Anti-materiel rifle

An anti-materiel rifle is generally a large-caliber rifle used in peacetime for destroying unexploded ordnance, and during wartime for attacking unarmored or lightly armored targets, fuel dumps, parked airplanes, etc. Though most similar in form to sniper rifles there is not as much focus on accuracy and more concern for effectively damaging a target. The roots of the field go back to World War I and the first anti-tank rifle.

Some examples of large calibre sniper rifles used for anti-materiel work:

• Armalite AR50 (12.7mm NATO (.50 BMG))
• Barrett M82A1 (12.7mm NATO (.50 BMG))
• Accuracy International AW-50 (12.7mm NATO (.50 BMG))
• Steyr IWS 2000 (15.2mm Proprietary Steyr APFSDS)
• Gepard, Hungary (12.7 or 14.5mm russian standard ammunition variants exist)

See Also

• Sniper rifles
• List of firearms