Anti-materiel rifle

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Anti-materiel rifle

An anti-materiel rifle (AM) is a rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls....
that is designed for use against military equipment (matériel

Materiel

Materiel is a term used in English language to refer to the equipment and supply in Military supply chain management and Business supply chain management....
) rather than against other combatants ("anti-personnel").

They are similar in form and appearance to modern sniper rifle

Sniper rifle

In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a rifle used to ensure accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than small arms....
s and can often serve in that role, though they are usually chambered for cartridges more powerful than is normally required for neutralizing an enemy combatant and can operate at a greater range.

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Encyclopedia

An anti-materiel rifle (AM) is a rifle

Rifle

Materiel

Sniper rifle

.50 BMG

The .50 Browning Machine Gun or .50 BMG is a cartridge developed for the M2 Browning machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge....
), 12.7x108mm Russian or even 14.5x114mm Russian

14.5 x 114 mm

The 14.5x114 mm is a heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact, modern Russia, and other countries....
and 20mm

20 mm caliber

The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon and not a heavy machine gun....
cartridges. The large cartridges are required to be able to fire projectiles containing usable payloads like explosives, armour piercing cores, incendiaries or combinations of that like found in the Raufoss Mk211 projectile. Due to the considerable size and weight of anti-materiel rifles, snipers operating in 2- or 3-man teams become a necessity. Sometimes snipers use anti-materiel rifles for shooting at human targets at longer ranges.

The origins of the AM rifle go back to the First World War

World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, during which the first anti-tank rifle

Anti-tank rifle

An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed to penetrate the vehicle armour of vehicles, particularly tanks. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks into the Second World War, when they were rendered almost entirely obsolete....
s appeared. While modern tanks and most other armoured vehicles are too well protected to be affected by anti-materiel rifles, the guns are still effective for attacking unarmored or lightly armored vehicles. They can be used against enemy fuel dumps, aircraft, communications equipment, trucks, automobiles, and similar targets. Their value is in being able to precisely target and disable enemy assets from long range for a relatively low cost.

They can also be used in non-offensive roles for safely destroying unexploded ordnance

Unexploded ordnance

Unexploded ordnance are explosive weapons that did not explode when they were employed and still pose a risk of detonation, potentially many decades after they were used or discarded....
.

Well-known anti-materiel rifles
Rifle	Country of origin	Caliber
Accuracy International AW50 Accuracy International AW50 The AW50 is a .50 BMG anti-materiel rifle used by the British, German and Irish Armed Forces. It is a re-engineered version of the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare L96 sniper rifle ....		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) .50 BMG The .50 Browning Machine Gun or .50 BMG is a cartridge developed for the M2 Browning machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge....
Accuracy International AW50F		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
Accuracy International AS50 Accuracy International AS50 The AS50 .50 BMG sniper/anti-materiel rifle is the latest creation of United Kingdom firearms producer Accuracy International. The AS50 enables operators to engage targets at very long range with high accuracy using explosive or incendiary ammunition....		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
Barrett M82A1/M107		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
Denel NTW-20 Denel NTW-20 The Denel NTW-20 is a South African anti-materiel rifle or large-calibre sniper rifle, made by the Denel Aerospace Systems company. As with other weapons of this type, they can be used for Counter-sniper tactics, ordnance disposal or against enemy radar installations, communication equipment, parked aircraft, fuel storage facilities, vehicle...		14.5x114mm Russian (NTW 14.5) 20x 83.5mm 20 mm caliber The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon and not a heavy machine gun.... (NTW 20) 20x110mm (NTW 20)
Gepard anti-materiel rifles		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO), 12.7x108mm (.50 Russian), 14.5x114mm Russian
KSVK 12.7 KSVK 12.7 The KSVK 12.7 is a large calibre Anti-materiel rifle sniper rifle developed in Russia for the purpose of counter sniping and penetrating thick walls, as well as lightly armoured vehicles....		12.7x108 mm (.50 Russian))
McMillan TAC-50 McMillan Tac-50 The McMillan Tac-50 sniper rifle is produced in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States by the McMillan Brothers Rifle Company. This long-range anti-materiel/anti-personnel weapon is based on previous designs from the same company, which first appeared during the late 1980s....		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
PGM Hecate II PGM Hecate II The Hecate II is the standard heavy sniper rifle of the French Army, sometimes known as the FR-12,7 .It is manufactured by PGM Pr?cision of France....		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
Steyr IWS 2000 Steyr IWS 2000 The Steyr IWS 2000 is an Austrian semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle, produced by Steyr Mannlicher. IWS stands for Infantry Weapon System. It is actually a smoothbore, like many modern tank guns, not a true rifle....		15.2 mm proprietary Steyr APFSDS
WKW Tor		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO)
Zastava M93 Black Arrow Zastava M93 Black Arrow The M93 Long Range Rifle Black Arrow is a modern military sniper rifle developed and manufactured by Zastava Arms of Kragujevac, Republic of Serbia....		.50 BMG (12.7x99mm NATO) or 12.7x108 mm (.50 Russian))
Vidhwansak Vidhwansak Vidhwansak, is an Indian multi-caliber anti-materiel rifle or large-caliber sniper rifle manufactured by Ordnance Factories Organization, Tiruchirapalli....		12.7x108mm 14.5x114mm Russian 20x 82mm 20 mm caliber The 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon and not a heavy machine gun....

Anti-materiel rifle

See also