Quote:
Originally Posted by pompousjohn
They were popular with snipers before the Barrett was made, simply because there were no bolt action rifles chambered for .50 at the time. Once it was observed what could be done with that round by affixing a scope to a browning, somebody said "hmmmmmm..." and now we have .50 sniper rifles.
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Having served on many gun crews, and emplacing/firing the M2 myself, I recall that it was 85lbs alone, 127 lbs with it's tripod, maximum effective range against a point target was 2000 yards, and it has neither a stock or a scope mount. It has to be fired from a tripod or vehicle mount. You don't pickup or modify a heavy machine gun and turn it in to a shoulder fired sniper rifle, and then hit a human target more than 500 yards beyond the weapon's maximum effective range against such a target.