Not so long ago, the famous gunsmith designer Vladislav Lobaev returned to Russia. After several years of work in the United Arab Emirates, Russian engineers headed by V. Lobaev decided to return to Russia. Now the development and production of new high-precision small arms is carried out by the companies Lobaev Arms and the Integrated Systems Design Bureau (KBIS). Based on previous developments, these organizations have created several new models of sniper rifles and are now trying to promote them in the market.
In recent weeks, of all the developments of V. Lobaev's team, the relatively new SVLK-14S rifle was most often mentioned. It is a further development of existing ideas and is said to have uniquely high characteristics. The capabilities of the new rifle were demonstrated in mid-February, during a special screening for journalists from Russia Today and ANNA News. During this event, Lobaev Arms employees demonstrated firing at a distance of 2 km. Two dozen test shots showed what the SVLK-14S rifle is capable of. As expected, such a show attracted the attention of both specialists and amateurs of small arms.
According to the manufacturer, the SVLK-14S rifle is a further development of the SVL rifle, presented at the end of the last decade. Some changes were made to the design of the basic weapon, aimed at improving its characteristics when firing at long distances. We can assume that the SVLK-14S rifle is a modification of the basic SVL designed specifically for attacking distant targets.
The SVLK-14S rifle has a classic architecture for such a weapon. All main units are mounted on a bed, made in the form of a multilayer structure made of fiberglass, kevlar and carbon fiber. The design of the box was created taking into account the use of relatively powerful cartridges that impose specific requirements on the strength of weapon assemblies. To further strengthen the structure, the receiver and barrel are not attached to the composite stock, but to a special aluminum chassis mounted on it.
The main element of the rifle is the Lobaev Hummer Barrels barrel, made of stainless steel. In the basic configuration, the SVLK-14S rifle is equipped with a 780 mm long rifled barrel. There are six lobes on the lateral surface of the trunk. On the front end of the barrel, there are mountings for a T-Tuner muzzle brake or similar equipment.
The barrel is fixed in the receiver-receiver, made of aluminum. In this case, the threaded insert of the receiver is made of high-alloy steel, resistant to corrosion. Inside the receiver is a longitudinally sliding bolt, also made of stainless steel. The design of the SVLK-14S rifle uses the slide group of the King v.3 model. The possibility of using barrels and gates, designed for the use of several types of ammunition, is provided. For this, in particular, we offer closures with several types of larvae.
The SVLK-14S sniper rifle is designed for long-range shooting, which affected most of its features. In particular, the need to ensure high rigidity of the structure forced the authors of the project to abandon any ammunition supply systems and stores. The new rifle is made in a single shot version. In preparation for a shot, the shooter must move the bolt to the rear position, place the cartridge in the receiver window of the receiver and move the bolt forward. The spent cartridge case is extracted automatically when reloading.
The possibility of manufacturing three versions of the SVLK-14S rifle, using different cartridges, is declared. At the request of the customer, weapons can be supplied chambered for.408 Cheytac,.338 Lapua Magnum or.300 Winchester Magnum. The basic variant is the.408 Cheytac rifle. All modifications are equipped with 780 mm barrels. The total length of the weapon is 1430 mm. The maximum width of the weapon is 96 mm, the height (excluding the bipod and sight) is 175 mm. The total weight of the rifle is 9.6 kg.
An interesting feature of the SVLK-14S rifle is the ability to use additional equipment and adjust mechanisms in accordance with the shooter's requirements. So, the design of the trigger mechanism allows you to adjust the trigger force in a fairly wide range - from 50 to 1500 g. To install sights and other equipment, the rifle is equipped with several Picatinny rails. The main one is located on the upper surface of the receiver. There are two more short strips on the sides of the front of the box. There is a bipod mount. The stock has an adjustable cheek piece.
According to the manufacturer, the 780-mm barrel provides a muzzle velocity of 900 m / s. In addition, the rifle has a fairly high accuracy. The technical accuracy of fire is 0.3 MOA. This means that when shooting at a distance of 100 m, the maximum distance between the centers of 5 hits does not exceed 9 mm. The maximum effective firing range is declared at 2300 m.
On February 19, 2015 V. Lobaev and his colleagues arranged a press screening for the film crews of two news agencies. During this event, gunsmiths tested an updated version of the SVLK-14S rifle, in which some modifications were applied. Adjustments were made to the design of the muzzle brake, the length of the barrel and the technology for preparing the sleeves were changed. The day before, Lobaev Arms specialists tested new bullets of their own production, but so far they decided not to show them to the press.
