Colonel Jeff Cooper, idol and ideological mentor of Western combat shooters, called the rifle "the queen of small arms." In fact, a rifle, especially one equipped with an optical sight, is by far the most prominent representative of hand-held weapons - in terms of accuracy, ease of handling and graceful forms. The last point, of course, has no practical significance, but nevertheless it plays a rather important role for a real shooter who respects and loves his weapon.
It is a high-precision rifle with a telescopic sight that, since the First World War, has been the main combat tool in sniping - the most effective way of conducting combat operations. Over the past decade, the art of sniper has become a fashionable topic for many authors of books and articles, accordingly, a lot of opinions have already been expressed about what a modern sniper rifle should be.
A bit of theory
One of the characteristic features of sniper weapons is that from the very moment of their appearance, they were, as it were, at the junction of three types of small arms - combat, sporting and hunting. To this day, hunting traits have gone into oblivion, but the qualities of combat and sports are present in almost all modern models.
So what is this weapon - a sniper rifle? When evaluating any specific rifle, one must keep in mind that a sniper is, first of all, a combat weapon, therefore its main qualities must correspond to the qualities of a combat weapon.
The famous Russian gunsmith V. G. Back in 1938, Fedorov wrote that the main trends in the development of hand-held firearms were expressed mainly in an increase in the firing range, a sloping trajectory and rate of fire; often, one of these elements was in conflict with others … the reason for all the work in the field of improvements in hand-held firearms, the requirement of tactics to increase the firing range, to enable the enemy to be hit from longer distances served …; rate of fire increased from 1 round per minute with flintlock guns to 20 rounds per minute with automatic, i.e. 10 times in range and 20 times in rate of fire.
What can be the limit to the increase in the qualities of future firearms? It was believed that in terms of range, the limit would be set by the abilities of the human eye, but optical sights are already being introduced to rifles. It was believed that in relation to the rate of fire, the production base and the organization of the supply business would set the limit due to the enormous consumption of cartridges. However, the history of the development of weapons shows that no matter what colossal requirements in terms of ammunition the war made, all these requirements, though not immediately, were fulfilled."
It is believed that the entire set of properties of modern combat small arms is reduced to the following groups: combat properties, operational properties and production properties.
Under the combat properties of gunsmiths understand the complex of qualities of the system, which characterize the possibility of fire impact on the manpower of the enemy, subject to the normal technical condition of the weapon and its trouble-free operation. Among the combat properties, the firing power, maneuverability and reliability of the weapon system are especially distinguished.
The power of a weapon is the total amount of energy possessed by all bullets that hit the target per unit of time. Here the question immediately arises: how to calculate the power of a sniper rifle, if the concept of rate of fire for a "super sharp shooter" actually does not matter? After all, a sniper, as you know, most often makes 1-2 shots at the target.
As the range to the target increases, the speed of the bullet at the target naturally decreases, which means that the firing power also decreases.
But the power of fire can be increased not only by increasing the rate of fire, as is the case with automatic weapons, but also by increasing the probability of hitting, or, in other words, the accuracy of fire. This already directly relates to sniper weapons.
As mentioned above, among all the other combat properties of the sniper system, accuracy takes the most important place. What is accuracy in terms of science? According to the law of dispersion, this is "the aggregate of the degree of grouping of points of impact around the center of the grouping (accuracy of fire) and the degree of alignment of the center of the grouping (middle point of impact) with the desired point of the target (accuracy of fire)".
In practice, accuracy is assessed by the dispersion characteristics inherent in a given weapon system. It must be borne in mind that stability is of decisive importance in terms of influence on dispersion - the ability of the weapon to maintain the position given to it before firing. This is why most modern sniper rifles are heavy - it increases stability; the bipod also serves for this - an integral attribute of the current sniper rifle.
The stability of the weapon's combat is of no less importance for the accuracy of shooting.
But there is also the law of dispersion in the world - the "law of meanness" for all shooters. The fact is that in practice it is impossible to observe the absolute uniformity of all shooting conditions, since there are always minor, almost imperceptible fluctuations in the size of the powder grains, the weight of the charge and the bullet, the shape of the bullet; different flammability of the capsule; different conditions of movement of a bullet in the barrel and outside it, gradual contamination of the barrel bore and heating it, gusts of wind and changing air temperature; errors allowed by the shooter when aiming, in the attachment, etc. Therefore, even under the most favorable firing conditions, each of the bullets fired will describe its trajectory, somewhat different from the trajectory of other bullets. This phenomenon is called natural dispersion of shots.
With a significant number of shots, the trajectories in their totality form a sheaf of trajectories, which, when they meet the affected surface (target), give a number of holes, more or less distant from each other; the area they occupy is called the scattering area.
All holes are located in the scattering area around a point called the center of scattering, or midpoint of impact (MTF). The trajectory located in the middle of the sheaf and passing through the midpoint of impact is called the middle trajectory. When compiling tabular data, when making amendments to the installation of the trailer during the shooting process, this average trajectory is always assumed.
From all that has been said, it is clear how difficult it is to make an accurate shot at a long distance and how many factors that negatively affect accuracy must be taken into account by a sniper.
So, if we take into account all the above theoretical "nonsense", then it is clearly seen how difficult it is to combine all these numerous, often contradictory requirements in one design. From this point of view, the E. F. Dragunov can be considered an almost ideal weapon for an army sniper.
But still…
A bit of history
In 1932, a sniper rifle of the S. I. Mosin, which made it possible to begin large-scale training of "super-sharp shooters".
It is hardly worth going into the history of that period in detail, it has been written about this many times. Another point is interesting: the sniper rifle of the 1891/30 model. without any changes stood in service for three decades, until the adoption of the SVD rifle in 1963. And this despite the fact that the shortcomings of the Mosin rifle, even in the infantry version, were well known.
