Hunting Rifle

"Now that is a sweet ass scope!"

- Francis

"I'll snipe."

- Rochelle

The Hunting Rifle is the most accurate weapon (alongside the Sniper Rifle) in the game but can be difficult to use correctly. It is semi-automatic and has an attached scope. It is still accurate when not using the scope, however movement of any kind severely lowers accuracy. It holds a 15-round magazine with 180 rounds in reserve and can shoot through almost any surface in the game, allowing the hunting rifle to take down Infected or save pounced or constricted teammates hidden by objects, walls, or floors. It can hit several enemies at once if they are lined up properly. It is no more accurate when the user is crouching.

The Hunting rifle can fire as fast as a single Pistol, but distance is the key to this weapon. It is primarily effective at longer ranges and open areas. Players using hunting rifles are very effective when working with players using Pump shotguns or Auto shotguns: the player with the hunting rifle kills Infected at long ranges, while players with shotguns provide close range protection. The hunting rifle is still useful at close ranges due to its high damage that usually kills Common Infected in a single hit, but the other weapons are more effective for groups of very close Infected. The hunting rifle is only moderately effective against the Tank, but has the bonus of allowing the user to attack the Tank from a longer distance, where the Tank is less of a threat. The Hunting Rifle's accuracy is terrible when running, making Pistols more useful while firing and moving at the same time. Although with a recent update from Valve, all of the weapons in Left 4 Dead have the same accuracy as their Left 4 Dead 2 counterparts, improving the Hunting Rifle's accuracy while running. The Hunting Rifle can shoot through ceilings, floors, and walls. However, it can only penetrate one obstacle, except for two doors, and it must be part of the map's world geometry (a brush). Model-based entities such as dumpsters, cars, etc. cannot be penetrated. Because of the gun's large reserve of ammo, it is more viable to fire blindly at walls in order to kill Boomers or Smokers when they are heard compared to the Auto Shotgun or the Assault Rifle.

The hunting rifle is more effective against mobs than is initially obvious. Its ability to "one-shot" any number of Infected in a straight line is useful against groups, and in narrow hallways a hunting rifle user can wipe out entire mobs by itself. Even wild-firing into an onrushing horde can be more effective than using pistols. The hunting rifle is also effective for killing Special Infected that are far away, behind a horde, or behind obstacles.

Left 4 Dead 2
The Hunting Rifle also appears in Left 4 Dead 2. Its crosshair is significantly tighter when moving, and its ammunition reserve is reduced to 150, but otherwise it functions the same, although it does have new animations and new reloading sounds. Though it is a tier 2 weapon, it seems to be treated like a tier 1 weapon (with the new Sniper Rifle filling its tier 2 position), since it tends to be available earlier in campaigns.

Pros

 * The rifle can shoot through lines of Infected with a single shot.
 * The rifle easily penetrates walls, allowing you to save stranded teammates from Hunters or Smokers.
 * The rifle has the highest accuracy of any weapon in the game.
 * One rifleman can easily clear out an area or kill Special Infected from a distance.
 * Smokers become much lower threats.
 * Headshots stun the Witch temporarily on all difficulties as long as she is idle (crying).
 * Tanks can be engaged from a distance, where only their rock throw becomes an issue.
 * The rifle has a high reserve ammunition pool. Running out of ammo seldom becomes a problem.
 * High accuracy means that there is a lower chance of friendly fire.
 * With a laser sight attached your crosshair will not grow while moving, making it much easier to shoot while moving.

Cons

 * In close quarters, this weapon becomes drastically less effective against a Tank.
 * Accuracy is greatly reduced when running and not scoped, thus making it one of the least accurate weapons in Left 4 Dead.
 * Scoping decreases running speed.
 * When scoped, it is easier to be flanked or pinned, making you more reliant on teammates.
 * The weapon's magazine is fairly small, forcing you to reload often.
 * The rifle's reload animation is significantly longer than the assault rifle and cannot be stopped like a shotgun.
 * The rate of fire is capped, meaning that no matter how fast you press the fire key or right trigger, the rate of fire will remain about 225 rounds/minute.
 * Hit detection in Source engine games have been known to be buggy, lessening the usefulness of its good accuracy.

