The Russian large-caliber sniper rifle OSV-96 "Cracker" is a fairly well-known example of small arms. OSV-96 became the first Russian weapon of this class and is a kind of response to the American Barret M82 rifle. Unlike the American sniper rifle, real professionals in their field were engaged in its creation - the designers of one of the largest Russian defense enterprises, JSC Instrument Design Bureau (KBP) from Tula.
The 12, 7-mm large-caliber self-loading sniper rifle OSV-96 "Vzlomshik" became the first domestic weapon of this class. The rifle allows you to hit not only manpower, but also various enemy equipment at long distances. Especially for this rifle in Tula, a 12, 7-mm sniper cartridge with an armor-piercing bullet was developed and mastered in mass production, shooting with its use provides the shooter with a higher accuracy of hitting small-sized and lightly armored targets. Currently, the rifle is in service with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB and the Russian Ministry of Defense. In addition to Russia, this rifle is in service with the armies and special units of a number of countries, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Vietnam, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Syria.
The OSV-96 large-caliber sniper rifle was developed by the specialists of the Instrument-Making Design Bureau on the basis of an earlier experimental self-loading model of the B-94 Volga large-caliber sniper rifle as part of the Vzlomchik research and development work. On the basis of the B-94 prototype, a serial version of the rifle was developed, which received the OSV-96 marking.
B-94 "Volga"
Quite active and large-scale research and development work on the creation of an effective and competitive large-caliber sniper rifle in our country began in the 1990s, following the proliferation and appearance of this weapon in other countries of the world. In subsequent years, a sufficient number of samples of such weapons of 12, 7 and 14, 5 mm caliber were created in Russia. But one of the first samples of large-caliber sniper weapons was created in Tula. One of the first openly presented samples of such weapons in 1994 was the B-94 experimental self-loading sniper rifle.
The use of cartridges of 12, 7x108 mm provided the weapon with a large effective firing range. This caliber allowed the shooter to stay out of the reach of the aimed fire of small arms of conventional calibers, which is very important in real combat conditions. At the same time, a 12, 7-mm bullet has three times less drift than 7, 62-mm ammunition is noted on the official website of the Instrument-Making Design Bureau. Also, for the new large-caliber sniper rifle, a self-loading principle of operation was chosen and an effective muzzle device was used. Taken together, this made it possible to reduce the fatigue of the shooter when firing and provide him with the ability to fire with a high rate of fire.
After a number of improvements and some modernization on the basis of the decree of the Government of Russia dated December 28, 1996, the large-caliber sniper rifle B-94 "Volga" was adopted by the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. Despite the adoption of a new rifle, work on its further modernization was continued, the weapon was gradually improved. Of the external changes, the most noticeable are the fastening of the bipod on a special bracket, while the bipod themselves have become adjustable. Also, the gunsmiths from Tula changed the design of the muzzle brake and the shape of the wooden butt, which later became plastic. In addition, the large-caliber sniper rifle received a carrying handle and other sighting devices. The result of systematic work to improve the sniper rifle was the emergence of the OSV-96 model, which, after successful state tests on the basis of a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation, was adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in March 2000.
OSV-96 is a self-loading large-caliber sniper rifle, the work of the automatics of which is based on the use of the energy of powder gases. At the moment of firing, the powder gases through a special gas outlet in the barrel enter the gas tube, which acts on the piston of the bolt carrier, forcing it to move backward. When the bolt carrier rolls back, the bore of the sniper rifle is unlocked, the spent cartridge case is removed and ejected, the return spring is compressed, the drummer is cocked, and the process of feeding a new cartridge to the chambering line. With the help of a return spring, the bolt carrier is returned to the forward position again. The rifle barrel bore is locked by turning the bolt when the leading lug of the bolt interacts with the figured groove located on the bolt carrier. Locking and unlocking the bore of the rifle, removing the spent cartridge case from the chamber, feeding a new ammunition from the box magazine for 5 rounds and sending the cartridge into the chamber after the shot is fired occur automatically.
One of the features of the Russian OSV-96 large-caliber sniper rifle is its foldable design. The transfer of weapons from a folded position to a combat position and back takes literally a few seconds. In the area of the breech part of a 12, 7-mm sniper rifle, there is a special hinge and a locking device. The rifle folds easily in almost half. The rifle barrel, together with the gas outlet tube, folds to the right and back and is fixed, pressing against the receiver with a special latch. The opening of the OSV-96 chamber opening at the same time is sealed using a special lever mechanism, which, in turn, prevents clogging of the barrel and automatic mechanisms of the weapon. In the folded position, the length of this rifle is equal to the length of the barrel with a muzzle brake and does not exceed the dimensions of the mass Russian army rifle SVD, which makes it easy and convenient to transport weapons in armored vehicles and other vehicles over considerable distances.
On the muzzle of the barrel of the OSV-96 large-caliber rifle, a reactive muzzle brake-compensator is installed, the gases discharged with its help do not create an additional load on the sniper. A feature of this Tula rifle is a fairly simple open (mechanical) sighting device in the form of an entire front sight folding along the barrel. The rifle bolt locks the bore to four lugs, which engage with the breech stops when the bore is locked. The cocking handle is on the right side. On a special console, which is located in front of the OSV-96 receiver, there are height-adjustable bipods, which allow the sniper to take the most convenient position for firing. At the same time, the bipod allows the shooter to rotate the console relative to the rifle barrel in the longitudinal plane, for this reason the rifle can be used quite effectively on any, even fairly uneven surface. However, this solution also has disadvantages. The downside is that the bipod, like the handle for carrying the rifle, is attached directly to the barrel of the weapon, which does not have a very positive effect on the accuracy of firing.
On the receiver of a large-caliber rifle, a Picatinny rail is mounted, which can be used to mount various types of day and night sights. At the same time, OSV-96 is not intended for hand-held fire, therefore it does not have a forearm. The rifle butt is made of plastic, the pistol grip is made of modern shock-resistant plastic. The shock-absorbing butt plate of the rifle butt (non-adjustable) together with the muzzle brake-compensator dampens the recoil from the shot, the butt plate is made of rubber.
The OSV-96 large-caliber sniper rifle is designed to engage unarmored and lightly armored targets at a distance of up to 1800 meters, as well as enemy personnel wearing personal protective equipment and behind various shelters at a distance of up to 1000 meters. When firing from a rifle using sniper cartridges at a distance of 100 meters in series of 4-5 shots, the dispersion diameter does not exceed 50 mm. At the same time, experts call one of the disadvantages of this model a very loud sound when fired, therefore, shooters are advised to fire with headphones.
This sniper rifle is currently being upgraded. OSV-96 will be modernized and will receive a new sniper cartridge, as a result it should become highly accurate. On May 30, 2018, a representative of the Shipunov Instrument-Making Design Bureau in Tula told TASS reporters about this. According to him, today the OSV-96 large-caliber rifle is inferior in accuracy to those of other sniper weapons developed by KBP specialists, for example, the MTs-116M rifle. Therefore, today work is underway to modernize the OSV-96 large-caliber sniper rifle in terms of increasing the accuracy and accuracy of its firing. Currently, the work is at the stage of research and development, later will begin development work and testing of the modernized sample. The upgraded sniper rifle with the new cartridge is expected to be ready in 2020.
The performance characteristics of the OSV-96:
Caliber - 12.7 mm.
Cartridge - 12.7 x108 mm.
Barrel length - 1000 mm.
Overall length - 1746/1154 mm (unfolded and folded position).
Weight without cartridges and optical sight - 12, 9 kg.
Effective firing range - up to 1800 m.
Magazine capacity - 5 rounds.
