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Weapon Wednesdays: Metal Gear Solid - Barrett M82

Sep. 24 5:59 PM by Dylan Duarte

The Barrett M82 can be purchased from Drebin in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, but that isn't where I first learned of the gun. I first discovered the Barrett is a Half-Life mod known as The Specialists.

The Specialists was a pretty popular mod, so I'm sure a good portion of the gaming community learned that the Barrett was not a rifle to be messed with. Its power is portrayed accurately in Metal Gear Solid 4, where you can pick off guards from as far as the eye can see with an Earth-shattering "boom."

The Barrett M82 is a heavy Special Application Scoped Rifle (SASR) developed by the American Barrett Firearms Company, hence the name. Ronnie Barrett, for whom the company was named, began designing his rifles in 1980 and the first working one was developed in 1982, giving it the title M82. In 1989, Barrett made his first successful sale selling the Swedish Army approximately 100 M82A1 (a later model) rifles.

The power behind a M82 is substantial. The New York Police Department adopted the rifle for taking down vehicles, which can be accomplished with a .50 BMG round in the engine block. It will also penetrate most commercial brick walls and concrete blocks.

Because of this power, there is a lot of controversy surrounding M82s. They're able to penetrate Type IV body armor as well as level 8 ballistic glass, which is considered the strongest available. Gun control proponents strongly oppose the public sale of the rifles.

Civilian ownership was banned in California, prompting Barrett to suspend all sales to law enforcement in California as well.

Wikipedia

Comments

This is a bad ass sniper rifle!!

 

Too expensive for me. Not only do .50 cal rifles cost an arm and a leg, but their ammo does too. It comes out to being like a dollar a round (or more, I don't keep up on .50 cal prices).

One ten round mag equals $10.

It'd be nice to fire once, but I'd never want to pay the cash to own one on my own.

 

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