Sniper Rifle (Fallout 3)

The sniper rifle is a weapon in Fallout 3.

Characteristics
The sniper rifle is the top-tier long-range weapon. It has a scope and deals much more damage than the hunting rifle, but has a very rare ammunition type and is a very fragile gun.

The sniper rifle has very noticeable sway to it when manually aimed. The sway can be reduced with either a higher skill level in Small Guns, or by entering sneak mode. At 100 points in Small Guns, the scope has no sway at all. However, a crippled arm will result in severe sway while using the scope, regardless of Small Guns skill level.

Even without Bloody Mess, sniper rifles can result in some fantastically gory kills, usually with the enemy's skull exploding. Weaker enemies frequently have several limbs blown off or are even reduced to mulch by a single shot.

A sound strategy to use with the sniper rifle is to be very stealthy and to have good knowledge of the area you are in. You will want to find a vantage point in which enemies either cannot reach or will take them a long time to reach you, usually some place high.

Manual aim is usually more accurate (especially at greater distances), but V.A.T.S. should not be overlooked. A head shot in V.A.T.S. that would normally take about a quarter of a high level enemy's health will, if unnoticed, instantly kill them, and for low level enemies, they will usually be very easily killed in just one head shot in any state. Be aware that your Small Guns skill should be max, and your rifle should be in good condition.

Durability
The sniper rifle can fire a total of about 83 rounds, the equivalent of 17 reloads, from full condition before breaking.

Related perks

 * Sniper
 * Commando
 * Better Criticals
 * Bloody Mess
 * Ghoul Ecology

Variants

 * Victory rifle - While identical in strength to the sniper rifle, the Victory rifle has an additional 200 item HP, and knocks down targets with critical hits. However, it pays for this ability with a reduced critical chance of 3.
 * Reservist's rifle - Also identical to the sniper rifle in strength, the Reservist's rifle uses less AP to fire, but only holds 3 rounds in a magazine. It also fires slightly faster, and has slightly less recoil when using the scope.
 * Sim version - A sniper rifle with very high durability which can be obtained through a glitch with the Operation: Anchorage add-on. See Operation: Anchorage glitches for details.

Locations

 * You can find 2 sniper rifles on bodies of raiders in the Deathclaw Sanctuary.
 * In the Bethesda Ruins, there is a raider with a sniper rifle west of the Offices West building very close to the spawn point. Every 72 in-game hours the raiders respawn. There is also a raider on the catwalk between the Offices East and Offices West buildings who carries a sniper rifle and has some ammunition nearby. He doesn't respawn.
 * On the bridge/overpass exactly north of Vault 101, south of Big Town, on the fourth or fifth raider from the beginning of the bridge. This raider also respawns every 72 hours.
 * The hollowed-out rock south of Megaton is easy to reach very early in the game.
 * Behind Arlington Library, in Talon Company outpost; respawns with merc.
 * If you accept the quest You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head from Mister Crowley in the Underworld he will supply you with one.
 * Arkansas, found in the town of Minefield.
 * Allistair Tenpenny of Tenpenny Tower uses one.
 * Knight Captain Dusk of the Brotherhood of Steel has one.
 * The second floor of a ruined house near Hubris Comics along with some ammunition and a skill book. (When facing the park in front of Hubris, it is the last building to the right.)
 * In the elevated shack to the south of Warrington Trainyard, along with some .308 ammunition.
 * In Mama Dolce's you can find one on a Chinese remnant soldier on the balconies overlooking the shipping yard, another one is carried by a Chinese remnant sergeant.
 * Wheaton Armory has two sniper rifles in the missile silo behind a very hard-locked door.
 * The random encounter character, Sam Warrick, carries one.
 * A Talon Company merc in the Capitol building, in the upper floors of the Hall of Columns, uses one.
 * After exiting the underground lab, there is a smuggler carrying a sniper rifle and frag grenades on a small island south of where the Lone Wanderer climbs the ladder out of the lab. This smuggler respawns every 73 in-game hours.
 * Inside the Old Olney Underground, behind a large pipe in the basement with the deathclaws, with ammunition.
 * During the Anchorage Reclamation simulation, one can be found overlooking a ridge. It can also be used as part of a gear package.
 * In the entrance of Fort Bannister, south of the Jalbert Brothers Waste Disposal. It is lying on a table at the southeast high bunker. Be aware that there are several heavily-armed Talon Company mercs in the area.
 * On the elevated platform just south of the Wastelander campsite.

Bugs

 * Outside V.A.T.S., with 100 Small Guns, the weapon can shoot as far as the game will draw non-player characters (playing at high resolutions will greatly improve non-player character visibility). However, the point of impact is higher than where the center of the scope is aimed. After the fire button is pressed, the scope aim will very rapidly jump up and shift slightly to the right almost at the same time the shot is actually fired. See the images below to determine how to compensate for this.
 * Sometimes after fast traveling, only the lower sections of the rifle and the first lens of the scope will be visible. The top half and the rest of the scope will be invisible. To fix this, un-equip then re-equip the weapon.

Gallery
The first two images above, taken from the southwest guard platform at Fort Bannister, will be a 1-shot kill. The color of the first shot has been inverted to improve clarity. The third picture shows how much aim compensation is needed for a head shot at very long ranges. It can be noted that the point of impact is always at the same length up along the vertical crosshair line above the center of the scope and slightly to the right.

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