Former sporting bolt-action rifles are gradually reaching special forces snipers
The experience of local wars and military conflicts in recent decades leads to the conclusion that the role of snipers has increased, especially in battles for settlements and in the city. The need arose for their actions as part of the units responsible for maintaining public order, in particular, special forces to fight terrorists.
Convincing evidence of the importance of sniper fire is provided by the results of studies on the effectiveness of small arms fire conducted in the United States. So, during the Second World War and the Korean War, from 30 to 50 thousand (!) Cartridges were spent on one killed. Snipers, as a rule, consume one cartridge to hit a target. Such efficiency and economy of fire is not possessed by any type of weapon. In addition, the appearance of a sniper in any area of hostilities is quickly becoming widely known, arouses fear in the enemy, and has a depressing effect on his psyche.
Today, the importance and necessity of using snipers both for the army and for the internal troops of the state is beyond doubt. What is required for the development and existence of the sniper business at the proper level in our country? Let us summarize and supplement the answers to this question, expressed earlier on the pages of the magazine by the authors of articles on sniping and its problems.
The first condition is the availability of a complex of weapons at the disposal of snipers - rifles, ammunition, firing and observation devices that ensure the required accuracy of the shot. The second is a clear training system, organizationally formalized by the staffing table of the corresponding units and subdivisions of the army and internal troops. The third is a sufficient amount of financial resources for the normal functioning of the system.
What is a good sniper weapon?
Evaluating the elements of equipment for snipers, the authors of the articles expressed conflicting opinions, but they all agreed that the main thing was an accurate combat rifle. But what should be taken as a measure of accuracy - opinions differed.
SOVIET DRAGUNOV'S RIFLE
“I fired a Dragunov sniper rifle at a distance of 600 m (this is the distance at which snipers of the Swiss army are trained, armed with assault rifles with a telescopic sight). With the original Soviet military cartridges with a steel sleeve and a shell bullet weighing 9, 72 g, I was able to get a dispersion diameter of 10 shots less than 40 cm. Hungarian army cartridges with a brass sleeve and a shell bullet of the same mass 9, 72 g had an initial velocity of 860 m / s, which is almost 60 m / s more than that of Soviet cartridges. The rifle shoots with Hungarian cartridges somewhat more accurately, the dispersion diameter is about 35 cm.
NATO standards prescribe a maximum dispersion diameter for sniper rifles at a distance of 600 yards (548.6 m) in a series of 10 rounds 15 inches * (38.1 cm). The Soviet Dragunov sniper rifle confidently covers these requirements. Recoil, despite the relatively powerful cartridges, is moderate. Dragunov's rifles are known for being able to function reliably in the most difficult conditions without careful maintenance."
Martin Schober **
* Data shown is out of date. Requirements are now raised to 1 MOA.
** Schwelzer Waffen-Magazin. 1989. No. 9.
Note that the accuracy of shooting depends not only on the rifle, but also to a very large extent on the cartridges used. Therefore, when assessing the accuracy of the battle, it should be understood that it refers to the weapon-cartridge complex.
Most often, the assessment of the accuracy of the battle of a sniper weapon is made across the cross section of the area of dispersion of bullets when firing by the best shooters from stable positions in series of 4 - 5 shots. This characteristic is convenient and legitimate, since the dispersion of bullets in the vertical plane is almost circular, that is, the dispersion in the lateral direction and in height is the same.
In the armies of NATO countries, as J. Hoffman writes in his article "Long-range Shot" (Soldier of Fortune. 1998. №6), the accuracy of sniper weapons is considered sufficient if the dispersion of bullets does not exceed one arc minute, designated MOA (in English minute of angle). In the angular values adopted in our shooting industry, 1 MOA = 0.28 thousandth. At a distance of 100 m, a dispersion of 0.28 thousandths will give a circle with a diameter of 2.8 cm.
Our SVD does not meet this requirement. Its accuracy is recognized as normal if, with four shots per 100 m, the dispersion diameter does not exceed 8 cm. But should the SVD be considered unsuitable, as A. Gorlinsky asserts in his article "Tool for the regimental Paganini" (Soldier of Fortune. 1998. №7)?
For many years this weapon has been in service with the army in our country and in a number of other countries. Without rejecting the accuracy criterion of 1 MOA for sniper weapons, we will figure out why the SVD remains an army sniper rifle. The fact is that the assessment of a weapon by the accuracy of the battle does not always give a final answer about its suitability. In addition to accuracy, many characteristics should be taken into account, such as the reliability of the mechanisms in a variety of conditions, dimensions and weight, simplicity and ease of use, as well as the production cost of the sample.
Special sniper weapons are readily used today not only in specialized, but also in other units of power structures.
Taking into account these and other requirements, the specific accuracy of the battle should ensure the fulfillment of the most typical tasks for a specific type of weapon. So, the practice of using the SVD has confirmed that its capabilities, both fire and maneuverable, basically meet the requirements for an army sniper rifle. But the tasks for snipers with SVD should be set corresponding to its accuracy of the battle.
