Barrett .50cal



The Barrett M82A1 SASR ("Special Applications Scoped Rifle") and identified in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and Modern Warfare 2 as the Barrett .50cal is a semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle chambered in .50 BMG. It has manageable recoil due to its weight and recoil-reducing design. It is mainly used to take out vehicles by penetrating the engine block. The M82 is an extremely long-range weapon, allowing snipers to effectively engage targets at a mile away. It is manufactured by Barrett Firearms of Tennessee.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The Barrett .50cal appears as one of the three semi-automatic sniper rifles in game. Although only available to use once in single player, the Barrett .50cal is seen in F.N.G, on the weapons rack, along with all the other weapons in game. It is then seen again in One Shot, One Kill, as a mounted weapon used to kill Imran Zakhaev. This Barrett .50cal has a variable zoom feature, meaning that the player can adjust the zoom, to help with the assassination. It also has unlimited ammo and no recoil. This is the only time it is usable in the campaign.

In multiplayer, the Barrett .50cal is unlocked at level 49. Like all sniper rifles, it can use an ACOG Scope attachment and cannot accept a suppressor in-game. It is tied with the Dragunov and R700 with Stopping Power. If Stopping Power is used, it can take out a player using Juggernaut in one hit if shot in the chest, neck, or head. The Barrett also has the highest penetration of all the weapons in game.

Despite these advantages, the Barrett .50cal also has a few downsides. One of them is that the sound made upon firing is loud and distinctive and can give away the user's position. Also, it has very high recoil, but it always travels in the same direction, and the reticle quickly resets back on the initial point of aim. A good way to compensate for its high recoil is to treat it as a bolt-action rifle, and only fire when it has returned to its original position. Because of its very high damage, firing rapidly with this gun isn't usually necessary - although can be used as a last-resort in close quarters.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The Barrett .50cal is almost completely unchanged, with the exception of new attachments and a redesigned scope. The only notable change from Call of Duty 4 is that sniper rifles now have full mobility, the same as SMGs. In addition, it is the first sniper rifle available to the player, while in Call of Duty 4 it is the last.

In Modern Warfare 2, the Barrett .50 cal can be found twice in the single player campaign. It is found in the mission Of Their Own Accord in the room where the player must destroy the enemy vehicles at long range. This version has a thermal scope instead of a sniper scope. However the weapon is immobile, similar to the way it was in One Shot, One Kill, including the scalable zoom function and unlimited ammo. It is found again in Loose Ends in one of the basement rooms in the safe house. Unlike the version found in the earlier level, this one can be carried and used freely, just like in multiplayer.

The Barrett is capable of firing faster than its recoil can settle. Firing too quickly makes the Barrett difficult to use (except under extraordinary circumstances), as it will be extremely difficult for the shooter to see what they are shooting at. This problem is easily mitigated by simply slowing the rate of fire, or by treating it as a bolt-action, by only firing when the recoil has settled. The ability to fire so fast can be an advantage however, in close quarters without time to switch to a secondary - especially a shotgun - the user can quickly tap fire the weapon to try and survive and kill the enemy. This technique is somewhat famous among gamers, many players referring to this as "Barrett Shotgunning".

In comparison to its closest rival, the Intervention, this weapon does the exact same damage, but it is statistically better in many aspects. The rate of fire is faster, even when taking recoil into account. It also has double the magazine capacity and less sway while breathing, which makes it steady faster when the player begins to hold their breath. Also, the Barrett .50 cal has much lower recoil in single player and Spec Ops than the Intervention. The Intervention has the ability to restrict firing as fast as the trigger is pulled. This can help players who find it difficult not to repeatedly miss, and as the Barrett can be fired very quickly, it can also cause them to reveal their position.

One flaw with the Barrett is that the recoil kicks the gun up so much that the shooter momentarily loses sight of his target. This means that the player must strike his target in a vital spot (chest, neck, or head) to achieve a one-shot kill, otherwise the target may escape or be able to return fire and kill the player.

Weapon Attachments

 * Sniper Scope (default attachment, does not take up an attachment slot).
 * Silencer (Marksman I)
 * Heartbeat Sensor (15 kills with the Silencer attached)
 * ACOG Scope (Marksman II)
 * Thermal Scope (20 kills while looking through the ACOG scope)
 * FMJ (Marksman III)
 * Extended Mags (40 kills with bullet penetration while using FMJ)

Trivia

 * The Barrett .50cal in Call of Duty 4 uses the Leupold 4.5x14 Vari-X scope, which is one of the only two scopes depicted correctly in the game, the other being the one on the R700.


 * The Barrett .50 cal in Modern Warfare 2 has a bolt on both sides of the gun. This noticed when the character reloads with the right bolt, but the left bolt is still clearly visible. This is a change from Call of Duty 4.


 * The suppressors made for .50 BMG rifles are much larger than those seen on the Barrett .50 cal in Modern Warfare 2. These suppressors mostly suppress the muzzle flash, not the sound. The suppressor in-game also removes the muzzle brake, just as in reality, but this would increase recoil significantly - this is not depicted in-game.


 * In real life, suppressors would worn down very quickly if the Barrett .50 cal would fire successive shots. In Modern Warfare 2, the suppressors used doesn't get replaced at all. This would result in the Barrett's muzzle flash and sound to increase per shot.


 * The Barrett .50cal has the same reload animation and firing sound in both Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2.


 * Like the WA2000, the Barrett has a Mr. Yuk sticker on the lens cover, but is harder to see as the lens caps are open further on the Barrett. It is most visible when sprinting.


 * In real life, this weapon is not as mobile as it is in-game, due to its considerable weight and size. When used in an anti-personnel role, it is fired from a pre-planned, static position that is usually a kilometer or more from the planned targets.


 * The Barrett .50 cal has far less recoil in campaign than it does in multiplayer, but has a Firecap.


 * The Barrett .50 cal is used extensively in Special Ops missions containing Juggernauts, excluding High Explosive and Snatch & Grab.


 * During Special Ops missions featuring Juggernauts, it is advised to keep this weapon, as it has a good rate of fire, will always stagger a Juggernaut, and can even make Juggernauts stumble sometimes. However, if they do stumble, keep in mind that they are invincible until they get back up.


 * The Barrett .50 cal's front iron sight is incorrectly shown flipped up in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, while in Modern Warfare 2, it is correctly folded down.


 * There is a fingerprint that is barely visible on the gun that can be seen in the right lighting.
 * When firing the Barrett from the hip, it is possible to see the handle and lens cap move.


 * In One Shot, One Kill it seems that the bipod is in both the deployed and undeployed position at the same time.


 * Although it fires a 12.7x99mm round, the spent shell cases that are ejected and lay on the floor appear to be the same size as the shell casings from the 7.62x51mm and 7.62x39mm caliber weapons.

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