Sniper rifles are the premier weapon type for players who prefer precision in Battlefield 6. These can send an enemy player back to the spawn screen in an instant, and if your aim and reflexes are good enough, you can bring these rifles to those closer-ranged fights too.
All sniper rifles in BF6 feel roughly the same, but they do have small but significant differences that make them stand out from each other. In this guide, we’re going over each of the bolt-action rifles in the game, ranking them based on their usefulness across the majority of the game’s maps as well as some minute details that players will want to know about them.
Best Sniper Rifles in BF6
- M2010 ESR
- Mini Scout
- SV-98
- PSR
Before we dive into the details, it’s worth pointing out that all sniper rifles can instantly kill players with a headshot from any distance, and you need to hit two bodyshots to kill anyone else outside of specific sweet spots. This means that all of these weapons should feel roughly the same, with the deciding factors that separate each of them being their fire rates and sweet spot ranges.
Sweet spot range refers to the range bracket at which a sniper rifle can kill an enemy player with a chest hit.
We chose the M2010 ESR as our top pick for our list of the best sniper rifles in Battlefield 6 because of its decent fire rate, generous sweet spot range, and the fact that it’s available right at the beginning of the game. The M2010 ESR is perfect for the majority of maps in Battlefield 6, though the other sniper rifles have their places to shine as well.
M2010 ESR
- Sweet Spot Range: 75-120 meters
This bolt-action rifle is going to be the mainstay of many snipers’ arsenals in BF6. It is extremely reliable thanks to its high base muzzle velocity and fire rate (43 RPM), and if all you want to do is pick people from a distance, this rifle can easily satisfy all of your needs. The only true downside of the M2010 ESR is its small base magazine size of 5 bullets, which means you’ll be reloading more often while using this compared to the other sniper rifles.
The M2010 ESR is also quite versatile considering its modularity — the same can be said for the other sniper rifles, but with the M2010’s good base stats, this one serves as a better base platform for most cases.
Mini Scout
The Mini Scout is designed for aggressive sniper players who want to be constantly on the move instead of nesting up somewhere. Such a playstyle is enabled by this weapon’s high fire rate (51 RPM), high base muzzle velocity (1100 with an Extended Barrel) and its built-in ADS Bolt. The Mini Scout doesn’t need much modification in order to be powerful, but it has two downsides.
First, the Mini Scout does not have a sweet spot range. This isn’t that big of a deal, since players should be aiming for the head the vast majority of the time when using sniper rifles, but it can’t be denied that the sweet spot mechanic makes this weapon class more forgiving. If you want to use the Mini Scout to its truest potential, then you need to have the skill to back it up.
Second, the other sniper rifles can also fulfill the Mini Scout’s role as an aggressive sniper rifle, albeit a little less effectively. At times, the Mini Scout feels more like a DMR similar to the SVK 8.6.
SV-98
- Sweet Spot Range: 54-90 meters
As ironic as it sounds, the SV-98 is designed for sniping at closer ranges. It’s a little similar to the Mini Scout in that sense, but given the SV-98’s slower fire rate (38 RPM), it loses to the Mini Scout in terms of immediate effectiveness against multiple targets.
What the SV-98 does have going for it is its 54-90-meter sweet spot range. It’s a lot shorter compared to the other sniper rifles, making this one suited for urban fighting. You can still use the SV-98 for long-ranged sniping, but this is where its biggest weakness comes in.
The SV-98 comes with a base muzzle velocity of 720 with its default Basic Barrel, and this goes up to only 900 with an Extended Barrel. That 720 muzzle velocity is going to throw a lot of people off when using this gun for the first time — the SV-98’s slow projectiles will make hitting moving targets harder to hit, and if you’ve sunk a lot of time with the Mini Scout and M2010 prior to using this weapon, the difference is going to be jarring.
Even if you use the SV-98 in its intended 54-90-meter range, it’s still going to feel a bit off at first. However, once you get a good feel for the gun, it’ll perform well. It becomes even better once you get an Extended Barrel for it.
PSR
- Sweet Spot Range: 100-150 meters
The PSR is the complete opposite of the SV-98 in terms of engagement range. This rifle is designed for extreme ranges, with its sweet spot sitting between 100 and 150 meters away from the shooter. Much like the SV-98, the PSR has a base magazine size of 10, a fire rate of 38 RPM, and unfortunately, a base muzzle velocity of 720 too.
For a long-ranged sniper rifle, you’d expect the PSR to have the highest muzzle velocity out of all the guns in the category, but that simply isn’t the case. While the gun does start with an Extended Barrel, its projectiles can only reach a max speed of 900, which is still slower than a modded M2010 ESR and Mini Scout.
Sure, you can get over the muzzle velocity issue with a bit of practice, but given how there are few maps that allow for sniping at 100-150 meters, there’s very little reason to use the PSR over the others. However, if you do find yourself in an optimal spot for extreme sniping, then the PSR is going to be a good choice thanks to the 10x scope included in its default configuration.
