A US Marine with a Barrett M82 in Iraq in 2003
The M82, standardized by the US Military as the M107, was a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. It was used by many units and armies around the world. Despite its designation as an anti-materiel rifle, it was used by some armed forces as an anti-personnel sniper rifle.
Development[]
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing was founded by Ronnie Barrett for the sole purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the powerful 12.7×99mm NATO (.50 BMG) ammunition, originally developed for and used in M2 Browning machine guns. Barrett began his work in the early 1980s and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett designed every single part of the weapon personally and then went on to market the weapon and mass-produce it out of his own pocket. He continued to develop his rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986.
The first conventional military success was the sale of about 100 M82A1 rifles to the Swedish Army in 1989. Major success followed in 1990, when the United States armed forces purchased significant numbers of the M82A1 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by the United States Marine Corps, and orders from the Army and Air Force soon followed.
Specifications[]
The Barrett M82 weighs approximately 29.7 pounds, and is 120 centimetres long. The M82's barrel length is approximately 51 centimetres. The M82 has no specified rate of fire.
Operators[]
666th Akuma Division (Formerly)
Muteki Daitai Ground Forces (Formerly)
US Army (Formerly)