… In 1943, a group of the best front-line snipers of the Soviet Army was invited to take part in a meeting of the highest officers of the NKO of the USSR. At this meeting, a variety of issues related to sniping were resolved. And this is what is characteristic: the question of replacing and at least radical modernization of the sniper rifle version of the S. I. Mosin system was not even raised. But by that time this weapon had been in service with the Russian army for more than half a century, and numerous shortcomings made it uncompetitive even in the standard infantry version.
One of the participants in this meeting, Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Nikolayevich Pchelintsev recalled: “We had no complaints about a combat sniper rifle model 1891/30. modernized and made for it some necessary devices on the front … We proposed the development of a special reticle and a more convenient location of the aiming handwheels. Among the devices we were interested in two elements: a sun-protection rotary visor for the lens and a corrugated rubber tube for the eyepiece of the sight. " There was also a proposal "to develop special" target cartridges "for sniper weapons with improved quality of gunpowder and more careful selection of bullets at factories. These cartridges should go in small batches especially for snipers. This would make it possible to dramatically improve the range and accuracy of fire."
However, proposals to improve weapons and ammunition were implemented only 20 years later with the adoption of the SVD.
In the fall of 1939, Dragunov was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army and sent to serve in the Far East. After two months of service, he was sent to the school of junior commanders of the AIR (artillery instrumental reconnaissance). Successes in shooting sports helped Evgeny Fedorovich in the further course of his service, after graduation he was appointed a gunsmith of the school. When, at the beginning of the war, the Far Eastern Artillery School was formed on the basis of the school, Dragunov became the senior weapons master of the school. In this position, he served until demobilization in the fall of 1945.
In January 1946 Dragunov came to the plant again. Taking into account the experience of the army service, the personnel department sent Yevgeny Fedorovich to the department of the chief designer for the position of a research technician. Dragunov began work in the bureau of support for the current production of the Mosin rifle and was included in the group investigating the causes of the emergency that occurred at the production site. Taking into account the experience of the war, a new type of test was introduced into the technical specifications for the rifle - firing 50 shots with the maximum possible rate of fire, while the magazine was loaded from the clip. During the tests, it was found that in most rifles, when sending cartridges with the bolt, the upper - the first cartridge engages with the edge of the lower - the second cartridge, and so strongly that it is not sent to the barrel even after two or three blows with the palm of the hand on the bolt handle.
Outstanding constructor
Nevertheless, even before the outbreak of World War II, many leading gunsmiths understood the need to produce special weapons systems for sniping. In particular, the well-known weapons expert and arms expert V. E. Markevich believed that “a sniper rifle should combine the best qualities of military and hunting rifles, therefore such main parts as the barrel, sights, stock, trigger and other details should be skillfully designed …
The magnification of the optical sight from 2, 5 to 4, 5 times is most suitable for sniping. The increased magnification makes aiming difficult, especially when shooting at moving and emerging targets. The magnification of 6x and more is suitable mainly for shooting at stationary targets …
The trigger mechanism has a great impact on shooting accuracy. The descent should not require a lot of pressing force, should not have a long stroke and free swing. A tension of 1.5-2 kg is considered sufficient. A modern descent should have a warning, which is much better. Descent adjustment is also desirable …
For thick winter and thin summer clothes, you need a stock of different lengths, so it is better to make a stock of variable length - with detachable wooden pads at the butt plate …
The neck of the stock should be pistol-shaped, it allows you to hold the rifle more uniformly and firmly with your right hand. A scale on the neck of the stock is desirable because it does not allow the hand to slide. The forend should be long, because a rifle with a long forend is easier to handle, especially in winter. Swivels should be comfortable not only for carrying the rifle, but also for using the belt when shooting …
A good case should be among the necessary accessories for a sniper rifle. With regard to cartridges, it should be said that cartridges must be carefully checked all elements of the cartridge and accurate equipment in a laboratory way to have the best ballistic qualities."
All or almost all of the above requirements are generally satisfied with the army "super-sharp shooters" today.
The development of weapons and military equipment, as well as significant changes in tactics that occurred under the influence of numerous local conflicts of recent decades, revealed the need for a high-precision sniper system (including a rifle, an optical sight and a special cartridge) in service, since in many cases snipers have to solve tasks of engaging small targets at distances from 800 to 1000 meters.
The answer to these "demands of the times" was the numerous sniper rifles of Western arms firms that emerged during the 1980s. In the USSR, then there was no time for new snipers: the war in Afghanistan ended, perestroika began, and then a time of troubles began altogether. A modest contribution to the fact that the leadership of the power ministries did not respond to the demands of those of their subordinates who were seriously engaged in "sniper hunting" was also made by some authors of books and publications, which quite convincingly proved to the reading public the dignity and even advantages of a regular SVD over Western systems.
Interestingly, some Western experts had similar views. A prime example is a quote from an article by Martin Schober in Schweizer Waffen-Magazin, 1989; this quote was included in the classic work of DN Bolotin, "The History of Soviet Small Arms and Cartridges," and since then, numerous authors have repeated it many times to the point and out of place. Martin Schober writes that "NATO standards prescribe a maximum dispersion diameter for sniper rifles at a distance of 600 yards (548.6 m) in a series of 10 rounds of 15 inches (38.1 cm). The Soviet Dragunov sniper rifle confidently covers these requirements." First of all, the NATO standards for accuracy for sniper weapons, given in this article, are already outdated today: now the maximum dispersion value should be no more than one arc minute (1 MOA). In addition, simple calculations show that the average dispersion diameter for the SVD at a distance of 600 meters is 83.5 cm for the LPS cartridge and 51.5 cm for the 7N1 sniper cartridge.
Speaking specifically about the SVD, it should be noted that many authors concerning this weapon usually give a figure of 800 m when assessing the effective range of fire. Indeed, this indicator appears in the manual on small arms. But the problem is that an army sniper, who most often does not have any other reference books at his disposal, except for this NSD, cannot understand for what targets, with what cartridge and at what distances there is a real sense to shoot (with a high probability of hitting the target).
