It’s not intentional. From what I understand it’s the result of some futureproofing changes to the accuracy calculations, which messed with the balance in unanticipated ways. Kevin has been slowly working on it, while looking for real-world data on weapons with which to calibrate the system going forward.
Coolthulhu’s patches (found here) revert the accuracy system to how it was before. I’m not sure how up to date they are though.