Hunting Rifle vs. Sniper Rifle

Comparing the strengths and uses of the Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle of Left 4 Dead 2.

Preface

While playing Left 4 Dead 2 with friends or on public servers, I lean towards using the Rifles. On occasion, I am allowed to choose between the two and may drop one for the other. This has caused many players watching me to ask if there really is a benefit to using one Rifle over the other. A lot of players seem to be under the impression that the Sniper Rifle is a straight upgrade to the Hunting Rifle. After all, it does make the loudest bang, doesn't it?

Damage Output & Accuracy

The Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle both feature functionally identical scopes for picking out targets at a distance and refining your aim at mid-range or while moving.

Reloading

The Hunting Rifle takes 3.25 seconds to be reloaded, and the Sniper Rifle needs 3.5 seconds. This quarter second difference means little outside of a Horde, and the Sniper Rifle contains more rounds, allowing more time between reloads if the user waits until empty.

Bullets and Bullet Spread

Both the Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle deal 90 damage per bullet with infinite projectile penetration against Infected. Both Rifles can also be fired through nearly any surface, allowing the user to assist Survivors and kill Infected through doors and walls. When standing, both Rifles feature near perfect aim.
The Hunting Rifle has decent bullet spread when running and is accurate enough for mid- to close-range combat.
The Sniper Rifle has a much larger bullet spread than the Hunting Rifle, making it considerably less helpful outside of close-range.

Laser Sights

Laser Sights greatly increase the moving accuracy of the Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle. The Hunting Rifle's bullet spread becomes negligible, allowing for headshots at mid-range and cleanly cut lines through Hordes of Infected. The Sniper Rifle's bullet spread is made more accurate than a Laser-less Hunting Rifle, but still less accurate than a Laser-Equipped Hunting Rifle. The Sniper Rifle is now capable of accurate mid-range combat while running.




































All images were taken at 1600x900 Resolution, Full-Screen, with Graphical Settings at maximum and Film Grain turned off.

Ammunition

The Hunting Rifle features a magazine size of 15, while the Sniper Rifle holds twice that at 30 rounds. The Ammo Reserve for the Hunting Rifle is 150 rounds, and the Sniper Rifle's Reserve is 180 rounds. This allots 11 complete magazines for the Hunting Rifle and 7 for the Sniper Rifle, including the initially loaded magazine.

Special Ammunition

The Sniper Rifle holds twice as many rounds of Special Ammunition as the Hunting Rifle, so it may be preferred when using Special Ammunition.
Incendiary Ammunition is essentially worthless against Common Infected as a Rifle can kill any of them in a single shot. Riot Cop Infected are an exception, as they are impervious to bullet damage from the front, but vulnerable to Incendiary Ammunition from all angles, allowing you to dispatch them just as easily as any other Common Infected. Ignited Infected may obscure your vision, as it is harder to see past burning, flailing bodies to know just how many more Infected are charging towards you and your team. Five seconds worth of burn damage will be inflicted against any struck Special Infected, as well as making them more obvious to your group. Incendiary Ammunition is best for marking Smokers in the distance and assisting against Chargers and Tanks.
Explosive Ammunition can tear apart a closely knit group of Common Infected, transforming them into spare limbs and bisected bodies. A Rifle's normal ammunition would travel directly through Infected to kill them in lines, but Explosive Ammunition gives the user a chance to take out Infected standing beside each other rather than behind. Explosive Ammunition also stumbles Special Infected, knocking them off pinned Survivors from a distance. This is one of the few ways to knock an offending Charger off an ally, as well as the safest way to do so for both you and your team. Don't stand too close to your target, though. You can damage and even stumble yourself or your allies with Explosive Ammunition. Explosive Ammunition is best used against Special Infected and rescuing pinned allies.

Strategy

Although both the Hunting Rifle and Sniper Rifle capitalize on high accuracy, they can serve vastly different purposes and support alternative gameplay preferences.

General Use

The Sniper Rifle has poor moving accuracy and a higher ammo capacity that allows for more time between reloads. It supports a stand-still defensive strategy, and may be preferred for Classic Crescendos and Finales that involve holding off against a Horde. When covering an ally under assault, it would be better to stop where you are to achieve proper aim for close- to mid-range cover or use your scope for long-range cover, lest you miss your target entirely or accidentally shoot your partner.
The Hunting Rifle maintains decent accuracy while running. The tighter spread can allow you to knock out Infected while you keep running through an oncoming Horde. Hunting Rifles may be preferred for Gauntlet Crescendos and Finales that force your team to keep moving while the Infected continually spawn. The tighter spread of the Hunting Rifle allows you to cover a teammate under attack while on the move. The scope should still be used at longer ranges, but for close- or mid-range cover fire you can successfully aid an ally while running at full speed.
When moving, zooming into your scope will return your accuracy to perfect faster than stopping where you are. You may continue moving with no accuracy penalty while scoped, but you will walk much slower and may not be able to see nearby Infected headed your way.

