No matter how you sell it, you still need more AP than usual. Which simply has to cost something with none in return. I still wonder why is it so hard to fix this broken mechanic.
No, snipers actually requires as much action points as any other build, anything with 12 AP + BRoF is decent. Higher rate of fire is not a broken mechanic upon increasing the amount of action points, it is balanced by itself because each build profits from it the same, that includes the ability to use items at higher speed like SS witch is very important.
Also statistics are useless in the game - you're not shooting on some giant boss for 5 minutes, but exchange few shots and bursts instead. Being that much unreliable requires you to have some luck to be successful. In long term statistics will balance, but every time it happens it's difference between life and death. And because the odds are lower than 1:1, you're most likely get frustrated anyway. It's far better to roll anything else, unless there's specifically need for one to have that kind of range. The type of character is simply not reliable enough for the type of player that this game needs the most.
Chance is constant, luck is not a valid argument for it be incorrect, it may be inconsistent at certain time, but that doesn't mean it will always lead you to failure, it doesn't work that way in practice. Picture perfect isn't one on one situations, or few shots in matter of fact, from my own experience i can tell you that snipers do a lot more than few shots in larger confrontations, and the longer you can stay alive and keep shooting, have proper position i rely that i will do as much shots not how many of them will be critical hits, because that is always constant and you can't argue about that. These type of characters of what you are talking about are widely used in tactical combat and are considered a reliable tool to include it in the composition of builds witch are used to fight by a group of players. Snipers are not just a damage dealing, dice rolling cannons, they are awareness, range advantage, support, all these things what a normal big gunner isn't, that is an advantage by itself.