| | | 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle |  The 50 caliber round is a bullet originally designed
for use in the Browning Machine Gun. But the 50
caliber cartridge is also commonly used in sniper
rifles. A 50 caliber sniper rifle was used by Canadian
Corporal Rob Furlong when be made the longest-range
sniper kill. The distance was one and a half miles.
50 caliber sniper rifles are used primarily for
anti-material and counter sniping measures.
Anti-material operations are attacks against non human
targets. Some of these might include structures,
support vehicles, and equipment. This, however,
doesn't mean they aren't used against human targets
too. Currently, 50 caliber sniper rifles are being
used by American Forces to blow up improvised
explosive devices from a safe distance. These large,
heavy rifles are usually semiautomatic. Due to their
weight, 50 caliber sniper rifles usually require two
or three man sniper teams, consisting of two shooters
and a spotter.
Police snipers also employ the 50 caliber sniper rifle
in situations where hostages have been taken. Police
50 caliber sniper rifles are generally of better
quality than their military counterparts. One of the
reasons for these discrepancies may be that the
military issue must be carried to the kill point, so
durability is a must. Police models do not have to be
able to stand up to such abuse. Military sniper rifles must
also be light enough to be carried long distances and
stand up to the weather as well. The police issue
doesn't have these limitations.
There are a large number of 50 caliber sniper rifles.
Some of them are the AI Arctic Warfare .50, the
Armalite AR-50, the Barrett M82A1, the Barrett M82,
the Barrett M90, the Barrett M95, the Barrett M99, the
Black Arrow M93, the EDM Arms Windrunner, the KSVK
12.7,the Gepard anti-materiel rifles, the M500, the
M650, the McMillan TAC-50, the Mechem NTW-20, the
OSV-96, the PGM UR Hecate II, the RT-20, the Steyr IWS
2000, the Steyr .50 HS, the SVN-98, the Tor (WKW
Wilk), the Truvelo .50, the Vidhwansak (Indian), and
the Zastava M93. |
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