At the ARMS & Hunting 2017 exhibition, which took place in Moscow on October 12-15 last year, a novelty from the ORSIS company was presented - the ORSIS F-17 high-precision multi-caliber rifle for sport shooting and hunting; in the future, this rifle can be offered to various law enforcement agencies. The rifle became the "successor" of the company's main bestseller - the ORSIS T-5000 model. On June 26, 2018, on the official website of the manufacturing company, information appeared about the opening of receiving orders for a new high-precision rifle ORSIS F-17.
Currently, ORSIS is rightfully the most famous private manufacturer of small arms in Russia. Industrial production of sporting and hunting rifles under the ORSIS trademark (romanized version of the abbreviation ORUzheynye SIStemy) by Promtechnology began in March 2011. The company specializes in the production of high-precision weapons. To do this, Promtechnology LLC has everything it needs - its own plant in Moscow with a modern machine park - 40 computer numerical control (CNC) processing centers and about 150 employees with the necessary qualifications.
The young company, which fired its flagship high-precision rifle ORSIS T-5000 (Accuracy) in 2011, quickly won the love and respect of customers, as well as a good business reputation among Russian and foreign partners, and ORSIS rifles are loved by many shooters around the world. At the same time, the company does not stop there, constantly updating the range of products.
Rifle ORSIS F-17, photo: orsis.com
One of the novelties of a private arms company with a Moscow residence permit is the successor of the ORSIS T-5000 rifle - the ORSIS F-17 high-precision rifle, which is created in accordance with all the latest trends and fashion trends in the development of sniper weapons - the rifle is multi-caliber. The model is available to customers in three calibers with three different barrels: chambered for.308 Win - a commercial version of the standard NATO cartridge 7, 62x51 mm;.300 Winchester Magnum - a widespread hunting and military cartridge of high power - 7, 62x67 mm;.338 Lapua Magnum - special sniper ammunition for long range shooting - 8, 6x70 mm.
In Russia, at present, the ORSIS F-17 rifle simply has no competitors. Previously, something similar was created only in another Russian private arms company, Lobaev Arms. But abroad, this model has a lot of competitors under the ORSIS brand. Following the victory in 2013 of the Remington MSR modular rifle in the USSOCOM Special Operations Forces sniper rifle competition, similar samples began to appear in large numbers. At the same time, for the civilian market of small arms and for export, they were promoted as "losers" of the competition announced by USSOCOM, from the well-known arms companies Armalite, Blaser, Barrett, AI or Sako / Beretta, and newly created models of high-precision weapons with interchangeable barrels, for example, the Canadian rifle CADEX CDX-MC KRAKEN or Austrian Ritter & Stark SX-1.
The modularity of the new rifle is especially emphasized by the manufacturing company. ORSIS F-17 is designed for those people who need to solve mutually exclusive tasks. The design of the rifle allows the shooter to quickly change the barrel and change the caliber of the weapon, and this can be done in the field, and all that is required for this is one hex key. The main advantage of all, without exception, multi-caliber small arms systems is the ability of the shooter to use smaller caliber cartridges for training, and large-caliber cartridges, if necessary, for example, to hit larger targets and firing at long distances, noted in ORSIS.
Rifle ORSIS F-17, photo: orsis.com
Even nowadays, one can come across the opinion that multi-caliber weapons are just a tribute to fashion, without any significant advantages. However, for a high-precision rifle, changing the caliber gives quite distinct advantages. And the main one is the versatility of the rifle. The same model can be used for a variety of tasks. For example, a sniper rifle chambered for.308 Win with a short barrel will be lighter and more convenient for transportation, as well as for shooting at close distances, suitable for urban combat. In the.300 Winchester Magnum version, the rifle becomes a more serious weapon, it is suitable for shooting at medium distances and conducting counter sniper combat. In the version chambered for.338 Lapua Magnum, we have a truly powerful and high-precision sniper tool for shooting at long and ultra-long distances.
In addition to versatility, an important advantage of multi-caliber weapons is their efficiency. Buying such a high-precision rifle with a set of three different barrels, you, in fact, become the owner of three different types of weapons. When buying an ORSIS F-17 rifle, the savings can reach very large sums of money. At the same time, savings are achieved not only due to the rifle itself, but also due to the ammunition used. So for training, you can always use cheaper cartridges, and for hitting real targets, more expensive ammunition of 8.6x70 mm caliber, which is about 5-6 times more expensive than the standard 7.62x51 mm cartridge. Specialists also refer to additional bonuses as saving the resource of the main barrel of the rifle.
The third advantage of multi-caliber rifle models is the logistical advantages of the weapon. The shooter may not always have ammunition of the required caliber on hand, especially when located in remote or hard-to-reach areas. In this case, you can simply replace the rifle barrel and use less scarce ammo. And here an important advantage is the speed and simplicity of replacing the barrels, since multi-caliber weapons are initially designed so as to ensure easy disassembly with a minimum amount of tools used.
