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M40A1 Sniper Rifle
Production information
Affiliation	Hazardous Environment Combat Unit Black Ops
Model	M40A1
Type	Sniper rifle
Technical specifications
Damage	100 points/hit (by Shephard) 15/hit (by Male Assassins)
Magazine Size	5 rounds
Maximum Ammunition	15 rounds
Ammunition Type	7.62×51mm NATO
Operation	Bolt action
Rate of Fire	Slow / slow to fast (HL)
Accuracy	Perfect (with the scope)
Range	Long
Usage
Used by	HECU Snipers Male Black Ops Adrian Shephard
Counterpart(s)	Other accurized weapons
Game information
Entity / spawn codes	N/A ("func_tank" brush) (HL) weapon_sniperrifle (Op4)

 

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 it easy to engage long range targets. First introduced in Half-Life, the rifle model name was given in Opposing Force.

OverviewEdit

Half-LifeEdit

• 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 as little as four to five hits.

Opposing ForceEdit

• 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 Black Mesa, it is found in the chapter Foxtrot Uniform. If not picked up there, it can be picked up from a dead male Black Ops in the chapter "The Package".

• The M40A1 is a bolt-action rifle, resulting in slower firing speed, about the same as that of the Crossbow.

• It has perfect accuracy, no matter what the player is doing when it is fired.

TacticsEdit

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 then fire a single shot into the portal in its stomach. This makes the boss fight much more rapid.

Behind the scenesEdit

• 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.^[1]

TriviaEdit

• When used by a Black Ops Male Assassin, the M40A1 is reloaded after each shot, and it does somehow only 15 points of damage per hit. This is solely for balance, as it would be very difficult and frustrating to navigate through the part without getting hit, as it would result in an instant kill.

GalleryEdit

Half-LifeEdit

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 ForceEdit

HUD icon.

Worldmodel.

Viewmodel.

M40A1 ammunition, depicted as two magazines.

List of appearancesEdit

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

ReferencesEdit