The main conclusion: the head figure should be hit from the SVD with the first shot at all distances up to 500 meters, the chest figure - up to 700 meters, the waist and running figures - up to 800 meters, provided that the 7N1 sniper cartridge is used. We also note that all these data are given without taking into account possible mistakes made by the shooter in preparation for shooting (for example, an incorrect estimate of the distance to the target) and during the production of a shot (for example, pulling the descent under the influence of stress) - in other words, the notorious " human factor".
Why are Western rifles today considered accurate enough for sniping only if their dispersion does not exceed the notorious angular minute? The minute of angle, or 1 MOA, is 0.28 thousandths of the distance. In other words, at a distance of 100 meters, a dispersion of 1 MOA will theoretically give a circle with a dispersion diameter of about 2.8 cm. This is important when shooting at long distances - up to 800 meters and beyond.
According to the instruction on shooting, the accuracy of the SVD is considered satisfactory if, at a distance of 100 meters, four holes fit into a circle with a diameter of 8 cm. are considered the maximum allowable rate.
Now let's count. If the dispersion diameter at a distance of 100 meters is exactly 8 cm, then - theoretically! - at 200 meters it will be 16 cm, at 300 meters - 24 cm and so on up to 600 meters. After the turn of 600 meters, the dispersion will no longer grow according to a linear law, but will increase by 1, 2-1, 3 times every hundred meters of distance: the bullet speed will begin to approach the speed of sound (330 m / sec.) By this time, and the bullet will begin to lose stability along the trajectory. Hence, we have the following: at a distance of 800 meters, the theoretical accuracy of the SVD will be 83.2 cm. From a rifle with such accuracy, it is still possible with a fairly high probability to get into a motionless growth or waist figure, but to hit the chest or even more so the head figure is almost impossible.
It may be objected that there have been cases when the sniper was able to shoot the enemy and at great distances. Of course, there have been such cases. Here, by the way, is one of them. In 1874, somewhere in the Wild West, a party of buffalo hunters was attacked in their camp by a detachment of Indians. The siege lasted almost three days. Both the besieged and the Indians were already utterly exhausted, but the firefight still continued. Bill Dixon, one of the hunters, saw an Indian standing out clearly on the cliff. A shot from the "sharps" hit - and the Indian fell from the saddle upside down. Struck by such precision, the Indians soon left. When the distance of the shot was measured, it turned out to be 1538 yards (about 1400 meters). This is a record shot even for a modern sniper.
Of course, a great shot, but in this case, as in many others, chance, the shooter's simple luck, played too much of a role. A sniper performing a critical combat mission cannot rely on chance.
Of course, rifle accuracy is not the only goal for a gunsmith designer, as we said earlier, there are still many important points to consider. But the accuracy of a sniper weapon is important, first of all, because if this weapon shows high accuracy in close to ideal shooting conditions, then possible mistakes that are likely to be made by the shooter in difficult conditions of a combat situation are compensated for by the high accuracy and stability of the battle.
It is also necessary to take into account the problem of the cartridge: a special weapon also requires a special cartridge, and such a cartridge, with a high quality of manufacture, should also be relatively inexpensive to manufacture. It is interesting that difficulties with setting up large-scale production of sniper cartridges were not only in the USSR, but also in the United States.
SVD entered service almost immediately in conjunction with a special sniper cartridge. Despite the fact that the combat experience of the Great Patriotic War clearly showed that in order to achieve maximum efficiency, a sniper must be supplied with special ammunition, the creation of a special cartridge for sniper rifles in the USSR began only after the war. In 1960, while working on a single cartridge, it was discovered that a new design of a bullet with an improved aerodynamic shape for this cartridge consistently gave excellent results in firing accuracy - 1.5-2 times better than a cartridge with an LPS bullet. This made it possible to conclude that it is possible to create a self-loading sniper rifle with a better accuracy of fire than when firing from a sniper rifle arr. 1891/30, close to the results obtained with the use of targeted cartridges. On the basis of these studies, the cartridge-makers were given the task of increasing the efficiency of firing from the SVD rifle at the expense of the. The purpose of the work was to improve the accuracy of the battle of a sniper rifle by 2 times in the area of dispersion.
In 1963, a bullet was recommended for further refinement, which is today known as a sniper. When firing from ballistic barrels, cartridges with this bullet showed excellent results: at 300 meters R50 is not more than 5 cm, R100 is 9, 6-11 cm. The requirements for a new sniper cartridge were extremely tough: the bullet had to have a steel core, in accuracy it should not be inferior to the target cartridges, the cartridge had to have a standard bimetallic sleeve and the cost should not exceed the gross cartridge with the LPS bullet more than twice. In addition, the accuracy when firing from the SVD should be two times less in the area of dispersion, i.e. R100 no more than 10 cm at a distance of 300 meters. As a result, a 7.62-mm sniper rifle cartridge was developed and adopted in 1967, which is produced today under the 7N1 index.
The proliferation of personal body armor in recent decades has reduced the effectiveness of the 7N1 cartridge. In the conditions of modern combat, when most military personnel have body armor, a sniper cartridge must have a sufficiently high armor penetration. In particular, if a sniper fires at a "chest figure" dressed in a helmet and a bulletproof vest, then the target's vulnerable area is reduced to 20 x 20 cm, i.e. face size. Naturally, the effective firing range will thus decrease. To avoid this, the cartridge-makers had to look for an alternative solution, combining little compatible qualities in one cartridge - accuracy and penetration. The result of these searches was a new 7N14 sniper cartridge. The bullet of this cartridge has a heat-strengthened core, therefore it has an increased penetrating ability while maintaining high ballistic qualities.
