Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is an American manufacturer of

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

s and

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

located in

Christiana, Tennessee Christiana is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country ...

. It was founded in 1982 by Ronnie G. Barrett for the purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for the .50 BMG (12.7×99mm NATO) ammunition, originally developed for and used in

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, ...

machine guns. Barrett began this work in the early 1980s, and the first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett personally designed every part of the weapon. He marketed the weapon and mass-produced it utilizing personal funds. He continued to develop the rifle through the 1980s, and developed the improved M82A1 rifle by 1986.

History

Barrett introduced the M82 in 1982 but did not have any significant sales until 1989. These first large sales were to Sweden. Soon afterward, the M82 was purchased by the

United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

, and it was deployed in the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. Today the company has contracts with dozens of countries to supply sniper rifles. The success of the M82A1 has led the company to develop several other models of .50 BMG rifles, including the M95, M99, and M99-1. These are lighter and lower cost bolt-action rifles. An early customer of the M82 (or "Barrett Light Fifty") was the IRA, which conducted a sniper campaign against the British Armed Forces in Northern Ireland. An unidentified IRA volunteer, quoted by author Toby Harnden, said that:

What's special about the Barrett is the huge kinetic energy... The bullet can just walk through a flak jacket. South Armagh was the prime place to use such weapon because of the availability of Brits. They came to dread it and that was part of its effectiveness.

In current US military use is the M82A3 and a new version, the M107, as an

anti-materiel rifle An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware ( materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elim ...

. It is used by

explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...

teams with special military HEIAP ammunition. Barrett also manufacturers the

REC7 The Barrett REC7 (designation stands for "reliability-enhanced carbine") is an American firearm manufactured as a selective-fire fully-automatic and semi-automatic rifle by Barrett Firearms. It is an M4 carbine utilizing a short-stroke gas pist ...

upper receiver for the

AR-15 style rifle An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation ...

, chambered in 6.8 mm Remington SPC, which was one of the weapons the US Army reviewed in 2008 while drafting requirements for a potential

M4 carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensive ...

replacement. In response to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

's ban of civilian ownership of .50 BMG rifles, Barrett suspended sales and service to all

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...

in California. In October 2008, Barrett introduced the new M98B. The M98B is a bolt-action rifle chambered in

.338 Lapua Magnum The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm or 8.58×70 mm) is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the War in Afghanistan and ...

. It went on sale in 2009. On February 26, 2016, Tennessee named the Barrett M82 the official rifle of the State of Tennessee. In 2021 Barrett secured a $50 million contract for the United States Army Precision Sniper Rifle initiative.

Products

*Anti-materiel rifles ** Barrett M82/M107 ** Barrett M90 ** Barrett M95 **

Barrett M99 The Barrett M99 (Model 99) is a single-shot anti-materiel rifle that was first introduced in 1999 by the Barrett Firearms Company as a less expensive alternative to the company's higher-priced offerings. The rifle uses a bullpup configuration wi ...

Barrett XM109 The Barrett XM109 is a prototype anti materiel sniper rifle, chambered for 25 × 59 mm grenade rounds and developed by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. It was designed in accordance with a requirement set out in 1994, and is capable of defeating ...

Barrett XM500 The Barrett XM500 is a gas-operated, semi-automatic, anti materiel/sniper rifle currently in development by the Barrett Firearms Company. It is fed by a 10-round detachable box magazine situated behind the trigger in bullpup configuration. B ...

*Sniper rifles **

Barrett M98B The Barrett Model 98B (also known as the Barrett Model 98 Bravo) is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm or 8.58×70mm) and manufactured by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. The Model 98B was officially announced in O ...

** Barrett MRAD *Semi-automatic rifles **

Barrett M468 The Barrett M468 is a variant of the M4 Carbine, rechambered for a heavier and larger 6.8mm bullet for increased terminal performance. The designation of M468 stands for an M4 carbine chambered for the 6.8mm SPC cartridge. It was an attempt to cre ...

Barrett REC7 The Barrett REC7 (designation stands for "reliability-enhanced carbine") is an American firearm manufactured as a selective-fire fully-automatic and semi-automatic rifle by Barrett Firearms. It is an M4 carbine utilizing a short-stroke gas pist ...

** Barrett REC10 *Machine guns ** Barrett M240LW *Optics ** Barrett Optical Ranging System (BORS) *Ammunition ** .50 BMG M33 Ball ** .416 Barrett ** 6.8 SPC **

References

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External links

Barrett Firearms Official Website
Manufacturing companies established in 1982 Firearm manufacturers of the United States 1982 establishments in Tennessee Manufacturing companies based in Tennessee

History

Products

See also

References

External links