Sniper Rifles | Weapons Battlefield 4 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
The operation and function of sniper rifles is rather obvious: they are used for the elimination of enemies without putting yourself in harm's way - until the enemy discovers the sniper's position, at least. The ideal sniping positions are all kinds of elevations, ranging from hills, through cranes, through skyscrapers' rooftops. A sniper in such a position, not only has a good view of the situation in the battlefield, but is relatively safe s well.
Every rose has its thorns, however. A lurking sniper's worst enemy is his own weapon, a high-powered scope, to be precise. Each scope of the magnification higher than x6 gives off a bright flash of light visible from any distance. It is not a lighthouse, though and the flash is not visible at any angle. It is only visible to the person observed through the scope, as well as anyone within its scope. (on condition that they are looking towards the sniper, of course) It is an early warning system, of a kind which gives a careful player a chance to avoid being sniped down. If you notice, in the distance, a flash similar to a mirror reflecting sunrays, you should know that something is about to happen. If, however, you are a sniper yourself, this should be an opportunity for you to get back at the enemy.
In the case of sniper rifles, it is their muzzle velocity that becomes important, as well as gravitational pull. Both of these factors have bearing on the ballistics of the bullet. This simply means that a fired bullet, sooner or later falls to the ground, depending on its muzzle velocity, which you need to take into account while targeting more distant objects. Of course, the same factors are active in the case of any other weapon in Battlefield 4, but only in the case of long-distance weapons does that gain in importance. You can alleviate this by recalibrating the scope, which you do with the same button as turning the flashlight, or laser sights on and off. Recalibration of the scope, for the proper distance, does not mean that you need to aim several meters above the target to actually hit it. If the target is about 200 meters away from the shooter, you simply need to recalibrate the weapon for this value and the bullet will hit the target pointed to by the optical sights.
In the case of sniper rifles, you are dealing with an exceptional situation that does not concern any other weapon class - i.e. variable gravitation. This may sound silly at first, because the gravitational pull is constant and everything, ranging from people to bullets, falls to the ground with uniform acceleration of 9.81 m/s2. This is what happens in Battlefield 4 also, but, in order to balance some of the sniper rifles, developers have decided to bend the laws of physics a little bit and some bullets behave as if the gravitation of our planet was lower by a third. That is why the fall of bullets fired from some of the rifles drop a bit slower than in the case of the other, in spite of lower muzzle velocity. This is also true the other way round, and the acting of the gravitational pull onto some of the bullets is larger by two thirds than the natural one.
Another unique feature of sniper rifles is swaying of the sights. This concerns the scopes of high magnification (6x up). This results from the character's breathing and it can be stopped by holding down the run/hold breath button. You can hold your breath for a maximum of several seconds after which, everything is back to normal, or (if you hold breath for too long) the crosshair will sway even more for the next several seconds, while your character is trying to stabilize the breath.
In this chapter, you will find the listing of the hidden features of the weapons (described in the chapter entitled Explanation). Unlike in the previous ones, in this chapter you will not find any hints concerning the additional accessories for each one of the rifles because the vertical muzzle climb is identical in the case of each one, horizontal drift does not apply and time to stabilize after a shot is the identical. That is why all of the accessories are a matter of choice and gaming style:
- It is recommended that snipers that stay in constant motion use a two-step lock, which eliminates the necessity to leave the aiming mode to introduce the next bullet into the chamber. The best rifles for that purpose are the ones of the increased rate of fire (the statistic displayed in the game and on Battlelog).
- For snipers staying in one position, it is recommended to use the bipod, which eliminated the effect of swaying scope, as well as the necessity to hold breath.
- Snipers that have the taste for battle at short distances and hip shooting, will find the laser sights useful, which increases accuracy in such cases. Some rifles are better for this kind of action than the other.
The choice of optics is a matter of personal taste, and you can choose from among scopes of the magnification ranging between 3.4x and, as much as 40x.
CS-LR4
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | --- |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~100 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | very short |
FULL RELOAD TIME | very long |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | low |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | normal |
CL-LR4 is a good starting rifle which many will stay with long after they have unlocked the next ones. It does not stand out with anything in particular, apart from one basic flaw, i.e. low muzzle velocity of the bullet.
