At the industry exhibition of hunting and sporting weapons IWA & OutdoorClassics 2016, held in early March in Nuremberg, the Russian exposition was presented in an abbreviated form. To compensate for the absence of the largest Russian arms manufacturers at the exhibition under the sanctions (Kalashnikov concern, Izhmekhzavod, TOZ, KBP), the Molot-Arms plant from the city of Vyatskiye Polyany was called upon. An enterprise from the Kirov region presented a logically complete and diverse family of its smooth-bore self-loading carbines "Vepr-12". Of which the shortened model of the VPO-205-3 carbine, which is popular today in law enforcement units and special forces, was able to attract special attention.
It is worth noting that smoothbore guns, along with pistols and submachine guns, are now the standard small arms of the law enforcement and security services. In addition to the psychological effect that they have on the offender, experts also highlight the powerful stopping effect of 12-gauge cartridges. Do not discount the high flexibility of the use of smooth-bore guns, which allow you to use a wide range of different types of ammunition: signal, gas, cartridges with rubber or plastic buckshot, noise cartridges, special cartridges for knocking out doors and locks, etc.
Vepr-12 / VPO-205-03, photo: molot.biz
Until recently, the police almost without exception used smooth-bore guns with a tubular under-barrel magazine and a movable forend, the so-called pump-action shotguns. This weapon was prized for its menacing appearance, simplicity and reliability of design. The attitude towards self-loading smooth-bore carbines, especially among conservative American police officers, has been rather skeptical for a long time, it was believed that semi-automatic rifles were supposedly always unreliable and expensive weapons, and their only field of application was "ladies'" weapons due to automatic reloading and softer recoil when shooting.
Russian gunsmiths were able to dispel these prejudices in 2003 by launching the Vepr-12 smooth-bore self-loading rifle on the market, and the VPO-205 index was assigned to the weapon at the Molot plant. Together with its direct competitor - the Izhevsk carbine "Saiga-12" - "Vepr-12" (the numbers 12 in the name indicate the caliber of the weapon) buried the myth about the complexity, unreliability and high cost of smooth-bore semi-automatic machines. The gunsmiths from Vyatskiye Polyany managed to create a self-loading carbine, which, thanks to a capacious magazine and ergonomics, had high firepower and could reliably work with various types of cartridges. At the same time, the price of the weapon, both then and now, is at the level of about 500 euros.
Vepr-12 / VPO-205-03, photo: molot.biz
The Vepr carbine came to the court not only in Russia. The smooth-bore self-loading carbine is in demand by IPSC shooters and police officers, especially fighters from special assault groups who use the carbine as a "first strike weapon". In our country, "Vepr-12" has been certified as a service and civilian weapon. In 2012, after relevant tests, NATO included the Russian carbine in the official list of weapons of the bloc countries. It was tested at the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency NAMSA. The presentation of the carbine took place in September 2012, within its framework, the Bundeswehr officers used a self-loading carbine as a support weapon during the assault on the fortified premises. It is known that Russian weapons were purchased by Greece (special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs EKAM), France (Ministry of Internal Affairs RAID), Germany (special forces of the Federal Police), the United States, Syria and a number of other states. The high demand for the carbine in the foreign and domestic markets forced the Molot-Oruzhie company to develop a whole series of modifications, which formed a unified family of smooth-bore self-loading carbines VPO-205/206. All of them differ from each other in the length of the barrel, the types of butts and muzzle devices, as well as the types of ammunition used - cartridges 12x76 and 12x70.
For the self-defense of one's home and law enforcement agencies, the short model of the VPO-205-03 carbine, barrel length - 305 mm (for model 01 - 570 mm, 02 - 680 mm) is of greatest interest. Like all Vepr-12 carbines, it was created on the basis of the famous Kalashnikov light machine gun - RPK, inheriting from it a rotary bolt and a gas venting principle of operation. Naturally, the barrel, receiver, bolt and magazine have undergone modifications to allow the use of 12-gauge rifle cartridges. In addition, the sear of automatic fire was removed from the trigger mechanism, a slide delay was introduced and a trigger lock was provided when the butt of the carbine was folded.
