The debut of Chukavin's sniper rifle (abbreviated as SHF) took place at the last year's exhibition "Army-2017". It was in the Moscow region that the Kalashnikov concern presented its new weapon, which was immediately read as a replacement for the famous Dragunov sniper rifle (SVD). Interest in weapons did not disappear in 2018, moreover, it was from this rifle that Russian President Vladimir Putin fired on September 19 while inspecting the shooting gallery in the Patriot Park in Kubinka near Moscow. Vladimir Putin tested a microwave rifle chambered for the NATO cartridge 7, 62x51 NATO (or.308 Win commercial version).
In fact, the microwave oven may turn out to be more than just a rifle, becoming a promising platform for the entire line of small arms made in Izhevsk, which in the future may replace the world-famous developments of the gunsmith designer Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov.
The Chukavin semi-automatic sniper rifle, presented in 2017 at the Army-2017 forum, is one of the Kalashnikov Concern's developments for high-precision shooting. The rifle was originally realized in three calibers - 7, 62x54R, 7, 62x51 NATO (also known as.308 Win, weapons in this caliber are very popular on the international market), as well as.338 Lapua Magnum (8, 6x70 mm). At the same time, in caliber 7, 62x54R, the microwave rifle is fully compatible with magazines from the famous SVD sniper rifle, which has remained a traditional sniper weapon of the Russian army for many years.
The SHCh.308 rifle from which Putin fired, photo: kalashnikov.media
Alexey Krivoruchko, who headed the Kalashnikov concern in 2017, noted that the Chukavin rifle has great potential and a great future. Interest in weapons is shown in the Ministry of Defense and the National Guard, there is also interest on the part of Russian export partners. He also talked about the prospects for weapons in the civilian market. The new rifle differed from the usual small arms of the Kalashnikov concern, first of all, in its layout. The designers in Izhevsk decided to move away from the traditional scheme with a receiver, which was closed by a lid. The new microwave configuration simplifies the attachment of various optics, night and thermal imaging attachments, collimator sights and other modern sighting systems to weapons. In the basic configuration, the weapon is equipped with a telescopic buttstock with an adjustable cheek.
The project for the creation of a new rifle was led by Andrey Yuryevich Chukavin, who in 1985 graduated from the mechanical engineering faculty of the Izhevsk Mechanical Institute (today it is the MT Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University) with a degree in Small Arms. The specialist began his career at Izhmash, where he worked as a design engineer in the Main Design Bureau for the design and technological development of serial products of aircraft and cannon weapons. In 1993, he moved to work in the automatic rifle design bureau, which he then headed.
At present, Chukavin holds the position of deputy chief designer of the Kalashnikov concern for sporting and hunting weapons. He was directly involved in the development and introduction into production of the SVDS sniper rifle equipped with a folding stock, self-loading carbines "Tigr-9", "Tigr-308", "Saiga-308" and "Saiga" performance 100 with improved ergonomic performance, as well as plastic magazines for smooth-bore hunting carbines. He is the author of a number of patents for utility models and industrial designs. It was he who was entrusted to lead the project to create a new self-loading sniper rifle.
The catalyst for the creation of a new rifle was the fact that the SVD sniper rifle, which was put into service back in 1963, does not fully meet the requirements of the Russian military and modern requirements for such weapons. The main critical points to the legendary in all respects Dragunov rifle are the large length of the weapon, the lack of options in promising calibers and the impossibility of using a variety of modern optics.
The new semi-automatic sniper rifle of the Izhevsk gunsmiths attracted attention even before the president of the Russian Federation tried it out. Already at the Army-2017 forum, the attention of many visitors was riveted to the novelty. According to the chief designer of the Kalashnikov concern, Sergei Urzhumtsev, the microwave oven was the final development of the Ratnik project. The enterprise took part in the competition for the development of a new semi-automatic sniper rifle. At that time, the SVD was chosen as a base, which underwent modernization to meet the requirements of the customer's tactical and technical assignment. But soon enough, the designers realized that in the future, such a rifle would still cease to meet the requirements of modern combat. This primarily concerned the use of heavier promising optical sighting systems with a rifle, improving the ergonomic parameters of the rifle and reducing the dispersion rates of shots. The thing is that in the AK and SVD family, the sights were traditionally mounted on the side bar, which ties the shooter to the same sight, and also does not give a 100% recoil of the sighting line. Again, in the case of heating the receiver, the arm leash is possible, noted Urzhumtsev.
Based on this, the Kalashnikov concern analyzed the existing technical solutions in Russia and the world and decided to start creating a new rifle. It was immediately decided not to limit ourselves to the only classic caliber - 7, 62 mm, the option of switching to large calibers -.338 LM or its analogue 9, 3x64 mm was envisaged. The scheme of the new weapon was supposed to be universal, in order to work both with rifle cartridges of classic and large calibers, and with low-impulse ammunition, in order to become the basis for the future machine gun in the future. And if any classical scheme was suitable for classic rifle and low-impulse cartridges, then when switching to large calibers it was necessary to apply any new design solutions.
Self-loading rifle SHCh chambered for 7, 62x51 mm with a magazine for 20 rounds, photo: concern "Kalashnikov"
Concern "Kalashnikov" created three working groups that focused on debugging different solutions. The first - on the machine gun, the second - on the sniper rifle based on the classic shock layout of the weapon's automation, the third - on the rifle based on the alternative scheme. The basis for the new layout of the weapon was the so-called fire monitor, which was previously used by the gunsmith from Izhevsk Gennady Nikonov in the AN-94 "Abakan" machine gun. In such a scheme, the firing unit, which combines the barrel and the elements of the receiver, moves relative to the stationary gun carriage. The developers considered that the use of this scheme in the new rifle would reduce recoil when firing large caliber cartridges.
