Sniper Scope

The Sniper Scope is an optional scope attachment in Call of Duty: World at War for bolt-action rifles and the M1 Garand. It returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops for the Mosin-Nagant and the Kar98k. It is also classified as an attachment for the M14 EBR in the singleplayer mode of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Unlocking
Unlike most of the games, the Sniper scopes on all but two rifles (the Springfield and the PTRS-41) must be unlocked through the Marksman challenges in Call of Duty: World at War.

On all bolt action rifles, it takes 25 kills with the gun, unlocking Marksman I, and the Sniper Scope. The only other gun which the Sniper Scope can be unlocked for is the M1 Garand, which requires a Marksman IV challenge (150 Kills) to unlock the sniper scope.

The Scope increases zoom by approximately 5x compared to aiming down the sights without. It also decreases hipfire accuracy and increases base damage from whatever it was (35-45 for the M1, 40-50 for bolt actions on PC, 50 for bolt actions on consoles) to 70. Also, damage multipliers are changed. Note that the "Statistics" displayed in-game are misleading and oftentimes flat-out wrong. The following sections analyze the actual statistics of snipers to better help players choose a rifle to fit their needs.

Attaching a sniper scope to any of the bolt-action rifles greatly increases the weapon's sound when fired, causing it to be heard across the entire map. A possible reason for this is so that hiding snipers can be easier to find. Note that the M1 Garand is unaffected by this, making it the quietest sniper rifle.

It should be noted that on bolt-action rifles without a scope, stripper clips will be used to quickly reload the magazine. With a scope obstructing the bolt cover, rounds will be loaded one at a time, even on the Arisaka, despite the scope's offset mounting which would still allow stripper clips to be used.

Accuracy
When breath is held, all snipers are perfectly accurate. However, idle accuracy differs from one rifle to the other. The rifles with the most sway are the Springfield, Mosin-Nagant, and Kar98k at 6 degrees each. The Arisaka is unique in that its sway is reduced from 6 degrees when standing to 4.5 degrees when crouching or prone, making it the most accurate "true bolt-action sniper". The PTRS-41 has 4 degrees of sway. The M1 Garand has 4 degrees of sway when standing and 3 degrees when crouched or prone.

Rate of Fire
Though very similar in rate of fire, the bolt-actions do have minor differences in the rate cartridges are cycled. The Mosin-Nagant and Arisaka are the slowest, each taking a full second to cycle the bolt (60 RPM). At .9 seconds, the Kar98k is the next slowest (66 RPM), followed closely by the Springfield at .87 seconds (69 RPM). The PTRS-41 is the fastest rifle in the bolt action category (although it is not technically a bolt-action), requiring only .8 seconds between each shot (75 RPM). The M1 Garand is by far the fastest sniper rifle, able to fire every .135 seconds (444 RPM).

Damage
The Springfield, Kar98k, Mosin-Nagant, Arisaka, and PTRS-41 are all 1-shot kills to the chest, neck, or head. When coupled with Stopping Power the stomach is also a one shot kill. The PTRS-41 is technically the most powerful of these as it has the deepest penetration through objects (but contrary to popular belief, does not do more damage). The M1 Garand is the weakest sniper rifle; it is only a one shot kill to the head, unless using Stopping Power, in which case the neck and chest are also one shot kills. Note that enemies with Juggernaut will negate the effect of Stopping Power, which hurts the effectiveness of the M1 Garand the most. Because of this, the scoped M1 Garand is not an extremely common sight in Core games.

All sniper rifles are 1-shot kills to any part of the body in Hardcore, even if the enemy is equipped with Juggernaut and the player is not equipped with Stopping Power. Because of this, the M1 Garand is far superior to the other snipers when playing Hardcore.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Although it is the default sight on most sniper rifles, it is classified as an attachment in Singleplayer and Special Ops for the M14 EBR. At most times it is found with this attachment, where it is called "M14 EBR Scoped". The only time the scope is not attached is in the Special Ops mission Breach & Clear.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
The sniper scope from Call of Duty: World at War returns in Black Ops. In the mission Project Nova, the Mosin-Nagant, commonly dropped by friendlies, can be found with or without a sniper scope. This attachment is also available for the Kar98K in the Sniper Cabinet on the second floor of the revised Zombies map Nacht der Untoten, available to those who purchased the Hardened or Prestige editions of Call of Duty: Black Ops, or downloaded the Rezurrection map pack.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Same as Modern Warfare 2, the M14 EBR in the Singleplayer and Special Ops mission mode of Modern Warfare 3 is the only sniper rifle on which the sniper scope is classified as an attachment. The only time the scope is not attached is in the Special Ops mission Arctic Recon.

Trivia

 * The M1 Garand and the Arisaka have the sniper scope mounted to the left of the gun instead of the top, like all other bolt-action rifles.
 * The Sniper Scope is seen in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as the default sight on all sniper rifles. Therefore, it is not listed as an attachment. The only exception is the M14 EBR in the singleplayer mode of Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3.
 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, all the sniper rifles have different scopes, but they have the same reticle. This is due to a programming code called "scope_overlay_m40a3" which makes all sniper rifles' reticles identical to that of the M40A3 (or, in Call of Duty: World at War, the code "scope_overlay_mp" (which is same as "scope_overlay_japanese"), where the reticle used belongs to the Arisaka and PTRS-41.) This does not apply to the Barrett and the WA2000, since they have the same scope.
 * The sniper scope for the Springfield for the Wii is very different than that of the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC versions.
 * In Call of Duty: Black Ops, the scopes' reticules are different.