Imagination

Take your stereotypical M1903 Springfield fitted with a scope. If you take the scope off, is it still a 'sniper rifle'? Yes, if it's held by a person to make it such. In fact, a sniper can still bullseye a target from 1000 yards away with it, scope or not. It's the training and who uses it that makes it a sniper rifle, not the make, model, caliber, or even if it has a scope or not.

Well, a rifle is a binary thing. Either the barrel is rifled or it isn't. However, a sniper rifle is just a term that people created for a rifle that a sniper uses for high accuracy. So, if I were to pick up that Springfield, scoped or not, and I declare "I am a sniper and this is a sniper rifle!" then, for me at least, it is. Certain pieces, such as pistols or SMG's, are definitely not sniper rifles, even if they are rifled. However, if a rifled gun is specially desi...

Oh man, I just lost all of that!? That sucks. Anwyay, here's the ending part:

Calling something a sniper rifle is like calling yourself a brony. If you call yourself a brony and go to a convention, but when asked who your favourite pony is, you reply "Screw ponies, you nerds!", you're not meeting any criteria for being a brony (watching the show and/or appreciating the fandom), except for calling yourself one. Same with the whole sniper shebang. If you...