Barrett M107A1, Barrett XM107 Sniper Rifle Extreame Series

The Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle may have been the most useful piece of equipment for the urban fight especially for our light fighters,” said LTC Jim Smith in a PEO Soldier report on lessons learned from Operation Iraq Freedom. He added, The Barrett XM107 sniper rifle was used to engage both vehicular and personnel targets out to 1,400 meters. Soldiers not only appreciated the range and accuracy, but also the target effect. Leaders and scouts viewed the effect of the .50-cal. round as a combat multiplier due to the psychological impact on other combatants that viewed the destruction of the target.

Funded as a Soldier Enhancement Program, the Barrett M107 sniper rifle underwent standard-type classification in August 2003 and Barrett received a production contract, awarded the following month. Based on reports of the Barrett XM107’s battlefield performance, the U.S. Army approved it (with slight modifications) for full material release and designated it the Barrett M107 sniper rifle in March 2005. The phrase “full material release” indicates that the Barrett M107 sniper rifle had passed rigorous testing and is completely safe, operationally suitable and logistically supportable for use.

Barrett M107A1 Sniper Rifle

The latest Barrett M107A1 Sniper Rifle is founded on the series of combatproven Model Barrett 82A1/M107 series rifles conceived by Ronnie Barrett. As of today, 62 U.S. allied countries, every branch of the U.S. military, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy and numerous law enforcement agencies have turned to Barrett to provide a surgical long-range interdiction capability. Just like previous generations, the Barrett M107A1 Sniper is an air-cooled, recoil-operated semiautomatic rifle. Our test model came equipped with a variable-powered Leupold Mark 4 tactical scope with Barrett’s revolutionary BORS unit that provides click-adjustment information to compensate for ballistic influences such as load, temperature, elevation and even inclination angle.

Just like the M107, the M107A1 remains exclusively chambered for the legendary .50 BMG cartridge. Ten of these hard-hitting .50-caliber rounds are alternately stacked within each box magazine (the new M107A1 magazines feature witness holes). When employed, one of these rifles is capable of effectively engaging man-size and armored targets out to 2,000 meters. Even at that range, U.S. Army testing has revealed that the .50 BMG is still capable of penetrating up to 1.18 inches of steel plate.

This level of manageable performance was impossible in a userportable semiautomatic .50 BMG chambered rifle before Ronnie Barrett developed the first Model 82 in 1982. He based the design on a short-recoil principle credited to John Browning. Simply, Browning’s concept minimizes felt recoil by spreading recoil energy over a longer period of time. As a round is fired, expanding pressure pushes the case to the rear and against the face of the unique three-lug bolt. Locked within the barrel’s chamber, the lugs pull the barrel assembly and draw it rearward against the tension of the barrel springs, absorbing energy before a post on the bolt engages a curved cam track in the receiver and unlocks it from the barrel.

Once the bolt unlocks, it continues its travel rearward against a long recoil spring that also helps to reduce the transfer of recoil energy. Simultaneously, a muzzlebrake diffuses additional recoil energy. Until the Barrett M107A1 Sniper Rifle, this muzzlebrake took the shape of an arrowhead. Once a fired bullet exits the muzzle, gases take a path of less resistance, expand and slam into the brake’s double-chambered interior walls. Consequently, the barrel is pulled away from the shooter and gases are redirected to the side of the rifle.


The newest variant has been cloaked in a veil of secrecy for the last two years, but rumors and occasional photos taken at military demos and trade events have leaked information about its existence to the interest of the public. Some pieces of information have been based on visual interpretations, while other bits are founded on inaccurate suppositions. What follows are the facts directly from Barrett. “We knew there would be things that we’d learn,” says Chris Barrett. “The [M107]A1 was already being talked about when we came up with the Barrett M107 Sniper Rifle. There was language in the contract that allowed for enhancements. No one would ever get a gun if you had to design something perfect. Here we are, a couple years down the pike.”


The M107A1 carries new features developed from feedback given directly by troops using a Barrett in the war on terror. The most obvious difference when comparing the M107A1 to its predecessors is with the M107A1’s earth-color finish. But not a lot of Barretts have actually left the Murfreesnow boro, TN, facility with anything other than a Parkerized finish. Exceptions do occur. Within the last two years a number of M107s were delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard with a maritime gray finish that resists corrosion in a saltwater environment, for example.

Since its use in Operation Desert Storm, troops heading to the desert had to apply their own camouflage that would often chip or flake off with use. This is no longer a problem with the Barrett M107A1 sniper. The flat dark earth color is a physical vapor deposition to the surface that is extremely hard and helps make the rifle less dependant on lubricant. “Everything runs better with a little oil, but the Barrett M107A1 Sniper features a new finish that offers a high lubricity on all the sliding parts.” Anything that can wear or rub will get high-lubricity plating or something better than Parkerizing. Barrett indicates, “Parkerizing is on the way out Murfreesnow that better stuff is out there. For some of the aluminum parts, Barrett will continue to use KG Guncoat. For the purpose of what the coating is supposed to do, it’s not going to be black.”