The story about the most famous large-caliber sniper rifles of our time would be incomplete without the Swiss development of the OM 50 Nemesis. This model was created in the early 2000s and was mass-produced by the large Swiss defense company Advanced Military System Design (A. M. S. D.). The Swiss large-caliber rifle was originally designed for the popular NATO.50 BMG cartridge and was conceived as a fairly compact weapon for carrying out "jewelry" special operations in a city and a limited space.
It is worth noting that the rifle turned out to be extremely successful. The designers did a good job on its ergonomics and accuracy of fire, achieving excellent performance. The accuracy of shooting from the OM 50 Nemesis rifle in the field using special sniper cartridges is less than 0.5 MOA (angular minute) at a distance of 300 meters and less than 1 MOA at a distance of 1000 meters. A trained sniper easily hits a playing card from this rifle from a distance of 900 meters. And it's not a joke. A professional sniper of the US Marine Corps in a test range from a distance of 900 meters managed to lay a series of five shots into a 5x6 cm rectangular target, which was then less than 0.25 MOA. This result can be safely attributed to the outstanding.
The OM 50 Nemesis large bore sniper rifle was developed in 2001 by retired US Marine Corps officer and professional sniper James Owen and Swiss small arms designer Chris Movigliatti. It was the capital letters of their names that gave the name to the weapon, and the number 50 indicates the caliber of the rifle -.50 BMG. The second name of the rifle is Nemesis. This is a reference to the ancient Greek winged goddess of retribution, Nemesis, who punished the guilty for violating the moral and social order.
The goal of the OM 50 Nemesis designers was to create a high-precision sample of large-caliber sniper weapons suitable for use in a wide variety of conditions, including in combat in the city and in dense buildings with an eye on the use of specialists from army and police special forces. In the conditions of the "urban war", the weapon was planned to be used for firing from short distances and at well-protected targets. Due to the modular design and the availability of a wide range of interchangeable barrels, the OM 50 Nemesis (long heavy barrel) rifle can also be used for long-range and ultra-long range sport shooting.
In 2002, the right to this brand, a prototype of a sniper rifle and all technical documentation for it were transferred to the large Swiss arms company Advanced Military Systems Design, or A. M. S. D. Already in 2003, this company produced the first serial batch of large-caliber rifles, which received the official designation AMSD OM 50 Nemesis, from that moment a full life began for the new model of small arms, the rifle received well-deserved recognition in many European countries.
Interesting is the fact from the history of the creation of OM 50 Nemesis that only three months passed from the appearance of the idea to its implementation in metal by creating the initial version. But this does not mean at all that the designers of the rifle tried to do everything as quickly as possible in order to establish the release of new weapons as soon as possible. Such a short development period for a prototype is explained by the fact that both designers who worked on their brainchild had a clear idea of what exactly they wanted to get at the output. At the same time, the final version of a large-caliber sniper rifle, which could be safely shown to the general public, was created almost three years later, during which everything was perfectly adjusted and fine-tuned, as in the world-famous Swiss watches.
Due to the high quality of performance, excellent well-thought-out ergonomics, high accuracy of fire and other positive qualities, the new rifle almost immediately gained popularity among the military and police officers of special forces. Since 2003, when the rifle went into mass production, it has been in service with special units of the Swiss police and army. It is also in service with a number of European states, including Belgium, Holland, Germany, Luxembourg and Sweden. According to some reports, in May 2008, special forces of the Georgian army managed to receive a certain number of such rifles.
A. M. S. D. the rifle was produced in three modifications, which differed slightly from each other. All of them had a modular construction principle. The first version of the OM 50 Nemesis Mk I was a single-shot large-caliber sniper rifle with a sliding bolt action and a non-folding butt stock that was adjustable in length and height. The OM 50 Nemesis Mk II and Mk III rifles received a detachable box magazine designed for five 12.7 mm rounds. They also received an adjustable, but at the same time, side-folding stock, equipped with an additional folding support located directly below it. The Mk III, among other things, stood out for its elongated forend with a long Picatinny rail, perfect for mounting day and night riflescopes.
All three sniper rifles OM 50 Nemesis were made on a single "chassis" according to the same modular scheme. The main components of a sniper rifle are the receiver, the bolt group and the firing mechanism. All parts of the weapon are made of high-quality high-strength materials and are perfectly matched to each other. The barrel bore is locked by means of a longitudinally sliding rotary bolt having three lugs engaging directly with the breech of the rifle barrel. None of the three rifles are equipped with standard open sights.
The modular design allows a wide range of barrels to be used. The barrels are heavy, quick-detachable with a length of 381 mm to 838 mm (a total of five barrels: 381 mm, 457 mm, 558 mm, 711 mm, 838 mm) with various wall thicknesses. They can be equipped with either a massive muzzle brake-compensator, or a tactical silencer. A wide range of barrels makes it easy to change the tactical capabilities of the weapon, to reduce the weight and dimensions of the rifle, providing its owner with greater mobility. The rifle barrel is secured with five screws that pass through the receiver and enter the cutouts located under the chamber. In accordance with the tasks facing the sniper, he can easily replace the barrels using the supplied special key, spending no more than two minutes of his time on this.
The barrel bore of the OM 50 Nemesis rifle is locked on three lugs, while the grip is carried out with the breech of the barrel, which made it possible to remove part of the load from the receiver when firing, which means it also reduced its weight, which ranges from 10 to 13 kg, depending on used replacement barrel. An adjustable folding telescopic bipod is attached to the front of the forearm of a large-caliber rifle.
A. M. S. D. worked out plans to create models of the Mk IV and Mk V rifles, but they were not implemented in practice. In December 2010, the Swiss firm A. M. S. D.transferred all rights to the OM 50 Nemesis brand, the production of the rifle and technical documentation for it to another arms company from Switzerland - SAN Swiss Arms AG. Already in 2011, this company released a number of new samples of the updated version of "Nemesis", but already under its own brand - SAN 511.
The performance characteristics of the OM 50 Nemesis Mk III:
Caliber - 12.7 mm.
Cartridge - 12, 7 × 99 mm NATO (.50BMG).
Barrel length - 381-838 mm.
The total length is 1029-1562 mm.
Weight - from 10 to 13 kg (depending on the barrel, without optics)
Effective firing range - 1600 m.
The maximum range is 2500 m.
Magazine capacity - 5 rounds.
