No, I disagree. Though it can be very useful in situations with hallways and where the enemy is generally stacked, this weapon just means you struggle really hard if you are up-close with someone. It's not exactly the easiest thing landing a close range shot at all, especially on a Scout or someone who knows how to work around the Sniper.
The stock Sniper Rifle allows you to deal with that with a much more reliable shot as you can see much more around you and your sensitivity is back to normal so you don't have to swing your mouse half-way across your mouse mat. 50 damage per bodyshot, so if you land 2 of them that's already 100 damage. If you use SMG or Cleaner's Carbine, you can finish them off pretty easily if you can track.
The trace rounds are a huge deal but it's map dependent. For example, if you're playing on a map such as goldenrod where there's a really long sniper tunnel, it's not that surprising to see where the machina is being shot from. It doesn't really give you that much of a disadvantage to use it. However, on maps that don't have this tunnel or if you position yourself differently on goldenrod, such as on the top of the PokeMart, you don't see this nearly as often and I doubt people check it as often as the sniper tunnel. If you see someone using the machina miss that shot, you instantly know where they are and you can escape or fight. If you use the sniper in that situation, you'd be much more likely to get the kill since there's no tracing lines.
Examples of direct-upgrades to stock are:
Fire Axe -> Third Degree
Bonesaw -> (old) Solemn Vow (used to have no downside)