# High-powered rifle
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 21, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809 "2007-12-21T06:16:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/1 "2007-12-21T06:16:32Z")
Have the terms “high-powered rifle” or “high-velocity rifle” been quantified to a general agreement?
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### Author:  [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2007, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/2 "2007-12-21T07:20:18Z")
The only time I have heard it used is by people who are generally ignorant about guns, and it seems it can be used for anything centerfire.
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### Author:  [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2007, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/3 "2007-12-21T08:27:10Z")
The closest thing to a definition that I’ve seen is in state hunting regulations. They usually include minimum energy/caliber standards for deer hunting with center-fire rifles. They may also have even higher requirements for larger game.
In the military, there’s something called a “battle rifle”, which is a center-fire rifle like the '98 Mauser, '03 Springfield, .303 Lee-Enfield, M1 Garand and M14. It excludes lighter and less powerful rifles like the M1 Carbine, M16 and AK-47.
Some people use the term for propaganda purposes, calling anything bigger than a .22 rimfire a “high-powered rifle” or “sniper rifle”.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2007, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/4 "2007-12-21T09:45:46Z")
I tend to use it more as a metaphor for determination, typically in sentences like “That helicopter may be tough, but a man with a high-powered rifle can still bring it down by taking out the pilot”, in this case the “high-power” aspect being a combination of a good rifle in the hands of a trained, competent shooter with a scope. It’s “high-powered” because this shooter can kill just about anybody up to half a mile away and means if someone is sufficiently determined to do something, they will. It has no specific quantitative value.
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### Author:  [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/5 "2007-12-21T21:23:31Z")
I think I’ve heard it used in relation to .223 Remington (or 5.56mm NATO), which isn’t all that high-powered. I think that they let people use the M-16 or AR-15 in high-power rifle matches.
To me it seems like any modern (20th century), high-velocity cartridge with a bottleneck shape gets called high-power. Do they ever apply the term to the old black-powder cartridges, such as the .45-70 or .30-30?
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/6 "2007-12-22T01:41:15Z")
[QUOTE=Hirundo82]
The only time I have heard it used is by people who are generally ignorant about guns, and it seems it can be used for anything centerfire.
[/QUOTE]
Very true.
To define “high power rifle,” you would first have to determine what type of “power” or energy you’re referring to. The “power” to hit a target at long distance? The “power” to make a big hole in the target? High kinetic energy of the bullet? The ability to shoot many rounds per second?
Alas, there really is no objective definition of what a “high powered rifle” is.
Notwithstanding, the NRA hosts something called **High Power Rifle Competition**. According to [its webpage](http://www.nrahq.org/compete/highpower.asp),
> [@](#):
>
> Rifles to be used in High Power Rifle competition must be equipped with metallic sights (Some long range, 1000-yard matches allow the use of “any sights”), should be capable of holding at least 5 rounds of ammunition and should be adapted to rapid reloading. Tournament programs often group competitions into two divisions, Service Rifle and Match Rifle. The rifles currently defined as “Service Rifles” include the M1, M14, M16 and their commercial equivalents. Winchester and Remington have made their Model 70 and Model 40X rifles in “match” versions and custom gunsmiths have made up match rifles on many military and commercial actions. 1903 and 1903-A3 Springfield, 1917 Enfields and pre-war Winchester Model 70 sporters in .30-06 are all equipped with clip slots for rapid reloading. The most suitable rear sights are aperture or “peep” with reliable, repeatable 1/2 minute (or finer) adjustments. Front sights should be of either the post or aperture type.
FYI, the .50 BMG rifle is called a **Very High Powered Rifle** :
> **[Fifty Caliber Shooters Association](https://1moa.org/)**
>
> Dedicated to Sporting Uses of the 50 BMG
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### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/7 "2007-12-22T14:51:22Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man]
FYI, the .50 BMG rifle is called a **Very High Powered Rifle** :
> **[Fifty Caliber Shooters Association](https://1moa.org/)**
>
> Dedicated to Sporting Uses of the 50 BMG
[/QUOTE]
Aha. So rifles are kind of like olives, substituting “power” for “jumbo.”
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### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-powered-rifle/430809/8 "2007-12-22T20:02:56Z")
As indicated upthread, there is no agreement on the meaning of the term.
As a practical matter, I personally make the distinction in terms of recoil. I wouldn’t allow an unseasoned shooter to fire a “high power rifle” unless I wanted to cure them of any desire to shoot again. The .30-'06 is about as much recoil as a well trained soldier can stand and still have a rifle light enough to carry a reasonable distance. There are many higher powered cartridges than the '06 used for big game hunting. “Brutal” is an accurate discription of thier recoil when fired from an under 10 pound rifle.