In its official Facebook group, Kalashnikov Israel posted photos of its new product in March 2017. A new sniper rifle of an Israeli company called OFEK-308 was presented to the general public. Currently, there is simply no detailed information about the new product, just as its technical characteristics are unknown. The rifle can only be judged by the photographs published by the Israelis. Perhaps the rifle will be demonstrated live for the first time as part of the traditional SHOT Show, which will be held in Las Vegas on January 23-26, 2018.
Kalashnikov-Israel is a subsidiary of a well-known Israeli company - CAA. CAA (Command Arms and Accessories) was founded in 2004 by the Moshe brothers, who had previously served in various special units of the Israeli army and police. Initially, the company specialized in designing various attachments and attachments for well-known types of small arms. The first product of the Israelis was the attachment for firing while standing from the roof of the car. She could easily fit any type of weapon, which quickly made her quite popular. Currently, it has been adopted by the special police forces of a number of states.
Another invention of the CAA is a counter showing exactly how many cartridges are left in the machine gun magazine when firing. Also known was the development under the name "Ronit" (named after the daughter of the co-owners of the company and its designer Moshe Uza). This is an attachment to the pistol, which allows you to achieve better aimed shooting and reduces the level of recoil. CAA is currently based in Kiryat Gat with a US subsidiary in Florida. The company gained real fame in Russia after it introduced on the market its own version of the famous Kalashnikov assault rifle in a modern ergonomic body kit. We are talking about the AK-ALFA assault rifle, which we have already written about. Today this model occupies a prominent place in the company's assortment and is presented in two calibers: 5, 56 and 7, 62 mm.
Sniper rifle OFEK-308, photo: facebook.com/Kalashnikovisr
Since Kalashnikov-Israel does not provide any information about its new product - the OFEK-308 sniper rifle, the authors of the all4shooters.com website conducted their own small investigation into the novelty, based only on the available photographs and the name of the new rifle itself. There is no big surprise in the appearance of a new model of a magazine sniper rifle on the world market. Accurate and good "bolts" with an accuracy of less than 1 MOA today have learned to produce many countries and companies, even from the outspoken periphery of the arms world.
One of the advantages that the new rifle has inherited from birth and is able to distinguish it from numerous competitors is the brand name "Kalashnikov", which is known all over the world. At least from a marketing point of view, this is a big plus for any small arms. CAA now holds an official license from the Russian concern Kalashnikov; it owns two trademarks, Kalashnikov-Israel and Kalashnikov-USA. Moreover, even their logos are made in the form of a stylized letter "K" based on the updated logo of the famous Russian concern. Talk about pirated copying of a trademark is not about CAA, it has no basis whatsoever.
Nothing is known about the technical details of the new OFEK-308 sniper rifle, with the exception of the caliber 7, 62x51 mm (.308 Win), which is indicated by the very name of the rifle. Most likely, the manufacturer remains silent, seeking to complete the results of all tests. At the same time, something can be said about the new product already now, for example, experts note an unusually long shutter travel, which may indicate that in the future the sniper rifle will be presented in other calibers for a longer sleeve (for example, 338 Lapua Magnum,.300 Winchester Magnum,.408 Chey Tac, maybe even.50 BMG). Perhaps the weapon will immediately be multi-caliber, but then it would be strange to put the number 308 in the name, although it may only be related to a specific model.
Sniper rifle OFEK-308, photo: facebook.com/Kalashnikovisr
If we talk about.308 Winchester or.308 Win ammunition, then this is the commercial designation for the standard NATO rifle and machine gun ammunition 7, 62 × 51 mm NATO. In terms of its characteristics, this cartridge roughly corresponds to the common Russian cartridge 7, 62 × 54 mm R. At one time, the main competitors of the.308 Win cartridges in the United States were the old army cartridge.30-06 Springfield. Over time, shooters and hunters have tried out the new ammunition, finding a number of advantages in it. These include a smaller, in comparison with the.30-06, recoil, as well as a shorter stroke length. It was also important that this cartridge was cheaper, which also determines its popularity throughout the world.
The cartridge, which appeared back in the 1950s, went through a long evolutionary path, during which time a huge number of different versions of it with all kinds of bullets were presented. There is hardly a company in the world that produces cartridges that would ignore this ammunition. In many Western armies, the 7, 62 × 51 mm NATO cartridge is a regular sniper ammunition. The standards existing in some countries provide for the defeat of a chest target using these cartridges at a distance of 600 meters and a growth target from 900 meters. For sniper and target shooting, many companies produce special versions of the cartridge with increased accuracy. It is not unusual for the Israelis to choose this particular caliber for their sniper rifle.
An interesting feature of the OFEK-308 rifle is also the widespread use of existing parts of small arms produced by CAA, although this is a rather expected move from the manufacturer, especially from a company that started with all kinds of weapon attachments. So on the rifle, the SRS Long Multi Position Sniper Stock, made of plastic, was used. The stock is equipped with a folding telescopic support leg, an adjustable rubber butt pad and a cheek piece. The presented stock, created by a sniper of one of the elite units, successfully combines a variety of settings with quick and easy handling. This stock is of interest even without the rifle itself.
Sniper rifle OFEK-308, photo: facebook.com/Kalashnikovisr
Also on the OFEK-308 rifle is the UPG pistol grip. This plastic accessory was originally intended for tuning AR-15 / M16 assault rifles (UPG16 version), as well as AK-47 / AK-74 Kalashnikov assault rifles (UPG47 version). The handle is made of high-strength plastic and is equipped with anti-slip rubber inserts. A special feature of this handle are replaceable covers on its front and rear walls. These pads allow you to perfectly adjust its dimensions to the shooter's grip by adjusting the grip according to the size of his palm. There is a free space inside the UPG pistol grip, which can be used to store small items of spare parts.
The new sniper rifle mounts on the stable and fully adjustable NBP bipod, which folds forward or backward, from CAA. These bipods are made of steel and polymer materials, which allows you to achieve a low weight of the product. The bipod is attached to the rifle using a lower MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. The upper Picatinny rail was made to the full length of the forend and the receiver of the sniper rifle. This gives a very wide scope for mounting various sighting devices: day and night optics, attachments for night shooting, etc. The authors of the website all4shooters.com named the magazine shaft with the widened mouth as another striking external detail of the new rifle. This gives the shooter the ability to quickly change the plastic magazine, and also makes it easier to change the magazine when in an uncomfortable position or in the dark. It would seem like a small detail, but every little detail when creating a weapon is of great importance.
Detailed information and technical information about the OFEK-308 is likely to appear soon, it is likely that the rifle will be presented at an exhibition in Las Vegas in January 2018. It was here that the AK-ALFA assault rifle was shown to the public for the first time.
