Personally, the way that I see it is that Operatives should have the ability to do full dmg with a trick attack through a sniper rifle for one reason; It fulfills the role of the sniper.
I looked through all of this, and while it makes sense why Paizo was trying to keep Snipers from becoming too strong I simply see no reason to ever pull one out. Yes the Snipers don't have bad damage, but the later the level you reach the weaker they get, to the point where, if you slap them in at lv 13, the numbers as is are this:
Small arms: Utilizing the Paragon semi-auto pistol you deal 14+6+31=51 [4d6 gun + WS + TA].
Sniper: Utilizing the Elite Shirren-eye rifle you deal 22+13=35 [4d10 + WS]
At this point, at lv 13 where being able to do massive damage from long distance becomes much less of a one shot kill, the sniper ends up having 750ft range...and getting just more than three quarters the damage. At this point literally the only reason you would ever use a sniper is for long range, otherwise it becomes inferior to the other weapons in practically every way [requires two hands, does less damage, and can only be shot once from said range]
I would never use a Sniper weapon as the rules show them, I would rather slap out anything else and take a few penalties and shoot my pistol from further than one range increment while moving up. As it is now, the trick is just that, a trick to lure people with dreams of being Saito into taking it.