M40A5
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 3 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~100 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | short |
FULL RELOAD TIME | very short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | very low |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | Normal |
An ideal rifle for mobile snipers who stay in constant motion. All that thanks to high rate of fire, thanks to which you can pepper the enemy with bullets with high frequency.
SCOUT ELITE
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 8 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~110 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | long |
FULL RELOAD TIME | medium |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | very high |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | High |
Scout is the fastest sniper rifle in the game. apart from its high rate of fire, it is also the most accurate while hip-shooting, and has an incredibly high muzzle velocity. The price to pay for that is the increased gravitational acceleration of the bullet, which is why it is best for aggressive scouts who prefer using the rifle over short distance, like a shotgun. Unfortunately, a small magazine and high reload times nears this rifle to the slowest shotguns in the game. Apart from that, after the bullet has covered 100 meters, it deals so little damage that even a headshot is not lethal.
SW-98
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 13 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~100 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | short |
FULL RELOAD TIME | short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | low |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | high |
The SV98 is another rifle with the problem of strong gravitation. If you combine it with low muzzle velocity and a bit improved hip accuracy, you get a rifle more suiting combat over short distances, yet longer than in the case of the Scout.
JNG-90
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 20 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~100 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | short |
FULL RELOAD TIME | very short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | medium |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | normal |
The JNG is the first worthy descendant of the CS-LR4, for stationary snipers. A decent muzzle velocity guarantees a decently accurate shot at not too mobile targets.
338-RECON
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 27 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~150 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | medium |
FULL RELOAD TIME | very short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | medium |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | normal |
Recon is another rifle designed for aggressive scouts, which can just as well serve as a stationary sniper rifle. You can say that it is a perfect middle among all of the sniper rifles. Its basic feature is hip accuracy, which is above average and exceptional, as for a sniper rifle, accuracy in motion. Unfortunately, you need to pay for all these advantages with small magazine.
M98B
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 34 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~150 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | medium |
FULL RELOAD TIME | short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | very high |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | medium |
The M98B is a magnum among sniper rifles. it has incredibly high muzzle velocity, thanks to which it is much easier to hit distant targets in motion. It is ideal for shooting down helicopter pilots.
SRR-61
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | 42 000 |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~150 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | medium |
FULL RELOAD TIME | short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | high |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | low |
The SRR is an exceptional weapon - its muzzle velocity is not much lower than in the case of the M98B, and the operation of gravity on the bullet is lower. Thanks to this, this is probably one of the most accurate sniper rifles and it is ideal for the elimination of enemies at nearly any distance. It is a beast in the hands of a skilled sniper.
FY-JS
STATISTIC | VALUE |
POINTS NECESSARY TO UNLOCK | Complete assignment "Recon - Expert" |
MAXIMUM REACH/EFFECTIVE RANGE | <12,5~110 meters |
TACTICAL RELOAD TIME | very short |
FULL RELOAD TIME | Short |
MUZZLE VELOCITY | very high |
EFFECT OF GRAVITY ON THE BULLET | Low |
The FY-JS is, arguably, the sniper rifle that is the most difficult to unlock. To do that, you need to accumulate headshots from the total distance of 10 kilometers, using sniper rifles! To receive this weapon, you need to complete 50 "Sharpshooter" ribbons - you receive one after you score a headshot from the distance of 250 meters. Fortunately, distances add up so, you can just as well score 5 headshots from the distance of 50 meters and you will also receive a ribbon, on condition that you do that within one round. The question is if the FY-JS is worth of such devotion, and unfortunately, there is, probably, no one answer to this question.
From the point of view of the statistics, it is the most accurate sniper rifle, because it features very high muzzle velocity and the operation of gravity on the bullet is decreased. This means that the trajectory if the bullet is as straight as it can be in Battlefield 4. Unfortunately, as it can be guessed, there is a catch here. Above 100 meters, the FY-JS is half as strong as the other sniper rifles and even a headshot will not be able to kill an enemy in full health. As a result, this means that the optimal distance for this weapon is 90 meters, and not the 110 mentioned by the statistics. Therefore it is a weapon for mobile scouts, rather than for the proponents of killing the enemies occupying the other end of the map.