.50 Caliber Sniper Rifles

[Lt_Phoenix]

The only weapon that is truly silenced, is the 22 caliber gun.
Suppressed weapons are made to distort the sound of the gunshot.

Here's some more info about silenced weapons:
http://www.hkpro.com/mp5sd.htm

[Mr_Shady]

The De Lisle Carbine is one of the quietest silenced weapons, it was a bolt action, integrally supressed carbine chambered for .45 ACP rounds, and it was used by commandos in WWII and up until the 60s. Apparently it was excellent for picking off sentries at night if it was scoped.

[m21man]

I agree with the stuff said earlier about the .50 sound suppressor. It's still enormously loud, but the loss of the flash is critical. With the full flash of the .50 BMG cartrdge coming from your rifle, you may as well hang a neon sign over your position saying "Direct Artillery Here". The suppressor makes it harder to detect where the shot came from.

[m21man]

The only weapon that is truly silenced, is the 22 caliber gun.

No, even the .22 is not fully silent. In the case of suppressed .22s, the distinctive sounds of the gun's internal mechanisms are audible, while the shot is a near-silent whisper.

[Mr_Shady]

Yeah, the noise isn't as important with a long-range sniper rifle, since the round will get there faster than the speed of sound. The muzzle flash is the problem, but most anti-material rifles have flash deflectors on them (the T-shaped thing on the end) to help disipate the flash.

[m21man]

The question is, are those flash suppressors or muzzle brakes on the end of anti-material rifles? Flash suppressors only reduce the flash, while muzzle brakes make the rifle more comfortable to fire (Less Recoil), but they make the rifle noisier and the flash wider. Since the recoil on a non-braked .50 cal can actually cause eye damage, I would think the muzzle brake would be a good idea.