Tactics

 * The Hunting Rifle is simultaneously the most and least accurate weapon in Left 4 Dead. While moving (unless you are using the scope) or taking damage, each shot is almost guaranteed to miss. Pistols are generally more effective while on the move or being hit. Using the rifle's scope while moving is another useful option, and allows the player to quickly cover the team without stopping. Activating the scope tightens the crosshairs faster than standing still.
 * Every hit on a Common Infected is a guaranteed kill, so headshots are wasted on them. Aiming at the chest affords the best chance of striking many Infected in a line. Special Infected such as the Hunter require a headshot to efficiently kill in one shot.
 * Although the Hunting Rifle boasts considerable stopping power against Common Infected, its power is mitigated against Special Infected. Aim for the head to compensate.
 * Fire slowly. Although the Hunting Rifle has a good rate of fire, firing quickly is only effective on the Tank or Witch, both of which require multiple shots to kill. Conversely, more than one shot fired into a line of Common Infected is wasted.
 * Reload strategically. Although this is generally true of every weapon, firing fifteen quality shots with the Hunting Rifle during a minor horde event is fairly rare. The Hunting Rifle takes significantly longer to reload than the Assault Rifle, and cannot be canceled like the Auto Shotgun, so keep your magazine full enough to protect team members from Special Infected.
 * Except when in Realism mode, the Hunting Rifle kills a Common Infected in one shot on any difficulty. The rifle does kill any number of zombies in the horde by penetrating, as long as they are appropriately lined up. In Realism, it takes two shots on Easy/Normal, and three shots on Advanced/Expert to kill a Common Infected, or one headshot.
 * Be incredibly careful of friendly fire. This applies the most on Expert difficulty, as one shot will leave a Survivor with very low health, and an easy target for any Infected.
 * In hallways, tunnels, and other areas where the horde is funneled towards you, the Hunting Rifle is incredibly potent. Since its shots can pass through large amounts of Infected, all it might take is one to five well timed shots to eliminate the entire Horde. This can be incredibly useful on Expert if your friends are hurting or out of ammo.
 * It is possible to kill a Witch solo, even on Expert. First get as far away as possible while having a clear shot while she runs at you, preferably in a long hallway. Once you're lined up, shoot her head, and since she stumbles backwards, this gives you a chance to fire rapidly at her body. If you run out of ammo before she dies, use your pistols.
 * Be wary of Smokers. When you are being dragged, the crosshairs open all the way and you cannot scope. It is best to switch to Pistols.
 * Before leaving the safe room it is a good idea to pick up the hunting rifle and kill all the Infected that you can see. Then you can go back grab whatever weapon you want and continue on with less infected to worry about if playing on Expert.
 * Optimally, there should be no more than one Hunting Rifle per team, so if you plan on using it, make sure you are the only one. Two of them can potentially be a liability. When playing with AIs, Zoey will always pick up a Hunting Rifle if available, so if you want to be the sniper, it would be smart to choose Zoey as your character. In Left 4 Dead 2, Ellis takes over Zoey's role as the AI team sniper, so the same tactics apply to him.
 * This is the smoker's greatest enemy, take advantage of it!

Behind the Scenes
Early screenshots show that the hunting rifle's world model had a charging handle on its right side at one time. The handle was removed in the final version, after all cocking animations were removed.

The hunting rifle is based on Counter-Strike’s SIG SG 550 rifle. Its "price" in the gun's weapon file is the same as the SG 550's, and it references the SG 550 in its "animation" listing. However, its firing sound is a modified version of the Counter-Strike's Scout's firing sound.