(NOTE: after writing this I realized, "Damn did I stray off topic," but figured some of what I've written is relevant, and I didn't have the heart to remove all of the rest)
Each perk does fulfill a specific niche (well, some perks the same niche but in different ways). If people do want the Sharpshooter to fill the heavy-hitter role, things would definitely have to change.
For one, the perk should be modified so that while it is best suited for that role, it would do marginal work when it comes to the lesser specimens as a tradeoff.
In no particular order, here's my ideal Sharpshooter:
The Sharpshooter wouldn't have increased weapon damage, only increased headshot damage for the LAR, M14 and crossbow. Because that chunk of damage is stripped away, it will be made up for with even more headshot damage (don't panic!). This stresses the importance of headshots, since body shots will do little in comparison.
While the perk wouldn't be able to off a fleshpound in one shot, he would be capable of damaging them better than any other perk could ever hope to. As a tradeoff, his weapons would be changed to something like the following:
The crossbow would not be as strong as it is currently (whether by altering the damage, the innate headshot bonus, or the Sharpshooter's headshot bonus appropriately). I view it as being able to take out everything but scrakes and fleshpounds (preferably husks as well, but, compromising) in one well-placed headshot. Scrakes should take at least 2, at most 3 headshots. Fleshpounds, at least 3, and at most 4. As others have pointed out, there's ample time to line up 3 headshots on a fleshpound. The initial shot, the rage animation, then more as he's haulin' ***.
But, I view the fleshpound as a team endeavor. Ideally it would take only 2 headshots from the Sharpshooter + what the rest of the team contributes. In that scenario, the Sharpshooter would have accounted for more than half of the damage by himself with only two shots.
Since the pistol bonuses allow the Sharpshooter to be extremely effective at close-to-medium range, I believe they should be stripped from the perk (whether or not they go on to become the Gunslinger perk is another thread).
Generally, the LAR would become the Sharpshooter's fallback weapon. The fire rate should be lowered quite a bit, but I'm fine with keeping the reload-speed bonus how it is now. The LAR would be something that could be utilized against the little guys, but wouldn't accomplish any extraordinary crowd-control feats. That is, a Sharpshooter equipped the the LAR or M14 would not perform nearly as well as a perk dedicated to thinning out crowds (good example would be Commando), mainly due to the decreased fire rate. But, not so much that the perk/those weapons would be useless.
The weight values of the LAR and crossbow should be configured so that it is possible to carry both at the same time.
Everyone has their own view on the what should be done about the M14. Personally I think that, in idea, it should become a more "user-friendly" or upgraded LAR. That is, a bit more powerful than LAR, slightly faster than the reduced fire-rate LAR, just a tad bit more ammo than the LAR, reduced magazine size (10), and possibly a scope similar to either the SCAR or crossbows. Yes, it would be very similar to the LAR, but there would be a noticeably worthwhile difference. As for the laser sight, it should be disabled.
The weight of the M14 should be so much that it can be carried with the LAR, but not the crossbow.
So, the Sharpshooter's weapon tier would look something like LAR < M14 < crossbow. The price of the weapons would change accordingly. LAR would stay the same, though the M14 should be above the crossbows old $400, and the crossbow should be $2500.
Level 5 Sharpshooters would spawn with the LAR, while level 6 would spawn with the M14. The latter's a scary thought, but because it wouldn't be the kill-all weapon anymore, it should be fine (should).
All-in-all, though, everything above requires way too much work. We all want something simple and effective, and alls we can do is speculate until that ol' balance patch hits us.
And a single nade will not rage the fp unless he already have line of sight on you for a while. Which again giveing me one more choice to kill fleshpounds without using pipes, M14 or xbow
