the stock. For most rifles equipped with a telescopic sight it is necessary to have this area raised slightly, because the telescope is higher than iron sights and a rifle shooter should steady his cheek against a rifle while aiming. A cheek piece is simply a section of the stock that can be adjusted up or down to the correct height to suit the individual shooter. To further aid this individual fitment, the stock can sometimes also be adjust for length, often by varying the number of butt pad inserts at the rear of the stock where it meets the shooter's shoulder.

A permanently fixed or removable bipod attached to the rifle's front stock (forend) is another non-standard, but critical piece of equipment. It acts as a steady and level object on which to rest the rifle which aids in accuracy.

Telescopic sight

The single most important characteristic that sets a sniper rifle apart of other military or police small arms is the fitment of a moderately powerful telescopic sight, which is easily distinguishable from smaller optical aiming devices found on some modern assault rifles and submachine guns.

A telescopic sight allows a person to see farther by virtue of the magnified image it offers and therefore aim the rifle more accurately. The telescopic sights used on sniper rifles differ from other optical aiming devices in that they offer much greater magnification (more then 4x and up to 10–20x) and much larger objective lenses (40 mm in diameter). Most telescopic lenses employed in military or police roles have special markings to aid the shot with the judgement of distance which is an important factor in accurate shot placement (due the curved trajectory of a bullet's path).

Suppressor

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Accessories

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Almost all modern sniper rifles are used in conjunction with accessories that are specifically designed for sniping, and so the type of accessories used will usually differentiate a rifle intended to be used for sniping from other nearly identical rifles. Namely, differences will be seen in the types of stocks, sights, and carrying gear used.

Accurizing and maintenance

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In the case of rifles designed specifically for sniping the same procedures or techniques applied to any rifle to achieve long range accuracy is used. Some of these techniques are described in the article on accurizing a firearm and could include the following:

• A "free-floating barrel" where the barrel is attached to the rifle at a single point, screwed into the action without touching the stock.
• Heavier barrels to increase the resonant frequency (again) and slow the rate of heating, which reduces thermal distortion of the barrel as more rounds are shot. This also increases the weight of the rifle, thus reducing the felt recoil.
• Fluting on heavier barrels help maintain the desired characteristics of a heavy barrel, but reduces the weight of the barrel.
• The end of the barrel may be counter-sunk a few millimetres to protect the critical exit-end of the rifling from damage.

When standard rifles are adapted for use as a sniper rifle common improvements on the action or internals include:

• Polishing the trigger sear to improve the feel of the trigger pull and therefore the shooter's trigger control.
• A low-mass (often titanium) hammer and firing pin reduce the time between the trigger pull and the primer ignition (called lock time). By reducing this time between the trigger being pulled and the bullet release, it reduces the distance that a human being's irreducible quiver can move the point of aim.

Capabilities

When examined individually, the capabilities of a sniper rifle may not seem unique, or even particularly extraordinary compared to other types of firearms. In some categories where a sniper rifle is commonly thought to excel, the sniper rifle may actually be inferior to the weapons the sniper rifle is expected to compete with.

However, the seeming disadvantages of a sniper rifle, such as slow rate of fire, can become advantages due to the stealthy manner in which the sniper rifle is employed.

When taken as a whole, the subtle advantages possessed by a sniper rifle can allow a sniper to dominate an enemy who possesses far greater fighting capability. However, since sniping is a specialized role, it must be noted that the success of a sniper depends more on the level of skills and training than on the particular rifle used, especially when faced with opponents trained to deal with snipers

Accuracy

Contrary to popular belief, sniper rifles are not necessarily characterized by exceptional accuracy, especially when compared to civilian sporting rifles, though they nearly always match or exceed the capabilites of other types of rifles in the military and police categories.

US Military standards call for only 1 MOA accuracy from a standard issue sniper rifle, since accuracy is sacrificed in favor of low cost and reliability in harsh environments, as well as ease of care, operation, and maintenance. This level of accuracy roughly translates into a variance in the bullet's point of impact of 8 inches at 800 yards, which is considered sufficent to ensure a high probability of hitting a human shape at that distance.

Although accuracy standards for police rifles do not widely exist, they are frequently seen with accuracy levels from 1.5 MOA to as high as .5 MOA — and occasionally as high as .25 MOA in the most expensive models.

However, it is interesting to note that in the realm of police usage, average, or even below average accuracy is usually all that is technically required. This is because police typically employ their rifles at very short ranges . At 70 meters or less, nearly any inexpensive rifle with a relatively low accuracy of only 1 MOA should be able to repeatedly hit a 1 inch target. One inch is approximately the size of a man's thumb, which is smaller than the brain stem, the most prized target of a police sniper. Some would argue that police agencies buy rifles with capabilities that exceed basic requirements in order to bolster their credibility under public scrutiny.

