Barrett M107

M82 to M107

The XM107 was originally intended to be a bolt-action sniper rifle, and in fact it was selected by the U.S. Army in a competition between such weapons. However, the decision was made that the US Army did not, in fact, require such a weapon. The rifle originally selected under the trials to be the XM107 was the Barrett M95.

When the Army decided it no longer needed these weapons, it found that it had money already allotted for “XM107 rifles,” and rather than deal with this complication, the decision was made to change the M82’s designation to M107, and use the money to purchase those type of rifles instead. In summer 2005, the M82 finally emerged from its Army trial phase and was approved for “full materiel release”, meaning it was officially adopted as the Long Range Sniper Rifle, Caliber .50, M107.