Barrett M82
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing1982–presentLate Cold War
Also known as M107, Light Fifty
Image credit
- Title
- File:Barrett-M82A1-Independence-Day-2017-IZE-048-white.jpg
- Author
- MathKnight and Zachi Evenor(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barrett-M82A1-Independence-Day-2017-IZE-048-white.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
no sourced velocity for this pairing
Not calculated: muzzle velocity has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Not calculated: v_recoil has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity10verifiedsourceDetachable box magazines of 5 and 10 rounds.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Not calculated: m has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Not calculated: mass has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Rifle
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Operating system
- Short recoil
- Roles
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1989
- Production
- 1982–present
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
- 13.47 kg29.70 lbsource
Published as 29.7 lb; 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg exactly. The article publishes 29.7–32.7 lb across configurations; the lower figure is recorded.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
- 1,219 mm48.00 insource
Published as 48 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. With the 20-inch barrel; 57 in with the 29-inch.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
- 508 mm20.00 insource
Published as 20 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. The short barrel; a 29-inch barrel is also offered.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- 1,800 m1,969 ydsource
- Units produced
- not recorded
- Launch price
- not recorded
Chamberings
- .50 BMGprimary10 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- Barrett M821,219 mm48.00 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. Barrett M82 records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Detail
Almost every other arm on this site was designed against a requirement somebody wrote down. This one was not: Ronnie Barrett wanted a shoulder-fired rifle for the .50 Browning machine gun cartridge, no manufacturer or army had asked for one, and he built it in a garage.
The mechanism is what makes it possible. The barrel and bolt recoil locked together for about 25 mm, the barrel then stops against a spring while the accelerator throws the bolt carrier rearwards, and a large muzzle brake bleeds off a substantial part of what is left. The result is a weapon firing a cartridge with roughly ten times a rifle round’s energy that a person can fire from the shoulder without injury — though at thirteen and a half kilograms, not for long, and not far from where it was set down.
Its role took its name from the weapon rather than the other way round. An anti-materiel rifle is used against equipment — radar, aircraft on the ground, vehicles, unexploded ordnance — at ranges where a smaller cartridge has nothing left, and the M82 created the category as a procurement line item after Desert Storm.
No width, height, sight radius or unloaded-with-magazine weight is published in the cited article.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- Barrett M82 · Wikipedia · 1370245669 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated