Gepard anti - materiel rifle The Gepárd anti - materiel rifles are a family of Hungarian weapons designed to destroy unarmored and lightly armored targets . These long range , large caliber rifles have high accuracy as well as high muzzle velocity . The Gepárds originate from World War I anti - tank rifle s developed by the Germans to damage armored vehicles . Since then , anti - materiel rifles fell into disuse . Heavier tanks meant thicker armor , which even the heaviest rifles could not pierce . However , in 1987 the Hungarian army sought to obtain a compact , mobile weapon that could damage lightly armored targets . The project , led by Ferenc Földi ( Institute of Military Technology of the Hungarian People ' s Army ) , culminated in the creation of the Gepárds . Description . The M1 was the first Gepárd rifle to enter service . It featured a long barrel for increased accuracy , a skeleton stock to reduce weight , and used the heavy 12 . 7 x 108 mm Soviet cartridge . However , the rifle was complicated to reload . The M1 fired only one shot and would then have to be manually reloaded . To do this , the user had to rotate , pull back , remove the grip assembly ( whose shape resembles a signal - flare handgun ) , and insert another cartridge . This tedious task took time to master and slowed the weapon ' s rate of fire . Other difficulties such as high recoil also plagued the M1 . The recoil problem was solved with the addition of a barrel that recoiled back after each shot . The design was inspired by artillery cannons , which face the same impediment . Still , the Gepárd rifles need specially made , high - strength telescopic gunsights . Improvements , such as the addition of a carrier / lafette backpack and a longer barrel , led to the M1A1 variant , but at 21 kilograms its combat weight was deemed excessive . The M1 was essentially a sniper weapon , not primarily intended for military field application , but for anti - terrorist police and special forces ' use , who operate on the " one shot , one hit " principle . The single shot action was designed to reduce the number of moving parts and allow for extreme precision , five hits out of five shots fit in a 25 centimeter radius circle at 1300 meters . Yet , the Hungarian army decided to purchase 25 rifles of the Gepárd M1 type for use as an in - the - field materiel destruction rifle , but did not purchase any of the later variants so far . Owing to the great weight of Gepárd M1 , sharpshooters were instructed to abandon the entire weapon if forced to retreat quickly and only save the grip assembly for proof , rendering the gun useless . A semi - automatic version of the M1 was later produced . Dubbing it the M2 , designers reduced its barrel length and weight . An even shorter paratrooper variant dubbed M2A2 made it more favorable to airborne forces and special forces , especially because it could be fired from the hip , thanks to the advanced recoil mechanism . A fiber optic technology scope and eyepiece imaging system was developed ( or at least proposed ) to allow use of a hip - fired M2A2 for VIP protection purposes . Although the 12 . 7 mm cartridge was considered one of the most powerful , Fellegi decided it was not good enough . He then ordered the development of the M3 , with a larger 14 . 5 mm caliber . With this new destructive capability also came increased accuracy and range , making the M3 the most popular of the Gepárd rifles . Nevertheless , three more models were to follow . The M4 and M5 sought to become improvements on the M2 , with stronger materials and better reliability . The new versions have a more rectangular look and are usually of blackened steel finish , while M1 - M3 were usually painted olive - green colour . Gepárd M5 is a bolt action rifle for military sharpshooters and weighs only 13 kilograms , while the M4 is a semi - automatic anti - materiel rifle . The massive 10 - round drum magazine , so characteristic of the M2 and M3 , was replaced with a straight box magazine design with a capacity for five rounds . The later M4 and M5 can fire either Russian or NATO 12 . 7 mm ammunition as the gun barrel is field replaceable . The M3 is strictly anti - materiel rifle , because while the 14 . 5mm round is extremely powerful , its accuracy degrades rapidly at ranges beyond 1000 meters . Its high destructive power is very efficient in taking out hovering helicopters , APCs or mobile radar stations , however . Finally , the Gepárd rifle family concluded with the M6 . This rifle used the 12 . 7x108mm and . 50 BMG rounds , like the M2 and M4 , but featured stronger parts , lighter weight , shorter and an improved scope . The production history of the Gepárd was bumpy , since it was designed and prototyped at the very end of communist rule and first production runs happened during the early - 1990s , as Hungarian industrial capability shrunk in the process of transformation to market economy . Early examples were assembled at the Vízgépészeti Vállalat ( Hydrotechnic State Company ) . Production and development of Gepárd currently happens at Báthory - Épszolg Kft . , which also produces the new " Szép 7 . 62x51mm " bolt - action sniper rifle for Hungarian army and anti - terrorist police units . This smaller , standard caliber sniper rifle owes a lot of design elements to the Gepárd , since its designer , Ferenc Szép , also participated in development of the Gepárd guns . Ammunition . The M - 1 , M - 1A1 , M - 2 , M - 4 , M - 5 and M - 6 rifles all use the 12 . 7 x 108 mm Soviet cartridge as their primary calibre . They can be converted to fire the NATO . 50 BMG round . The M - 3 rifle uses only the Soviet 14 . 5 x 114 mm round . Comparison with M82 . The Gepárd M - 1 is widely considered to be an effective weapon . For this reason , many have sought to compare it to its American equivalent , the M82 . And for anti - materiel use accuracy is most often more important than weight . References . Gander , Terry & Hogg , Ian . " Janes : Guns Recognition Guide " , 4th ed , Harper Collins publisher . 2005 . ISBN 0 - 00 - 718328 - 3