Modern sniper
According to the opinions of leading weapons experts, a modern sniper rifle should, first of all, ensure the defeat of a live target at a distance of up to 1000 m, while a high probability of hitting a belt target at a distance of up to 800 m with the first shot, and up to 600 m into a chest target is required. conditions, barrel temperature and the condition of the weapon must not affect the accuracy of the fire. In addition, the specifics of sniper operations require that unmasking factors, such as the flash of a shot, powder smoke, the force of the sound of a shot, the clanking of the shutter when reloading or the knock of moving parts of the automation, be as small as possible. The shape of the sniper rifle should be comfortable when shooting from various positions. The weight and dimensions, if possible, should ensure stability when firing, but at the same time, do not tire the shooter when he is in a closed position for a long time and not reduce his maneuverability when moving.
Military experts believe that the above requirements are basic. Without doing their weapons and ammunition are unusable for sniping.
Basically, all the requirements for a sniper system should be aimed at increasing the accuracy and efficiency of fire, the reliability of the weapon during its operation in the most unfavorable conditions, and also, which is important, at maximum ease of handling.
First of all, the accuracy of shooting is influenced by such factors as the design of the rifle barrel, the strength, rigidity and mass of the stock, the quality of the optical sight and special ammunition.
So, with an increase in the thickness of the barrel walls, the harmonic oscillations during the shot and the effect of changes in the barrel temperature decrease. The stock and stock of a sniper rifle are preferably made of epoxy-impregnated walnut or high-strength plastic.
The sniper telescopic sight deserves a separate discussion, since the requirements for it are quite contradictory. On the one hand, it should make it possible to observe the terrain, detect targets and fire at moving and short-term targets, which requires a large field of view and a small magnification - from about 3x to 5x. And at the same time, the sniper has to shoot at long ranges, up to 1000 m, therefore, it is required to see the target well at this distance, and therefore, a high magnification - up to 10-12x. A variable magnification (pancratic) optical sight avoids these contradictions, but at the same time, such a design makes the sight more complex and more fragile.
In general, the optical sight of a sniper system must be durable, have a sealed housing, preferably rubberized and filled with dry nitrogen (so that the lenses do not fog up from the inside when the temperature drops), stably maintain the alignment values under any conditions, convenient correction devices (handwheels).
The uniform and smooth operation of the firing mechanism also has a significant impact on comfort when shooting, and therefore on accuracy. Therefore, it is highly desirable that the sniper can independently and easily adjust the length and tension of the trigger.
A classic example of a modern Western-made sniper rifle is the English AW (Arctic Warfare) system.
The British firm Accuracy International from Portsmouth has been a recognized leader in the production of hand-reloading high-precision sniper weapons since the early 1980s. It was AI that was the first to develop rifles based on "support-rail technology".
In 1986, the British Army adopted a new rifle to replace the outdated Lee-Enfield L42. It was the PM Sniper model chambered for 7, 62x51 NATO, developed by Accuracy International, which received the army index L96A1. It differed sharply from previous rifles both in appearance and design. The rifle turned out to be so successful that more than 20 countries of the world purchased it for their law enforcement agencies. A successful decision of the company is the fact that on the basis of the main model, several special modifications were created - large-caliber, silent, with a folding stock.
Immediately after adopting the L96A1, the company began work on the creation of a next generation sniper rifle, taking into account both the experience of manufacturing and practical operation of the prototype, and the requirements of the Swedish army, which was looking for a sniper rifle that could operate reliably at low temperatures. The new model, which took Accuracy International more than two years to develop, received the AW (Arctic Warfare) index. In the Swedish army, which bought 800 copies, the rifle received the PSG-90 index.
The model has retained the basic design solutions, but all its elements have undergone revision in order to simplify the design and increase the reliability of operation. The stainless steel barrel showed high survivability in tests, without noticeably losing accuracy even after 10 thousand shots. When firing high-quality cartridges at a distance of 100 m, the bullets fit into a circle with a diameter of 20 mm. To reduce the recoil force, the rifle barrel is equipped with a muzzle brake. This reduces shooter fatigue, reduces re-shot time and makes it easier to learn and get used to the weapon.
The shutter with three lugs ensures reliable operation at low (up to minus 40 ° C) temperatures, even when condensate freezes. Compared to the prototype, the effort required to reload the weapon has been reduced, which increases the stealth of the sniper's actions. Food is carried out from a middle box-type double-row magazine for 10 rounds. The rifle is usually equipped with five magazines. For aiming, various optical sights can be used, mounted on a bar attached to the top of the receiver. Usually this is a tenfold sight of the Schmidt-Bender firm. The kit also includes an open sight with a graduation up to 700 m and a front sight. There is a boss on the front of the forearm for attaching a Parker-Hale height-adjustable bipod. The rifle with all accessories fits into an aluminum case. The AW (Arktik Warfare) model performs well in the most difficult climatic conditions. When using precision ammunition, the weapon provides a dispersion of less than 1 MOA. Cartridge type - 7, 62x51 NATO. Length - 1180 mm. Weight - 6, 1 kg. Barrel length - 650 mm (four grooves with a pitch of 250 mm). Magazine capacity - 10 rounds. Bullet muzzle velocity - 850 m / sec.
About bullpup and sniper rifles
A classic example, almost ideally suited for practical research from the point of view of the question "what should NOT be a sniper rifle", are the domestic SVU rifle and its modifications.
What is an IED? From the point of view of the developers, this is a SVD, re-arranged according to the "bullpup" scheme to reduce the overall dimensions of the weapon. But potential "users" usually refer to this system as "castrated eswade".
The author had to become closely acquainted with this sample of the Russian "miracle weapon" only a year ago. Although I had several times to hold an IED in my hands, it turned out that appearance can be very deceiving: despite the contours unusual for a Russian eye and a rather cool look, this rifle, let's say, does not quite correspond to the concept of "sniper weapon".
