The brand name is derived from the name of its founder, Ronnie Barrett, a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. In 1972, he began his career as a photographer, and only after ten years did he become involved in a moment that directed him towards a career in firearms. In January 1982, he photographed a patrol boat armed with half-inch M2 machine guns and .50 BMG caliber, which impressed him so much as a firearms enthusiast that he began searching for a commercially available rifle of this caliber. To his surprise, he found that it did not exist.
Beginnings in the garage
Although he had no experience in the field, he started designing his own weapon. Friends from factories helped him refine the idea into a more realistic form, and within four months, he built two prototypes. With a rifle labeled as the M82, he attended an exhibition in Houston, where he received the first orders from interested parties. Although money was tight, he opened a small shop in his hometown and produced an initial series of thirty rifles. To sell them as quickly as possible, he paid for an advertisement in Shotgun News magazine. The powerful weapons found their way to the market, and Ronnie was able to further develop the design.
Barrett's dream was slowly coming true. According to some sources, during this phase, a few rifles were purchased from him by CIA agents to provide to Afghan mujahideen for fighting against the Soviet army, but otherwise, orders were not pouring in. Nevertheless, the manufacturer stood by his product and demonstrated during presentations that the M82 could destroy important – and correspondingly expensive – combat assets at low cost. It wasn't until 1989 that the young firearms company succeeded in a military tender when the Swedish armed forces purchased a hundred upgraded M82A1 rifles. The order broke the ice, and in the following year, the US Marine Corps bought 125 units, followed by contracts from the US Army.
The M82A1 model earned the nickname Light Fifty. It is based on the Browning system and utilizes recoil energy combined with a short 2.5 cm barrel lock. During this process, the bolt unlocks, and the barrel stops, allowing the bolt to continue moving independently, while a spring pushes the barrel back into the forward position. During the subsequent movement of the bolt backwards, the cartridge is extracted and ejected, and the firing mechanism is cocked. Then, both the bolt and the barrel return forward, with the bolt picking up a new cartridge from the magazine and inserting it into the chamber. A curved groove in the carrier forces the bolt to rotate, with locking lugs engaging in recesses in the rear part of the barrel. This locks the sniper rifle and prepares it for the next shot.
Combat and further development
The fluted barrel features a muzzle brake, which, along with the movable barrel mount, reduces recoil. The bolt carrier in the front part is perforated for better heat dissipation, and a bipod is placed on the underside. Although the M82 comes with mechanical sights, the main role is played by one of a wide range of telescopic sights and night vision devices. Without optics, the rifle weighs 13.4 kg and measures 1550 mm in length. Rounds loaded into the ten-round box magazine leave the barrel at a speed of 850 m/s. In addition to standard ammunition, snipers began using Mk 211 Raufoss rounds with zirconium content. When these rounds penetrate armor, two previously separated substances mix, creating an explosive mixture. Thus, the explosion and incendiary effect occur inside the target.
Barrett's weapons were extensively used during Operation Desert Storm, with the US Marine Corps being particularly keen on half-inch rifles, and its representatives collaborated with the firearms company on improvements. This led to the creation of the M82A3 with a detachable handle, a modernized bipod, a support leg under the buttstock, and an extended Picatinny rail. Marines equip the rifles with Schmidt & Bender optics, while the army relies on Leupold Mark 4 with 4.5–14x magnification.
The initial M82 and M82A1 models were produced until 1992, when a length of 1.5 m began to seem too much for shooters. Barrett turned to the development of the M82A2 bull-pup concept, but the length and weight of the compact design did not significantly decrease – it measured 1409 mm and weighed 12.2 kg. Nevertheless, the rifle was easier to handle, transport, and store. Production began in 1990, but the rifle did not attract much interest, and Ronnie soon discontinued production.
Change in leadership
Despite all the success, the M82 in the US Army remained in the testing phase for years and was not officially incorporated into the arsenal until 2002 under the designation M107. Currently, many NATO armies, including the Bundeswehr, own the M82. Special units such as the Austrian counterterrorism Jagdkommando, the French GIGN, the Indian police commando Force One, or the Pakistani Special Service Group also did not hesitate to acquire it.
The popularity of the M82 led Ronnie to the idea of developing a weapon of the same quality but with a cylindrical bolt. The M90 model brought a rifle that was easier to handle, less prone to malfunctions, with lower operating costs, and a more acceptable weight of 9.9 kg. The bull-pup concept was considered from the beginning, and the designers placed the bolt system in the buttstock, while the pistol grip and trigger mechanism found a place in front of the magazine well. Although the M90 did not catch on, it remains popular among sports shooters to this day.
In the mid-1990s, Ronnie decided to replace the M90 with the more advanced M95 model – a bolt-action rifle with a manually operated cylindrical bolt. The M95 shares many common features with its older sibling, including the bull-pup concept and a five-round magazine. The main difference lies in moving the pistol grip and trigger forward, making it easier to manipulate the magazine. The M95 was acquired by the armies of Denmark, Greece, and Argentina, as well as special units from Jordan, Thailand, and Italian paratroopers.
During the 1990s, Ronnie's son, Chris, increasingly became involved in the company's operations, rising to become chief designer and eventually president in 2015. The first firearm developed under his leadership was the M99 "Big Shot" model. The single-shot rifle was created as a cheaper alternative to existing models, intended for sports shooters, and is produced in .50 and .416 Barrett calibers. Due to its heavy barrel, the M99 shoots accurately even at extreme distances, with a maximum range of 2600 metres.
An ongoing story
The M98B model brought a revolution, with Chris responding to calls to replace perhaps overly powerful ammunition with the .338 Lapua Magnum. The weight of the rifle, officially introduced in 2008, decreased to 6 kg. According to shooters, the effectiveness of the .338 ammunition is comparable to the .50, and they also positively evaluate the lower recoil. The medium-weight barrel propels projectiles at a speed of 940 m/s, and the rifle uses a ten-round magazine. The trigger mechanism can be disassembled as a separate unit, allowing the shooter to easily adjust the desired resistance. The rifle was well received by special units in Canada, India, and Britain.
The described rifle became the basis for one of Barrett's most modern designs, the MRAD (Multi-Role Adaptive Design). It was a response to a tender from the US Special Operations Command in 2009, which announced a competition to replace .300 and .338 bolt-action rifles used by special units. Improvements included a folding stock, but above all, the possibility of changing the barrel (and thus the caliber) in less than two minutes. Barrett's new product lost to a competing rifle from Remington in the tender, but the manufacturer has no reason to despair, as the MRAD has been acquired by the New Zealand army, special units from Norway, and the Israeli police unit Yamam.
From humble beginnings, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing (now headquartered in Christiana) has become a global leader in the development and production of large-caliber rifles, corresponding ammunition, and integrated ballistic computers. Its products are used by police and military units in more than seventy countries, as well as by sports shooters. The pride Americans take in powerful half-inch rifles was evident in 2016 when lawmakers in the state of Tennessee declared the M82 the official state rifle. The future looks bright for Barrett's high-caliber rifles – especially since the company was acquired by the Australian arms giant NIOA in 2023.
