Barrett M82 The Barrett M82 also called Light Fifty the first of the Barrett . 50 series , is a semi - automatic anti - material rifle created by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing in 1980 and entering in operation in 1989 . Description . The Barrett Firearms company was founded by the Ronnie Barrett for a single purpose of building semi - automatic rifles chambered for powerful . 50 BMG ammunition , originally developed for and used in Browning M2HB heavy machine guns . Barrett began his work in early 1980s and first working rifles were available in 1982 , hence the designation M82 . Barrett continued to develop his rifle through 1980s , and developed improved M82A1 rifle by 1986 . The first real success was the purchase of about 100 M82A1 rifles by the Sweden Army in 1989 . Major success followed in 1990 - 1991 , when U . S . Military purchased numbers of the M82A1 during the operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq . About 125 rifles were initially bought by U . S . Marine Corps , orders from U . S . Army and Air Force followed soon . The M82A1 is known for U . S . Military as the SASR - " Special Applications Scoped Rifle " , and it was and still is used as an anti - materiel weapon and EOD ( explosive ordnance disposal ) tool . The long effective range along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such as API and Raufoss Mk 211 allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins , trucks , parked aircrafts and soon . M82 also can be used to defeat enemy snipers or criminals from stand off range or when targets are behind the cover , but the anti - personnel work is not a major application for Barrett M82 ( or any other . 50 BMG rifle , for that matter ) . Further development led to the M82A2 bull - pup rifle ( 1987 ) , which was designed to be fired from the shoulder , but did not succeed , and was soon dropped from production . The M82A2 was obviously designed as a cheap anti - helicopter weapon , suitable for use against highly mobile targets when fired from the shoulder . The latest derivative of the M82 family is the M82A1M rifle , adopted by USMC as the M82A3 SASR and bought in significant numbers . This rifle differs from M82A1 in that it have a full length Picatinny rail that allows a hugevariety of scopes and sighting devices to be mounted on the rifle . Other changes are addition of the rear monopod , slightly lightened mechanism and detachablebipod and muzzle brake . The Barrett M82 rifles were bought by various military and police countries from at least 30 countries , such as Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Greece , Italy , Mexico , Portugal , Saudi Arabia , Spain , Sweden , Turkey , UK , USA and others . The M82 also is widely used for civilian . 50 caliber long range shooting competitions , being fired accurately out to 1000 yards ( 911 meters ) and even further . As a side note It be must pointed out that the Barrett M82A1 rifle was recently ( 2002 ) used as a platform for experimental OSW ( Objective Sniper Weapon ) prototype . The M82A1 rifle was fitted with shorter barrel of 25mm caliber , and fired low - velocity high explosive shells developed for 25mm OCSW automatic grenade launcher . The experimental OSW showed an increased effectiveness against various targets but the recoil was beyond the human limitations . The M82 is a recoil operated , short barrel stroke , semi - automatic firearm . When the gun is fired , barrel initially recoils for a short distance ( about an inch - 25 mm ) being securely locked by the rotating bolt . After the short travel a post on the bolt , engaged in the curved cam track in the receiver , turns bolt to unlock it from the barrel . As soon as the bolt unlocks , the accelerator arm strikes it back , transferring some part of the recoil energy of the barrel to the bolt to achieve the reliable cycling . Then barrel is stopped and the bolt continues back , to extract and eject a spent case . On its return stroke bolt strips the fresh cartridge from the box magazine and feeds it into the chamber and finally locks itself to the barrel . The striker also is cocked on the return stroke of the bolt . The gun is fed from the large detachable box magazines , that hold 10 rounds . The receiver is made from two parts ( upper and lower ) , stamped from sheet steel and connected by cross - pins . Heavy barrel is fluted to improve heat dissipation and save weight , and fitted with large and effective reactive muzzlebrake . On the earlier models the muzzle brakes were of round cross - section , latter M82 rifles are equipped with two chamber brakes of rectangular cross - section . M82A1 rifles are fitted with scope mount and a folding backup iron sights . M82 rifles are often equipped with Leupold M series 10X telescope sights . The M82A1M ( USMC M82A3 ) rifles have long Picatinny accessory rail mounted on the top of the receiver , that can accept wide variety of scopes , day or night . Every M82 rifle is equipped with folding carrying handle and with a folding bipod ( both are detachable on M82A3 ) . M82A3 also fitted with the detachable rear monopod under the butt . The buttpad is fitted with soft recoil pad to further decrease the felt recoil . M82A1 and M82A3 rifles could be mounted on the M3 or M122 infantry tripods ( originally intended for machine guns ) or on vehicles using special Barrett soft - mount . M82A1 can be fitted with carry sling but according to those who carried it in the field , M82 is way too uncomfortable to be carried on sling due to excessive length and heavy weight . It is usually carried in special carry soft or hard case . The M82A2 differed from M82A1 mostly in that the pistol grip along with trigger had been placed ahead of the magazine , and the buttpad has been placed below the receiver , just after the magazine . Additional forward grip was added below the receiver , and the scope mount has been moved forward too .