It is difficult to call the design elegant; apparently, the production process itself is not such. For this, a standard SVD is taken, the butt is removed from it, the barrel is shortened, on which a massive muzzle device is then hung, the trigger is moved forward, a pistol grip and a rubber butt pad are installed. As a result of all these actions, from a sharpened, beautiful SVD, a kurgozd dwarf is obtained. The external similarity between SVD and SVU is the same as between the three-line and the sawn-off "death of the chairman".
SVU-A, with which I had to "communicate", was released by TsKIB in 1994. The form indicates that when the rifle was still SVD, its accuracy for four shots at a distance of 100 meters was R100 = 6, 3 cm (i.e., the radius of the circle containing all the holes), and after the rework of the weapon, the R100 began to be 7, 8 see. Who said that despite the shortened barrel, the accuracy did not decrease ?!
The rifle was tested at standard distances of 100 and 300 meters. Unfortunately, even at a minimum distance of 100 meters, the results were not impressive: for a group of four shots, the R100 was 10 cm. At 300 meters, everything turned out to be even sadder: the average R100 was as much as 16 cm, and none of the five shooters was able to complete everything. bullets into the chest target. For comparison, it should be noted that an average-skilled shooter from a distance of 300 meters confidently hits not only the chest, but also the head figure with the same number of cartridges.
The trigger mechanism of the IED has such a long and heavy trigger that sometimes it seems as if the magazine has already run out of cartridges. When fired, the weapon makes short and imperceptible movements, from which the sight eyecup very unpleasantly clicks the arrow over the eye. Despite the muzzle device and rubber recoil pad, for some reason, the recoil is not felt much less - perhaps because the muzzle device has only one window on the right side (probably to compensate for the displacement of the barrel when firing bursts). Accordingly, after each shot, the rifle shifts noticeably to the left. The latter is especially noticeable when shooting from a stop.
The safety translator has 3 positions (like the AK), but it is so tight that you can rip off the skin on your finger trying to move it.
Due to the fact that the plastic pads were moved forward, a window appeared in front of the diopter sight through which the feeder spring was visible and through which all kinds of dirt was stuffed into the rifle at a terrifying speed.
The diopter sight on military weapons is a new phenomenon for us. The fact that both the sight and the front sight are made folding is, in principle, good, the bad thing is that with their active use, they begin to swing in the transverse plane.
A long trigger link connecting the trigger and the firing mechanism is located on the left side of the receiver and is covered by a removable casing. But inside this casing, she walks with such a crunch that some shooters feel uncomfortable.
As with all bullpups, the center of gravity of the weapon falls on the pistol grip, and this puts a load on the sniper's right hand, which should only work on the descent. In addition, on our IED, every 15-20 shots, the bolt carrier jammed due to the ejector axis popping out. In some cases, spontaneous unscrewing of the muzzle device retaining screw is observed.
Another important point: automatic fire mode. I would like to see at least one western sniper rifle chambered for a standard cartridge (type 7, 62x51), which shoots in bursts. They say that at one time the modification of the SVU-AS was ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs … to arm the assault groups! It is difficult to imagine how the special forces will fire from an IED during the assault on a building. The accuracy of the fire in bursts is such that at a distance of 50 meters out of 10 rounds, 1-2 bullets fall into the full-length figure, and the rest, accordingly, will ricochet around the building under attack. The short barrel combined with the powerful cartridge makes automatic fire completely ineffective.
In general, the very idea of a "sniper assault rifle", which was born among the customers, probably under the influence of VSS "Vintorez", is flawed in its essence. VSS shoots rather weak cartridges with a small recoil momentum, and rifle ammunition 7, 62x54 throws IEDs like a jackhammer.
Vintorez (VSS, Special Sniper Rifle, GRAU Index - 6P29) is a silent sniper rifle. Created at the Central Research Institute "Tochmash" in Klimovsk in the early 1980s under the leadership of Peter Serdyukov. Designed for arming special forces units. Caliber 9 × 39 mm. It has no analogues in terms of performance characteristics in Western countries.
Simultaneously with the development of a complex of silent weapons, the development of specialized ammunition for it was carried out. A small powder charge (a requirement to ensure noiselessness) required a heavy bullet (up to 16 grams), as well as a sufficiently large caliber to ensure both the reliable operation of the automation and the necessary destructive action. The SP-5 and SP-6 cartridges (index 7N33, armor-piercing version of the SP-5 cartridge, differs in a bullet with a tungsten carbide core) were created on the basis of a cartridge case of a 1943 caliber 7, 62 × 39 mm cartridge (which is used, for example,, in AK and AKM). The muzzle of the case was re-pressed to a caliber of 9 mm. In accordance with the requirements for ensuring noiselessness, the muzzle velocity of the bullet of the SP-5 and SP-6 cartridges does not exceed 280-290 m / s.
Silent weapon (Special "Vintorez" Sniper Rifle)
The SVU-AS modification, in addition to the translator, has a folding bipod. On SVD, such bipods would increase the effectiveness of fire, and on IEDs they only slightly compensate for the low accuracy, but they significantly increase the weight.
Unfortunately, all of the above disadvantages are not inherent in individual samples. As far as we know, most of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have already abandoned IEDs, preferring SVD or other systems. By the way, the "bullpup" scheme has generally not proven itself in sniper weapons on the positive side.
SVD or three-line?
Any gunsmith will tell you that a magazine rifle will always (or almost always) have more accurate combat than a self-loading rifle of the same class. The reasons for this lie on the surface: there is no removal of powder gases, due to which there is a decrease in the initial velocity of the bullet (for the Mosin rifle - 860 m / s, for the SVD - 830 m / s); there are no moving parts that would knock down the aiming of the weapon at the moment of the shot; the whole system is easier to debug, etc.
