10 Best Modern Sniper Rifles In The World

The M82 is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. A heavy SASR (Special Application Scoped Rifle), it is used by many units and armies around the world. It is also called the "Light Fifty" for its .50 caliber BMG (12.7 × 99 mm) 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.  M82A1 rifles are fitted with scope mount and folding backup iron sights, should the glass scope break. The U.S. military M82 rifles are often equipped with Leupold Mark 4 telescopic sights. The M82A1M (USMC M82A3) rifles have long Picatinny accessory rails mounted and US Optics telescopic sights. Every M82 rifle is equipped with a folding carrying handle and a folding bipod (both are detachable on the M82A3). The M82A3 is also fitted with a detachable rear monopod under the butt. The buttpad is fitted with a soft recoil pad to further decrease the felt recoil. M82A1 and M82A3 rifles could be mounted on the M3 or M122 infantry tripods (originally intended for machine guns) or on vehicles using the special Barrett soft-mount. The M82A1 can be fitted with a carry sling but according to those who carried it in the field, the M82 is too uncomfortable to be carried on a sling due to its excessive length and heavy weight. It is usually carried in a special carry soft or hard case. The M82A2 differed from M82A1 mostly in its configuration—that the pistol grip along with trigger had been placed ahead of the magazine, and the buttpad has been placed below the receiver, just after the magazine. An additional forward grip was added below the receiver, and the scope mount has been moved forward too.
 

The Barrett M95 is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in .50 BMG (12.7 x 99 mm), and manufactured by Barrett Firearms Company.  The M95 is an improved version of the earlier Barrett M90. It is a bolt-action sniper rifle in a bullpup design. The major difference between the M95 and the M90 is that the pistol grip and trigger have been moved forward 1 inch (25 mm) for better magazine clearance. Also, the bolt handle has been redesigned and bent down and to the rear, the barrel chamber has been plated in chrome, and there are also some minor changes to the trigger and firing pin. 

The AS50 is a .50 BMG sniper/anti-materiel rifle manufactured by British firearms producer Accuracy International. The AS50 enables operators to engage targets at very long range with high accuracy using explosive or incendiary ammunition. The AS50 employs a gas operated semi-automatic action and muzzle brake, allowing for lower recoil than the AW50 bolt action rifle and faster target acquisition. The rifle is highly transportable, ergonomic and lightweight. It can be disassembled in less than three minutes and serviced without tools.

The rifle has an accuracy of 1.5 MOA. The barrel is free floated. The two-part machined steel receiver features an integral accessory rail for the mounting of optical sights. Two additional rails are mounted on the sides of the short barrel shroud. An adjustable bipod and rear support leg/hand grip allow for stable shooting. This weapon can accurately engage targets at over a 1,500 metres (1,600 yd) distance. The AS50 weighs 14.1 kilograms (31 lb) empty and holds five rounds of .50 BMG in a single stack removable box. 

The CheyTac Intervention is an American bolt action sniper rifle manufactured by CheyTac LLC for long range shooting. It is fed by a detachable single stack magazine, which holds 7 rounds. It fires .408 Chey Tac or .375 Chey Tac ammunition. CheyTac papers state that the entire 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 .408 Cheyenne Tactical (or .408 CheyTac) is a specialized rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire cartridge for military long-range sniper rifles that was developed by Dr. John D. Taylor and machinist William O. Wordman. It was designed with a possible military need in mind for a cartridge for both the anti-personnel, anti-sniper and anti-materiel role with a (supersonic) precision range of 2,200 yards (2,000 m). It is hoped it will fill in a supposed market niche for long-range cartridges and is offered as a competitor to the most common military NATO long-range service cartridges .338 Lapua Magnum and the .50 BMG.

 

The Barrett Model 98B (also known as the 98 Bravo) is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum(8.6×70mm or 8.58×70mm) manufactured by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. The M98B was officially announced in October 2008, and became available for sale in early 2009, with an MSRP of $4,495.00.

The M98B achieves sub-MOA shot groupings of 0.73 inches (19 mm) at 100 yards (91 m), 1.3 inches (33 mm) at 200 yards (180 m), and 4.05 inches (103 mm) at 800 yards (730 m).
The M98B also features a fluted medium-heavy 27-inch (690 mm) barrel made of 4150 MIL-B-11595 steel. The barrel is rifled in a six groove, 1:10" right hand twist pattern, and features a two-port muzzle brake threaded on and indexed by a jam nut. The bolt rides in a new "bolt guide" design, consisting of two tubular glass-filled polymer guides which have been infused with Teflon. These guides allow the bolt to travel better, as well as reducing the need for lubrication, and helping to seal the ejection and bolt handle ports from dirt. The bolt head is made of case-hardened 8620 steel, features nine lugs (three sets of three), and is attached to the bolt body with a crosspin. This separate bolt head design allows for simple caliber changes, as well as future pre-headspaced barrel and bolt-head sets.

  The WA2000 is a semi-automatic bullpup sniper rifle that was produced by the Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffencompany. It was produced in three different calibers. Production of the rifle was limited and it was shortly stopped because it was too expensive to achieve widespread sales. The rifle is currently rare and very valuable. Only 176 were created due to the high cost of the rifle.

The WA 2000 was chambered for the .300 Winchester Magnum, but also the 7.62x51mm NATO and 7.5x55mm Swiss.