The cross-section of dispersion of bullets from SVD is 8 cm at 100 m, 16 cm at 200 m, 24 cm at 300 m, and then grows linearly up to 600 m. From this it follows that from the SVD it is possible to hit with the first shot (with a reliability close to unity) a target of the "head figure" type at ranges up to 300 m - the dispersion diameter at this range is 24 cm, not exceeding the target size (25x30 cm). Targets of the "chest figure" type (50x50 cm) are struck with the same reliability by the first shot at ranges up to 600 m (the dispersion diameter does not exceed 8x6 = 48 cm).
If the "chest figure" has individual protection - a bulletproof vest and a helmet, then its vulnerable area will not exceed 20x20 cm. Defeats from the first shot from the SVD of such a target can be achieved at ranges up to 200 m (dispersion diameter 16 cm). With this in mind, the tasks of the sniper should be determined.
According to the characteristics of the SVD, it significantly exceeds the rest of the platoon's weapons, which allows it to remain in service. However, one should not expand the purpose of the SVD the way V. Ryazanov did in the article "Sniping in Russian" (Soldier of Fortune. 1998. No. 6): "The SVD is a universal" sniper "capable of performing a typical task of destroying enemy manpower at a distance of up to 800 m, while at a distance of up to 500 m - from one or two shots. " SVD can ensure target destruction from the first shot only at those ranges and for such targets when the dispersion diameter does not exceed the target size.
The experience of the combat use of the SVU-AS revealed a large number of claims to this weapon. But one advantage over SVD is indisputable - there is almost no unmasking flame when fired, which is especially noticeable at night
SVD can successfully solve the problem of hitting targets with several shots at long ranges. The magazine's capacity and self-loading make it possible to reliably hit most typical targets from this rifle at ranges of up to 800 m in the shortest possible time with a consumption of 4–6 rounds. This property of the rifle is also confirmed by practice.
And of course, it is not legitimate to compare the SVD in terms of the accuracy of the battle with the MTs-13 sports target rifle, as A. Gorlinsky did. He writes that the shooter "does not care about the magazine capacity, weight and self-loading of the weapon," and further: "Any MTs-13 rifle is much better than any best SVD." But the author of the article proceeds from the experience of sports shooters who bring weapons weighing up to 8 kg to the competition site. Cartridges for sporting rifles have a lead core and a soft shell, give high accuracy, but do not meet the requirements for live ammunition in terms of striking effect.
The desire to have at the disposal of army snipers a combat rifle with an accuracy close to that of a sporting weapon is understandable. Such a rifle, an inevitably significant mass - up to 8 kg - with a special live cartridge, with an accuracy of 1 MOA, could, along with the SVD, be in service for solving special tasks. If its dispersion diameter by 100 m is 2.8 cm, then the defeat from the first shot even of small targets can be achieved at ranges up to 800 m. Note that after 600 m the dispersion no longer increases according to a linear law, but increases by 1, 2 -1, 3 times. At 800 m, with a dispersion of 1 MOA, the diameter of the spread of bullets will not exceed the value (29, 12 cm = 2, 8x8x1, 3).
It is clear that it is even preferable to have a rifle with a dispersion of 1/2 MOA, as J. Hoffman points out. At 100 m, the dispersion diameter of bullets with such an accuracy will not exceed 1.4 cm. Sports target rifles with such a characteristic are known. If such a rifle has a live cartridge that retains the accuracy of 1/2 MOA, then it could enter the arsenal of snipers for solving particularly important tasks.
The considered capabilities of the weapon were based on an assessment of the probability of hitting the target. Whether she will be amazed with one hit is a separate question. When the target does not have personal protective equipment, then its defeat is achieved, as a rule, with one hit. The probability of defeat in this case is numerically equal to the probability of hitting it.
If the target is wearing a bulletproof vest and a helmet, then one hit will not always lead to its incapacitation. The defeat will be achieved by hitting an unprotected area, and sometimes by several hits in a row in the means of protection. In the latter case, the well-known effect of accumulating the damaging effect due to several hits can be triggered. This is another reason for having self-loading and automatic sniper rifles in service.
Compared to the Kalashnikov assault rifle, equipped with a device for silent and flameless shooting, Vintorez is admirable
In general, those authors are right who recognize the need for snipers to have various types of weapons, ammunition, firing and observation devices in their arsenal. Their use should be appropriate for the different types of tasks that arise in specific conditions.
In our armed forces, in principle, there are several complexes of sniper weapons: for solving problems in conditions requiring silent and flameless firing at short ranges - VSS "Vintorez" for a 9-mm submachine gun cartridge (with an accuracy of 100 m at 7.5 cm); for solving problems mainly in field conditions at ranges up to 800 m - SVD and its modifications for a rifle cartridge 7, 62x54 mm; for solving problems at long ranges (up to 1000 m for conventional targets and up to 1500 m for large targets), KBP developers offer the V-94 rifle for a 12, 7-mm cartridge (with an accuracy of 5 cm per 100 m, reportedly).
