Battlefield 5: Best Sniper Rifles, Ranked

Positioning, patience, and perseverance, are the three Ps that headline the journey of every sniper rifle wielder in Battlefield 5. For players who favor the defensive and resilient strategic bolt-and-action shooting from high vantage points to the more aggressive close-quarters combat, the recon class is the way to go.

For this class’s beginners, the different attributes of each sniper rifle, including bullet velocity, damage output, accuracy, and rate of fire, can present many possible options, while for recon experts, it may be hard to track the current performance of these weapons across all the balance patches. Thus, the following list does a good deal to compare the best snipers in Battlefield 5 as of the latest version and how players can make the best use of each of them.

Updated on February 5, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat: With numerous content updates and expansions received in its lifetime, Battlefield 5’s arsenal for each class, including Recon, is full of different options, each delivering a unique experience of sniping for players.

Sniper rifles come with significant differences in Battlefield 5 that prevent each one of them from being everything all at once. While some weapons share extremely lethal damage rates, some others offer better recoil, smoother mobility, and faster bullet velocity.

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8

Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1

Fastest Rate Of Fire With A Generous Magazine Size

• Damage: 65-60
• Rate of Fire: 71 RPM

The weapon is unlocked right from the beginning. Though the Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1 does not exactly fit the traditional long-distance sniping prowess of some of the rifles further down this list, one area it excels is in mid to close-ranged combat. It has an incredibly high default fire rate for a sniper rifle (72 rpm), which can be further increased to 84 rpm with the Machined Bolt specialization allowing for quick follow-up shots in succession. This goes hand-in-hand with its large magazine size of 10 rounds.

That is pretty much where the strengths of Lee-Enfield end though, as for long-distance sniping, its poor bullet velocity (600 m/s) coupled with penalties for equipping scopes diminish its sniping capabilities. Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1 is only recommended for recon players who are constantly on the move and love to get in the heat of the battle as that is where this one or two-shot killing rifle will really shine.

7

Ross Mk 3

A Slight Upgrade Over Lee-Enfield With Higher RPM

• Damage: 65-60
• Rate of Fire: 75 RPM

Lee-Enfield is a great starter for every Recon player in Battlefield 5, but for those who are looking for something in the same grade but with slightly better performance, Ross Mk 3 should be the ideal pick over Lee-Enfield, as it shares the same recoil, but is better at other stats.

Ross Mk 3 features an RPM of 75, and its bullet velocity is 25% faster than that of Lee-Enfield, which means the drop-off is lower and the player does not need to go way off target to score extremely long-range kills with this weapon. The damage rate and recoil are both similar to Lee-Enfield but a full reload of Ross Mk 3 takes less time, though each magazine only comes with 5 rounds.

6

Panzerbuchse 39

Lethal Bodyshot Damage With Poor Mobility

• Damage: 112-80
• Rate of Fire: 18 RPM

Knowing how difficult it is to hit headshots with sniper rifles, most players would love to have a weapon that comes with the same lethality for body shots, and Panzerbuchse 39 just delivers that with some sacrifices in the mobility, fire rate, and bullet velocity.

Panzerbuchse comes with deployable bipods, which means the player will not be able to ADS into the scope or ironsight while moving or standing. So, shooting accurately with this weapon always requires the player to sit or lie down, or at least find a cover. Also, after each shot, the weapon requires a manual reload, which could take around 3 to 4 seconds.

Despite all this, the weapon deals enough damage through a body shot within a range of 100 meters that can kill the opponents instantly, and that is the big selling point of this gun for snipers.

5

Type 99 Arisaka

High Damage Output And Low Recoil

• Damage: 80-66
• Rate of Fire: 58 RPM

The Type 99 Arisaka is another weapon in the recon class that players can pick up right from the start. It can dish out probably the highest damage at close range and outclasses the Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1 as it can reload way faster thanks to the 5 round stripper-clips that will always fill the magazine to size without requiring bullet-by-bullet reload.

