Walther WA 2000
Template:Short description Template:Infobox weapon The Walther WA 2000 is a semi-automatic bullpup sniper rifle produced by the Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen company from 1978<ref name="Weapon">Template:Cite book</ref> to 1988. The WA2000 was introduced to the markets in 1981<ref name="Directory1996">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Snipers06">Template:Cite book</ref> and was produced in three different calibers.<ref name="ownersmanual"/> Production of the rifle was limited and it was shortly stopped because it was too expensive to achieve widespread sales and not robust enough for military use as a sniper rifle.<ref name="Dougherty2012">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Only 176 were built due to its high manufacturing cost, making it one of the rarest and most sought-after production firearms ever made; and extremely valuable, common auction prices in the United States start at $50,000.<ref name="Value">Template:Cite web</ref>
Design
The WA 2000 was designed in the late 1970s and early 1980s,<ref name="WA2000 History & Optional Calibers" /> in response to the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.<ref name="WA2000 History & Optional Calibers" /><ref name="officialwebsite">Template:Cite web</ref>
The bullpup design was chosen to shorten weapon-length, whilst mostly preserving the accuracy and ballistic-performance of an otherwise full-length rifle. The WA 2000 had a quick-detachable scope mount with a weight of Template:Convert.<ref name="ownersmanual"/> The rifle did not have iron sights. The most commonly used optical sight was a Schmidt & Bender 2.5–10× telescopic sight.<ref name="Scope">Template:Cite web</ref> Without scope the rifle has an unloaded weight of Template:Convert and a loaded weight of Template:Convert.<ref name="ownersmanual"/>
The .300 Winchester Magnum round was chosen as the primary caliber because of its long range accuracy and its precision at all ranges. The entire rifle is designed around the barrel. The WA 2000 fires from a closed bolt and uses a bolt with seven locking lugs. It has either a single-stage trigger<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> or a two-stage trigger<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with a trigger pull of 1.2 to 1.4 kg (2.65 to 3.1 lb).<ref name="ownersmanual">Template:Cite web</ref> The rifle uses single stack box magazines with a 6-round capacity, which weigh Template:Convert when loaded.<ref name="ownersmanual"/>
Variants
The WA 2000 was primarily chambered in .300 Winchester Magnum, but also had the option of being chambered in 7.62×51mm NATO, and 7.5×55mm Swiss.<ref name="WA2000 History & Optional Calibers" />
Only 176 total rifles were produced, and in two different variants. The two variants can be differentiated by the type of flash suppressor used: the first, the older model, uses a "can" type flash suppressor; whereas the second generation and newer model uses the more conventional "flash-hider/compensator" design. The second generation incorporated several changes improving the rifle's accuracy, making it more suited to its intended job.<ref name="snipercentral">Walther WA 2000 at Sniper Central</ref>
Production
The rifle was produced from 1982 until November 1988.<ref name="snipercentral"/><ref name="Production Info">Template:Cite web</ref> The rifle was used by some German police units, but production was stopped because it was too expensive to achieve widespread sales.<ref name="WA2000 History & Optional Calibers" /> It was never adopted by a military unit due to its cost and not being robust enough for field service.<ref name="Dougherty2012"/> The final retail cost for a base rifle in the 1980s was in the range of $9,000 to $12,500, and the rifle's current value ranges from $40,000 for the first generation to $75,000 for the second generation.<ref name="snipercentral"/>