I'm going to have to say the Halo 3 sniper. I never got a chance to really use the Halo 1 sniper like I did the others, so I can't give an an accurate opinion. The Halo 2 sniper was a little to noob friendly for my tastes. The Halo 3 sniper is definitely a lot harder to use than the Halo 2 sniper and it gives me more satisfaction when I kill people with it.
The H3 sniper takes more skill to snipe with basically. In H2 when you shot you crosshair stayed where it was, there was no recoil whatsoever which makes so much of a difference when it comes to sniping. Along with what everyone else is saying, the crosshair itself was much larger making it way easier to snipe.
I never knew about that But im getting lots of headshots with the halo 3 sniper and its harder to get them to so it feels so much better when you do! I'm going to make a headshot montage soon hopefully =]
I think they are both great but overall the H2 was better because of its speed and larger reticule... But Shotty Snipers on Standoff made up for the H3 sniper =p
I believe the beam rifle doesn't need to be shot ahead of the player if their running, as the beam is autoshot, where as a bullet takes time to get there. Thats what i've heard
i liked the halo 1 sniper it wasnt good for split screen though if you had xbox connect or halo 1 pc you would know what i tlk about when u snipe people that arent on the same screen in halo 1