M-40A1 Sniper Rifle

M-40A1 Sniper Rifle
Production information
Faction	HECU Black Ops
Type	Sniper rifle
Technical specifications
Damage	100/hit (by Shephard) 15/hit (by Male Assassins)
Ammo	5 rounds
Max ammo	15 rounds
Weapon category	6
Ammo type	7.62×51mm NATO
Operation	Bolt action
Rate of fire	Slow
Accuracy	Perfect (with the scope)
Range	Long
Usage
Used by	HECU (including Adrian Shephard) Male Black Ops
Game information
Entity	weapon_sniperrifle

 

The M-40A1 Sniper Rifle is a weapon used by the HECU (including Adrian Shephard) and the Black Ops in Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Overview

The M-40A1 is a powerful bolt-action 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. The rifle's firing speed is about the same as that of the Crossbow. It has perfect accuracy, no matter what the player is doing when it is fired.

Appearances

The M-40A1 is first introduced in the Sniper Range at Santego Military Base, during the training chapter. Despite its appearance at the camp, it is never used by the HECU Marines in Opposing Force except for Shephard. The weapon can then be acquired by killing the only Black Ops sniper in the game encountered in the chapter Foxtrot Uniform, or later, on the ground in the same map.

Tactics

The M-40A1 is best used to kill enemies in one shot from long range, though the weapon is effective on all ranges, even when unscoped. One should try to pick off strong targets, such as Shock Troopers, that would otherwise take a lot of effort to kill at close range. However, the scarcity of ammunition for this weapon should also be kept in mind, and the targets should be picked up wisely.

As the enemies' health increases with the difficulty level, some of the more powerful creatures are able to withstand more than one shot in Hard mode. It is advised to aim for the head, as headshots can kill those targets in one hit, even on the highest difficulty. Alternatively, the enemies can be finished off with a different weapon, preserving the rifle's ammunition.

The rifle is a weapon of choice against the Gene Worm and its portal.

Behind the scenes

The M-40A1 Sniper Rifle is inspired by the real-world M40 rifle, used by the United States Marine Corps.

While real life M-40A1s don't have detachable box magazines, one of the weapon's successor models, the M40A5s, do.

The sniper rifle model (a MSG90) from Action Half-Life was used as a placeholder in the television spot of Opposing Force. This version of the rifle had a variable zoom function.

When used by the Male Assassin sniper, the M-40A1 is reloaded after each shot, and it does only 15 points of damage per hit, instead of the usual value of 100, lethal for Shephard. This change is perceived as implemented solely for balance, as it would be very difficult for the player to navigate through the level without getting hit.

Gallery

• 

  HUD icon.

• 

  The placeholder viewmodel from the television spot.

• 

  The actual model from Action Half-Life.

• 

  Worldmodel.

• 

  Viewmodel.

• 

  M40A1 ammunition, depicted as two magazines.

• 

  Shell model used when firing, as part of the viewmodel. No worldmodel is used when firing.

• 

  The only Black Ops sniper in the entire game.

List of appearances

• Half-Life: Opposing Force

See also

• HECU Sniper