Let's try to compare the main combat properties of the SVD and the 1891/30 model rifle. This comparison is also interesting because it allows you to visually trace the stages of development of domestic sniper weapons.
The width of the butt plate for both rifles is approximately the same and therefore not very convenient: for precision weapons, it is desirable to have a wider butt plate for better shoulder support. In addition, both systems use a powerful cartridge 7, 62x54, which gives a fairly strong recoil, so it is even more desirable to have a rubber shock absorber on the butt. However, with the SVD the issue is solved simply: the majority of snipers, in accordance with the army "fashion", have long been equipping their esvadhki with a rubber recoil pad from the GP-25 grenade launcher.
As for the neck of the butt, here the SVD again wins in all respects: the pistol grip is in all respects more convenient than the neck of the Mosin rifle, which was once made straight for the convenience of bayonet fighting.
The barrel wall thickness is approximately the same for both rifles. Today, such barrels are justifiably criticized by snipers. It is known that the barrel, when fired, makes harmonic vibrations, causing a scatter of bullets. Accordingly, the thicker the barrel, the less these fluctuations and the higher the accuracy of the fire. One of the main requirements for modern sniper weapons is a heavy match-type barrel, as is done on Western weapons.
The SVD has a gas chamber on the barrel, through which part of the powder gases are removed to ensure the operation of the moving parts of the mechanism. This detail, of course, disturbs the uniformity of barrel vibrations and worsens the fight of the weapon, but such a disadvantage is inherent in all models of automatic weapons operating on gas exhaust, and it should be taken for granted. But the barrel of the SVD has such a necessary detail as a flame arrester, which significantly reduces the flash of a shot, which is very important for a sniper working from a camouflaged position.
The inner surface of the rifle barrel mod. 1891/30 not chrome-plated (unlike SVD), therefore it is much more susceptible to rusting. But the trunk of the three-ruler lends itself well to debugging. It can be planted "on three points", i.e. to minimize the area of contact between the barrel and the stock. To do this, a scraper is made from an ordinary spent cartridge case (the cartridge case is placed on the handle, and its edges are sharpened), with which a layer of wood is then selected from the stock until a sheet of paper folded in half is freely stretched between the barrel and the stock. In the front part of the barrel (under the front false ring), a piece of woolen cloth 5-7 cm wide is wound around the barrel. Now the barrel "sits" at three points: the tail rotor (behind the bolt), the stop screw (in front of the magazine box) and the oil seal. This simple tweak significantly improves the combat of the rifle. Some arrows replace the steel dowel with a copper, softer one. But since the stop screw rests on the dowel, copper in this case absorbs recoil better.
The rifling pitch of both rifles is the same - 240 mm, despite the fact that 320 mm is indicated for the SVD in the Manual on Shooting. The change in the rifling pitch of the SVD from 320 to 240 mm was caused by the fact that, at a pitch of 320 mm, armor-piercing incendiary bullets flew somersault. The barrel with a rifling pitch of 240 mm stabilized the flight of armor-piercing incendiary bullets, but at the same time reduced the overall accuracy by almost 30%.
The trigger mechanism (USM) of the Dragunov rifle rarely causes criticism from the shooters - the effort and tension of the trigger, the length of the trigger stroke are selected in the most optimal way. Although it is desirable that the trigger of a sniper weapon was still adjustable.
But the trigger mechanism of the Mosin rifle is easy and simple to debug. In order to reduce the length of the trigger, you need to slightly bend the trigger spring. To make the descent work smoother, you can polish the contacting surfaces of the sear and the cocking of the trigger.
The removable cheek piece of the SVD has only one drawback: it can get lost. But this drawback has already been eliminated on rifles of the last years of production with a plastic butt - here this part is made non-removable.
The Red Army began the first tests of self-loading rifles back in 1926, but until the mid-thirties, none of the tested samples met the army's requirements. Sergei Simonov began developing a self-loading rifle in the early 1930s, and exhibited his developments at competitions in 1931 and 1935, but only in 1936 a rifle of his design was adopted by the Red Army under the designation "7.62mm Simonov automatic rifle, model 193 6", or ABC-36. Experimental production of the AVS-36 rifle began in 1935, mass production in 1936 - 1937, and continued until 1940, when the AVS-36 was replaced in service with the Tokarev SVT-40 self-loading rifle. In total, according to various sources, from 35,000 to 65,000 AVS-36 rifles were produced. These rifles were used in the battles at Khalkhin Gol in 1939, in the winter war with Finland in 1940. And also in the initial period of the Great Patriotic War. Interesting. That the Finns, who captured both Tokarev's and Simonov's rifles as trophies in 1940, preferred to use the SVT-38 and SVT-40 rifles, since the Simonov rifle was much more complex in design and more capricious. However, that is why Tokarev's rifles replaced the AVS-36 in service with the Red Army.
Simonov's rifles
Shooting from a rifle arr. 1891/30, the shooter, accustomed to SVD, catches himself that the head has no fulcrum. And here the head must be placed with the chin on the comb of the butt, otherwise the eye deviates from the optical axis of the sight. Of course, you can get used to this position, but it is still quite inconvenient, especially when shooting from non-standard positions.
All sniper rifles of the war years of release were equipped with a PU optical sight. Among all the models of sights installed on a three-ruler, the PU is the simplest, lightest and cheapest to manufacture. Its magnification is 3, 5x, the reticle is made in the form of a T-shaped mark. One of the main disadvantages is the small focal length - given the rather long buttstock, the shooter has to stretch his chin forward to clearly see the entire image in the eyepiece. It is especially inconvenient to do this while in thick winter clothes.
PSO-1 - the standard sight of the SVD - against the background of the PU looks almost like a miracle of military optics. There is a protective lens hood, a rubber eyecup, an illumination of an aiming mark, a rangefinder scale, and a lateral correction scale. All this makes the USAR team much more efficient and convenient. And the displacement of the sight base to the left of the bore axis makes the aiming process simpler and more comfortable.
