The author of these lines has already described in detail about domestic sniper weapons in the book "Laws of Sniper War". Nevertheless, it makes sense to dwell briefly on the most interesting and new systems.
A lot has been written about the self-loading rifle of the EF Dragunov-SVD system in recent years, and the reviews are very diverse - from the most enthusiastic to completely negative. The practice of using the SVD has shown that its fire capabilities basically meet the requirements of the Russian military for an army sniper rifle. But it should be borne in mind that a sniper armed with a SVD should be assigned tasks corresponding to its accuracy of battle. According to the instruction on shooting, the average diameter of the dispersion of bullets from the SVD is 8 cm by 100 m, 16 cm by 200 m, 24 cm by 300 m, and further up to 600 m grows according to a linear law. Accordingly, the SVD can strike with the first shot with a high probability of hitting a target of the "head figure" type at ranges of up to 300 meters (the dispersion diameter at this distance is 24 cm, without exceeding the dimensions of the target). 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 8 x 6 = 48 cm).
However, the SVD does not provide a 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. The SV-98 sniper system became a similar rifle in the arsenal of the Russian sniper, which will be discussed below.
In any case, the Dragunov rifle is a unique weapon in its own way. This is the first and only successful self-loading rifle designed for the Russian cartridge 7, 62x54. Other systems chambered for this cartridge (AVS-36, SVT-40) turned out to be too capricious, had low survivability and low accuracy, etc. The SVD remained in service for over 30 years, despite the fact that it is a sniper-class weapon, i.e. increased requirements are imposed on it. As noted, today the SVD no longer fully ensures that the sniper performs all the combat missions assigned to him. However, the unique design solutions initially incorporated into this weapon allow it to be modernized in order to improve its combat properties. First of all, such a modernization should affect the barrel (increasing the rifling pitch, increasing the wall thickness) and the optical sight.
In addition, it should be noted that this rifle in its class of self-loading sniper weapons is one of the best in the world in terms of generalized accuracy and accuracy of fire, simplicity of design, and reliability of automatic operation. Of course, it has a number of shortcomings, however, a self-loading sniper rifle has not yet been created in the world that has a higher accuracy of fire while maintaining the same as that of the SVD, the reliability of the operation of automation in a variety of climatic conditions.
Participants of hostilities in hot spots speak of this system with respect: “For all the time that I was in Chechnya, I have never heard a reproach against the SVD. 700 meters As a rule, at such a distance, it is not even necessary to use the PBS: the distance and mountain echo allow you to hide the direction of fire and leave the arrow unnoticed. It should be noted that the mere appearance of an enemy sniper in the mountains introduces an element of psychological discomfort and uncertainty "(A. Mashukov." Echo in the Mountains "- Soldier of Fortune, 1997, No. 12).
In addition, in an objective assessment of any weapon system, it must be borne in mind that all army weapons necessarily bear the imprint not only of scientific and technical solutions and ideas, but also of political and military doctrines of a given period of time. So, the military doctrine of the USSR in the mid-1960s, when the SVD was put into service, assumed only the conduct of large-scale hostilities, which could not but affect the requirements for small arms in general and for a standard sniper rifle, in particular.
In Russia, not spoiled by the abundance and variety of weapons, any rifle system that has been in service for more than a year is gradually acquiring a mass of legends and rumors about extraordinary power, accuracy, reliability, etc. There is still an opinion among snipers that the good old Mosin three-line with optics is much more accurate and more convenient than the SVD, because it is not automatic. And the three-line can still really serve as a front-line sniper if necessary. This is evidenced by the reviews of potential users, for example, A. Chernov's letter published in "Soldier of Fortune" ("My experience speaks about something else", No. 8, 1998): "At the first opportunity, I changed the 1968 SVD to the 1942 SVD years (here we mean a sniper rifle arr. 1891/30 - o. r.), which I have never regretted. Well oiled and well-groomed, this rifle is in no way inferior to the SVD, and in terms of accuracy it is much superior. Note that even a poorly trained shooter doesn’t take 3-5 seconds to jerk the shutter, but 1.5–3 seconds.
