Sniper rifle (DX)

The sniper rifle is the standard sniper rifle used by military and paramilitary forces all over the world. Even militias like the NSF have adopted it as their sniper rifle. It uses the accurate and powerful 30.06 cartridge.

The first opportunity to obtain the sniper rifle is from Paul at the start of the game. If not obtained there, it can be scavenged from a dead NSF trooper near the front entrance to the Statue of Liberty. After Liberty island, NSF and MJ-12 troops are occasionally armed with them, specifically those stationed on rooftops.

Tactics
An unmodified sniper rifle is a great weapon, depending on your Rifle skill level. If at "Untrained" or "Trained", it tends to move around too much to get an accurate shot. If you're at "Advanced", you'll be able to easily focus on a target. If you're at "Master", there will be no sway period, allowing you fire 100% accurate shots. Recoil can be a doozy, so don't except to fire off one round after another in quick succession with any sort of accuracy past the second shot.

A modded sniper rifle can be the most deadly weapon in the game, even in the hands of a character build with a low rifle skill level. Accuracy mods can easily bump accuracy to 100%, clip mods can increase the magazine to 13 rounds, recoil mods can make it so that you're able to fire multiple shots in quick succession, and the silencer makes it extremely easy to pick off enemies one at a time and won't put enemies on alert if you miss a shot. Even if your character build isn't focused on rifles, mod a sniper rifle anyways. It'll be extremely helpful.

With multiple clip mods applied, the sniper rifle becomes an effective assault weapon limited only by ammunition supply and its slow rate of fire.

At Master level, the damage increase will enable you to destroy cameras and turrets in a single shot, making stealth immeasurably easier. Despite the 'clang' heard when the destroyed pieces hit the ground, guards will not notice the device being destroyed if your rifle is silenced.

In-game Description
The military sniper rifle is the superior tool for the interdiction of long-range targets. When coupled with the proven 30.06 round, a marksman can achieve tight groupings at better than 1 MOA (minute of angle) depending on environmental conditions.

Trivia

 * The name of the caliber the Sniper Rifle uses (30.06) makes this gun somewhat weak in terms of armor penetration, since the 30.06 round was developed in 1906, before the time more bullet-resistant body armor were invented. A more powerful caliber (such as a .308 or .223) would have been the more correct choice for the Sniper Rifle.