To load the SVD, you just need to attach a magazine loaded with cartridges to the weapon, while the rifle arr. 1891/30 it is required to put in five cartridges one at a time, especially since they sometimes wedge (if the edge of the upper cartridge clings to the edge of the lower one). Of course, reloading speed may not be decisive for a sniper weapon, but in some situations, this factor may be important.
When reloading the Mosin rifle, the shooter has to tear his head off the butt after each shot, and this is quite inconvenient. True, there is a so-called "sniper" method of reloading: after firing, grab the trigger by the button and pull it back (until it is fired), lift the bolt handle up with your fingers, and then pull the bolt back by the trigger button; then push the bolt forward with the thumb of your right hand, and lower the middle and index grips down. However, in order to quickly do all these manipulations, a certain skill is required.
The stock of the Mosin rifle is one-piece, made most often of birch (for weapons of the war years of release). When swelling, such a stock may well lead, then it will begin to touch the trunk, and this will significantly worsen the accuracy of the battle.
The SVD stock consists of a stock and barrel pads, plastic or wood. The linings do not come into direct contact with the barrel under any circumstances, therefore they do not affect the combat of the weapon. In addition, there are holes in the linings that accelerate the cooling of the barrel when firing.
In terms of recoil, the SVD loses somewhat, since when fired, the barrel goes up. Perhaps this is a consequence of the movement of the bolt carrier with the bolt and, accordingly, the change in the position of the center of gravity of the weapon. But the rifle arr. 1891/30 has a smooth rectilinear recoil, well received by the sniper's shoulder.
Here it should be borne in mind that according to the NSD, sniper shooting is carried out from a Mosin rifle only up to 600 meters (although the remote handwheel of the PU sight is designed for a distance of up to 1300 meters). At great distances, harassing fires are mainly fired.
The manual for the SVD claims that the most effective fire from it is up to 800 meters, although most snipers agree that this weapon provides a hit from the first shot at a chest target up to 500 meters, and at a head figure up to 300.
It must be admitted that despite a number of the listed shortcomings, it is pleasant to work with the three-ruler. The easy-to-use bolt, clear and uniform release, smooth recoil, the crosshair of the sight clearly visible even at dusk make this weapon quite convenient for the shooter. The accuracy of this rifle is slightly higher than that of the SVD (however, as already mentioned, this is natural for weapons with manual reloading).
And yet … Still, the Dragunov sniper rifle is more applied, it allows you to make a quick shot offhand and is much more convenient for shooting from your knee and while standing, tk. has a pistol grip and allows the shooter, if necessary, to use the rifle strap and magazine (to rest on the back of the hand - as seen in the picture). And elements such as a flash suppressor, a butt cheek, an improved optical sight make the entire system much more preferable for an army sniper.
Concluding the conversation about the SVD, it should be noted that this rifle in its class of self-loading sniper weapons is one of the best in the world in terms of generalized parameters of accuracy and firing accuracy, simplicity of design, and reliability of automatic operation. Of course, it has a number of disadvantages, however, an inexpensive self-loading sniper rifle has not yet been created in the world that has a higher accuracy of fire while maintaining the same reliability as that of the SVD in the operation of automation in a variety of climatic conditions.
The Dragunov sniper rifle has several modifications, the most promising of which is the SVDS. It has a stock that folds to the right side of the receiver, which is much more convenient for quickly bringing the weapon into a firing position compared to the AK-74M assault rifle. The stock is made of steel pipes with a butt pad and a polyamide cheek piece. The cheek rest is located on the upper part of the stock and can take two fixed positions - for shooting with an optical sight (upper) and for shooting with an open sight (lower). The rear part of the receiver, the firing mechanism body and the trigger are slightly modified.
To simplify maintenance of the rifle in the field, the operating mode of the gas venting device is optimized and the gas regulator is excluded from the design. The flame arrester is much smaller than that of the SVD, but is not inferior in terms of efficiency. The barrel length is reduced, and the stiffness is increased by increasing its outer diameter. The small dimensions of the SVDS make it very convenient when working as a sniper in a city, in a hidden position, etc.
And yet SVD in its classic version no longer meets modern requirements. The alternative to it should be, of course, not a three-line, but a modern high-precision system.
Cracker
And such a system appeared: about three years ago, Izhmash presented its new brainchild - the SV-98 sniper rifle. In connection with the urgent need to have a high-precision system in the sniper's arsenal in the sports weapons bureau under the leadership of V. Stronsky, the SV-98 "Cracker" sniper rifle was developed.
The SV-98 sniper rifle was developed by the department of the chief designer of Izhmash Concern OJSC, a team of authors led by Vladimir Stronsky, on the basis of the Record-CISM sports 7.62-mm rifle. SIZM.
SV-98 is designed to defeat emerging, moving, open and unmasked, unprotected and equipped with personal armor protection of enemy personnel at a distance of up to 1000 m.
Izhevsk weapons. Sniper rifle "SV-98"
This weapon is created on the basis of the target rifle "Record-CISM" and is intended, as stated in the description, "to destroy emerging, moving, open and camouflaged single targets at ranges up to 1000 meters." According to the manufacturer, the design is distinguished by high reliability and smooth operation of the mechanical part. The barrel is locked by turning the sliding bolt on three symmetrically located lugs. The bolt has a cocking indicator for the striker.
The trigger has a "warning" and allows you to adjust the trigger force (from 1 to 1.5 kgf), the length of the trigger stroke and even the position of the trigger relative to the stock grip. On the right, behind the shutter handle, there is a flag-type fuse, when turned on, the shutter (from opening), the sear and the trigger are blocked.
The cartridges are fed from a 10-seat magazine, which has a special guiding mechanism - to facilitate its abutment in a combat situation, for example, by touch. Unlike SVD, the magazine travel is straight, and not with a turn towards the latch. The feed mechanism of the magazine is made up of levers connected in a parallelogram.