However, it is still not worth unconditionally asserting the advantages of the Mosin rifle over the SVD. Not to mention the many "congenital" flaws, the sniper rifle arr. 1891/30 was mainly produced during wartime, and the quality of such weapons, of course, is rather low. In addition, E. F. Dragunov embodied in his sniper the basic requirements for such a weapon. Do not forget that the SVD is one of the first rifles in the world designed specifically for sniping. The use of such SVD elements as a sports-type stock with a pistol grip, a removable butt cheek, a universal telescopic sight with a side correction scale and a rangefinder scale, a light filter, a retractable hood was a revolutionary solution for its time.
In addition, the SVD entered service almost immediately in combination with a special sniper cartridge. Despite the fact that the combat experience of the Great Patriotic War clearly showed that in order to achieve maximum efficiency, a sniper must be supplied with special ammunition, the creation of a special cartridge for sniper rifles in the USSR began only after the war. In 1960, while working on a single cartridge, it was discovered that a new design of a bullet with an improved aerodynamic shape for this cartridge consistently gave excellent results in firing accuracy - 1.5-2 times better than a cartridge with an LPS bullet. This made it possible to conclude that it is possible to create a self-loading sniper rifle with a better accuracy of fire than when firing from a sniper rifle arr. 1891/30, close to the results obtained with the use of targeted cartridges. On the basis of these studies, the cartridge-makers were given the task of increasing the efficiency of firing from the SVD rifle at the expense of the. The purpose of the work was to improve the accuracy of the battle of a sniper rifle by 2 times in the area of dispersion.
In 1963, a bullet was recommended for further refinement, which is today known as a sniper. When firing from ballistic barrels, cartridges with this bullet showed excellent results: at 300 meters R50 is not more than 5 cm, R100 is 9, 6-11 cm. The requirements for a new sniper cartridge were extremely tough: the bullet had to have a steel core, in accuracy it should not be inferior to the target cartridges, the cartridge had to have a standard bimetallic sleeve and the cost should not exceed the gross cartridge with the LPS bullet more than twice. In addition, the accuracy when firing from the SVD should be two times less in the area of dispersion, i.e. R100 no more than 10 cm at a distance of 300 meters. As a result, a 7.62-mm sniper rifle cartridge was developed and adopted in 1967, which is produced today under the 7N1 index.
The proliferation of personal body armor in recent decades has reduced the effectiveness of the 7N1 cartridge. On its basis, in the late 1990s, a new 7N14 sniper cartridge was developed. The bullet of this cartridge has a heat-strengthened core, therefore it has an increased penetrating ability.
The 9-mm VSS "Vintorez" sniper rifle was developed by TsNIITOCHMASH designer P. Serdyukov in the early 80s and in 1987 was adopted by the special forces of the Armed Forces and the KGB. Designed to destroy enemy manpower with sniper fire in conditions requiring silent and flameless shooting. Provides effective firing range during the day with a telescopic sight up to 400 meters, and at night with a night sight - up to 300 meters. The real range of destruction by the first shot of targets typical for a sniper is as follows: up to 100 meters - a head, up to 200 meters - a chest figure.
VSS - automatic weapon: reloading occurs due to the energy of part of the powder gases discharged through the hole in the barrel wall into the gas chamber located on top of the barrel under the plastic forend. The trigger provides single and automatic fire. The fire mode translator is located inside the trigger guard, at its rear. When the translator moves to the right, a single fire is fired (on the right side of the receiver, behind the trigger guard, a white dot is applied), when moving to the left, automatic fire is fired (on the left side there are three red dots).
