The M82 rifle is a high powered heavy sniper rifle developed by the U.S. Barrett Firearms Company. It is currently used by many units and armies around the world, including the American Special Forces. It is also called the "Light Fifty" for its .50 caliber load. The weapon is found in two variants - the original M82A1 (and A3) and the bullpup M82A2. The M82A2 is no longer manufactured. A rifle is any long gun which has a rifled barrel. ... The traditional definition of a sniper is an infantry soldier especially skilled in field craft and marksmanship who kills selected enemies from concealment with a rifle at large distances. ... For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). ... The Barrett Firearms Company was founded in 1980 by Ronald Barrett. ... Special forces or special operations forces is a term used to describe relatively small military units raised and trained for reconnaissance, unconventional warfare and special operations. ...

Overview

The Barrett Firearms Company was founded by Ronnie Barrett for the single purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the hugely powerful .50 BMG ammunition, originally developed for and used in Browning M2 machine guns. Barrett began his work in early 1980s and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett continued to develop his rifle through the 1980s, and developed improved M82A1 rifle by 1986. The first real success was the purchase of about 100 M82A1 rifles by the Swedish Army in 1989. Major success followed in 1990, when the US Military purchased significant numbers of the M82A1 during the operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by US Marine Corps, orders from US Army and Air Force followed soon. The M82A1 is known for US Military as the SASR - "Special Applications Scoped Rifle", and it was and still is used as an anti-matériel weapon and EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) tool. The long effective range, over 1,500 m, along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such as API and Raufoss M213 allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins, trucks, parked aircraft and so on. M82 also can be used to defeat human targets from standoff range or when targets are behind cover, but the anti-personnel work is not a major application for Barrett M82 (or any other .50 BMG rifle, for that matter). Categories: Stub | Pistol and rifle cartridges ... An M2 machine gun surrounded by spent shell casings The M2 . ... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January-February January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ...

Further development led to the M82A2 bullpup rifle in 1987, which was a reduced-recoil design to be fired from the shoulder. It failed to make an impression on the world firearm market, and was soon dropped from production. The M82A2 was intended as a cheap anti-helicopter weapon, suitable for use against highly mobile targets when fired from the shoulder. The Steyr AUG has a typical bullpup configuration. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The latest derivative of the M82 family is the M82A1M rifle, adopted by USMC as the M82A3 SASR and bought in large numbers. This rifle differs from M82A1 in that it has a full length Picatinny rail that allows a wide variety of scopes and sighting devices to be mounted on the rifle. Other changes are the addition of a rear monopod, slightly lightened mechanism and detachable bipod and muzzle brake. The Picatinny rail is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting for sniper scopes and other accessories. ... A telescopic sight is a device used to give an accurate point of aim for a firearm. ...

The Barrett M82 rifles were bought by various military and police forces from at least 30 countries, such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, USA and others. The M82 also is widely used for civilian .50 caliber long range shooting competitions, being fired accurately out to 1000 yards (911 meters) and even further.

As a side note, the Barrett M82A1 rifle was used in 2002 as a platform for the experimental OSW (Objective Sniper Weapon) prototype. The M82A1 rifle was fitted with a shorter barrel of 25mm caliber, and fired low-velocity high explosive shells developed for 25mm OCSW automatic grenade launcher. The experimental OSW showed an increased effectiveness against various targets but the recoil was beyond human limitations. This weapon, also known as the Barrett 'Payload Rifle', has now been designated the XM109. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... The Barrett XM109 is a 25 mm sniper rifle still under development by the Barrett Firearms Company. ...

The weapon has been redesignated in the US Army as the M107. Initially the Army issued a requirement for a bolt-action .50 BMG sniper weapon, and then selected the Barrett M95. However, it was then decided that a bolt-action rifle was in fact not what the US Army was looking for. Unfortunately, money had already been allotted in the budget for an "XM107" rifle, so they decided to redesignate the M82A1M/A3 to M107 and purchase more of those rifles. There is no difference between the M107 and the M82A1M/A3. The XM107 was originally intended to be a bolt-action sniper rifle, and in fact it was selected by the US Army in a competition between such weapons. ...

