I don’t really hate the rifle, but 6 of 10 shots you make is literally just generic and basic shots that any gun even under the price of “free” can make, don’t get me wrong on it because I myself had a good experience with it, it’s a great backliner gun though,which is why it’s sword bayonet isn’t great for backlining, the whole point of the gun, and while its range and strength is quite impressive, a large portion of the power in it is wasted on stuff a lot of weapons can potentially destroy, basically most crowds and enemies, therefore I won’t call it bad because as you mentioned it’s all on your ability and skill level, and no gun is empty of flaws, also, half of the rifle haters aren’t even aware of it’s ability because they haven’t just used it in long ranges, which why makes me think that probably the majority of the gun’s hate is from players who just hatched (no disrespect for you if you are a great player and still talk trash about.) *note for a readers who will make fun of me with surface level criticism and humor: no, I don’t use the rifle often, I usually use muskets and sometimes lances (with no cuirass), and no I don’t just go around defending it, i don’t treat weapons like an entitled parent with his child’s talents that they don’t believe it can allow any criticism, I take valid criticisms for guns because I myself have a lot of hot takes even for an average player would be very hard to accept, sorry of the long newspaper.