History Main / SniperRifle

* Film/JamesBond uses sniper rifles in several films, including ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'', ''Film/LicenceToKill'' and ''Film/DieAnotherDay''.
** The ''From Russia with Love'' example is kind of stretching the term; the rifle in question is a small-caliber weapon effective at relatively short ranges, where modern sniper rifles can kill at over a thousand yards.
* ''Film/{{Eraser}}'' features railgun sniper rifles that fire [[ArtisticLicensePhysics aluminium bullets at "close to the speed of light". They also have X-Ray scopes.]] [[note]] Basically this entire concept is wrong. Aluminium is paramagnetic, which effectively means it is non-magnetic, so couldn't be used in a railgun, which requires a ferromagnetic projectile. Firing any projectile at 'close to the speed of light' is pretty impractical - the LHC at CERN is the world's most powerful particle accelerator. It's 27 kilometres (17 miles) in circumference, and accelerates subatomic particles to around 99% of the speed of light. Doing that with something handheld is obviously impractical. Not to mention Railguns only being able to fire at around 8000 miles per hour, or about 1% of the speed of light. An X-Ray scope is almost as ridiculous, though the problems are covered on XRayVision[[/note]]
* In ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales'', Josey uses a Sharps 1865 sniper rifle to cut a ferry tow-rope and send a group of Redlegs on a "Missouri boat ride".

* ''Zombie Gunship Survival'' has sniper rifles as a weapon class. In game where your titular AC-130 gunship can often carry SiegeEngines far more powerful than anything carried on the real aircraft - somehow your sniper rifles, which use bullets that are far tinier than the rockets, bombs and artillery shells of your weapons, will do far more damage but at the cost of no area effect and slow rate of fire. So sniper rifles are reserved for killing the Titans rather than used against the zombie mobs.

* ''Zombie Gunship Survival'' has sniper rifles as a weapon class. In game where your titular AC-130 gunship can often carry {{SiegeWeapon}}s far more powerful than anything carried on the real aircraft - somehow your sniper rifles, which use bullets that are far tinier than the rockets, bombs and artillery shells of your weapons, will do far more damage but at the cost of no area effect and slow rate of fire. So sniper rifles are reserved for killing the Titans rather than used against the zombie mobs.

* A Dragunov is used in Creator/JohnWoo's ''Film/TheKiller'' by the title character to carry out the hit at the dragon boat festival. In reality it's a [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/The_Killer#.28Mock-Up.29_SVD_Dragunov mock-up]] built from a Chinese Norinco Type 56 assault rifle.

* No sniper rifles are for sale in ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'', but an assault rifle works just as well. A trooper with an accuracy rating of 60 can plug an alien from 50 squares away. A Plasma Rifle extends that range to the far side of the map. Accomplished snipers will rack up the most kills of any of your troops.

** ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' features a line of sniper rifles for the Sniper class. The best one shoots plasma.
* Sniper rifles return as the Sharpshooter's primary weapon in ''VideoGame/XCOM2''. You ''start'' with a massive anti-materiel rifle akin to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_M82 Barrett M82]] and work your way up to [[MagneticWeapons magnetic]] and eventually [[PlasmaCannon plasma]] versions. If you happen to own the ''War of the Chosen'' DLC, the game's foremost GameBreaker can be obtained by taking down the Hunter. His [[InfinityPlusOneSword Darklance]] not only outperforms any other sniper rifle in the game, it also needs just one action to fire instead of two, so you can move ''and'' shoot in the same turn. A sharpshooter with the Death From Above skill wielding this beast from high ground can fire off as many shots as they have ammo on them, which can result in one guy/gal massacring the entire map in a single turn.

* One of the five available classes for your squad in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is the eponymous sniper who carriers, as you'd imagine, a sniper rifle. Unfortunately due to them being effected by a specific crouch game-mechanic, they aren't all that useful initially. They get much more useful as you level up and better rifles & orders become available.

* ''VideoGame/WildARMs3'' has the Gungnir [=HAG35=] of the MightyGlacier sniper, Clive Winslet. Very accurate and very damaging.

-->-- '''the [[UsefulNotes/IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles IDF]] History Department''', ''War of Independence Chronicles''

* In ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', Tenma uses a prototype that was turned down by the German army.

* [[ColdSniper Sinon]] wields a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGM_Hécate_II PGM Hecate-II]] in the GGO-arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. It's noted that since GGO emulates real-world combat extremely closely, sniper rifles are rare because of the skill required to use one effectively.

* ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'': Spider-Man's enemy ComicBook/NormanOsborn used a big sniper rifle to kill the Skrull queen, and soon after ComicBook/ThePunisher used an identical one to try and assassinate Norman.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth Vol 5]]: Maru uses a sniper rifle against Diana with the intent that the distance it affords her will allow her to kill the Amazon without letting her retaliate. She underestimated Diana's HealingFactor and speed though.

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'' :

* When there are guns other than handguns in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', they're almost always sniper rifles.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx''
** ''VideoGame/DeusEx1'' includes a sniper rifle whose sight crosshairs wobble, with less wobble as your skill improves.
** Comes in three flavors in [[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution the third game]], standard sniper rifle with 3-rounds magazine, silenced sniper rifle with 2 more rounds (available through DLC), & single-shot tranquilizer rifle.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'', Agent 47 uses a variety of sniper rifles during his career. The one he uses in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' is a Walther WA-2000, only 176 of which were built.

* ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call Of Duty 4]]'' features a lot of sniper rifles, including a Barrett M82 in the SnipingMission. Said Barrett shoots so far away, you can ''see'' the bullet flying through the air and need to compensate for wind. [[note]]In the real world, the 12.7x99mm round is far too heavy to affected by the wind, and certainly wouldn't spiral around like that.[[/note]]
** Modern Warfare 2 takes this a bit further, featuring a grand total of 5 sniper rifles (4 usable in multiplayer): the M14 (called M21 in multiplayer), a semi-automatic battle rifle that goes very well with a silencer and scope; the Dragunov, a not-that-powerful one (this is the one not available in multiplayer); the WA-2000, a rare semi-automatic piece of equipment whose only limitation is the slow reload time; the Barrett M82, yes, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the same beast]]; and the Intervention, a massive bolt-action [[CargoShip that makes a ''very'' satisfying sound when you fire it]] and, were not for the slow reload times, would be the best thing to take out Juggernauts.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 3}}'' has the Gungnir [=HAG35=] of the MightyGlacier sniper, Clive Winslet. Very accurate and very damaging.

* ''VideoGame/DangerGirl'' have Sydney's preferred weapon after her [[WhipItGood trusty whip]], her prized sniper rifle. Which works wonders in stages where she's assigned to rescue hostages, by sniping enemies from a distance to release captives.

* Margarete uses one in ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'', where it functions as a substitute [[StatusEffects Death spell]]. ''It actually works on bosses!''

* Gibbs, in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' was a Marine sniper, and he uses his skills in several episodes. In addition, some villains are snipers as well. E.g. Ari kills Kate that way.

Historically, the first military sniper rifles were the long-barreled "Pennsylvania" and "Kentucky" rifles used by colonial sharpshooters during the American Revolution. For the next 70 years, while muzzle-loading muskets were the army standard, snipers continued to use muzzle-loading rifles. UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar saw the first true sniping rifle: the Whitworth rifle, a specially made weapon with a heavy octagonal barrel and a 3x telescope sight that could hit a target a thousand yards away. By 1900, regular arms technology had caught up, and for the first half of the 20th century, sniper rifles were simply standard-issue rifles fitted with scopes. As carbines and assault rifles were adopted as the main infantry weapons, however, specialized rifles for this role became more necessary.

* ''Film/LethalWeapon'''s Martin Riggs uses a sniper rifle at one point to back up his partner Murtaugh when his family gets kidnapped.

Historically, most military sniper rifles in real life were simply standard issue rifles fitted with scopes, since these were powerful and accurate enough for most such purposes. As carbines and assault rifles were adopted as the main infantry weapons, however, specialized rifles for this role became more necessary.

* The Sniper Rifle is a late game gun in ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', and the gun with the highest damage per shot in the whole game. Thanks to its scope, it has a "zoom" function that shifts the viewpoint from centered straight on your character towards whatever direction the cursor is at. Musket balls and silver/tungsten bullets fired from it will gain the same speed and perforation power as a High Velocity Bullets.

* In any online multiplayer (especially Co-Op), that focuses on gun fighting. Expect a teammate to specialize in long distance artillery. In fact, it's often a problem that ''all'' your teammates want to specialize that way.

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'', Alfred Ashford's WeaponOfChoice is the Sniper Rifle, complete with LaserSight -- though he can never seem to hit anything at all. He even misses Claire at point blank range.

* ''VideoGame/DangerGirl'' have Sydney's preferred weapon after her [[WhipItGod trusty whip]], her prized sniper rifle. Which works wonders in stages where she's assigned to rescue hostages, by sniping enemies from a distance to release captives.

See also: SniperPistol, {{Handguns}}, RevolversAreJustBetter, GatlingGood and SawedOffShotgun. [[CoolGuns/SniperRifles We also have a list of specific model examples]] under CoolGuns.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'', Agent 47 uses a variety of sniper rifles during his career. The one he uses in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' is a Walther WA-2000, only 176 of which were [[RareGuns built]].

* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' has the Charger weapon class. Charger weapons require the user to charge up by holding the trigger, but unleash a long range burst of ink that [[OneHitKill instantly KO]]'s players (except for the [[MechanicallyUnusualFighter Bamboozler]], which requires two hits to KO). While the weapons are deadly powerful, their slow charge time and limited coverage capability make them useless in the hands of unskilled players.

* Being a ''Halo'' {{machinima}}, many characters in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' use them at various times. Church is the one who uses it the most, but has ''terrible'' aim; failing to hit anyone with it. Even [[TheDitz Caboose]] shows better marksmanship. More often than not, they just use it [[MundaneUtility to spy on the other team with its zoom function]].

-->-- '''the [[UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} IDF]] History Department''', ''War of Independence Chronicles''

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has the Charger weapon class. Charger weapons require the user to charge up by holding the trigger, but unleash a long range burst of ink that [[OneHitKill instantly KO]]'s players (except for the [[MechanicallyUnusualFighter Bamboozler]], which requires two hits to KO). While the weapons are deadly powerful, their slow charge time and limited coverage capability make them useless in the hands of unskilled players.

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen' features one, the only perfectly accurate hitscan weapon. The scope zoom in it is the exact same as the binoculars's, but with a different reticle and sound effect. If you stand still long enough, [[IdleAnimation Caleb will fiddle with the scope's adjustment screw]].