Hordes

Both of the Rifles feature incredible penetration, allowing you to take out entire lines of Common Infected. Since a Rifle's bullet is a one-hit kill on all game modes except for Realism, aim for the chest to kill as many Infected as possible. You do not have to fire rapidly or empty your magazine when a Horde arrives. A few careful shots against lined up Infected can allow you to take out half of a Horde.
When dealing with Riot Cop Infected, a shot to the chest or head can stumble the Infected, much like a shotgun blast.

Jockeys

Jockeys are small and quick, making them harder to kill than most other Special Infected. If a Jockey pursues you and you begin backpedaling, the wide bullet spread of the Sniper Rifle can make it very hard to hit him. As a result, Sniper Rifle users may want to stand still or crouch and attempt to headshot and kill the Jockey before it leaps. The Hunting Rifle is more accurate while running, so backpedaling is a viable plan of action.

Chargers

Aim for the head. Although this advice is helpful with virtually every weapon, the Charger has enough health that simply firing at one as fast as you can may not be enough to kill it before he barrels into you or a teammate. If a Charger comes for you, emptying your Rifle into it may not be enough to stop it before it crashes into you.

Tanks

If you are fighting from a distance, you are most likely scoped and rapidly firing your gun at the Tank as it rushes after your team. The Hunting Rifle contains fewer rounds and would need to be reloaded more often than the Sniper Rifle. This hinders the Hunting Rifle in a fight against a Tank, as reloading can cost a lot of time. The wide bullet spread of the Sniper Rifle means considerably less against such a large foe. For all of these reasons the Sniper Rifle is preferred for fighting Tanks.

Witches

You cannot cr0wn a Witch with a Rifle. However, a well-placed headshot can cause her to stumble if she has yet to be startled. If you choose to startle a Witch, you will be better off putting as much distance between yourself and your target before startling her from afar.

Compare More Weapons

Combat Rifle vs. AK-47 vs. M-16 Assault Rifle
Combat Shotgun vs. Tactical Shotgun

[geordiebroon58]

not every weapon is capable of headshot stunning the witch so the ak47 is your best bet at kiling a witch from a distance, in the worst case scenario its your best bet

ill list everything i can think of that is capable of stumbling the witch

weapons:
-sniper rifle
-hunting rifle
-ak47
-magnum (degal)
-m60
-grenade launcher

misc:
-pipe bomb
-propane tank
-oxygen tank
-explosive round upgrade (doesn't work on expert and maybe realism also local hosting bug makes it just delete the witch)

as mentioned tho there is other methods than stumbling the witch and while you arent wrong with what you said i still like to point out that the ak47 is only one capable of headshot stunning and with the highest dps is the best suited and least likely to run out of ammo in a solo situation

and that time to kill will matter considering you have to sustain fire on the witch and unless you got lasers you need to crouch to sustain dps which the ak47 is best for especially due to the headshot stun

[Mafilovy ♡]

Honestly I just aim better with the Hunting Rifle, dunno why but it just feels more satisfying to use for me and overall gives me more accuracy haha

[Pudie]

I've been avoiding SRs for the most part since I usually go with ARs, but I must say after putting a cool skin from my Hunting Rifle I realized how DAMN GOOD the thing is.

It hits like a truck for afar, it hits like a truck at close range, it hits like a truck even on the move! It works nice as a multipurpose weapon, specially with a laser sight.

One, if not the best weapon out there if you've got a team to back it up with an AR and a shotgun, definitely would take it over the G3 most of the times after playing with it for a while.

It's just super consistent and allows you to fend yourself in literally any situation. The only problem with the G3 is the moving inaccuracy, which is mostly non-existent with the Hunting Rifle. It really still keeps consistently hitting shots while on the run, it deserves some more love for sure!

[The Shark Dude]

All scoped rifles have the exact same accuracy when crouching or aiming down the scope. Also it's kinda stupid that a Ruger Mini-14 does the same damage as a G3.

[The Shark Dude]

@Scientist Cr0wning is when you instantly kill a witch with a shotgun blast.

[Scientist]

You can crown a witch with a rifle, please correct it.

[Goblin Slayer]

also really enjoying dat Halo DMR skin for the HR.

[Goblin Slayer]

the tighter moving spread is actually far more useful than people here might think: it allows you to set your gun up quicker for that headshot on that Smoker.

[SilverFortyTwo]

Hunting Rifle is bae; it's my favourite gun in the game. Trust me, it helps to have a Garand skin for this gun. It makes you gud.

With the Hunting Rifle I just run and gun (even better with laser). I like taking my time with every shot when stood still, however, which is why I also like AK.

[RainingMetal]

I never use the Hunting Rifle. Shooting on the move is a waste of resources.