10 Best Sniper Rifles in Escape From Tarkov

Would you look at the time! Jaeger needs you to go in there and shoot seventeen bosses with a Mosin, iron sights only, at night.

Bolt-action rifles have become a bit of a traumatic theme in Escape From Tarkov thanks to the antics of the city's favorite park ranger, but once you get past that, there are few things more thrilling than landing a 300-meter headshot against a PMC.

Picking the right sniper rifle for your adventures is not always an easy pick, however. You have to balance out long-range performance, ammunition availability, pricing, and overall ergonomics.

To help you get through the Jaeger purgatory and get into that Pavlichenko grindset, here are the best sniper rifles in Escape From Tarkov.

10 Mosin-Nagant (Infantry)

Party Like It's 1891

In the late 19th century, the Mosin-Nagant was a top-of-the-line rifle, but times have changed. The infantry version of the Mosin in Escape From Tarkov is the broke PMC's best friend to grind out early tasks in the Tarkov Shooter questline.

Although both variants of the Mosin-Nagant rifle in-game have similar specs, what makes the infantry variant fall behind in-game is the fact that it lacks mounting points for scopes early on.

With some effort and a decent amount of money, you can transform it into a decent sniper rifle, but at that point, you are much better served with any other gun listed ahead of it.

9 VPO-215 Gornostay

Gone Hunting

The Gornostay is a hunting gun by design; the only thing to mind in Tarkov is that the prey shoots back. At more traditional sniper ranges, the .366 TKM cartridge suffers from poor performance due to its relatively low projectile speed and inconsistent ballistics between rounds.

To illustrate the problem, Geksa rounds max out at 550 m/s, while EKO reaches 770 m/s, resulting in wildly different flight profiles at range. The sights are zeroed for EKO rounds, so all other rounds will land short. At 200m, you'll see a difference of over 30cm between them.

Fortunately, Tarkov is full of maps where your cumbersome kind-of-shotgun rounds can meet the target before range becomes an issue. The VPO-215 is quick to cycle between shots, making it perfect for more intimate sniper work.

Where it really shines is when combined with the AP-M rounds, which you can craft in your hideout. These little demons make short work of most body armors and helmets in the game, while also dealing flesh damage comparable to hollow-point 7.62x54R. It's a reliable one-shot solution to most PMC infestations.

8 Marlin MXLR

How Do You Say Yeehaw in Russian?

I am convinced the developers of Escape From Tarkov only added this to please the kids who played too much Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. And to that, I say thank you.

This modernized version of the Marlin lever-action rifle is a cowboy's dream and is excellent for Tarkov's lone rangers chasing urban bolt-action kills with shotgun rates of fire.

You get decent accuracy and fast-firing in a light gun that's a little overpriced, with mediocre long-range performance, scarce ammunition, and no suppressor mount.

7 Mosin-Nagant (Sniper)

The Sniper Classic

It was good enough for Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Vasily Zaitsev, and it is good enough for you, the budding Tarkov sniper looking to make a name for yourself in this hellhole.

Although it is possible to customize it, the sniper version of the Mosin-Nagant does everything you need it to do in its default kit. The PU scope has 3.5x magnification, which is enough for a good sniper to work up to half a kilometer. Most 7.62x54mmR rounds can reliably penetrate level 4 plates past 300 meters, and the fairly flat trajectory makes long-range work a breeze.

The main reason why the sniper Mosin ranks low is that the money spent upgrading it is better spent buying just about any more modern option, but that does not detract from a sniper rifle that has seen over a century of combat.

6 T-5000M

Heavy-Hitting

The ORSIS T-5000M is a proper sniper's tool. Extremely accurate up to 1km, perfect for tracking shots thanks to the straight pull bolt that keeps your eyes on target, and with a native bipod mount.

What keeps the T-5000M from reaching Tarkov stardom is the fact that the gun is comically heavy, which limits your mobility and how much loot you can bring home after plinking targets with it.

In a basic setup with a 34mm scope and bipod, you are looking at over 7.5kg. That's without counting ammo and additional attachments like a suppressor or a rangefinder. That doesn't stop me from taking it out on raids as often as I can, though; the thunderous sound and the straight bolt are too fun to leave in the hideout.

