In the previous article, we talked about the French Ultima Ratio sniper rifle from PMG, thanks to which the arms company from a small company became a worthy competitor to the titans of the world arms market. Having correctly directed the funds received from the state order for this rifle, the company was able to expand its production and take on another project, which was designed back, first of all, to meet the needs of the army and police. We are talking about the Hecate II large-caliber sniper rifle, which was made on the basis of the same Ultima Ratio, so we can say that this is another version of the "Last argument", only this time the argument is much more compelling.
Since the proliferation of large-caliber sniper rifles, the armies of many countries have felt a shortage of such weapons. Someone decided to start modernizing their outdated anti-tank rifles, increasing their accuracy. Someone decided to buy similar weapons in other countries or to acquire a production license. And someone has created new samples using all modern developments in firearms. Moreover, one cannot say that one solution was bad and the other perfect. So, for example, the production of your own weapons always seems to be a plus, but in the case of large-caliber rifles, which are not so much needed for the army and even more so for the police, it is much cheaper for a small country to acquire such weapons from a foreign company than to spend money on its own development and production. However, it all depends on how developed the arms business is in a particular country and how great the need for such weapons is. France is not a small country at all, in addition, this country does not have the last voice on our planet, so buying weapons abroad is not solid, I suppose. Taking into account the rather fruitful work of the PGM company on the creation of a rifle chambered for 7, 62x51, it was this company that was instructed to develop a large-caliber rifle.
The task was quite simple, since the weapon itself is not complex and simple, and the main characteristics are mainly formed by the quality of production. Since the "bolt" chambered for 7, 62x51 already existed and met all the requirements imposed on it, it was on the basis of this weapon that it was decided to make a large-caliber sniper rifle chambered for.50BMG. In other words, the weapon simply increased some of the nodes, leaving the basic essence unchanged. True, I had to tinker with the muzzle brake-recoil compensator to reduce recoil when firing with minimal negative impact on the accuracy of the weapon.
Thus, the Hecate II large-caliber sniper rifle is a sample weapon built around a sliding bolt that locks the barrel bore when turned by 3 stops. Taking into account the fact that the ammunition of the weapon was changed, it was necessary to abandon the widespread use of light alloys, which increased the weight of the rifle to 13, 8 kilograms, the heavy barrel of the weapon is of considerable importance here. The barrel mount had to be changed in the same way, abandoning the 4 bolts passing through the receiver and entering the cutouts under the chamber. In front of the receiver, a protrusion appeared on which a handle for carrying weapons was fixed. They swear at this handle strongly, since it is installed far from the center of the weight of the weapon, and it is also virtually impossible to carry the weapon by this handle if an optical sight is installed, since in its raised position between the optics and the handle there is space for two fingers, which it is not at all convenient for carrying almost 14 kilograms of weight, and the risk of damaging the telescopic sight is great. In addition, not every high-magnification optical sight will allow you to raise the carrying handle in general, although with the standard SCROME LTE J10 F1 10x optical sight, the handle rises completely, just grab it. The rifle does not have open sights, which is a pity.
For long distances, the rifle is transported in a hard case, disassembled. The butt of the weapon for transportation is detached, the bolt is taken out, the bipod is folded, the optical sight remains in place, which is a plus. The butt itself has the ability to adjust the length and height of the cheek rest. On the back of the butt there is a foam rubber recoil pad, which softens the recoil when firing, in addition to it, for the same task, a sufficiently large muzzle brake-recoil compensator is installed. The weapon is fed from detachable magazines with a capacity of 7 rounds. The length of the weapon is 1380 millimeters with a stock, while the barrel is 700 millimeters long. Conversely, the manufacturer "modestly" and indicated the effective range of weapons in 1500 meters, when samples similar in design and quality can boast of larger numbers. In reality, however, weapons are no worse than most SWRs and with high-quality ammunition can show amazing results.
This large-caliber sniper rifle has proven itself well on the battlefield. After being adopted by the French army, it got its place in the armies of Estonia, Indonesia, Slovenia and even Switzerland, which has its own excellent KSV samples, which indicates the high quality of the weapon and its effectiveness. The disadvantages of this weapon would be called, first of all, the absence of open sighting devices, since the failure of the optical sight will make further use of the weapon impossible. This also includes the carrying handle, however, according to some reports, it was still changed, but there is no confirmation of this. The large weight of the rifle is more likely even a plus in this case, and not a minus, since the large mass of the weapon significantly reduces the sharpness of recoil when firing, which means it increases the accuracy and comfort of shooting. Doubts are also caused by the attachment of the butt to the weapon, it is very fragile in appearance, but judging by the fact that there are no negative reviews about this unit, it means that it fully withstands all the loads that arise during the shooting process.
Summing up all of the above, it should be noted that the PGM company has seriously grown only on these two rifle samples, which made it possible to move on with a deliberately positive result and create a new weapon, but about it in the next article.