List of typical accuracies, for comparison:

• A common pistol may be capable of between 15 MOA and 30 MOA accuracy
• A military issue battle rifle or assault rifle is usually capable of between 3 MOA and 6 MOA accuracy
• Civilian or police semi-automatic rifles are typically capable of less than 1 MOA to 4 MOA accuracy
• A common hunting rifle may be capable of .5 to 3 MOA accuracy
• A police sniper rifle is typically capable of .25 to 1.5 MOA accuracy
• A standard issue military sniper rifle is typically capable of .5 to 2 MOA accuracy
• A competition target rifle may be capable of accuracy levels of .1 MOA or better
• Rifles designed for scientific testing of ammunition may be so accurate that sophisticated computer equipment is required to measure their accuracy

Maximum effective range

Sniper rifles are sometimes characterized as having exceptionally great range capability compared to other small arms, but this is not necessarily true.

For example, police snipers usually employ their rifles at very short ranges, frequently under 50 meters, which is within the range of common pistols. In police sniping, not only is long range generally not required, but it is frequently not even desired, especially if there are innocent bystanders further beyond the intended target.

Unlike police sniper rifles, military sniper rifles tend to be employed at the greatest possible distances so that range advantages, if any, can be exploited. Machine guns, battle rifles, counter-sniper rifles, designated marksman rifles, and sometimes even mass-fire from several assault rifles can reach or even greatly exceed the range of a sniper rifle.

The most popular military sniper rifles (in terms of the numbers in service) are chambered for some type .30 caliber ammunition, such as 7.62 × 51 mm NATO (.308 Winchester), or similar. Since sniper rifles of this class must compete with several other types of military weapons with similar range, snipers invariably must employ skilled fieldcraft to conceal their exact positions, and avoid being killed.

The recent trend in specialized military sniper rifles is towards larger calibers that have greater range, such as .338 Lapua and .50 BMG. This allows snipers to take fewer risks, and spend less time finding concealment, when facing enemies that are not equipped with similar weapons.

Approximate maximum effective ranges of common ammunition when used in a sniper rifle. Lower figures are typical, higher figures are under ideal conditions:

Range vs. accuracy

Sniper rifles are considered ineffective beyond the distance at which the bullet impact point is no longer guaranteed to be within a target circle smaller than the target on the first shot. In other words, if the range is slightly too great, the bullet is not guaranteed to strike within the target circle, leading to the possibility that a miss could occur that might endanger the sniper's mission, and perhaps even the sniper's life. At such ranges, other small arms may be preferred over sniper rifles, even though the situation may otherwise be an ideal job for a sniper rifle.

A machine gun using the same ammunition as a sniper rifle can be effective far beyond the range of a sniper rifle, due to lower accuracy requirements for effective use. For example, in counter-sniper roles a sniper might spot a target that is out of range for a sniper rifle, and so the sniper may need to call upon a machine gunner to attack it.

Here is a simplified example to illustrate why, counterintuitively, a less accurate weapon of the same caliber may actually have a greater effective range than a sniper rifle:

For human targets in military sniping, snipers do not aim at the person, instead they aim at a target circle on the person. The circle is typically about 8 inches in diameter, corresponding to an imaginary circle on the vital area of a man's chest. For a 7.62 × 51 mm NATO (.308 Winchester) sniper rifle capable of 1 MOA accuracy, the maximum effective range — the range at which the bullet impact point is guaranteed to be within an 8 inch circle on the first shot - is about 800 meters.

In contrast, a 7.62 × 51 mm NATO machine gun with a low accuracy of only 6 MOA will typically have a greater maximum effective range of about 1,100 meters. At that range and accuracy, a machine gun will have a large target circle of about 6.6 meters. The machine gun's target circle is much larger than the human target due to its rapid fire capability, which allows a machine gun to strike with 1 or more hits and numerous misses at random locations within the target circle.

While a machine gun's large target circle means that its range can be longer than a sniper rifle's, the corresponding disadvantage is that the machine gun may need to fire dozens, and perhaps hundreds of rounds before scoring a hit.