The rifle consists of the following parts and mechanisms: a barrel with a receiver, a silencer with sights, a stock, a bolt carrier with a gas piston, a bolt, a percussion mechanism, a trigger mechanism, a forearm, a gas tube, a receiver cover, a magazine. The kit also includes: NSPU-3 night sight (for VSSN modification), 4 magazines, a case with straps for carrying, a bag for magazines and accessories, a belt, a cleaning rod, 6 clips (to speed up the loading of magazines), accessories (for cleaning the barrel, muffler and mechanisms).
The main mode of fire for the VSS is single fire, which is characterized by good accuracy: when firing prone with SP-5 cartridges, a series of 4 shots gives a dispersion diameter of no more than 7.5 cm. Automatic fire is used in exceptional cases (in case of a sudden collision with an enemy on short distance, when shooting at an insufficiently clearly visible target, etc.).
The barrel bore is locked by turning the bolt to the left under the influence of the bolt carrier, which receives a forward movement from the return spring. The firing mechanism has a light drummer; when it is lowered from the combat platoon, the rifle whispered a slight impulse of indignation, which contributes to good accuracy.
The rifle has an integrated silencer, that is, it is integral with the barrel of the weapon. It is attached to the barrel with two nut joints and a latch, which makes it easy to remove and put on the muffler and at the same time ensures the necessary alignment of the barrel and the muffler. In the outer cylinder of the muffler there is a separator of two strips with round covers at the ends and three round inclined partitions inside. The covers and baffles have bullet holes along the axis of the muffler. When fired, it flies through the holes without touching the end caps and partitions, and the powder gases hit them, change direction and lose speed. The front part of the barrel, closed by the muffler, has 6 rows of through holes through which the propellant gases escape into the muffler cylinder; then they move through the separator, reflecting off the inclined baffles. At the end, the speed of the propellant gases flow is significantly reduced, and the sound of the shot also drops. The sound level of a shot from a VSS is 130 dB, which roughly corresponds to a shot from a small-bore rifle.
The PSO-1-1 daytime optical sight is similar to the PSO-1 sight, the difference is: the scale of the remote handwheel, corresponding to the ballistics of the SP-5 cartridge, and the modified rangefinder scale of the sight reticle - it is designed to determine ranges up to 400 meters, the maximum sighting range of the VSS. For shooting at night, the NSPU-3 sight is used.
The butt of a skeletal-type rifle has a metal stop on top in the front part, with which the butt is attached to the receiver and held by a stopper. When you press the head of the stopper, the butt is separated by a backward movement.
At a distance of up to 400 meters, VSS penetrates a 2-mm steel plate, the field of which the bullet retains sufficient destructive power; at ranges of up to 100 meters, manpower is affected in body armor of 3-4 class of protection.
The 9-mm VSK-94 sniper rifle complex was developed at the Tula Instrument Design Bureau (KBP). It includes a rifle itself, SP-5 (SP-6, PAB-9) cartridges and a day sight. The complex is designed to engage manpower in personal protective equipment or in vehicles at ranges of up to 400 meters. Just like the VSS, the VSK-94 allows for silent and flameless shooting, which ensures the concealment of the sniper's position. The complex was developed on the basis of the 9A91 small-sized machine gun. The main differences from the prototype are that the rifle has a removable frame-type butt, a bracket for mounting an optical sight on the left side of the receiver and a threaded muffler attachment on the barrel, which reduces the sound of a shot and completely removes the muzzle flame. The rifle has a quickly collapsible design, which allows it to be covertly carried to the place of use.
The manufacturer guarantees trouble-free operation of all parts and mechanisms of the weapon for at least 6000 shots, while the probability of trouble-free operation is 0.998 cm.
