Imp of the Perverse wrote...
The mattock takes longer to reload, has a lot more recoil, and its an assault rifle so its damage decreases with distance, sniper rifles don't.
Reload is only a third of a second longer, less if you reload cancel. Admittedly didn't factor distance in. Curious how the math for that works out.
UEG Donkey wrote...
Sniper AP mods are better than AR AP mods, so much so that if you put them both on you are actually doing approximately the same damage.
Let me see...
AR AP: 65% defense ignored, 1.1m penetration, 60% piercing damage.
SR AP: 65% defense ignored, 1.35m penetration, 70% piercing damage.
A little bit better. Not a very significent difference.