.50 cal sniper rifle - draft specs?

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

Comments?

I am working on adding the US .50 cal sniper rifle to the TacOps data base.

Below are the draft "base" characteristics that I have come up with so far. Below that - for comparision - are the current base characteristics for the US 7.62mm sniper rifle and the US .50 cal machine gun.

Sniper Rifle .50 caliber US, first round

Range Meters _____ 0 ___ 300 ___ 625 __ 1250 __ 1800 __ 2500

Base Ph% _______ 99 ____ 95 ____ 90 ____ 70 ____ 50 ____ 10

Penetration mm __ 30 ____ 27 ____ 25 ____ 23 ____ 18 ____ 13

Sniper Rifle 7.62mm US, first round

Range Meters ____ 0 ____ 300 ___ 500 ___ 700 __ 1000 _ 1200

Base Ph% ______ 99 _____ 90 ____ 80 ____ 50 ____ 30 ___ 12

Penetration mm__ 18 _____ 15 _____ 9 _____ 8 _____ 5 ____ 4

Machine Gun .50 caliber US, first burst

Range Meters ___ 0 __ 175 __ 625 __ 1250 __ 1500 __ 2500

Base Ph% _____ 95 ___ 90 ___ 80 ____ 60 ____ 50 ____ 10

Penetration mm_ 30 ___ 30 ___ 25 ____ 23 ____ 19 ____ 13

[ August 05, 2003, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: MajorH ]

[DaveWilson]

I'm no expert but I'd think the ballistics would be about the same as the M2. OTOH the accuracy would be MUCH greater due to the bi-pod rest, telescopic sights and training of the user.

As I understand it, the .50 rifle is not intended for use as an anti-personal weapon but to take out 'soft' targets like Radar Facilities, ammo and fuel dumps as well as aircraft and helicopters on the ground.

Good luck with the new addition.

[Coyote]

Seems reasonable. What is the Attrition Point cost going to be?

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

35 points which is 5 points higher than the 7.62mm sniper team.

[Rame]

I am no expert on the Barrett M82A1 12.7mm x 99 Sniper/anti-Material rifle either. I looked up some quick info about it on the net and found that perhaps its maximum effective range could be dropped down to around 1800m rather than 2500m. This is only an inexperienced opinion. Perhaps also as a question/suggestion for balance, could you incorporate say a sniper/anti-material rifle like the Hungarian Gepard M1 12.7mm x 107 for OPFOR. Its maximum effective range is around 2000m due to a more powerful round. Once again this is only an inexperienced opinion.

[Scout_42MDP]

I was under the impression that the M2HB fired an armor piercing round in it's application with the majority of US troops. Kinda like a mini sabot or some kinda hardened core. I'd think the sniper rifle wouldn't use that type of ammunition because it'd just blow straight through soft targets. If it doesn't hit anything vital, you might as well have missed.

I'd do a little research and possibly adjust the penetration values of the sniper rifle's baseline stats. But then again, I haven't fired any of those weapons, so take my opinion as that of an un-informed nOOb.

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

I also saw articles listing 1800 to 1830 meters as its max effective range.

However, the phrase "Maximum effective range" is usually misleading because sources almost never clearly define its meaning. Its traditional meaning in the U.S. military is the range at which a weapon will hit 50% of the time in the hands of an average shooter.

If someone is shooting at me with a 50% probability of hitting me with each shot then that sounds to me like a weapon that is not yet anywere near its maximum "useful" range.

[MajorH TacOps Developer]

I also saw articles listing 1800 to 1830 meters as its max effective range.

However, the phrase "Maximum effective range" is usually misleading because sources almost never clearly define its meaning. Its traditional meaning in the U.S. military is the range at which a weapon will hit 50% of the time in the hands of an average shooter.

If someone is shooting at me with a 50% probability of hitting me with each shot then that sounds to me like a weapon that is not yet anywere near its maximum "useful" range.

[minmax]

My very minor 2 cents on this; The

.50 cal does have armor piercing capability using a sort of magnum loaded round with some hi-tech projectile that is used to puncture driver and commander compartments. Very accurate with its own laser range finder and wind speed/direction gear. Heard from some Scout/Sniper types that it is a real bitch to hump in the field but its a great weapon to hold an enemy down for follow on forces.

Major are modeling the 7.62 after the old M-21 or the M-4? Just wondering.