The purpose of the shooting was to check the accuracy of the battle of the updated rifle in the version chambered for.408 Cheytac. Shooting was carried out from a distance of 2000 m using cartridges equipped with a J40 Lost River bullet. It was noted that these bullets differ from each other in weight within 0.9 grains, which, to a certain extent, affected the results of firing. In particular, it was this feature of the ammunition that could cause the observed vertical deviation. In addition, the report of the specialists noted that the modifications to the rifle led to a shift in the point of impact by approximately 20 MOA, which caused some problems with aiming the weapon and making adjustments using the existing Valdada sight.
A shield measuring 1, 5x1, 2 m, installed 2 kilometers from the position of the test shooter, was used as a target. For greater clarity, a dummy was attached to the shield. In order to record the results, several video cameras were present at the shooting range, one of which was located three meters from the target shield.
20 shots were fired at the shield. The first two bullets went above the target, after which the shooters had to make the appropriate amendment. The rest of the shots hit different parts of the shield. Some scatter was observed over the entire area of the shield, although the tester managed to make two series of two and three shots, in which the bullets lay at a short distance from each other.
Experts report that during the test firing, the rifle showed itself on the good side and did not give rise to any claims. However, further work on the ammunition is required. In particular, it was noted that the main reason for the spread of hits was not the side wind, but the different weight of the bullets, as a result of which the holes in the target shield had a large vertical distribution. Thus, further improvements in accuracy and accuracy can be achieved without any major modifications to the weapon itself, although further work on ammunition is required.
Shortly after the press show with the tests of the updated version of the rifle, several publications appeared in the media. Knowing the public interest in precision small arms, some news agencies were not shy about the wording. In particular, some publications talked about setting a new record.
It should be admitted that the results of testing the updated SVLK-14S rifle cannot be considered a record. Firstly, there are more long-range high-precision rifles in the world, and secondly, this event was intended only to test the ideas used, but no more. For this reason, in particular, a number of special equipment, usually used in testing and fixing records, was not used in shooting. Of all the equipment at the shooting range, there were only a few video cameras, a telescope and some other devices. Chronographs, video recorders and other special equipment were not used, which does not allow considering the shooting as a record one. In addition, it should be noted that hits over the entire area of a fairly large shield also do not fit with the term "record", at least from the point of view of accuracy and accuracy of fire.
Thus, nothing outstanding was shown during the shooting, which received the attention of the press. Nevertheless, the declared characteristics and capabilities of the updated SVLK-14S rifle look very interesting. Several years ago, it was reported that a number of SVL rifles of the first model were purchased by special forces of the Federal Security Service. However, information soon appeared about some of the problems associated with the resource of the new weapon. After completing this order, V. Lobaev and his colleagues left for the UAE, where they continued their design activities.
In fact, lately, experts and amateurs of the weaponry theme have not learned anything new about the rifles of the Lobaev Arms company. The new version of the SVLK-14S rifle is another development based on the long-known SVL, although it is interesting from a technical point of view. Nevertheless, it is already clear that the new SVLK-14S has the same problems as the previous weapon developed by V. Lobaev's team.
The first problem is related to the peculiarities of weapons production. Lobaev Arms cannot boast of large production capacities, which is why the rate of weapon production remains low. The company can manufacture and send to customers no more than a few dozen rifles per year. The complexity of production and the features of the technologies used affect the price of the finished product. According to the official website of KBIS, the SVLK-14S rifle in the basic configuration costs 650 thousand rubles.
Thus, having sufficiently high characteristics, the new weapon of the Lobaev Arms company inherits some of their shortcomings from their predecessors. We can say that, despite the existing advantages, V. Lobaev's rifles, including the new SVLK-14S, run the risk of remaining a piece product produced exclusively for a few customers, both government agencies and civilian shooters. However, rifles of the SVL series, in order to take their place in the market, will have to compete with numerous foreign developments of their class.
For all its problems and shortcomings, the small arms of the Lobaev Arms and KBIS companies show one important thing. The developments of V. Lobaev and the Orsis company demonstrate that domestic small arms can be created not only by recognized industry leaders, but also by small private companies, whose origins are enthusiastic. Naturally, such organizations will not be able to immediately enter the market and win a place from the leaders. Nevertheless, in this case, one should evaluate not only the result, but also the very fact of attempts to challenge competitors by creating their own designs. It cannot be ruled out that this approach will allow the domestic defense industry to create new weapons with uniquely high performance in the near future, not only not inferior, but also superior to foreign competitors. However, this is a matter for the distant future. In the meantime, arms enthusiasts should continue to work and improve their developments.