The barrel with a length of 650 mm is stacked with a receiver on a fully adjustable stock. The pitch of the "sports" type barrel is 320 mm, which significantly increases the accuracy of fire. Some disadvantage is that the bore is not chrome-plated - this feature inherited from the SV-98 sports prototype. In this regard, the guaranteed survivability of the barrel is only 3000 shots - and even then, subject to careful maintenance. In addition, to optimize harmonic vibrations during firing, the barrel is made "floating", i.e. along its entire length, it does not touch the stock.
The rifle stock has an adjustable buttstock length up to 20 mm, the position of the butt plate changes up and down to 30 mm and left and right up to 7 mm; the comb of the stock is adjustable vertically in the range of 15 mm, and horizontally - 4 mm.
Usually on the muzzle of the barrel there is a silencer that increases the total length of the rifle from 1200 to 1375 mm, but it allows you to effectively use the SV-98 during special operations, especially in urban conditions. In addition to the fact that the silencer reduces the sound of a shot by about 20 dB, it also reduces the recoil force by almost 30%. Instead of a silencer, a special protective sleeve can be screwed onto the barrel - it creates the necessary tension at the muzzle to increase the accuracy of fire. A third possible muzzle device is a flame arrester.
If necessary, an anti-theft reflector visor is installed on the muffler housing. For the same purpose, a cloth belt is used, stretching over the barrel along its entire length. By the way, the need for the last two elements raises some doubts: after all, the SV-98 is a system for solving special tasks - it is unlikely that a sniper will have to fire intensively from it. But the very fact that Russian developers began to take into account even such insignificant details to improve the shooter's convenience cannot but cause joy.
For firing from SV-98, the manufacturer recommended 7N1 and 7N14 sniper cartridges, as well as "Extra" target cartridges. With such ammunition in the factory, the rifle shows accuracy within 60-70 mm when firing in groups of 10 shots at a distance of 300 meters. The muzzle velocity when using the 7N14 cartridge is 820 m / s, while the range of a direct shot at a chest figure 50 cm high reaches 430 meters.
In the front part of the stock there is a folding bipod with separate height adjustment of each opener. When carrying the bipod retracts inside the forearm, without protruding beyond the dimensions of the stock.
In the middle of the stock, a removable handle can be installed - in addition to being easy to carry, in field conditions it partially protects the optical sight from accidental impacts.
The mechanical sight, located above the receiver, allows you to set the firing range in the range from 100 to 600 meters every 100 meters. The aiming line is 581 mm.
The standard optics is the 1P69 "Hyperon" pancratic sight. It is mounted on a "Picatinny" rail on the top of the receiver. This sight provides automatic introduction of aiming angles when determining the range to the target or when setting a predetermined distance (there is a special rotary ring for this). In addition, the 1P69 design allows for search, observation and aimed shooting without changing the aiming angle at any magnification from 3 to 10x. The seat can be fitted with any day or night sight of domestic or Western production, which has a world standard mount.
By the way, about the scopes. Spoiled by an abundance of weapon accessories, Western shooters have long been accustomed to the fact that a high-quality optical sight can be almost equal in price to the weapon itself, and this is normal, since a lot depends on the scope. In particular, the optical sight should not only have precise installation mechanisms for introducing even small corrections vertically and horizontally, but it should also allow the sniper to adjust it in accordance with the peculiarities of vision (plus or minus 2 diopters), have a variable magnification (optimally from 2 up to 10 times) and allow you to make corrections for parallax depending on the distance to the target - at large distances and it matters. And the fashion that has appeared in our country in the last few years for pankratic sights, in which the magnification changes in accordance with the change in the distance setting and thus allows you to determine this distance, has long passed in the West. The fact is that the distance is estimated very approximately, and the error in the installations with a rather complex mechanism turns out to be quite large. However, it is "Hyperon", according to many reviews, just combines the best qualities of conventional optical and pankratic sights.
"Burglar" is a rather heavy weapon: with a silencer and a "Hyperon" sight, the whole system weighs 7.5 kg. The heavy weight makes it stable when shooting. Of course, in maneuvering combat operations, a sniper armed with SV-98 will have a hard time, but, firstly, the main indicator of the sniper system is still accuracy, and secondly, this is a special-purpose weapon for solving special tasks.
SV-98 has already repeatedly "took part" in the competitions of snipers of power structures in Krasnodar and Minsk. Reviews of professional snipers are the most positive. However, the shooters also point out minor flaws. For example, the downside is the individual fit of the details of each rifle, i.e. there is no interchangeability of parts. The trigger mechanism of the rifle is enclosed in an aluminum case, which makes it sensitive to shocks that are inevitable in combat conditions. In addition, the reflector is not spring loaded (as on most Western rifles). This means that to eject the spent cartridge case, the bolt must be energetically pulled back, which leads not only to a gradual loosening of the bolt, but also unmasks the sniper by clicking when reloading.
The standard optical sight also has its drawbacks: when the aiming angle is changed, the reticle sometimes moves in jumps, the scales do not always move in accordance with the number of clicks.
Nevertheless, the SV-98 competed on equal terms with the most promising western sniper - Arctic Warfire (AW). At the same time, the price of the Russian system is several orders of magnitude lower, which is important given the general shortage of funds among the security forces. It should be noted that the SV-98 is not an alternative to the Dragunov sniper rifle. This system is designed for special tasks, not for mass army sniping.
They say that Izhmash's long-term plans are to release an export version of the SV-98 chambered for the 7, 62x51 NATO cartridge. It is possible that the use of a wide range of high-quality Western-made ammunition will make it possible not only to enter the world arms market, but to further increase the accuracy of the Vzlomshik sniper system.
What should be a modern sniper (part 2)
