The ORSIS-K15 "Brother" universal tactical self-loading carbine is one of the novelties of the Russian arms company ORSIS. The carbine was first presented to the public at the ARMS and Hunting 2017 arms exhibition in Moscow. Also in February 2018, the company held a presentation of the novelty at the ORSIS salon, after which it demonstrated it at many exhibitions, including IWA 2018 in Nuremberg in March 2018 and Defexpo India - 2018 in India in April this year. The manufacturer positions this carbine as a civilian weapon designed for hunting and shooting sports.
It is possible that over time, this sample of Russian small arms will also interest representatives of law enforcement agencies, it is no coincidence that the carbine is regularly exhibited at defense exhibitions. The manufacturer's declared performance characteristics of the carbine also do not exclude its use by the military. ORSIS assures that the carbine is able to work in the temperature range from +50 to -50 degrees Celsius, as well as in special conditions: rain, snow, mud, sand should not become a particular hindrance for the shooter.
The layout of the carbine is based on the AR-15 platform, but there are also a number of significant design differences, including a two-position gas regulator, the use of a gas engine with a short stroke of the gas piston, and a butterfly valve with two lugs. The metal parts of the Brother carbine are made of aluminum alloys and high-strength structural steels, and the plastic elements are made of glass-filled polyamide. The use of such materials in the design makes the carbine quite lightweight and reliable in operation.
The shutter of the ORSIS-K15 carbine is locked by turning by two lugs, while the design provides a rigid reflection of the spent cartridge case. It is allowed to install the weapon reloading handle on both the right and left sides, at the request of the shooter (basic configuration - right-side group (right / right port). The carbine design uses a two-way two-position fuse (fire and protection); there is a Picatinny rail for mounting modern optical sights and tactical body kit; the shaft is unified for MAGPUL stores; two-position gas engine with the ability to adjust.
In addition to all of the above, the design features of the new ORSIS carbine include the fact that it is possible to install butts of different designs on the weapon using an additional adapter (telescopic, folding or rigid). Depending on the configuration of the weapon, a one- or two-way magazine reset button is placed on the carbine. The seat on the muzzle of the "Brother" carbine is unified with the AR series popular all over the world.
As Dmitry Kuznetsov, the test shooter of the ORSIS company, told RIA Novosti news agency, the main know-how of the company is the barrel processing technology. “There are three methods: forging, mandrel and single cut. Most of our competitors in the small arms market use the first two methods, while ORSIS chose the third method. A special cutter, called a trellis, processes one rifling for each pass through the bore. In total, about 80-100 trellis passes are required. This technology allows the Russian manufacturer of high-precision weapons to obtain an almost ideal bore geometry at the output, and this, in turn, has a positive effect on the accuracy and accuracy of the weapon when firing."
The stated accuracy of fire for the ORSIS-K15 "Brother" carbine at a distance of 100 meters does not exceed one minute of angle (MOA - Minute of angle), which is a very good value for a civilian semi-automatic weapon. Simply put, if a trained shooter releases the entire magazine of the carbine at one point, then the distance between the most distant holes on the target should be only 2.9 centimeters. For a semi-automatic rifle, which in the sport shooting version has a barrel length of only 405 mm, this is an outstanding result.
“Equally important for any professional shooter, no matter whether he is a military or a civilian, is the ability to customize the carbine for himself,” explains Dmitry Kuznetsov. On the receiver cover of the carbine there is a Picatinny rail, designed for mounting various modern sights. The receiver itself of the weapon is made of two parts, similar to the AR series carbines - thanks to this solution, the sights cannot be removed when cleaning and disassembling the weapon. The bolt handle of the “Brother” carbine, at the request of the customer, can be installed on the left or on the right. The carbine safety catch is also double-sided. The buttstock is adjustable, but it is possible to set any other to your taste. The same applies to the muzzle brake-compensator. The basic configuration uses an ORSIS model 008 muzzle brake compensator.
The RIA Novosti correspondent, who tested the K-15 carbine in action and had never fired a sniper before, noted that this model made a frankly pleasant impression on him. According to him, the ORSIS-K15 "Brother" is ergonomic, "grasping" and, like all truly high-quality weapons, is beautiful. At the same time, he noted the impressive weight of the carbine - more than 5 kg with an installed optical sight. For an unprepared person, it's hard, although for a sniper weapon this is not considered a disadvantage, since shooting is usually carried out from a stop or from short bipods located under the forearm. Also, the large weight of the weapon partially compensates for the recoil when fired.
For the ORSIS-K15 "Brother" carbine, the manufacturer announced a price of 200,000 rubles in the basic configuration. The price is quite "biting", a large number of semi-automatic carbines of much lower cost are presented on the civilian weapons market, but most of them are significantly inferior to the "Brother" in accuracy and accuracy of fire. ORSIS announced the receipt of a universal tactical self-loading carbine chambered for 7, 62x51 mm (.308 Win) cartridge at the end of January 2018. The message indicated that 200,000 rubles is the price for the first 100 copies of the carbine, and the company also promised pleasant bonuses to the first 100 buyers of the novelty. The basic configuration is available to customers with a carbine with a black corrosion-resistant coating Cerakote - Black Graphite.
The performance characteristics of the ORSIS-K15 "Brother" (data from the official website):
Caliber -.308 Win (7, 62x51).
Barrel length - 508 mm (hunting version), 405 mm (sports version).
Number of grooves - 4 pcs.
Descent force - 2.5 kgf (hunting version), 1.5 kgf (sports version).
Unfolded length - 1090 mm.
Folded length 840 mm (sport version only).
Weight with an empty magazine without an optical sight - no more than 5 kg.
The declared accuracy of fire at 100 meters is no more than 1-1.5 MOA.
Magazine capacity - 10 rounds.
Effective firing distance - 800 m.
