At this year’s IPAS 2017 held in Tehran, the Iranian state owned Defense Industries Organization unveiled a new anti-material rifle based on the U.S. produced .50 BMG M82 Barrett anti-material rifle. Similar to the U.S. version, the Iranian production variant is chambered in 12.7x99mm, is semi-automatic, feeds from a detachable 5 round polymer (appears to be) magazine, and has a 12 o’clock Picatinny rail to mount optics on. Unlike the original Barrett version, the “Hoveizeh” (هویزه ) has shorter Picatinny rail segments both at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions. Apart from a few other smaller differences, it appears that the rifle is an exact copy, especially in terms of functionality of the U.S. M82/M107 operating system. The article even mentions that it is an Iranian reproduction with the one exception (as stated in the article) that DIO claims the rifle is capable of 1.5 MOA accuracy. This is significant because especially in the earlier Barretts, the rifles suffered from precision accuracy. Today the Marine Corps Scout Sniper program still considers the M107 SASR a 3 MOA gun at best.

This image is of a pamphlet distributed at the exposition. Another precision rifle was shown on the pamphlet, named a “Samanah Hadah”. Not much information has emerged on the internet about this particular rifle.

Credit for this post goes to Mashregh News and TFB reader Mehdi S.