Large-caliber sniper weapons have repeatedly proved that they are not only a useful means for destroying an enemy protected by high-class individual body armor, but in general, a weapon that is necessary and has the right to exist. The only thing that such a weapon does not allow is to fire at the enemy, remaining unnoticed, that is, to fire without the sound of a shot and without a flame. Of course, it is not so difficult to implement all this in a weapon, the only question is who will carry the resulting, at best, three-meter sample weighing a kilogram under 30-40. Therefore, only enthusiasts dream of complete silence (and, by the way, they successfully implement it), the same designers, whose main goal is to create a practical large-caliber sniper weapon, strive to find the best option, and not only between the weight of the dimensions and the decrease in the sound level, but also in terms of efficiency application. So a vivid example of such a sniper rifle is the VSSK, aka "Exhaust", which was created by order of the FSB. In this article we will try to get acquainted with this most interesting weapon, although the article was too late, since all the noise around this rifle has already managed to subside.
The large-caliber sniper rifle "Exhaust" acquired mass fame only a couple of years ago, as the media usually contributed to this. The fact is that only recently weapons became available for export, and in this business there is no way of advertising, that's why first domestic, and after them foreign publications began to publish information about this weapon, positioning it as “absolutely new and unparalleled ". Whatever it was, but the product is domestic, so we will not scold anyone for the fact that the information in its advertising was a little distorted. In fact, the weapon is a little older than the interest that was shown in it. This weapon appeared back in 2002, it was then that all work and tests of this sample were completed. The customer of such a large-caliber sniper rifle was the FSB Special Purpose Center, and the Central Design Bureau of Sports and Hunting Weapons of the city of Tula was the contractor. This weapon was presented to the general public in 2005, while separately it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that weapons and ammunition were referred to as a sniper complex with a small unmasking effect "Exhaust".
In other words, no one has ever talked about the noiselessness of weapons, although on the forums you can often find "fighters" of the Internet who claim that weapons are completely silent and that tanks can shoot almost no towers from this rifle. In fact, the large-caliber sniper "Exhaust" seriously loses to its counterparts with a similar caliber, since in order to reduce the sound of a shot, the cartridge in it is used completely different than in the well-known KSV, namely 12, 7x54. But about ammunition below. Due to the fact that the cartridge is much "weaker" than full-fledged large-caliber ammunition for KSV, the use of the Exhaust sniper rifle is essentially limited only by enemy manpower in personal body armor and behind light shelters, as well as the defeat of unarmored vehicles. At the same time, the effective range of the weapon is only 600 meters, but what a subsonic bullet can do at this distance is worthy of the best Hollywood films. In general, the weapon seems huge, massive and would look great in the hands of a pumped-up movie hero from the action movies of the 80-90s, but they have their own samples of such weapons there, so you can not count on such advertising, well, and talk about the uniqueness of the weapon, I think. shouldn't either.
The first thing that comes to mind is the.500 Phantom and.510 Whisper. However, a wide variety of large-caliber ammunition, which are designed for use in low-noise samples in the same US wagon and small bogie. So here we are lagging behind and seriously, albeit in quantity. In my opinion, the reason for this is that on the territory of the United States, citizens can take an active part in the development of firearms and with particularly successful results you can even get a lot of money, but in our country they are given a term for such activity, although it may be correct. In short, there is enough large-caliber ammunition designed for use in low-noise samples in the United States, the problem is with weapons. The fact is that if everything is more or less clear with ammunition, some have gone through "natural selection" while others have not, then it is very difficult to name a specific model of weapons created specifically for them. Almost everything was created by adapting the same SWR or other weapon options, for which it is difficult to blame anyone, because it's cheaper and easier. To say that this particular sample in such and such a performance is used by such and such is generally very difficult. There is, of course, no secrecy, just such a weapon is very little common, but civilian independent adaptations for such cartridges are probably even more in the hands of the state than in the state. Too many people want a quieter boom, and a larger caliber. And just even without lowering the sound of the shot, such ammunition seems very attractive. But back to our domestic model.
Since the weapon was created according to a specific order and for specific needs, adapting any other sample would not be a good idea, since it would still take a long time and persistently to finish, so it was easier to create a weapon "from scratch", laying down the basic requirements in its characteristics. Despite its appearance, the rifle turned out to be quite light and weighs only 7 kilograms with a low-noise firing device, and without it it does not even weigh five. The length of the weapon is also much less than it seems and is 795 millimeters. In general, the sample turned out not so big, what looks massive - yes, but the length and weight are quite acceptable. The reduction in the length of the weapon was achieved with the layout of the bullpup rifle, I think that in this version it is quite justified. The weapon is made non-self-loading, but the reloading is greatly facilitated by the fact that it is performed without turning the shutter handle, the barrel bore is locked when the weapon's shutter is turned.
Ammunition also plays an important role in such a weapon. The range of domestic SC-130 is much smaller than that of Western counterparts, but if you think about it, then such a variety is not needed. So far, 3 variants of cartridges are used in weapons: 2 of increased accuracy and 1 with high penetration, which are designated as SC-130PT, SC-130PT2 and SC-130VPS, respectively. Speaking in terms of quality, I think that for the FSB the ammunition is of very high quality, they will not understand the humor when instead of gunpowder there is garbage in the cartridge, which cannot even be called gunpowder. The characteristics of domestic ammunition are kept at the level of the best foreign counterparts. So for the cartridge with increased accuracy SC-130PT with a bullet weighing 59 grams, the permissible accuracy is 1 arc minute, for the SC-130PT2 there are even more stringent requirements. A cartridge with a high penetration ability STs-130VPS at a distance of 200 meters easily penetrates 16 millimeters of steel, as well as any heavy body armor of the 5th class of protection at a distance of 100 meters. In general, the main ammunition is available, their quality is quite acceptable, so that, in principle, we can say that the United States has caught up. After all, it is better to have 2-3 options for ammunition, which are really needed and have good characteristics, than 50 options of which you need all the same 2-3.
I think that the Exhaust large-caliber sniper rifle has already proven its effectiveness, but the fact that we have not heard anything about its combat use just confirms this. Despite the fact that the sound of a shot from the weapon could not be completely removed, it was reduced to a little more than 120 decibels, which is certainly not noiselessness, but also not the roar of a hand cannon. The question remains open why it was offered for export, have not our designers organized something more interesting to replace this weapon?
