Sniper Rifles

The sniper rifle is obviously designed for extreme long-range accuracy. It is usually a single-fire weapon and there are two types of sniper rifle: standard rifles which are "accurized" (eg. picked out during manufacture and testing for unusually high accuracy and/or modified for accuracy) and specialized weapons which have been designed from the ground up for use in the sniper role. These weapons usually have ballistic characteristics similar to those of assault rifles, and the most accurate models can hit man-sized targets from as much as 800 metres away. It should come as no surprise that sniper rifles are usually equipped with sophisticated targeting devices such as telescopic sights, rangefinders, light-amplification scopes, etc. Some sniper rifles are also capable of fully automatic fire, based on the rationale that if a sniper is detected, he may need to defend himself with more firepower than a single-shot weapon can provide. However, snipers look rather unfavourably upon these dual-purpose weapons. The operating mechanism of an assault rifle is rather different than that of a purpose-built sniper rifle, and automatic fire will tend to throw components out of alignment. Therefore, a dual-purpose weapon sacrifices accuracy in the name of firepower, and since snipers generally work in pairs anyway, this trade-off is unnecessary because the other man will always have a proper support weapon ready.