5 AXMC

Accuracy International, Now in Tarkov

Like other .338 Lapua Magnum guns in Tarkov, the AXMC is a little bit of a unicorn, which is a shame considering it is a derivative of the iconic Arctic Warfare many of us grew up with, thanks to Counter-Strike.

With exquisite accuracy at 0.37 MOA, and the heavy-hitting cartridge, this is a one-tap kill machine so long as you land a shot to the torso. FMJ ammunition, available from Jaeger, can defeat all armor in the game. Two things hold the AXMC back, however: the scarcity and the cumbersomeness of the weapon.

You can only buy this rifle from Jaeger at level 4 after completing the Hunting Trip quest, and that will still set you back over 200,000 roubles. One FMJ round sells for over 2,000. The high recoil, slow cycling, poor ergonomics, and weight (around 7kg when kitted out) also make it a tricky gun to use outside of long-range shooting.

4 TGR M10

The Finnish Approach

(most customization, urban and long range options, exceedingly rare)

The M10's pros and cons generally match those of the AXMC, but this Finnish rifle edges out its Finnish competitor due to the customization options.

You can choose between three barrel lengths depending on your accuracy needs, though for the ranges you work with in Tarkov, there is no tangible advantage to anything longer than the 20-inch model.

The tough part is gaining access to the TGR M10. The quest required for it is only available after completing both Hunting Trip and Silent Caliber, and requires you to kill 40 PMCs with either a night or a thermal scope mounted on a bolt-action rifle. Most players don't get anywhere near this, but the gun is worth the trouble.

3 SV-98

Olympic Precision

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian military put in a request for a proper sniper rifle to complement the SVD. One of the resulting projects is the SV-98, an evolution of the Record-CISM sports rifle.

The standard SV-98 kit comes with rails to mount a scope and a built-in bipod. With the 1P69 scope and mount, the gun clocks in at 6.6kg. However, the OV chassis, as sold by Jaeger, makes the rifle a whole kilo lighter and dramatically increases ergonomics so you can load in a suppressor and still have it handle better than the base gun.

Thanks to the 10-round magazine and abundance of 7.62x54mmR ammunition in Tarkov, this is one of the cheapest sniper rifles you can run without having to sacrifice ergonomics and, most importantly, accuracy. The SV-98 is accurate down to 0.58 MOA, and you can push that to 0.58 with the SRVV muzzle brake. If you can see it, this rifle can hit it.

2 DVL-10

The Whispering Death

Despite being the only version on sale, ignoring silly barters, you almost never see the DVL-10 in the Urbana configuration in the wild. The thing is, the Urbana is not a bad rifle. Accuracy is 0.51 MOA, it takes a 10-round magazine, and the price is OK, even if the rifle is on the heavier side.

The real reason why you don't see the Urbana is that the Saboteur configuration exists, and it is the best urban sniper rifle in Escape From Tarkov. The integral suppressor and shorter barrel make it whisper while delivering death in a compact package.

Although it is moderately less accurate than the full-length version, the Saboteur still clocks in below 1 MOA, making it viable for long-range shooting as well. And if you find a better weapon in-raid, just fold the stock and put the DVL-10 in your bag.

1 Model 700

The Deer Hunter

The Model 700 family has been the darling of American military snipers since the Vietnam era, when it entered Marine service as the M40, before also entering Army service in the 1980s. The accuracy and versatility of this rifle family translate well to the world of Tarkov.

You have five chassis to pick from, with extensive customization options, and an extremely light package for a rifle in this category. With the Accuracy International AICS chassis, you can go as low as 3.5kg, and that's with a scope.

Another major advantage of the Model 700 for the loot goblin in you is that you can top-load it like the Mosin and SKS rifles, so you can bring a stack of ammunition in your rig without wasting space on spare magazines.

Accuracy fluctuates between 0.78 and 0.48 MOA depending on the barrel options; both the gun, ammunition, and chassis are cheap and light. If you can't hit a shot with this bad boy, it's on you.