Barrett to provide M107 .50-caliber sniper rifles to U.S. Army.

Barrett Firearms has been awarded $8 million by the U.S. Army for M107 .50-caliber, long-range sniper rifles with associated accessories and spares. The rifles will include scopes, suppressors, bipods and other accessories and are expected to be delivered through November 2023. The Barrett M107, like previous members of the M82 line, is also referred to as the Barrett "Light Fifty". The designation has in many instances supplanted earlier ones, with the M107 being voted one of 2005's top 10 military inventions by the U.S. Army.

Sgt. Conrado Hoyos spots and assists Spc. Logan Boling, Soldiers assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters’ Troop sniper section, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, as Boling fires a round down range with a Barrett .50-caliber rifle at a range near the Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, Feb. 2, 2018. These Soldiers are a part of the unique, multinational battle group, comprised of U.S., U.K., Croatian and Romanian soldiers serve with the Polish 15th Mechanized Brigade as a deterrence force in northeast Poland in support of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence. (Photo: U.S. Army / Spc. Andrew McNeil / 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

The M107 sniper rifle is the Army's standardized version of the Barrett M82 line in use by militaries, law enforcement and some private citizens throughout the world. Its .50-caliber BMG round can be effective against personnel, unarmored vehicles and light cover out to over a mile with a high degree of accuracy. The M107 is also called the Light Fifty for its .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) chambering and significantly lighter weight compared to previous applications and the 15% heavier base M82 model. The weapon is found in two variants, the original M82A1 (and A3) and the bullpup M82A2. The M82A2 is no longer manufactured, though the XM500 can be seen as its successor.

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing was founded by Ronnie Barrett for the sole purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the powerful 12.7×99mm NATO (.50 BMG) ammunition, originally developed for and used in M2 Browning machine guns. The weapon was first sold to the Swedish Army in 1989. In 1990, the United States armed forces purchased the M82A1 during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by the United States Marine Corps, and orders from the Army and Air Force soon followed.

In summer 2002, the M82A1 was approved for "full materiel release", meaning it was officially adopted as the Long Range Sniper Rifle, Caliber .50, M107. The M107 uses a Leupold 4.5–14×50 Mark 4 scope. The M107 known by the US military as the SASR—"Special Applications Scoped Rifle", and it was and still is used as an anti-materiel rifle and explosive ordnance disposal tool.

Like its predecessors, the rifle is said to have manageable recoil for a weapon of its size owing to the barrel assembly that itself absorbs force, moving inward toward the receiver against large springs with every shot. Additionally, the weapon's weight and large muzzle brake also assist in recoil reduction. Various changes were made to the original M82A1 to create the M107, with new features such as a lengthened accessory rail, rear grip, and monopod socket. Barrett has recently been asked to develop a lightweight version of the M107 under the Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle Congressional Program, and has already come up with a scheme to build important component parts such as the receiver frame and muzzle brake out of lighter-weight materials.