section_path: Types/Long guns/Sniper rifles
section_name: Sniper rifles
paragraph_text: Sniper rifles
  
  A sniper rifle is, per widespread definition, a high-powered precision rifle, often bolt-action or semi-automatic, with an effective range farther than that of a standard rifle. Though any rifle in a sniper configuration (usually with a telescopic sight and bipod) can be considered a sniper rifle, most sniper rifles are purpose-built for their applications, or are variants of existing rifles that have been modified to function as sniper rifles, such as the Type 97 sniper rifle, which was essentially a standard Type 38 rifle that was modified to be lighter and come with a telescopic sight.
  
  Related developments are anti-materiel rifles, high-caliber rifles designed to destroy enemy materiel such as vehicles, supplies, or hardware; anti-tank rifles, anti-materiel rifles that were designed specifically to combat early armoured fighting vehicles, but are now largely obsolete due to advances in vehicle armour; scout rifles, a broad class of rifles generally summed up as short, lightweight, portable sniper rifles; and designated marksman rifles, semi-automatic high-precision rifles, usually chambered in intermediate or full-power cartridges, that fill the range gap between sniper rifles and regular rifles and are designed for designated marksmen in squads.
  
  Examples of sniper and scout rifles include the M40 rifle, Heckler & Koch PSG1, Walther WA 2000, Accuracy International AWM, M24 Sniper Weapon System, Steyr Scout, Sako TRG, and CheyTac Intervention. Examples of anti-materiel and anti-tank rifles include the Mauser Tankgewehr M1918, Boys anti-tank rifle, PTRS-41, Barrett M82, Gepárd anti-materiel rifle, and McMillan TAC-50. Examples of designated marksman rifles include the SVD, SR-25, Dragunov SVU, Marine Scout Sniper Rifle, Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, and M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System.