Vepr-12 / VPO-205-03, photo: molot.biz
The bore, chamber, gas chamber and stem were chrome plated. One of the advantages of "Veprey" is called a magazine shaft with a wide mouth, which provides a fairly easy and quick change of magazines. At the same time, VPO-205-03 is compact (total length 867 mm), but remains a very powerful weapon, having an effective firing range of up to one hundred meters with a muzzle energy of 12x76 cartridges at the level of 3800 J. The presence of five MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rails, designed for installation of optical and or any other sights (the mass of the barrel attachment box cover mounted on the bar cannot exceed 0.6 kg), as well as all kinds of accessories, an adjustable tubular stock and a wide selection of interchangeable muzzle attachments make the VPO-205-03 smoothbore carbine versatile and modern a model of small arms that is able to meet the needs of a wide variety of shooters.
Automatic reloading of the VPO-205-03 smoothbore carbine is carried out using the energy of the powder gases, which are discharged from the barrel bore into the gas chamber, as well as the energy of the return springs. The barrel bore is locked on two lugs by rotating the bolt around its axis with a longitudinally sliding bolt carrier. The model uses a hammer-type firing mechanism, which ensures the production of single shots. A locking device was placed in the receiver of the carbine, which does not allow firing a weapon if its butt is folded. In addition, like the entire line of smooth-bore self-loading carbines "Vepr-12", this sample has a slide delay that allows the movable system to remain in the rear position when cartridges are used up in the magazine.
Sales of this smoothbore rifle started in Russia back in July 2011. Currently, the manufacturer on its official website indicates the price of the product in the amount of 40,890 rubles. At the same time, the Molot-Oruzhie plant guarantees the operation of the carbine in conditions from -30 to +50 degrees Celsius, with the exception of areas with a humid tropical climate. The VPO 205-03 carbine is covered by a warranty of 18 months from the date of sale with operating time not exceeding two thousand shots, while the magazine resource should not exceed one thousand shots.
The project for the development of a hunting smooth-bore self-loading carbine with the factory designation "VPO-205-03" was based on a modification of the factory line "VPO-205-E03", which had been known for a long time, but was produced exclusively for export. A feature of this smoothbore carbine is that it is an offensive weapon of the first shots, which has exceptional energy, dynamics and ergonomics, not available to other types of small arms at a short distance.
Although according to the passport, the carbine is a hunting one, in relation to the market of civilian weapons, it can be defined by its functionality into a high-power self-defense firearm. It is most effective when defending against an attack at a distance of 3 to 30 meters; at this range, the role is played not so much by the accuracy of the shot as by its power. This carbine was originally positioned by the developers as a weapon designed for defensive action or sports shooting. It is also interesting for law enforcement agencies and special services. But for hunting VPO-205-03 it is impractical to use, this is noticed by the Russian hunters themselves, after all, the hunting potential is strongly limited by the short barrel - only 305 mm.
The main advantage of all modifications of the Vepr-12 smooth-bore self-loading carbines is their very high practical rate of fire, which, together with the use of 12-caliber cartridges, provides a huge firepower of the weapon. The rate of fire is achieved by adding two factors: capacious single-row magazines with a capacity of 8 or 10 rounds, which, after being emptied, are quickly and easily replaced with new magazines, and the self-loading mode of the carbine. In addition, the significant advantages of Vepr carbines include their "indestructibility", that is, reliability. This weapon can be safely considered one of the strongest among all semi-automatic shotguns on the planet, due to the strength of the RPK design, which was taken as a basis by Russian engineers.
For the disadvantages of weapons, some include the standard Picatinny rail, which is located on the underside of the forend and makes holding the carbine by the forend quite uncomfortable. But the main disadvantage is the mass of the smoothbore carbine. The short-barreled Vepr-12 VPO-205-03 weighs at least 4.2 kg without a magazine, an optical sight, accessories, a cover with a belt. A loaded carbine with a developed tactical attachment and sight will weigh even more. Moreover, this minus can turn into a plus. Since heavy weapons behave more consistently when firing, especially if the shooter prefers a rapid-fire mode of firing.
Characteristics Vepr-12 / VPO-205-03:
Overall dimensions of the carbine: length - 867 mm, width - 75 mm, height - 290 mm; in the folded position - 601x104x290 mm.
Barrel length - 305 mm.
Caliber - 12.
Cartridges - 12x70 and 12x76.
Shop - for 10 and 8 rounds.
The mass of the carbine without a magazine is 4.2 kg.
Sighting range - 100 m.
