The Barrett M98B is an American-made 8.6 mm sniper rifle. It was developed in 2008 and is currently in use. This weapon will be discussed in the article.
A bit of history
The American company Barrett Firearms is known worldwide for its high-precision sniper rifles. The company was founded in 1982, the assortment includes not only the aforementioned weapons, but also a machine gun, a self-loading grenade launcher and assault rifles.
The company's scope of activity includes arms exports to several countries of the world.
First mention
For the first time, interest in the company arose in the US Army in the same 1982. The command had a certain interest in arming the soldiers with a sniper rifle based on the Browning M2 machine gun.
However, the idea of creating sniper rifles was abandoned, as the first Barrett models under the M82 mark successfully proved themselves.
After that, modernized versions of the original, M82A1, successfully applied in various local conflicts, were published.
Making the Barrett M98B rifle
The marking of this weapon model stands for Model 98 Bravo. The rifle was developed in 2008 on the basis of the M98 under the cartridge .338 Lapua Magnum caliber 8.6 mm.
Box type power is provided. Used magazine for ten rounds. The gun weighs 6.12 kg (this is without an installed sniper scope and cartridges, of course). It has a length of 1263.6 mm, of which 685.8 mm is reserved for the barrel.
When fired, a bullet fired from a Barrett M98B sniper rifle has an initial speed of 945 m / s. That is, in the first second, a distance of almost a kilometer is covered. Does the target have a chance to hide from a deadly piece of lead in this case? Unlikely.
In this case, the effective range is considered to be a distance of 1,500 meters. Thus, after the shot, the target has a little more than a half seconds to try to survive. A second shot may not even be required.
In addition to the listed performance characteristics, the installation of an additional “body kit” on the Picatinny rail is provided.
New designs
The company Barrett Firearms has gained such wide popularity precisely thanks to the line of sniper rifles. The corporate appearance of the weapon series is recognizable even by not the most sophisticated person, who only has a distant understanding of the company's products.
The Barrett M98B did not stop development. The next model, labeled M99, was introduced to the world public in 2009. The feature was the bullpup layout scheme. The trigger is pulled forward and the magazine is at the back.
It has several types of interchangeable barrel, distinguished by length: 812.8 mm, 736.6 mm and 635 mm. The product itself is 1270 mm, 1193.8 mm and 1092.2 mm, respectively.
The rifle is capable of firing 12.7 mm (.50 BMG) and .416 Barrett rounds. Sighting range was increased to 1800 m.
Conclusion
The Barrett M98B is one of the most powerful sniper rifles in the world. Released weapons are still not decommissioned due to their excellent quality and high accuracy.
An interesting fact in the history of the development of the company is not only the weapon series. An important note is the ban on the distribution in the state of California of the model based on the .50 BMG cartridge. There, such samples are not considered civilian weapons.
After that, the company creates a new cartridge .416 Barrett and again releases new rifles for sale.
Technological progress does not stand still. The Russian counterpart is the ASVK rifle, released in 2004. It is inferior to the two above models in the initial bullet speed (total 770–785 m / s), however, it has a caliber of 12.7 mm and has an aiming range of 1,500 meters.
Similar to modern global design trends, it is implemented in the bullpup layout. Who knows, perhaps, new models of domestic weapons will be able to squeeze Barrett on the world market. Time will tell.