Technical Description

The M82 is a recoil operated, short barrel stroke, semi-automatic firearm. When the gun is fired, the barrel initially recoils for a short distance (about an inch - 25 mm) being securely locked by the rotating bolt. After the short travel, a post on the bolt engaged in the curved cam track in the receiver turns the bolt to unlock it from the barrel. As soon as the bolt unlocks, the accelerator arm strikes it back, transferring some part of the recoil energy of the barrel to the bolt to achieve reliable cycling. Then the barrel is stopped and the bolt continues back, to extract and eject a spent case. On its return stroke, the bolt strips the fresh cartridge from the box magazine and feeds it into the chamber and finally locks itself to the barrel. The striker also is cocked on the return stroke of the bolt. The gun is fed from a large detachable box magazine holding up to 10 rounds.

The receiver is made from two parts (upper and lower), stamped from sheet steel and connected by cross-pins. The heavy barrel is fluted to improve heat dissipation and save weight, and fitted with a large and effective reactive muzzle brake. On the earlier models the muzzle brakes had a round cross-section, later M82 rifles are equipped with two chamber brakes of rectangular cross-section.

M82A1 rifles are fitted with scope mount and folding backup iron sights, should the glass scope break. M82 rifles are often equipped with Leupold M series 10X telescope sights. The M82A1M (USMC M82A3) rifles have long Picatinny accessory rails mounted. 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 way too uncomfortable to be carried on 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 M82 has been seen in a number of Hollywood action films, often depicted with grossly exaggerated capabilities. For other uses, see Hollywood (disambiguation) Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that runs from about Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to...

Specifications

M82A1

• Caliber: .50 BMG (12.7 x 99mm)
• Operation: Short Recoil, Semi-Automatic
• Overall Length: 1448 mm
• Barrel Length: 737 mm
• Feed Device: 10 Round Detachable Box Magazine
• Sights: 10X Telescopic
• Mass: 12.9 kg empty
• Muzzle Velocity: 854 m/s (M33 Ball)
• Max Effective Range: 1800 meters
• Expected accuracy: 1.5 - 2.0 MOA or better

The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... Categories: Stub | Pistol and rifle cartridges ... A minute of arc, arcminute, or MOA is a unit of angular measurement, equal to one sixtieth (1/60) of one degree. ...

M82A2

• Length: 144.78 cm
• Barrel length: 73.67 cm
• Mass: 14.75 kg (unloaded)
• Maximum effective range on equipment-sized targets: 1800 m
• Muzzle velocity: 854 m/s
• Magazine capacity: 10 rounds
• Unit Replacement Cost: $6,000

See also

• List of individual weapons of the US Armed Forces
• List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces
• Sniper rifles

Pistol: .38 Pistol M9 (Beretta 92 FS 9mm) M11 Pistol (SIG P228) M1911 M1917 Mk 23 Mod 0 Shotguns: Winchester M1897 Trench Gun Mossberg 590 Remington 870 Winchester 1200 Benelli Super 90 12 ga. ... Rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and machine guns FIM-92 Stinger FOTT Javelin M2 machine gun M242 Bushmaster Chain gun M19 (Mk19) Grenade launcher M37 M47 Dragon M60 machine gun M73 M85 M219 M220 TOW M240 M1919 OCSW Mortars M29 81 mm mortar M30 107 mm mortar M120 120 mm mortar... A U.S. Army soldier peers through a scope mounted atop his M-14 rifle during operations in Iraq A sniper rifle is a type of rifle used for engaging in the act of sniping, most purely a rifle used for shooting with great accuracy. ...

External links

• Barrett Rifles - Official Website (http://www.barrettrifles.com/)
  • http://www.barrettrifles.com/rifles/rifles_82A1.htm
• The Barrett M82 from Mel's SniperCentral (http://www.snipercentral.com/m82.htm)
• Modern Firearms (http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn02-e.htm)