M40A1 Sniper Rifle

This article would greatly benefit from the addition of more images.

To illustrate the article add one or more relevant images or upload them from canonical / official sources. For more instructions visit Half-Life Wiki:Images.

M40A1 Sniper Rifle
Production information
Type	Sniper rifle
Affiliation	Hazardous Environment Combat Unit Black Ops
Manufacturer	Remington Arms
Model	M40A1
Technical specifications
Magazine size	5 rounds
Ammunition type	7.62×51mm NATO
Maximum ammunition	15 rounds
Damage	100 points/hit (by Shephard) 15/hit (by Male Assassins) 16/hit (by HECU sniper)(HL) 10/hit (by HECU sniper)(HL:S)
Rate of fire	120 RPM (Half-Life) 30 RPM (Opposing Force)
Projectile speed	Hitscan
Operation	Bolt action
Accuracy	Perfect (w/scope)
Range	Long
Usage
Used by	HECU Snipers Male Black Ops Adrian Shephard
Counterparts	Other accurized weapons
Game information
Entity name	None ("func_tank" brush) (HL) weapon_sniperrifle (OF)
Spawn code	give weapon_sniperrifle (OF)

The M40A1 Sniper Rifle is a weapon used by the HECU Snipers in Half-Life and the male Black Ops in Half-Life: Opposing Force. It is a powerful rifle that can kill many types of living beings in a single hit. It has a scope attached to it to make long range engagements easier. First introduced in Half-Life, the rifle model name was given in Opposing Force.

Overview

Half-Life

• The M40A1 is first introduced near the end of the Half-Life chapter On A Rail in Sector E Materials Transport, right before the High Altitude Launch Center. In the chapter Surface Tension, two Snipers are spread around the Ordinance Storage Facility in the Topside Motorpool, and have shot a security guard who dies when Freeman reaches him. They add to the threat that the Land Mines and the Tripmines spread around the building already pose. The fourth and last HECU Sniper to be seen is found in the next map, in the same chapter, hiding in a window beside the barracks.
• With this rifle, the HECU Sniper is able to drain a player's health in only a few hits, more so if they don't have any power in ther HEV suit. They inflict less damage in the source port.

Opposing Force

• In Opposing Force, the M40A1 is first introduced by Senior Drill Instructor Barnes in the Sniper Range at Santego Military Base, during the training chapter.
• In the campaign, it can first be found in the chapter Foxtrot Uniform from the only sniper assassin in the game.
• The M40A1 is a bolt-action rifle, resulting in slower firing speed, much slower than that of the Crossbow. To compensate for this, the M40A1 fires hitscan projectiles that strike targets immediately. It also has perfect accuracy, no matter what the player is doing when it is fired.

Tactics

For the tactics related to Half-Life, see the HECU Sniper article.

• The M40A1 is best used to kill enemies in one shot from long range. One should try to pick off strong targets, such as Shock Troopers, that would otherwise take a lot of ammo and time to kill at close range.
• In Hard mode, some strong enemies that used to take one bodyshot before dying (such as Shock Troopers) now take two. However, headshots can still kill those targets in one hit.
• There is little ammo for this weapon throughout the game, so targets should be selected wisely.
• If an enemy takes more than one shot from this weapon to be killed, one should simply take one shot at the enemy, then switch to the Desert Eagle or the M249 and finish it off. This preserves M40A1 ammo, which can be very helpful for later on.
• In Deathmatch and easier difficulties one can use the M40A1 unscoped to kill single enemies just as well as the shotgun due to its perfect accuracy and high power.
• An easier way to take down the Gene Worm is to disable the eyes with the mounted guns then fire a single shot into the portal in its stomach (the void behind the portal is the vulnerable area). This can greatly accelerate the fight.

Behind the scenes

• Killing the HECU Sniper, consisting of a human shooting target using the "func_breakable" entity, makes both the rifle and the silhouette brushes disappear. The rifle itself is a brush using the entity "func_tank", not affected by the console code "notarget".
• In Opposing Force, the Sniper Rifle originally had a different scope with a variable zoom, as well as different animations.

Trivia

• Only one Black Ops Assassin is seen using the M40A1 in Half-Life: Opposing Force, during the chapter Foxtrot Uniform.
  • When used by the Black Ops Male Assassin, the M40A1 is reloaded after each shot, and only does 15 points of damage per hit, similar to the HECU snipers. This is solely for balance, as it would be very difficult and frustrating to navigate through that part without getting hit, especially if the weapon could defeat the player in a couple of hits.
• In Half-Life, HECU snipers use the M40A1 in semi-automatic mode rather than bolt-action, and deal low damage against Gordon.
• M40A1 ammunition is the only type of ammo not found in Displacer Cannon teleport locations.
• The HUD icon for the M40A1's ammunition is identical to the icon for .357 Magnum rounds.

Gallery

Half-Life

The second Sniper with his rifle visible.

Ditto, closeup of the rifle.

The third Sniper with his rifle visible.

Inside the fourth Sniper's nest, showing the human silhouette and the rifle.

The fourth Sniper shooting at the player.

Half-Life: Opposing Force

HUD icon.

Worldmodel.

Viewmodel.

M40A1 ammunition, depicted as two magazines.

List of appearances

• Half-Life (First appearance)
• Half-Life: Opposing Force (First identified as M40A1 Sniper Rifle)