Only 176 total rifles (15 of which are in the United States) were ever produced, and in two different variants. The two variants can be differentiated by the type of flash suppressor used: the first, the older model, uses a "can" type flash suppressor; whereas the second generation and newer model uses the more conventional "flash-hider/compensator" design. The second generation incorporated several changes improving the rifle's accuracy, making it more suited to its intended job.

The AWM (Arctic Warfare Magnum) is a sniper rifle manufactured by Accuracy International. It is also known as the AWSM(Arctic Warfare Super Magnum), which typically denotes the .338 Lapua Magnum version. Currently the rifle holds the distinction for the longest sniper kill which was in fact a double consecutive kill.

The .300 Winchester Magnum (7.62x67mm) cartridge was designed as a magnum hunting cartridge and offers a flatter trajectory and a significant increase in muzzle velocity, wind resistance and supersonic range over the dimensionally smaller 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. The ability of the .300 Winchester Magnum chambering to obtain fairly high muzzle velocities combined with for their diameter or caliber relatively heavy and long very-low-drag bullets significantly enhance the hit probability at longer ranges and hence the effective range compared to the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. For precision shooting, the Federal Gold Medal Match grade is the most commonly used ammunition.

The AWM chambered for the .300 Winchester Magnum is fitted with a fluted, stainless steel barrel that is 660 mm (26") long for optimum muzzle velocity and nominal weight. The .300 Winchester Magnum barrel features a non-traditional 279.4 mm (1:11 in) right-hand twist rate.

The PSG1 (Präzisionsschützengewehr, German for "precision-shooter rifle") is a semi-automatic sniper rifle designed by the German company Heckler & Koch of Oberndorf am Neckar.

The PSG1 is mechanically based on the G3 rifle and features a low-noise bolt closing device (similar to the forward assist on many M16 rifles). Its expected shot-to-shot variation is expected to be better than 1 minute of angle (MOA) with match ammunition. Although this level of accuracy is unremarkable in modern semi-automatic rifles, it was claimed that the PSG1 was "one of the most accurate semi-automatic sniper rifles in the world."

PSG1s are not supplied with iron sights but come equipped with the Hensoldt ZF6x42PSG1 scope with an illuminated reticle. The scope has a built-in range adjustment feature which can be adjusted from 100 to 600 m.

It has a heavy free-floating barrel with polygonal rifling and an adjustable stock. The stock is of high impact matte black plastic and has a high degree of adjustment. It is adjustable for length, and includes a pivoting butt cap and a vertically-adjustable cheekpiece. The forend is fitted with a T-way rail for sling swivel or tripod.

The rifle also features a removable and adjustable trigger unit, for further individual fitting of the rifle. The trigger pull can be modified and the whole assembly is removable from the pistol grip. The pistol grip is of a target-style with an adjustable palm shelf.

Another notable characteristic of the PSG1 is that after firing, the cartridge casing is ejected with substantial force, reportedly enough to throw it approximately 10 meters to the side (SVD rifle also has a similar tendency). While this is generally not an issue for law enforcement snipers, it greatly compromises the military use of the rifle, because it would easily give away the sniper's position. The brass is also difficult to find for clearing the area of usage marks afterwards, due to the wide area in which it could have landed. Not only does this rifle eject brass some distance, but it crimps the casing severely, meaning most casings cannot be reused. The PSG-1's official silencer is from Brügger & Thomet (B and T). 

The Dragunov sniper rifle (formally Russian: Снайперская винтовка Драгунова, Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova (SVD), literally "Dragunov's sniper rifle") is a semi-automatic sniper rifle/designated marksman rifle chambered in7.62×54mmR and developed in the Soviet Union.

The Dragunov was designed as a squad support weapon, since according to Soviet and Soviet-derived military doctrines the long-range engagement ability was lost to ordinary troops when submachine guns and assault rifles (which are optimized for close-range and medium-range, rapid-fire combat) were adopted. For that reason it was originally named "Полуавтоматическая винтовка Драгунова" Dragunov's Semi-automatic Rifle.

It was selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing designs: the first was a rifle designed by Sergei Simonov (known as the SSV-58), the second design, a prototype designated 2B-W10 by Alexander Konstantinov, and the third rifle, the SVD-137, a design submitted by Yevgeny Dragunov. Extensive field testing of the rifles conducted in a wide range of environmental conditions resulted in Dragunov’s proposal being accepted into service in 1963. An initial pre-production batch consisting of 200 rifles was assembled for evaluation purposes, and from 1964 serial production was carried out by Izhmash.

Since then, the Dragunov has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact. Licensed production of the rifle was established in China (Type 79 and Type 85) and Iran (as a direct copy of the Chinese Type 79).

The Barrett Model 99 "Big Shot" is a single-shot sniper rifle first introduced in 1999 by the Barrett Firearms Company (USA). The company is better known worldwide for its earlier .50 caliber rifles, the semi-automatic M82A1 and bolt-action M95. Like the M95, the rifle uses a bullpup configuration meaning the ammunition is loaded behind the pistol grip. However, it is not fed from a magazine. It is instead a single-shot rifle, meaning that one round is loaded directly into the ejection port and is pushed into the chamber by the bolt.
The rifle comes in several variations. The .416 Barrett is, in theory, more accurate than the .50 BMG because the round is of a higher velocity and lower caliber (making it more aerodynamic). However, the drag-to-weight ratios of the respective bullets give the .50 BMG an advantage at ultra-long ranges. The .416 Barrett model is available with a 32" barrel. The .50 BMG model is available in 25", 29" and 32". MSRP ranges from $3,800 to $4000.