New to snipers

[Ricochet]

Actually no. You'd think, but it's not easier. It can be quite difficult to get a 300 - 400 foot line in the forest. Other than wind, sniping in a wide open area is much easier.

[Hectic]

Not to mention that at 400 feet (beyond even) if you can hit your target, will they feel it?

once you fall below half a joule it's pretty hard to feel/hear it. Hop up will reduce the drag coefficeintcy so the energy will be greater at the distance shown, it's pretty hard to calculate the reduction in losses caused by hop up. You'd almost need to run impact sensors at set ranges and even then every gun will be slightly different.
Couple that with 5 feet of drop at ~250 feet. Obviously hop and set trajectory change that (set trajectory meaning the flight path of the bb vs the sight line of the scope. I personally run mine so the bb hits center at 200 feet, you aim low inside that (med anyhow in most cases) and then aim hight outside of that. Here in ontario there aren't all that many good 350+ foot ranges most engagement are center mass on vest and rigs within the med, say 100-200feet and even them most times guys aren't showing you enough to shoot safely so yer stuck falling back to a safer range, running 300-400 fps is quite helpful, especially at skirmish games.
On a side note i can hit a pie plate at 400 feet of problem, one of two ways, either using the bottom of the scope and the line or zeroing the scope at that range ahead of time. Not all that easy in game unless the target is standing in the open across a field then one can hit him, so long as he sees it he will know he's hit. Running green or tan or black bb's it likely won't be seen or felt.

EDIT: pretty sure I was clear above but this chart is just a visual aide showing how energy is lost over distance, as also stated I get close to double that effective range as hop up will increase the efficiency thus reducing energy loss in turn increasing effective range.

[ThunderCactus]

That chart is an extreme example.
Also, stop pulling information from that antiquated science experiment. It is literally from the stone age of airsoft physics. And the maximum range even conceivable at 1.6j during that experiment was like 220ft.
They didn't have the proper hopup for their data to apply to modern builds, and the application of backspin makes a wickedly massive difference in the flight characteristics of the BB.

For example; we regularly shoot people in the 250-300ft range with .30s that have a starting muzzle energy of just 1.6j
You can still feel it okay and most definitely hear it at 300ft, yet that chart would have you believe that a .30 can't even make it past 220-250ft or so BEING FIRED AT 3.4J, let alone be felt as a hit at just 200ft.

Whether or not you can hit someone consistently at 400ft is highly speculative, but then the physics of shooting someone 2.5km away with a large caliber sniper rifle is also pretty ridiculous. But yes, the BB CAN be felt from that distance.
Higher muzzle energy, heavier round, less energy loss. You can see in the graph the significance of that at least. The .43 is carrying an extra .4j of energy at that range. But proper application hop actually reduces the momentum loss by creating a more aerodynamic air foil around the BB.
Keep in mind, these tests were done in an era where it was difficult to properly hop even .30s. So the data could be skewed by the fact they just weren't getting the proper performance from the .43s.
And if it's just a mathed out model, then it's most definitely incorrect since I've never seen anyone account for all the variables that are actually present in flight.

[Hectic]

Pretty sure I said that the distance will be greater being it's hard to calculate for the decrease in drag caused by hop up. It was really just a visual representation of how energy is lost over distance.

[ThunderCactus]

Definitely takes skill, or lots of full auto, to hit a guy at 250+
I still laugh and impress myself when i get a solid hit off a single wind gaging shot at 200+ lol

[Orbit]

So hey I'm new, would you recommend a DMR that comes close to a sniper rifle instead? Such as an Ares SL8 or SL9. What would be the benefit?

[ThunderCactus]

semi auto fire
With the right upgrades, there's almost no difference between an AEG and bolt action