Sniper Rifles
Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum
Added along with the Smith & Wesson Model 500 in Update #59's 7th alpha, the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum is the first (and so far, only) weapon in H3 chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum; it was also the largest-caliber sniper rifle in the game that wasn't an anti-materiel rifle, until the introduction of the Cheyenne Tactical M-200 Intervention .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Accuracy International Arctic Warfare Magnum - .338 Lapua Magnum
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Admiring the AWM. A timeless classic, since '99.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading in a magazine. While many of H3VR' s weapon models are purchased or donated from third-party sources, they are sometimes still modified on the game's end; the AWM is a perfect example of this, as its magazine and well were slightly too short to fit normal .338 Lapua rounds (which is correct; being retrofitted for .338LM rather than designed for it, the AWM's magazine can only fit slightly shorter-bulleted .338 rounds, which are sold specifically for this rifle; the decision to make it work with standard .338 Lapua was made in the interests of gameplay and development simplicity), so game dev Anton Hand had to perform "model surgery", as he put it, to lengthen the magazine and well.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Realizing that having a bare upper rail is hardly befitting of a rifle that once set a record for confirmed kill distance , but that a long-range scope is equally unfitting for use indoors, our invisible protagonist compromises and attaches a tube red-dot sight.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Aiming the rifle at a Sosig...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and killing the one behind it.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing While there's sadly no bright blue text across the center of everybody's screen announcing this double kill, it's still cause for celebration. And what better way to celebrate than to eject a spent case in the most unnecessarily dramatic way possible?
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Firing a tracer into another Sosig; as is tradi tion , the "Magnum Sniper Rifle" can kill a full-health, fully-armored enemy with a single well-placed shot to the torso.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Firing an API (armor-piercing incendiary) round into yet another armored Sosig, producing a suitably impressive shower of sparks in the process.
Barrett M107A1
The Barrett M107A1 anti-materiel rifle is one of the available firearms in-game, added in Update #22. Up until the 2018 4th of July Update and its "M2 Tombstone" , the Barrett was the only weapon in the game chambered in .50 BMG.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Barrett M107A1 with 29" barrel - .50 BMG
Error creating thumbnail: File missing An M107A1 on a table, complete with all the bells and whistles.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Examining the left side of the rifle...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and the right side.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Comparing one of the M107A1's .50 BMG rounds to a 7.62x54mmR really gives a sense of just how massive a round it is.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading the round back into the magazine...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...then loading the magazine into the Barrett.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking a close look at the forend, which gives a good view of the barrel recoil springs. It also gives a good view of...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...the bipod.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Interestingly, once unfolded, the bipod always points towards the ground, which can be used to create some rather amusing perspective illusions; here, our invisible protagonist decides to teach a marble-sized watermelon the definition of "asymmetric warfare."
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Once mounted, the bipod shows off another one of its interesting traits: the complete and total negation of the effect of gravity on its parent rifle. Also note the extended rear monopod.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Of course, no long-range AMR would be complete without a sight; this 8-32x variable scope seems a good fit.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a round, with a satisfying "ker-CHUNK ."
Error creating thumbnail: File missing With that settled, there's only one thing left to take care of:
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The safety.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Sighting up a watermelon. While a famous man told us what Barretts can do, nobody said what would happen if you were inside said building.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Only one way to find out...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The building thankfully still alive and well, a celebration is in order. And what better way to celebrate than to demonstrate an interesting part of the gun's functionality.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing That being the weapon's short-recoil action, which means that the barrel reciprocates a short distance upon firing. This is to facilitate the unlocking of the bolt; the barrel and bolt are locked together and move backwards simultaneously for a short while, then the bolt and barrel separate, the bolt travels back further, and they both return to their locked positions; the period the bolt and barrel spend locked together is long enough for the chamber pressure to lower enough that the spent casing can safely be extracted and ejected without rupturing.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Raising the scope's magnification to its highest setting, for maximum sightseeing capabilities.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Aiming for a distant melon.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking the shot...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and watching it hit its mark. H3VR has a rather in-depth ballistics simulation system, including distance-based drop and projectile travel time; even the mighty .50 BMG round has a few frames' worth of travel time out at 400 meters.
Cheyenne Tactical M-200 Intervention
The 22nd day of the 2018 Meatmas event added a Cheyenne Tactical M-200 Intervention sniper rifle, chambered in .408 CheyTac (a round exclusive to this rifle in-game).