For firing silent rifles, special cartridges are used SP-5 (7N8) and SP-6 (7N9). Both cartridges were developed in the mid 80s. in TSNIITOCHMASH N. Zabelin, L. Dvoryaninova (SP-5), Yu. Frolov and E. Kornilova (SP-6) on the basis of a sleeve 7, 62-mm cartridge mod. 1943 Leaving its shape, length and primer the same, the designers changed the muzzle of the case (for attaching a 9-mm bullet) and powder charge (to give a heavy bullet an initial velocity of about 290 m / s). The SP-5 cartridge is designed specifically for sniper shooting and therefore has improved ballistic characteristics. The bullet of this cartridge has a steel core; the cavity behind it is filled with lead. The shape of a bullet with a length of 36 mm (that is, with a relative length of about 4 calibers) provides it with good ballistic properties, despite the subsonic muzzle velocity.
The SP-6 cartridge has a bullet with greater armor penetration, albeit with a lower accuracy than the SP-5. Inside the bullet there is a hardened steel core that fills the entire cavity of the bimetallic shell, its black top protrudes from the shell. This cartridge is used to defeat targets in personal body armor or behind light shelters.
Both cartridges are interesting in that at a subsonic initial bullet velocity (about 290 m / s), due to the large lateral load and bullet weight (16, 2 g), they have enough energy to defeat the enemy at distances up to 400 meters. In terms of ballistics, the SP-5 and SP-6 cartridges are close to each other.
Special cartridges are produced in small batches at TsNIITOCHMASH and are quite expensive. In this regard, the Tula Cartridge Plant launched the production of the PAB-9 cartridge. This cartridge is an analogue of the SP-5, has a bullet with a hardened core, but its cost is much lower. As with the SP-6, its penetrating action ensures the defeat of manpower in body armor of the 3rd protection class; at a distance of 100 meters, his bullet pierces an 8 mm steel sheet.
The need for sniper weapons with an effective firing range of up to 2000 meters has been revealed by various armies of the world for a long time. Local wars of recent decades have confirmed the need to create such weapons. Typically, large-caliber machine guns, mortars, artillery, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are used to engage large targets. At the same time, the consumption of cartridges and shells is very high. In addition, in some complicated combat conditions, a small tactical unit (namely, such units are most often used in low-intensity conflicts) simply does not have a powerful, accurate, but at the same time maneuverable weapon. Large-caliber sniper rifles allow you to solve such firing tasks with one or two shots. In this regard, already in the 1980s, large-caliber sniper rifles with an effective range of up to 2000 meters began to appear in the Western armies. They also began to create new types of ammunition with high muzzle velocities for sniper shooting, including those with arrow-shaped bullets.
The Tula Instrument Design Bureau developed a 12.7-mm V-94 self-loading sniper rifle, which was put into service under the OSV-96 index. This weapon is designed to destroy a single shot of protected manpower, lightly armored vehicles, radar stations, rocket and artillery installations, aviation equipment in parking lots, defense of the coast from small vessels, and detonation of sea and land mines. At the same time, automobile equipment and other technical means are struck at distances of up to 2000 meters, and manpower - up to 1200 meters. An important point in this case is that the sniper, when firing, remains out of the reach of the aimed fire of the enemy's conventional small arms.
On the OSV-96 rifle, various high-magnification optical sights are installed (POS 13x60, POS 12x56), night sights with a vision range of up to 600 meters can also be used. Due to the installation of a powerful muzzle brake and a rubber butt pad, the recoil when firing is quite acceptable. However, the sniper must wear earplugs or earbuds to avoid injury to his hearing.
Ease of aiming is provided by a stable bipod and a well-balanced arrangement of the weapon. A magazine for 5 rounds and automatic reloading allow, if necessary, to fire at a sufficiently high rate and reduce the fatigue of the sniper.
For convenience, when carrying the rifle, it folds in half; for this, there is a hinge in the breech area of the barrel.
Kovrovsky plant named after Degtyareva presented the SVM-98 12, 7-mm magazine sniper rifle (index 6V7). Due to the use of the bullpup scheme, the total length of the system has been reduced in comparison with the OSV-96. Manufacturers also note the extreme simplicity of the design of the rifle. According to the developers, SVM-98 surpasses most of its foreign counterparts in accuracy of combat at a distance of 1000 meters. Rifle weight - 11 kg; length - 1350 mm; magazine capacity - 5 rounds. When firing, any standard 12, 7x108 cartridges can be used, including special 12, 7-mm sniper cartridges developed by TsNIITOCHMASH.
