There is one reason why everyone crying foul about ARs doing too much damage and them having too much range is not entirely viable. Even if you nerf those elements, the answer won't be balanced until you take note of one of the other advantages the AR has... Supression. Supression is one of the reasons why I find the ARs hard to fight against. Where as they get tiny bumps to their crosshair from my Hand Cannon shots, once the firefight starts, I find it rather hard to aim when my crosshair is on half-way to moon from thei AR. Even though I do feel they do rather much damage, and some (like Suros) have way too much range (I lost a goddamn sniper fight to one), I think supression is an element everyone should take into account.