The result of the work of the first group of gunsmiths was the appearance of samples of small-sized automatic machines AM and AMB, which, together with the microwave rifle, were demonstrated to the general public at the Army-2017 exhibition. The second group presented prototypes of microwave rifles in three calibers, and the work of the third group was stopped. Urzhumtsev noted that it was not possible to circumvent the laws of physics: "We received an almost two-fold excess of the parameters of the dispersion of shots in comparison with the classical scheme and an unjustified increase in the weight of the weapon."
Curtain scheme
The idea of assembling small-sized automatic machines AM, AMB and a semi-automatic rifle SHF was borrowed from a small-sized Dragunov machine gun, which Evgeny Fedorovich created within the framework of the Modern competition, while working at the Izhmash design bureau. That his machine gun was designed according to the curtain scheme, when all other structural elements of the weapon are installed on a strong top tire, which takes all the load. These elements can be unloaded and made of plastic or light alloys.
A long strip with a thickness of about 10 mm acts as a curtain, from the inside of which guides are made. A shutter with a bolt frame moves along the curtain. The upper guides are one of the main differences between the Chukavin rifle and the traditional AK or SVD systems, where the bolt carrier moves along the lower guides. A liner is rigidly fixed to the tire, through which the rifle barrel is attached, that is, the tire with the barrel protrudes in a single rigid assembly. In this case, the lower part of the weapon, which contains only the body of the firing mechanism with a safety lock and the base with the magazine receiver, can be very light. In prototypes of the rifle, the lower part was aluminum, but it can also be made of composite materials.
According to Sergei Urzhumtsev, a new trend in the design of small arms is that, in addition to unification, multi-caliber and modularity, an architecture is needed that would make it possible to quickly transfer weapons from the classic layout to the bullpup layout. According to the general designer of the Kalashnikov concern, their design allows such alterations with minor changes, the lower component changes, an element is installed where the trigger is moved forward, while the firing unit remains unchanged.
On the heavy barrel of a sniper rifle, which is produced by the rotational forging method, there is no barrel armature, except for the gas chamber, which is fixed there in any automatic weapon, Urzhumtsev notes. In the microwave rifle, an automation system with a short piston stroke was used, this principle was borrowed from the reliable and proven SVD system for decades.
Rifle feel
Domestic and foreign experts have already managed to share their feelings from the microwave rifle. For example, Vsevolod Ilyin, a multiple champion of Russia and the world in practical shooting, noted that he likes the rifle, noticing the nuances that are clearly visible to a practical shooter. The lower part of the novelty is equipped with an ergonomic magazine for receiving the magazine, which allows the shooter to easily detach it by touch. Due to the presence of a developed latch manipulator, the box magazine can be unfastened both in the classical way and with the index finger. The handle for reloading the weapon is on the left, which allows you to conveniently manipulate the rifle in a prone position. To prevent dust and dirt from getting into the receiver of the microwave rifle, when the fuse is turned on, a special shutter closes the groove for the movement of the reloading handle.
Ilyin also noted the fact that the rifle butt is on the barrel line, the recoil is linear. According to him, the rifle's automation unit is distinguished by a very soft recoil: there is a feeling that you are shooting from a weapon of a smaller caliber. This allows the shooter to fire at a fairly high rate, while the rifle remains on the line of sight. The concept of the weapon has also changed somewhat: this is not an ordinary support sniper rifle, the microwave can be used to solve a wider range of tasks. This rifle is a weapon of a well-aimed shooter who can hit a target at a distance and take part in close combat, since the rifle has high-capacity magazines for 20 rounds (for caliber 7, 62 mm). The optimal weight for a semi-automatic rifle is considered to be 4-4, 4 kg, and the Chukavin sniper rifle fits in 4, 2 kg and it still has the potential to reduce weight.
Long-range rifle SHF chambered for.338 LAPUA MAGNUM
The famous American shooter expert, veteran of the US armed forces (former sergeant of the Delta special squad) Larry Vickers, who visited the Kalashnikov concern's weapons production in the spring of 2018, also spoke well of the Izhevsk novelty. “Looks great, good concept. I really like a few moments in the microwave: the first is the very smooth bolt carrier of the rifle, I just can't believe that the cartridge has already been sent to the chamber. It goes like clockwork. The second is the design of the weapon safety device, which blocks the channel through which the bolt carrier goes, this is a very interesting design solution. I also noticed that the bolt handle was on the left, which is convenient for right-handers. An interesting sample of weapons,”said Larry Vickers after the sniper rifle test.
Currently, there are three versions of the Izhevsk microwave rifle: chambered for 7, 62x51, 7, 62x54 and.338 LM cartridges. The most interesting is, perhaps, the latest model, which is a real high-precision weapon and a long-range rifle in all understandings of the word. The rifle uses a microwave design for standard calibers, but since the.338 Lapua Magnum ammunition (8, 6x70 mm) is much longer and larger, the designers proportionally increased the bolt group, barrel length, receiver and overall length of the rifle. Demonstrated in the fall of 2017, a sample of the SHF.338 rifle, which was, in fact, a shooting mockup and the first iteration of a new weapon in this caliber, already then demonstrated good accuracy of fire, allowing the shooter to confidently hit the target at the maximum available range of the Kalashnikov range - 1200 meters. And this is when using ordinary hunting cartridges.
At present, the Russian Ministry of Defense is coordinating tactical and technical tasks for carrying out experimental design work, designed for 2-3 years. And for civilian users, the new rifles will be available very soon. According to Sergei Urzhumtsev, rifles have been created, complete sets of design documentation have been developed for them, and already in 2019, the Kalashnikov concern will start preparing for the production and production of microwave rifles in three calibers, which will go to the civilian small arms market.