Rifle ORSIS F-17, photo: orsis.com
The fourth plus of such weapons is legal aspects. Weapons legislation very often strictly regulates the maximum possible number of purchased firearms. At the same time, the additional barrel is not a separate weapon, so for one license you actually purchase three different rifle models at once. And in some countries, you may face such a problem as the lack of certified shooting ranges with powerful cartridges, which includes the.338 Lapua Magnum ammunition. For example, in Germany at sports shooting ranges there is a muzzle energy limit of 7000 J. At the same time, some versions of.338 LM cartridges do not fit into this framework, formally they cannot be fired.
As the official website of the manufacturer of the new Russian modular rifle notes, this model can be safely called the "successor" of the ORSIS T-5000. The declared accuracy of the ORSIS F17 also does not exceed 0.5 MOA, they use the same forend, the rifle butts are also almost completely identical (only the seats differ). At the same time, one of the indisputable advantages of a multi-caliber rifle is its versatility, which is achieved due to its modular design. A replaceable set of one weapon caliber for another consists of a barrel, a bolt cylinder, and a set of special spacers that are installed in a single box magazine body for cartridges of different calibers.
The ORSIS F17 is a high-precision bolt action magazine-type rifle. The rifle is locked onto three symmetrical lugs directly behind the grooves in the breech. The side surface of the bolt of the new rifle has spiral grooves to reduce friction, and the large knob of the bolt handle makes it easier to unlock. The shutter travel is light and smooth enough. The quick-release barrel mount on the ORSIS F17 is a bayonet-type connection. The body parts of the rifle are made of high-quality high-strength aluminum alloy. Detachable box magazines that can hold 5 rounds are used with the rifle. The rifle is equipped with a skeletal butt with a butt pad and a cheek, the butt folds to the right side, but if requested by the customer, it can be folded to the left. The butt of the rifle can be adjusted to suit the anatomical features of the shooter.
Rifle ORSIS F-17, photo: orsis.com
In order to change the caliber of the weapon from.338 LM, to.300 WM or.308 Win, the shooter needs to unscrew three screws with a hex wrench, remove and change the barrel, change the bolt cylinder and install the required insert for a certain caliber in the magazine. Since the bolt is fastened directly to the rifle barrel when locking, then when changing the caliber of the weapon, the shooter does not have problems with adjusting the mirror gap. Depending on the caliber, the firing range of the rifle varies from 1500 to 1200 and 800 meters, respectively. The mass of ORSIS F17 without an optical sight and with an empty magazine does not exceed 7.3 kg. Rifle length is 1333 mm for.338 LM and.300 WM calibers using 700 mm barrels. The.308 Win uses a 660mm barrel, and the overall rifle length is reduced to 1293mm, respectively. The descent force of this model is N (kgf): 6, 4-14, 7 (0, 65-1, 5).
The workmanship and finish have always been the strengths of ORSIS, and they are also at a high level in the new model. The metal parts of the F-17 precision rifle are Cerakote coated with three additional color options available: Sniper Gray, Desert Sand, O. D. Green, base color Black Graphite. Preliminary tests of the rifle prototype, which were carried out in October 2017, demonstrated zero deviation of the mean point of impact (STF) from the point of aim (TP) when replacing the rifle barrel and realizable accuracy of fire at a distance of 100 meters no more than 0.5 MOA in the maximum available caliber.338 Lapua Magnum. As the developers of the new high-precision rifle note, in the future it will be possible for customers to order additional replacement kits for intermediate cartridges at will.
The ORSIS F-17 multi-caliber rifle is an excellent option for those shooters who value quality, simplicity and reliability, as well as the ability to quickly change the caliber used, and this can be done even in the field. The cost of the rifle directly depends on the configuration. Without additional replaceable barrels, you can buy this model for 400 thousand rubles. The cost of a rifle with one interchangeable barrel in the kit is 450 thousand rubles. A rifle with a full set of barrels will cost the buyer 500 thousand rubles (the rifle itself - 380 thousand rubles, two replaceable sets of the barrel - 60 thousand rubles each). This is the economy of such small arms, for three conventional rifles at a comparable price you would have to shell out more than one million rubles from your pocket.
Rifle ORSIS F-17, photo: orsis.com
The performance characteristics of the ORSIS F-17 (according to the site orsis.com):
Caliber -.308 Win /.300 Winchester Magnum /.338 Lapua Magnum
Barrel length - 660/700/700 mm.
Rifle length - 1293/1333/1333 mm.
Weight - up to 7.3 kg (without an optical sight and with an empty magazine).
Magazine capacity - 5 rounds.
Firing range - 800/1200/1500 m.
The declared accuracy of fire at a distance of 100 m is no more than 0.5MOA.
Descent force - 6, 4 - 14, 7 (0, 65 - 1, 5) N (kgf).
