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 high-magnification scope and deals much more damage than the hunting rifle, but has a very rare ammunition type and is a very fragile weapon.

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 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 points.

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.

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.

A fully-repaired sniper rifle can fire 83 .308 rounds, or about 17 magazines, before breaking.

Variants

 * Victory rifle, while identical in strength to the sniper rifle, the Victory rifle is more durable, and knocks down targets with critical hits. However, it pays for this ability with a reduced critical chance of only x3, compared to the normal x5.
 * 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 (Operation: Anchorage add-on), a sniper rifle with ridiculously high durability, can be obtained through a glitch with the Operation: Anchorage add-on. See Operation: Anchorage glitches for details.

Locations

 * 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. 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 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.
 * Wheaton Armory has two sniper rifles in the missile silo behind a Very Hard Door.
 * The random encounter character, Sam Warrick, carries one.
 * A Talon Company merc in the The Capitol Building, in the upper floors of the Hall of Columns, uses one.
 * In the Point Lookout add-on after exiting the St. Aubin Medical Facility 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, (Broken Steel add-on) 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.

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.