....as my daddy used to say. Don't talk confidently about something you know little about to someone who does.
First, $5 grand isn't too much to pay for a weapon if you have enough motivation. Barrett has sold thousands to people whose only motivation is to punch holes in targets. Imagine the motivation that McSame is planting in the heads of his faithful.
Second, the specs on the weapon read ..."effective range, 1850 meters... maximum range 6,800 meters" A heavy slug like that bucks wind better than smaller projectiles, so it stays on point-of-aim.
"In the hands of a trained sniper, the M107 can surgically take out strategic targets while minimizing collateral damage. It is capable of hitting personnel targets as far away as 1500 meters and materiel targets out to 2000 meters."
"“My spotter positively identified a target at 1400 meters carrying an RPG on a water tower. I engaged the target. The top half of the torso fell forward out of the tower and the lower portion remained in the tower.” 325th PIR Sniper"
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/m107.htm"The M82 also is widely used for civilian .50 caliber long range shooting competitions, being fired accurately out to 1000 yards (900 m) and even further." "Even though the .50-caliber rifle is a military-grade weapon, federal gun laws treat it like any other hunting rifle, and Barrett can sell the gun to civilians. He says he needs to, because military sales vary widely from year to year. 'If it weren’t for the civilian sales, I wouldn’t be here. There’s a lot of defense contractors that would not be here,' says Barrett."
He has sold thousands of .50-caliber rifles to private citizens who, he says, want the guns for target shooting and big game hunting. No records are kept on who buys these weapons.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/06/60minutes/main665257.shtmlThird, a deer rifle can fire metal jacketed rounds that will pierce armor, but the .50 cal AP round will penetrate serious armor, such as on vehicles. Clean thru 1/2 inch plate. When the Branch Davidians fired a Barrett at the ATF, they responded by bringing up a Bradley, but that wasn't enough, so they brought in heavier armor. A deer rifle can't fire the explosive Raufoss ammunition, either. That ammo is illegal, so you can bet your ass that the wrong people have it.
Get yours today at:
http://www.impactguns.com/store/barrett_50_rifles.html and while you're there, pick up the BORS optical ranging system, which includes the scope and does all the distance calculations for you and puts you on target with your first round. On sale for $1,400.00
If you're on a budget, you can pick up the low end model... with scope... for $4,109.00
So.... the .50 scares the shit out of me. The fucking screwballs in this country want to change history, and they can do it easily with that weapon.