Though it is identical to the likes of Gewehr M95/30 and Ross Rifle Mk III, the Arisaka holds a slight advantage in terms of the short time interval between firing and quickly zooming in back on the target. The recoil is minimal, and the fire rate (67 rpm) is decent, albeit fairly slower compared to Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1, but Arisaka’s faster bullet velocity (750 m/s) makes it much more reliable even at greater distances, so it is a more well-rounded sniper rifle.

4

Gewehr M95/30

Most Reliable Reload And Great Versatility

• Damage: 80-66
• Rate of Fire: 58 RPM

The Gewehr M95/30 is unlocked upon reaching Rank 6 of Recon Class. This sniper rifle is incredibly similar to Type 99 Arisaka statistically down to the bullet velocity, fire rate, and reload capabilities, which, unlike Lee-Enfield, are not diminished by the use of scopes. Gewehr M95/30 performs marginally better than Arisaka in terms of damage drop-off distance and higher damage output, with max damage coming at a distance of no more than 30 meters.

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The great versatility that Gewehr provides is unmatched with attachments like Iron Sights for close-range combat, Custom Stock for greater accuracy during movement, which is great for mid-range shooting, and finally, Variable Zeroing for the best long-range results.

3

Kar98k

High Bullet Velocity, Albeit With The Slowest Rate Of Fire

• Damage: 75-66
• Rate of Fire: 48 RPM

The Kar98k is the last sniper rifle unlock for the Recon class at level 20. This is one of the two true sniper rifles in Battlefield 5, where it is just about popping a headshot from huge distances away and adjusting the position to move onto the next target. The Kar98k is tied with Krag-Jorgensen for the highest bullet velocity in the game (900 m/s), so it’s exceptional at long distances. Besides this, it also holds the highest damage output among the other long-range sniper rifles with max damage at 75.

The rate of fire, however, is quite low (55 rpm max) which, despite some attachments, will still make it extremely hard for players to perform follow-up shots, so the room for error is very little. Moreover, another slight nuisance is the vertical recoil, which forces players to readjust their aim upon every shot. The bipod attachment does make this recoil more manageable, but the slow ROF as well as a mediocre clip size of 5 rounds means Kar98k is a very uncompromising weapon that works best in the hands of a recon expert.

2

Krag-Jorgensen

High Bullet Velocity And Consistency Across All Distances

• Damage: 60
• Rate of Fire: 54 RPM

Krag-Jorgensen is unlocked upon reaching level 13 of Recon class in Battlefield 5. Though the attributes and strengths of Krag-Jorgensen and Kar98k are very comparable and either can claim the title of the best sniper rifle in the game, Krag-Jorgensen just edges out due to its consistency at any distance because there is no damage drop-off. Despite its slightly lower damage compared to Kar98k, having no drop-off in power makes Krag-Jorgensen extremely reliable and accurate, with just a headshot separating the player from acquiring a confirmed kill.

Moreover, the Krag also boasts a higher ROF (62 rpm max) than the Kar98k, higher reload speed, and an additional bullet in its clip, bringing the ammunition to 6 rounds per clip which is always welcomed. With little to no drawbacks to its long-distance sniping game, Krag-Jorgensen just outmuscles Kar98k for the status of the best sniper rifle in Battlefield 5.

1

Selbstlader 1906

Semi-Automatic Rifle With Significantly High RPM

• Damage: 54-52
• Rate of Fire: 138 RPM

The most annoying thing about a bolt-action rifle is the fact that the player has to exit ADS after each shot and then return to scope again, which makes it hard to track the prey, and sometimes the sniper may lose the target.

Semi-automatic rifles sacrifice some damage rate to fix this issue, and that’s why they are quite popular and effective in the game. Selbstlader 1906 is the best semi-automatic rifle in Battlefield 5 that comes with an RPM of 138 and lets the player shoot all 5 rounds inside the magazine before leaving the ADS. This weapon requires two body shots to kill the target, but that is not a difficult job for experienced snipers.

Systems

Released

November 20, 2018

OpenCritic Rating

Strong