I think some US Army dude was awarded a Silver Star for shooting some jackass with a RPG climbing a water tower at a range of over a half a mile using a .50 sniper rig during dusk hours. Half the jackass stayed up on the ladder and the other half fell to ground. Long range high caliber sniper systems have huge physcial and psychological impact. Unfortunately, these same types of weapons can also be made available to the other side on the open market. It's the type of round that makes the big difference here. The commercially available rounds don't make quite the same impact as the military version. I have a lot of respect for the .30 variety but the .50 is a monster with the right ammunition.