Best Sniper Rifle

A sniper rifle in a broad sense is a rifle that has more accurate placement of bullets and a very high probability (which is almost 100%) of injuring or killing the target at a very long distance. As regards to the best or most accurate sniper rifle in the world, frankly, every sniper rifle is the best rifle, irrespective of its features. The preferences and skills of the sniper also matter a lot. To some extent the geographical and tactical environment also affects the performance of the rifle. Thus, to put the answer in simple words, a sniper rifle's performance cannot be measured, as there are many factors including the sniper's preference that come into picture.

World's Best Sniper Rifles

The following are modern-day sniper rifle families that have some great features that have proved to be highly beneficial in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Barrett Firearms Sniper Rifles
A United States based firearms manufacturer, Barret's basic model the M82, was introduced in 1989, with the first big batch being supplied to Sweden. Over the years Barrett has manufactured and developed a small family of firearms, sniper rifles being their specialty. Often considered to be the best rifle manufacturer in the United States, Barrett has supplied many armed forces with the M series rifles. Most of the M series produced by the company use .50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) cartridges with a feed system that has 10 rounds per magazine and a barrel length that ranges from 20 to 29 inches. Many of these rifles have AN/PVS-10 day/night optic systems which use the Picatinny rail or tactical rail mounting platform. Such a mounting platform enables the users to mount other optics and telescopic systems on the rifle. The .50 BMG family of the bolt-action rifles by Barrett include, M82, M95, M99, and M99-1. This family of rifles was used extensively in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Some of these have been also used in military schools and sniper schools for training.

Accuracy International Arctic Warfare
With the Americans developing the sniper rifle system, the British were not to be left behind and the 1980s saw drastic increase in the use of Arctic warfare series by Accurate international. Arctic warfare series is a bolt-action rifle family, which is being used by a considerable number of military, civilian and peace keeping forces of the world. The users of this series have an advantage of using any of the 7.62×51 mm NATO, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges. Like the Barrettes the feed system consists of a 10-round detachable box magazine system. The rifle has an effective range of 800 meters, as a result of 660 mm barrel length. The next generation of this sniper rifle is the Accuracy International AWM or the super magnum that uses a .338 Lapua Magnum cartridges. The barrel length of the super magnum is 660 mm, which, when combined with the better cartridge, enhances the rage to 1,100 meters (and to 1,500 meters in some cases). The Arctic warfare series is best compatible with Schmidt & Bender telescopic optics. Some special forces also use them with other military gear, such as suppressors, with very good results.

Heckler & Koch PSG1
The Heckler & Koch PSG1 is often designated to be a 'marks man' rifle instead of a full-time sniper rifle, due to its semi automatic features. However frequent use of this rifle has proved that it is the most accurate semi automatic rifle. This rifle uses 7.62x51mm NATO cartridges and has a Roller-delayed blowback action, with a 5 or 20 round detachable box magazine feed system The only drawback of this rifle is that it has a 800 meter range, from a 650 mm barrel. The usual sights which are used are Hendsoldt ZF6x42PSG1 telescopic sight with illuminated reticle. The Heckler & Koch PSG1 is used in many branches of the military.

There are several other families of sniper rifles such as McMillan Tac-50 and M40 bolt-action which have proved to be equally effective. The aforementioned three are however, the latest ones and amongst the best.