What is a Sniper Rifle?
In the military context, snipers are shooters who can hit and engage targets at very long distances. In the military, the term sniper is used, while police authorities typically refer to them as designated marksmen. Snipers and designated marksmen are deployed wherever few, very precise shots are necessary at long distances or may become necessary. For example, snipers and designated marksmen are used to secure large areas or to engage a single target at long range. A typical scenario would be the “final rescue shot” by a designated marksman.
In the civilian sector, sniper rifles are used for shooting sports (known as long-range shooting) or hunting.
Most sniper rifles are bolt-action rifles. Although semi-automatic rifles equipped with scopes are also used for distances up to about 600 m, these weapons are referred to as “Designated Marksman Rifles” or DMR for short - they serve as a link between assault rifles (effective range up to 400 m) and sniper rifles.
In semi-automatic weapons, the energy released by the cartridge's propellant pushes the bolt of the weapon backward, ejecting the spent casing. The bolt is then pushed forward again by a spring, extracting a new cartridge from the magazine and chambering it. The unlocking of the bolt occurs immediately after ignition - the center of gravity of the weapon changes even before the projectile leaves the barrel. Because of this process, bolt-action rifles are considered more precise than semi-automatics. Additionally, for snipers, precision is more important than rapid fire.
To be able to operate precisely at long distances, it is important to have a powerful, fast caliber, and to make the best use of the energy reserves of that caliber. For this reason, most sniper rifles have relatively long barrels (in the military context, a barrel is referred to as tube).
The longer the barrel of a rifle, the longer the projectile travels within that barrel while the cartridge's propellant burns. Therefore, a projectile is accelerated longer with a longer barrel. With too short barrels, there is a strong muzzle flash when firing - if the projectile leaves the barrel, the propellant has not yet fully burned, resulting in a strong muzzle flash.
What caliber does a sniper rifle have?
In addition to a long barrel, a powerful yet precise caliber is necessary. In military units, the .308 Win cartridge (military: 7.62×51mm NATO) is very popular, while assault rifles used by Western military and police units are usually equipped with the .223 Rem caliber (5.56x45 mm NATO) - as a smaller caliber allows for more cartridges to be carried.
Other calibers that are frequently used include .300 Win Mag (7.62x67 mm) or .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6 × 70 mm). For distances up to 2 km, rifles in the notorious .50 BMG caliber (12.7 × 99 mm NATO) are also used. The extremely powerful .50 BMG caliber is suitable for targeted engagement of hard or armored targets. Even stronger calibers with projectile diameters of up to 20 mm are conceivable.
What is the range of a sniper rifle?
The range of a sniper rifle depends not only on the weapon itself but also on the shooter and the weather conditions. Depending on the design, it can be said that a military sniper rifle is suitable for a distance of about 1,000 m. Large-caliber high-precision weapons, on the other hand, can be used at distances of up to 3,000 m when operated by a capable shooter. Precision shooters from police forces are almost exclusively deployed in urban areas; they are designed for shorter distances and typically engage targets at distances of up to 1,000 m.
Which sniper rifle does the Bundeswehr use?
The G22 Sniper Rifle
The Bundeswehr has various sniper rifles in use. The G22 was introduced in 1997 as the first pure sniper rifle in the Bundeswehr. Before that, the G3 with a scope was used for this purpose (which is actually not a sniper rifle but a Designated Marksman Rifle). The manufacturer of the G22 is the British company Accuracy International.
Technical Data:
| Caliber: | 7.62x67 mm (.300 Win Mag) |
| Barrel Length: | 66 cm |
| Weight: | 9.3 kg |
| Target Optics: | 5-25x magnification |
| Combat Range: | up to 1,100 m |
The G29 Sniper Rifle
The G29 sniper rifle is designed for longer ranges than the G22 and is manufactured by Haenel. In the special forces of the army and navy (Kommando Spezialkräfte and Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine), the G29 replaces the G22.
| Caliber: | 8.6×70 mm (.338 Lapua Magnum) |
| Barrel Length: | 68.5 cm |
| Weight: | 7.8 kg |
| Target Optics: | 5-25x magnification |
| Combat Range: | up to 1,500 m |
The G82 Sniper Rifle
The heaviest sniper rifle used by the Bundeswehr is the G82 in caliber 12.7 × 99 mm NATO (also .50 BMG, .50 Browning Machine Gun) from the American manufacturer Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc. Unlike the other two sniper rifles, the G82 is a semi-automatic, designed to engage technical and well-protected targets at long distances. The G82 has the highest range among sniper rifles, with an operational distance of about 1,800 m.
| Caliber: | 12.7 × 99 mm NATO (.50 BMG) |
| Barrel Length: | 73.8 cm |
| Weight: | 12.9 kg |
| Target Optics: | 5-25x magnification |
| Combat Range: | up to 1,800 |
What is the best sniper rifle in the world?
It is difficult to say which sniper rifle is the best. When acquiring a sniper rifle in both military and law enforcement contexts, cost and availability always play a decisive role in which manufacturer and model is selected. As with hunting and sport shooting, the shooter's skills and the performance of the target optics have a much greater impact on shot precision.
Can civilians buy sniper rifles?
In Germany, the same conditions apply to sniper rifles as to other rifles. Therefore, civilians are allowed to purchase sniper rifles if the manufacturers offer them. To acquire a rifle that can be used as a sniper rifle, a hunting license, a green firearms ownership card with a pre-entry, or a yellow firearms ownership card is required, provided that other legal requirements are met.
Besides the question of whether one is allowed to own a sniper rifle, one should consider whether one really needs it. Sniper rifles are more expensive than most hunting and sport rifles. For hunting purposes, they are usually oversized, and the calibers are too large - in a typical German hunting area, it may not only seem odd to aim a .50 BMG cartridge at a roe deer with a sniper rifle, but it can also be very dangerous due to the strong projectile impact, leading to a higher likelihood of ricochet and fragmentation. At a regular shooting range, one would also be critically observed with large-caliber weapons.
It is quite different in long-range shooting. Those who are passionate about the king discipline of rifle shooting and want to practice precise shooting beyond distances of 600 m will find a sniper rifle to be the optimal working tool.
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