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Cheyenne Tactical M-200 Intervention - .408 CheyTac
Error creating thumbnail: File missing An Intervention in its gift box. It's a bigger gun than most people seem to realize.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Much bigger indeed...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Giving the rifle a full load of .408 rounds. This gives the rifle the honor of the largest-caliber sniper rifle in the game that isn't an anti-materiel rifle, an honor previously held by the AWM .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Sending one of the aforementioned rounds into the chamber.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Did we mention that this is a really, really big rifle? 'Cause I'm not sure if the point's quite gotten across. I mean, it doesn't even fit in the shot, for Hathcock's sakes.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Luckily, the rifle's full >30-pound weight (~14 kg) can be supported by...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...the forend-mounted bipod.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing This ground-seeking bipod conspires with the occasional graphical bug to make the rifle look suspiciously like it's been poorly Photoshopped into the shot.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Other convenient features include a collapsible stock, which only furthers the visual absurdity of this situation.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Of course, as we all know , the only appropriate way to use an Intervention is to no-scope. As such, [FaZe]XxX_mLgTr1cKsH0tKu$hBl@z0r4201337_XxX sights up a particularly scrublord-looking snowflake...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and hits one for the montage. "MOM, GET THE CAMERA! "
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Satisfied, he cycles his rifle, and heads back to the basement for another Mountain Dew/Doritos smoothie.
Izhmash SV-98
Added in the ninth alpha build of Update #59, the Izhmash SV-98 sniper rifle makes its mark in H3 as the game's second Russian sniper rifle, and its first (and, currently, only) bolt-action one.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Izhmash SV-98 - 7.62x54mmR
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Examining an SV-98, this particular specimen being fitted with a red-dot sight and a side-tilting toggleable magnifier.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing A good view of the rifle's distinctive green wooden thumbhole stock.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking a look at an empty magazine; while a relatively-normal looking staggered-column box magazine, it does notably possess an unusual circular hole up at the front...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...which interfaces with a corresponding metal peg in the magazine well, as seen with this considerably less empty example.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a 7.62x54mmR round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking aim at an oblivious Sosig.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing That target (and several more) down, and it's on to the next.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Well, looks like it's time to call it a day.
Kimber Model 8400 Advanced Tactical SRC
The Kimber Model 8400 is one of the rifles added in the 2016 Meatmas Update. In keeping with Update #46's theme of shortened variants of existing guns, the Kimber received a rather strange short-barreled variant in this update.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Kimber Model 8400 Advanced Tactical SRC - .308 Winchester
Error creating thumbnail: File missing While out on a walk in the woods, the Candy Hunter stops to admire his rifle.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The other side, which shows off the distinctively-shaped bolt handle.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading in a magazine.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a .308 round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Sighting up his quarry, the Hunter belatedly realizes that he's forgotten something.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Not that he's going to let that stop him.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing He then cycles his rifle, and goes along his merry way.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking out another oblivious gumdrop, execution-style.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Well, this is certainly an... interesting contraption.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Deciding that the rifle just isn't short enough, someone who actually understands that gumdrops aren't huntable game folds the stock.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Working the action right-handed...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and left-handed.
MAS FR F2
The 15th gift added in the 2018 Meatmas event was a seldom-seen MAS FR F2 sniper rifle.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing MAS FR F2 - 7.62x51mm NATO
Error creating thumbnail: File missing A box with a French sniper rifle in it. A substantial step up from last year's pair of socks, no?
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading the FR F2.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Pausing for a moment to appreciate the rifle. And what appears to be a Photoshop selection line around its edges; this appears to be some sort of graphical bug.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Well, as long as you keep it in the light, it should be fine.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking a close look at the rifle's distinctive forend; the large, thick barrel profile is the result of a thermal sleeve, one of the F2's improvements over the earlier FR F1 . This view also shows off the integrated bipod...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...which, as ever, can be used to make the rifle look gigantic.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Aiming; as with the earlier-added M40A1 , the FR F2 has a permanently-affixed, non-detachable scope.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Watching a round hit its mark. Fortunately, the amount of time it takes for the rifle's recoil to settle down is just a tad shorter than the time it takes for a 7.62 NATO round to travel this distance, allowing a clear view of the impact.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ejecting a spent case.