See also

• Sniper, Soviet sniper
• Designated marksman
• List of sniper rifles

References and notes

1. Ruger .22 Caliber Sniper Rifle — Article on its use by the Israeli military
2. " capable of 1/4-inch (.25 MOA), center-to-center, five shots at 100 yards ... That's as good as the very best specially modified AR-15 , and as good as many bench rifles.", Neal Knox, National Rifle Association, Beltway sniper May Not Be Using Rifle, Experts Say, 15 October 2002
3. Rifle caliber pistol fitted with a scope and stock - Made by Choate, a company known for it's sniper stocks and other sniper accessories.
4. Disassembled CheyTac rifle in compact case
5. Also known as Any Other Weapon (AOW). See also: Georgi Markov (assassinated by an umbrella gun), Remington Cane Guns, Delivery man had cane-shaped weapon, Serbu BUTT-MASTER (can be fitted with a suppressor).
6. The Ultimate Sniper: an Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers, Major John Plaster, 1993. The information about counter sniper operations describes techniques for identifying snipers amongst groups of other soldiers. The most easily recognizable feature of a sniper from a great distance is the fact that the sniper's rifle is longer than all the others.
7. Before Vasily Zaitsev was issued a rifle built for sniping, he was already a very successful sniper, having killed 32 Axis soldiers with only the standard-issue Mosin-Nagant rifle . After being issued a sniper rifle, Zaitsev defeated 11 better-equipped German snipers, including one specifically sent to hunt him down.
8. Rifle accuracies mentioned here are typically measured in a real-world situation by a competent marksman, rather than by a machine. Accuracies measured by a marksman take into account not only the mechanical contributions of the barrel and action to accuracy, but also the kinematic behavior of things like the stock and the trigger in the whole rifle system. Accuracy as measured from a rigid machine is not considered to have useful real-world meaning in the precision rifle industry due to the fact that the movement of a rifle during the process of firing affects real-world shot placement. For example, two rifles that have the same accuracy as measured from a machine may be verifiably different when measured by a human: one rifle may move very consistently during firing, and is thus very accurate, while the other rifle may not. Note that the distance a rifle moves during firing is not as important to accuracy as the consistency with which it moves.
9. The FBI, a national-level policing organization, has recently specified an accuracy level of .5 MOA for sniper rifles issued to their SWAT teams: Johnson, D: Precision Pair, Guns & Ammo, February 2005.
10. Tactical Operations, Inc guarantees .25 MOA accuracy in some of their police rifles
11. Minimum documented range is 5 yards, maximum documented range is 187 yards: Police Sniper Utilization Survey, American Sniper Association, 2006, full report available to military and law enforcement agencies only.
12. Some information publically available from The Ultimate Sniper: an Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers, Major John Plaster, 1993.
13. Police Sniper Training, Major John Plaster, 1990.
14. Private discussion with Mike Rescigno, owner of Tactical Operations, Inc., a leading American manufacturer of guaranteed .25 MOA police sniper rifles, approximately May 2002. Major John Plaster frequently touches on the topic in his writings and training materials as well. See: The Ultimate Sniper: an Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers.
15. The equations that describe the approximate relationships between range, accuracy, and the target circle, as used in this section, are as follows:
    • Target circle inches X Accuracy MOA = Range meters
    • Range meters / Accuracy MOA = Target circle inches
    Also note that "target circle" is used exclusively even when "cone of fire" or "group size" may technically be more accurate. These terms have subtle differences that are not important for the purpose of this section, and they are left out to avoid introducing unnecessary complexity in illustrations and examples that have been intentionally simplified. See also: Ballistics, cone of fire, and group size
16. Note that the design of a weapon is more likely to determine its effective range than the maximum range of its ammunition. The maximum range of the 7.62 × 51 mm NATO ammunition in the above example is a comparatively tremendous 3,725 meters, and both machine guns and sniper rifles are not able to use even half of the maximum range of the ammunition effectively, largely due to unpredictable atmospheric disturbance of the bullet flight path. The very large maximum range of the ammunition is tightly constrained by the much smaller maximum effective range of the rifle/ammunition combination. This is true for nearly all modern firearms.

Further reading

• Tobias, Ronald (1981). They Shoot to Kill: A Psycho-History of Criminal Sniping. Boulder, Colorado: Paladin Press. ISBN 0873642074.
• De Haas, Frank (1995). Bolt Action Rifles. Krause Publications. ISBN 0873491688.

External links

• Mel's SniperCentral List of Sniper Rifles
• Sniper World
• Ultimate Sniper
• Mcmillan Tactical Stocks - Images of tactical stocks from the world's leading supplier manufacturer
• Tack Driving Tactical Rifle from Tac Ops — Detailed overview of the accurization process for a .25 MOA rifle
• Detailed accuracy articles — by famous barrel maker Dan Lilja

• Sniper rifles
• Sniper warfare
• Rifles