For firing large-caliber sniper rifles with a long firing range, the machine-gun cartridge 12, 7x108, used in the NSV "Utes" machine gun, is used. This cartridge in a sniper version with a BS bullet of the 1972 model has a mass of 141 g with a bullet weight of 55, 4 g and a charge of 17 g. A bullet with a sintered core provides destruction of targets behind armor up to 15 mm thick. For sniper shooting, this cartridge is produced in series with high manufacturing accuracy and higher accuracy. According to the manufacturers, when firing at a distance of 100 meters with single fire, a series of 4-5 shots stably has a dispersion diameter of no more than 5 cm, which is about 1.5 times better than the accuracy of an SVD sniper rifle (when firing with LPS cartridges).
In addition to the BS bullet, B-32 and BZT bullets can be used. The B-32 armor-piercing incendiary bullet consists of a steel clad shell, under which there are an incendiary composition and a hardened steel armor-piercing core. When it encounters an obstacle, the bullet is sharply decelerated, the core moves forward and compresses the incendiary composition, causing it to ignite. In this case, part of the head shell is destroyed. Part of the burning composition is drawn into the resulting hole, which causes the ignition of flammable substances.
The armor-piercing incendiary-tracer bullet BZT consists of a steel clad shell, a lead jacket, a steel core, an incendiary composition and a cup with an incendiary composition. This bullet combines a high armor-piercing effect with an incendiary effect.
A very valuable quality of a large-caliber cartridge is that its bullet undergoes a deflection under the influence of a side wind 2.5-3 times less than a bullet of a 7.62-mm cartridge. All these qualities of the 12, 7-mm cartridge provide defeat from the first shot of a large-sized target at distances up to 1200 meters.
Today, the authors of some journal publications erroneously claim that since the adoption of the SVD in the USSR, no development has been carried out in the field of high-precision small arms. In fact, this was not entirely the case. In the 1980s, Soviet designers developed an original 6 mm rifle cartridge with a muzzle velocity of 1150 m / s. It is known that in addition to the characteristics of the "cartridge-weapon" complex, the magnitude of the dispersion of bullets is greatly influenced by shooting errors. Among them, the most significant are errors in determining the range to the target and the crosswind speed. The influence of these errors on the accuracy of fire depends on the external ballistic characteristics of the ammunition - the range of a direct shot and the time of flight of the bullet. Due to the increase in the initial speed, the external ballistic characteristics of the cartridge improved sharply, the probability of hitting the target increased due to a more flat trajectory and a decrease in the bullet flight time.
An experienced self-loading sniper rifle, which received the SVK index, was developed for the new 6-mm cartridge. At the same time, as part of the program for the development of a sniper rifle for a 6-mm rifle cartridge, requirements were put forward limiting the dimensions of the weapon in length. This was due to the need for optimal placement of the rifle in the compartments of infantry fighting vehicles and the provision of the ability to airborne snipers with personal weapons. For the armament of the landing troops, a variant of the SVK-S rifle with a folding butt made of steel pipes was developed. On the upper tube of the butt there is a rotary plastic support for the shooter's cheek, which is used when shooting with an optical sight. The buttstock folds onto the left side of the receiver.
In general, the technical task for the development of a 6-mm sniper rifle was completed successfully. Good results were achieved in firing accuracy: when firing at a distance of 100 meters while lying down from a support using a telescopic sight in three series of 10 shots; the accuracy of fire was: R100 - 5.5 cm, R50 - 2.3 cm (where R100 and R50 are the radii of the circle containing, respectively, 100 and 50% of holes).
