I agree the base sniper is useless - high hit power but, oh, that fire rate... you die before you do any damage!
However - some mods DO change this, you get range upped and fire rate higher... and I did once find a sniper rifle that had a range of 50m, a massive punch hit AND 1200 rounds per minute!
AWESOME fun!
(Nagahaku mod, if my memory works)
So things can be done to improve it.
I mean, OK, a real life sniper rifle is maybe a 2-3 second reload? But this is a game!