PGM Hecate II
The only non-fictional weapon added in the 2019 April Fools' Day update was a PGM Hecate II , the game's first bolt-action AMR. The next update, Update #71, gave it a functional, fixed bipod.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing PGM Hecate II - .50 BMG
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Examining the Hecate II. Gotta wonder what the first one was...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading in a magazine. 7 rounds of .50 BMG, perfect for dealing with long-range personnel, light armored vehicles, miscellaneous equipment, and giant scary bipedal lizards with claws the size of tent stakes .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Or if you just happen to have some tees that need hecking.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The flip-side of the rifle; at full size, "HECATE II" can just barely be made out on the receiver.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Leveling the behemoth at a wall. Without a scope, there's not much point to doing more in the way of aiming.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Punching a half-inch hole in the wooden barricade.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Satisfied with her handiwork, the protector-goddess Hecate readies another torch, prepared to deal with any other threats to the home accordingly.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing A look at the back end of the rifle post-Update #71 shows off the Trijicon SRS02 red-dot sight that found its way on there at some point in the interim; this sight was one of the things changed in the update, with its previously too-small model being appropriately resized.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing This view also shows off the bolt-mounted safety.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Moving forward displays the bipod that's also now tagging along for the ride. Quite a convenient feature...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...at least, that is, when you've got somewhere to put it.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The Hecate was another weapon that got a functional carrying handle in Update #76's first alpha build; a helpful tool when you're trying to handle such a comically massive weapon.
Remington M40A1
Added along with the SV-98 in Update #59's ninth alpha build, the Remington M40A1 helps pad out the game's collection of sniper rifles. The weapon in-game has a woodland camo stock, and is fitted with a standard-issue, non-detachable 10x scope.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Remington M40A1 - 7.62x51mm NATO
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Examining the M40A1. A small, boxed-in concrete room hardly seems like a good place for a sniper rifle.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Or, for that matter, for woodland camouflage.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Ah, well. Sometimes, you've just gotta make do.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading in some 7.62x51mm tracers.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Chambering a round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking a look at a Sosig through the M40A1's permanently-affixed scope...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...before forgoing aiming entirely and just blasting one point-blank. Note the position of the cocking piece compared to the above screenshot; as with many of the bolt-action rifles in H3 , the M40A1's striker correctly moves to indicate whether or not the rifle is cocked.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Cycling the M40's distinctive "cough drop" bolt handle. What's that? Nobody calls it that? Literally nobody has ever called it that until now? It has never been called that at any time, in any capacity whatsoever? Well, IT IS NOW!
"Sniper Rifle"
Another weapon that came out of the "Meat Fortress" TF2 crossover was the Sniper's "Sniper Rifle", a cartoonish-looking weapon seemingly loosely based on the Remington Model 700 .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Remington Model 700 BDL - 7.62x51mm NATO
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The "Sniper Rifle" on a table, along with several other TF2 weapons. We're showing it off here...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...since it's a bit hard to fit into the frame when you're holding it. The ludicrously massive scope is loosely based on an AN/PVS-2 Starlight, an early Vietnam War-era night vision scope (though the one in-game is just a standard scope, since H3' s engine can't support NV overlays).
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking a close look at the receiver. This shows off the cut in the receiver bridge that wasn't on the original model; it was added to the VR version to allow the bolt to move backwards, which wasn't a problem in TF2 since the bolt didn't actually move horizontally there.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing It also shows off the moving striker, another alteration from the original model.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Opening up the action; since the bolt wasn't initially set up to move back and forth, both it and the area it concealed (the loading tray and the chamber) had to be fully modeled and textured.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading a round into the single-shot rifle; the Sniper Rifle's pre-release placeholder round of choice was the mighty .50 BMG, a cartridge which fits more in behavior than in physical space.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Looking through the colossal scope; note the red dot that serves as the scope's reticle...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...though this doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually part of the scope. This is instead the weapon's permanently-affixed and permanently-active laser sight (the comparatively-small tube in front of the scope with a wire leading to it); in TF2 , this was only active when the scope was in use, but there's no real way for a VR game to distinguish such things.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Taking advantage of the laser sight, and no-scoping a Spy Sosig's head off. More by proxy than anything else, but still.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Working the bolt prompts the rifle to spit out a spent casing far too large to fit in or out of the ejection port. Damn you, Merasmus!
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The round that the finished version of the Sniper Rifle uses is the "18x50mm Packawhollop" which is this short, stumpy affair, somewhat reminiscent of rounds like the .458 SOCOM.
SVD Dragunov
The SVD Dragunov is one of the available sniper rifles in-game. It was added in Update #18; at the time, it was permanently fitted with a side-mounted rail adaptor bracket, but this was made removable in Update #40, allowing the use of Soviet-type dovetail optics (or, for that matter, open iron sights).