It must be admitted that these complexes do not provide the solution to the problems of engaging important small-sized targets at ranges of up to 800 m. This requires a sniper weapon with a bullet dispersion of no more than 1 MOA. There is no such rifle and ammunition for it in our arsenal. Perhaps, with the least cost and time, this gap will be filled by the creation of a high-precision sniper complex based on an arbitrary sporting rifle of the MTs-13 type, as suggested by A. Gorlinsky, but subject to the development of a combat sniper cartridge for it. Arbitrary sporting rifles, as you know, provide accuracy at 100 m in 2 cm, which is 4 times better than that of the SVD. It is clear that such a weapon with a mass of up to 8 kg and a powerful optical sight with a magnification of up to 12x should be used only for solving special problems.
We talked a lot about the properties of the rifle. But the main thing in a sniper weapon - the accuracy of the battle - is determined to a large extent by the cartridge. The famous shooter, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, repeated champion and world record holder in bullet shooting E. Khaidurov says that at one time athletes in shooting competitions from the army three-line achieved the highest results when they themselves reloaded the standard cartridge case 7, 62x54 mm with the best gunpowder and bullet (shooting with foreign cartridges was not allowed). Therefore, even now it is possible to improve the accuracy of existing rifles by developing special high-quality cartridges for them.
In addition, the given characteristics of the accuracy of the battle of various sniper weapons assume firing from stable positions by professionally trained snipers. These characteristics were used to estimate the probability of hitting the target. More strictly, the probability of a hit is determined not only by the magnitude of the so-called technical dispersion, which depends on weapons and ammunition. The scattering increases due to the shooter's mistakes in preparing the initial data for shooting (mainly in determining the range to the target and correcting for the crosswind), as well as due to the inevitable inaccuracies in aiming. These errors can be minimized by training the sniper and providing him with high-precision observation devices, determining the initial data, and aiming.
The most important component of success
As A. Gorlinsky noted, a sniper rifle is a piece of jewelry that requires careful adjustment. Such a tool, by the way, is quite expensive, should only be trusted by a class specialist, it lends itself to tuning only by a loving owner. A sniper can fully and effectively use his capabilities only after undergoing a serious and long course of special training.
A high-class sniper becomes a person whose nature is based on the ability and love of shooting, supplemented by the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the course of mastering the corresponding training program. These issues were widely discussed on the pages of the journal. The main conclusion of the authors is unanimous - professional shooters are required for the successful use of sniper weapons. The army and internal troops need a common system for their selection, training and constant training. Suggestions on its structure are given in the article "Will sniping resurrect" (Soldier of Fortune. 1997. No. 12).
THE PERFECT SOLDIER?
Psychological and psychophysiological contraindications for appointment to the position of a sniper:
• chronic diseases;
• conditions after injuries and acute diseases;
• belonging to a "risk group", reduced psychological stability, a tendency to mental maladjustment;
• insufficient level of development of professionally important qualities;
• increased anxiety, anxiety, fear;
• excessive impulsivity, a tendency to react effectively, incontinence;
• emotional-vegetative instability (frequent redness or paleness of the face, sweating, constant trembling of hands or eyelids);
• irritability, resentment, tendency to negative emotional-evaluative reactions.
In the training of snipers, the foundations of their tactics should be laid in various conditions as part of combat groups, sniper pairs, single snipers; issues of camouflage and cover for the actions of snipers by other units, the organization of communication with them. The training system should also include the collection and generalization of the experience of the combat use of snipers, the development and adjustment of training programs for their training in various specialties for the army and internal troops, the publication of textbooks, perhaps a special journal. All of the above together and separately requires serious discussion.
Money money…
The third condition, which ultimately determines the solution to the problem of sniping, is the necessary material provision of high-quality weapons and equipment, sufficient funding for the selection and training of snipers, the development of range equipment and training simulators, proper remuneration for sniper labor, the creation of a methodology for the education and training of shooters. top class. Probably, many sensible and important proposals on sniping, expressed by the authors of the magazine's articles, due to the absence of a third condition in our armed forces, will remain only good wishes. I would very much like to know the opinion of the persons responsible for firepower training in the relevant directorates of the Russian Army and the internal troops of the Russian Federation on the issues raised. Or maybe they don't read the magazine because of the lack of finance to purchase it?
CLASSIC SNIPPING
“Each shooter must correctly assess the capabilities of his weapon according to the accuracy of the battle,” wrote N. Filatov, the founder of shooting science in Russia, in 1909 (1862 - 1935). Since 1919, he headed the officer courses "Shot", supervised the development and testing of many types of small arms, wrote well-known works on the theory and practice of small arms: "Foundations of shooting from rifles and machine guns" (Oranienbaum, 1909; Moscow, 1926); "Brief information about the foundations of shooting from rifles and machine guns" (Moscow, 1928), - which became for many years textbooks on shooting in the Red Army.
