jdnoss - I edited your post, we are trying not to promote the "S" word around here because of the negative connentation it has with the media. We are not going to be giving them any extra ammunition ( no pun intended ) to be used against us lawful firearms owners. Please substitute "Tactical" or similiar in future postings.
Okay, as for the question at hand, you are on the right track, but you have stumbled into one of the truly horrible things about the firearms industry. Too much misinformation and too little REAL information about the weapons you are researching.
The Chey Tac system is AMAZING. They have taken the science of shooting and damn near perfected it. Their Intervention System, which includes their ballistic computer and their software, at this time, is probably the best overall tactical kit on the market. At a little over $15K, it's also one of the most expensive.
Everything that is great about the Chey-Tac is balanced by what is going on behind the scenes with the company. The brass and the bullets themselves are proprietary, which means there are very few sources of each, so when the company goes out of business. Guess what.
Chey-Tac is also being ripped apart from the inside with a power struggle, and one of the founding members threw up his hands, left the company and is suing is former partner. The money they spent on R & D for the Intervention was astronomical, and they were heavily, heavily in debt as of two years ago. I don't know if that changed recently, but I can't see $8000 rifles and $15K Tactical Kits jumping off the shelves with reckless abandon.
The .416 Barrett was Ronnie Barrett's way of thumbing his nose at Kalifornia when they banned his .50 cal. He even went so far as to refuse to service the .50 cal Barrett's that he had sold to the law enforcement departments in Kalifornia because of it, which made him a legend in the internet and gun buying community.
The .416 Barrett is a hell of a weapon also. It's round does travel faster than the Chey-Tac, but the Chey-Tac does hold the world record group at this time. ( 16 5/8" for three rounds at 2321 yards, which is UNGODLY ACCURATE.
The .416 brass and bullet are also proprietary, so after the fall of the world and Space Zombies rule the formerly free lands, you are going to have one hell of an expensive club on your hands if you can't hand turn the ammo and reload the brass.
The .416 has only been around since 2005, so it's full impact hasn't been felt yet. Just like with the Chey-tac, the true performance with the .416 is when equipped with BORS ( Barrett Optical Ranging System ) from Barrett, which is going to tack on another $3000 to $3500 to the price of your $7,000 to $8,000 weapon.
I like the round, hell, I like both rounds, but there are other FAR LESS costly options that will allow you to reach 2,000 yards.
Unless you have more money than sense, I would covet both, but plan on purchasing neither...
JD