Error creating thumbnail: File missing SVD Dragunov - 7.62x54mmR
Error creating thumbnail: File missing An SVD on a table, next to a Sako 85 .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading up the Dragunov.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Flipping the rifle over...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...disengaging the safety...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and chambering a round.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Of course, logic dictates that a sniper rifle should have a scope.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing It also dictates that a sniper rifle should have a cheek pad; fortunately, this rifle has both.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Laying prone and observing the area ahead, which gives a good view of the scope's markings. They read "NIRKON OPTICS" (an obvious play on real-world optics manufacturer Nikon) on the first line, ".223 SCOPE" on the second, and "1x-24x ZOOM" on the third. Fortunately, the fact that the scope is meant for .223 rifles is a non-issue in-game, since scopes in H3 are self-zeroing for convenience's sake.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Aiming the rifle at a watermelon...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and blowing it away.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Having dealt the enemy of the revolution a copper-jacketed 7.62mm lesson, the Red Sniper reloads, looking for more targets in need of "re-education".
Error creating thumbnail: File missing He then flips the rifle over, revealing the locked-open bolt...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and releases it.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing His nonexistent spotter having informed him of a particularly bourgeois-looking melon out at 250 meters, the Red Sniper adjusts his magnification accordingly, adjusting the knob to its highest setting.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing He then takes aim...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...fires...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and lands a hit. Once again, the effects of a properly-modeled ballistics system make themselves clear.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing In the end, the Red Sniper's revolution would ultimately fail, in large part due to him being a raving lunatic who stood on a balcony and fired down into crowds of innocent watermelons because of a delusional fantasy about being a soldier for a communist revolution that didn't even exist, punctuated by his only help being his imaginary spotter friend. His rifle, however, would go on to have its own far more successful revolution, freeing itself from the oppressive shackles of aftermarket rail mounts, scopes graduated for the wrong cartridge, and government-controlled media.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The SVD is now free to choose its own path in life. It can finally be the 20th-century infantry rifle that it always dreamed of being. Maybe it'll even get to make use of its bayonet lug.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing While the SVD's path from here on out might not be certain, one thing's for sure:
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova is firmly in control of its own destiny.
VSS Vintorez
Along with its assault-rifle sibling , the VSS Vintorez was added on the 14th day of 2018's Meatmas event.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing VSS Vintorez with PSO-1 scope - 9x39mm
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Look familiar?
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Loading a 10-round magazine into the VSS. The Val's 20-rounders work just fine as well, but aren't exactly ideal for using the rifle while laying prone.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Admiring the rifle. Something about wooden thumbhole stocks just looks... right.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Which is fortunate, because a lot of the other things about the rifle - namely, it being a sniper rifle shorter than your average 3-year-old with a muzzle velocity under the speed of sound that can fire in full-auto - seem about as far from "right" as you can get without a passport.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Unlike the reference image, unfortunately, the VSS in the box doesn't come with a PSO-1 scope - or any scope for that matter. Iron sights'll have to do.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Firing off a few shots at the crystal snowflake. A spent casing can just barely be seen on its way out of the ejection port.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Discovering that the fact that something has to work doesn't necessarily meant it will , the scorned sniper gives his VSS one last look before putting it back away, and trying to figure out how to tell HQ that he failed his mission without shooting himself twice in the back of the head.
Walther WA 2000
The sixteenth day's gift during the Meatmas 2018 event was a second-pattern Walther WA 2000 .
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Walther WA 2000 (second variant) - .300 Winchester Magnum
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The WA 2000's gift box. Note the claim that the rifle is chambered in 7.62x51mm...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...which is strange, since the in-game rifle actually fires .300 Win Mag (the only weapon in the game to use the cartridge).
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Well, at least we're certain about the bore diameter.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing When you're handed a rifle of which only 176 were made in total, you ought to at least stop for a moment and admire it.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing All 5 figures of it.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing The Snowflake Sniper stalks silently through the snow, looking for a well-hidden position with a perfect view of the target. A View to a Kill , if you will...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing He then unfolds his rifle's integrated bipod...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and affixes a variable-magnification scope.
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Next, moving his hand to the rifle's grip, he places his thumb on the safety switch, and slowly, carefully pushes it forward, from the white "S", to...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing CAN WE JUST GET ON WITH THIS ALREADY?!
Error creating thumbnail: File missing Skipping any further dramatic frivolities, the Snowflake Sniper (whose name you really probably shouldn't abbreviate) puts his target in the crosshairs...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...fires, sending a spent-but-unstruck case out of the ejection port as the sharp bark of the .300 echoes through the trees...
Error creating thumbnail: File missing ...and, FINALLY , watches the round hit home. "Target eliminated, " he says, "and to all a good night. "
Click here to return to the main index page, or click here to view the game's machine guns.