Sniper rifle



The DKS-501 Sniper Rifle is an excellent long range projectile weapon. Originally .308, versions chambered in other calibers are also common.

Fallout and Fallout 2
Originally .308, this version is chambered in the more common .223 caliber. This rifle allows the user to do insane damage to the critical body areas, if player has the stats to back it up. The Sniper Rifle does not share the same reduction in accuracy when enemies close in as the Scoped Hunting Rifle.

The Sniper Rifle boasts good damage, max range, and ammo for it is quite common. It has two glaring flaws however - it has a small ammo capacity, and costs an extra AP to fire. This means targeted shots, although accurate, take 7 AP to fire.

Fallout 3
The rifle is an older model of the famed DKS-501. Still chambered for .308 ammunition, it's also extremely fragile and requires regular repair and maintenance to keep it in working condition.

The Sniper Rifle is much more effective when fired outside V.A.T.S. mode, as V.A.T.S. does not take into account accuracy bonuses of the weapon's scope.

Outside V.A.T.S., with 100 Small Guns, the weapon can shoot as far as the game will draw NPCs (Playing at high resolutions will greatly improve NPC 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. This is to simulate how the amount of force required to pull the trigger impacts the user's aim as it is pulled. See the images below to determine how to compensate for this.

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 when in sneak mode. At 100 points in Small Guns, the scope has no sway at all, though even at 100 points in Small Guns, having either of your arms crippled will result in severe sway while using the scope.

The first two images below, 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 shooting at about the game's maximum draw distance for NPCs.

It can be noted that the point of impact is always at the same length up along the vertical crosshair above the center of the scope and slightly to the right.

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 crit chance, 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.

Bugs

 * The Sniper Rifle suffers from the same flaw as the Gauss Rifle in the sense that its scope is wrongly calibrated. This means that shots have a tendency to fire slightly above the crosshair, something which becomes very apparent when firing over longer distances, leading to various mishaps, including missed head-shots on stationary targets, head-shots when aiming for the chest and chest hits when aiming for the legs. Fortunately, a certain mod can be downloaded to fix this bug.

Locations

 * The most reliable source is the Bethesda Ruins. Every few days the Raiders there respawn, and there is a Raider on a platform near the fast travel insertion point carrying a sniper rifle.
 * The Hollowed-Out Rock south of Megaton is easy to reach very early in the game.
 * On the bridge/overpass exactly North of Vault 101, South of Big Town, on the third raider from beginning of the bridge. This raider respawns and is very reliable.
 * Behind Arlington Library, in Talon Company Outpost; respawns with merc.
 * The southeast guard platform of Fort Bannister.
 * Shooting range of the National Guard Depot in one of the lanes.
 * 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. You can kill him while he's on the balcony of the top floor of his building or once he goes inside (you gain karma for killing him but you are heavily advised to kill him outside, and if you kill the guard and the other people upstairs, no one downstairs will know you murdered them).
 * Knight Captain Dusk of the Brotherhood of Steel
 * The second floor of a ruined house near Hubris Comics along with some ammo and a skill book. (When facing the park in front of Hubris, it is the last building to the right.)
 * In Georgetown, on the top story of a building across the road from a Missile Launcher wielding Super Mutant.
 * In the elevated shack to the south of Warrington Trainyard, along with some .308 ammo.
 * In Mama Dolce's you may find one or two on Chinese Remnant soldiers.
 * Wheaton Armory has two sniper rifles in the missile silo behind a Very Hard Door.
 * In Seward Square you will find a Talon sniper on a connecting bridge between an Office block and a Metro Station building. Check local map for Office entrance.
 * L'Enfant Plaza in a makeshift camp under a partially collapsed overpass east of the plaza.
 * There are also many Raider corpses with a few .308 rounds and rifles in various corners of the Deathclaw Sanctuary.
 * In Old Olney Underground in a fenced off area along with an average locked safe, behind some pipes along with some .308 rounds.
 * In The Capitol Building, there is a Talon Company merc on a balcony shooting at you.
 * In Take it Back!, while escorting Liberty Prime there are several brotherhood of steel initiates and paladins (in power armor) using sniper rifles, there's roughly three of them but you have to wait for them to be killed or kill them yourself
 * In the Point Lookout add-on almost every Smuggler group has atleast one smuggler carrying a Sniper Rifle.
 * In the Damp Cave section of Oasis.
 * Sold by Gustavo or Michael Masters, occasionally.
 * Sold by Flak 'N Shrapnel's, occasionally.
 * Sold by Moira, rarely.
 * Sold by Knight Captain Durga, occasionally.
 * Sold by Sydney in Underworld after Stealing Independence, occasionally.
 * Sold by Lucky Harith after fully investing, occasionally.
 * Sold by Pronto after completing the Economics of Violence, occasionally.
 * Sold by Seagrave Holmes, rarely.

Fallout Tactics
Originally .308, this one is chambered in the more common 7.62mm caliber.

Appearances
The Sniper Rifle is a weapon appearing, in various forms, in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout Tactics.

Notes and references
Fusil d'embuscade

Karabin snajperski Снайперская винтовка