After conducting field tests, some shortcomings of the cartridge were noted. The 6-mm rifle cartridge needed improvement, but the country entered a period of protracted economic crisis, funding for the defense complex was sharply reduced, and all work on the cartridge and rifle was stopped. Nevertheless, the design solutions used in 6-mm sniper rifles were not in vain. The folding butt and the short flash suppressor, developed on the SVK-S rifle, were later used on the SVD-S rifle.
Many countries around the world in the development of sniper weapons use technologies used in the creation of sports rifles. Russia is no exception in this respect. This approach is clear: why "reinvent the wheel" if there are already ready-made high-precision systems and only minor modifications are enough to get a sniper rifle.
An arbitrary single-shot rifle of caliber 7, 62-mm MTs13 was developed by TsKIB SSO and has been produced since 1952. The highlight of the design was the presence of two triggers in the kit - a regular one and a schnelller one. This weapon at the Olympics in Helsinki (1962) was recognized as the most advanced arbitrary rifle in the world. Using the MTs13 and its small-bore analogue MTs12, the Soviet shooter A. Bogdanov set 6 world records at the world championship in Caracas (1954), having won 6 gold medals.
The MTs13 was developed for the target cartridge 7, 62x54R based on the design of the S. I. Mosin combat rifle and was intended for sports shooting at fixed targets. The barrel was 760 mm long, the total length of the weapon was 1285 mm. The barrel had four grooves with a pitch of 240 mm. The triggering force varied from 35 to 200 g. The total weight of the rifle ranged from 7, 75 to 8 kg. Accuracy of shooting (the diameter of the greatest dispersion) at a distance of 300 meters - 90 mm.
In the 1980s - early 1990s, the MTs13 was used by some special forces as a sniper weapon, while the shooters independently installed various optical sights on their rifles. And until now, due to limited funds, some spetsnaz snipers are working with MC13. This is evidenced by the material about the Minsk seminar of sniper pairs (October 2001), posted on the Internet site "Sniper's Notebook": "Among the Soviet weapons, the MTs-13 was the most widespread (after the SVD). The Ryazan pair worked well. The sight was attached through an adapter to the side dovetail. Since the attachment point is almost at the level of the barrel, the axis of the sight turned out to be quite raised up. Because of this, we had to make an impromptu cheek of rather impressive size."
Later, on the basis of the MTs13, an arbitrary MTs115 rifle and a standard MTs116 were developed. When creating the MC116, the designers paid special attention to the technology of processing the barrel bore, and also changed the shape and dimensions of the receiver. Locking was carried out using two bolt projections and corresponding planes inside the receiver. The force and nature of the trigger, the length of the stroke and the position of the trigger could be adjusted.
Several years ago, by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the MTs116-M rifle was created. It was originally designed as a sniper weapon, therefore it is focused on firing standard 7N1 sniper cartridges. The firing range is 600 meters. The barrel is locked in the same way as MC116. The rifle has a removable magazine with a capacity of 5 or 10 rounds. The weapon has an open sight and can be equipped with various types of optical sights. The stock is shaped like a sporting weapon, with adjustable shoulder and cheek rests. In addition, a flash suppressor is included with the rifle, which reduces the flash of a shot.
However, despite its many advantages, the MTs116-M has a too high cost, comparable to the price of a target sporting rifle. This severely limits its use.
The standard single-shot large-caliber rifle "Record-1" was developed at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant in 1972. Initially it was produced in small batches for the USSR national team, and in 1985 its serial production began. This weapon is designed for shooting sporting target cartridges "Extra". An innovation in the development was the laying of the lower plane of the receiver in a box on a corrugated surface. The slide-type breechblock with rotation provides locking of the barrel by three lugs. Accuracy of shooting at a distance of 300 meters - 130 mm. Our shooters with this weapon set a world record at the European and World Championships, won one gold and one bronze medal.
Since 1994, Izhmash began to produce an export version of "Record-1" for the cartridge 7, 62x51 (.308 Win) widespread in the West. This modification received the "Record-CISM" index.
