Degtyaryov PTRD

     Notes: This is a very simple heavy rifle designed around the 14.5mm KPV round. Recoil was partially absorbed by allowing the barrel to recoil into the stock on a cam, but it was still very stiff. The camming also automatically unlocked the breech and opened it. Today, these weapons are collectors’ or museum pieces.

KBI OSV-96

     Notes: This Russian design looks similar to the PTRS-41 antitank rifle of World War 2 fame, but in fact owes nothing to that weapon’s design. The V-94 is billed as an anti-materiel rifle; the Russians feel that such a cartridge is better used against hard targets rather than personnel. There are in fact two versions of the rifle now known as the V-94; the earlier V-94 uses a fixed stock of a different shape than the OSV-96 and cannot be folded, while the OSV-96 can be folded at the junction of the barrel and receiver. The OSV-96 is also equipped with a carrying handle mounted at what is the center of gravity of the rifle when it is folded; the V-94 has no carrying handle. The OSV-96’s mounts are designed for different telescopic sights and night vision devices than what the V-94’s mounts are designed to take. In both cases, the rifles may take several different scopes and night vision equipment, though the Russians have not yet been too specific about those possible devices and scopes, and they have never exported either rifle. It is known, however, that the OSV-96 seems to normally use either a 13x variant of the old PSO-1 telescopic sight or the newer POS 12x50 scope; both have illuminated reticles. The OSV-96 also has been seen fitted with a PKN-05 night vision telescopic sight.

     In both cases, the V-94 and OSV-96 use a very long heavy steel 40.1-inch barrel, tipped with a huge multi-baffle muzzle brake. While the muzzle brake is quite effective at reducing felt recoil, it also produces an incredible amount of muzzle blast and flash (despite the manufacturer’s claim that the muzzle brake also functions as an effective flash suppressor); this one of the common complaints of snipers using these rifles in Chechnya, because when they are fired, the sniper team’s position is almost always immediately spotted. Another big complaint of Russian snipers is the sheer size of the rifles; the OSV-96 is an incredible 67 inches long; the OSV-96, even when folded, is still 43.3 inches long. (As one Russian sniper is reputed to have said, "Try stuffing that monster in a small helicopter!") The snipers also say the V-94 and OSV-96 are simply fragile due to their spindly construction, especially in the long barrel and lightweight bipod. The V-94 is issued to airborne troops, who likewise find it large and unwieldy during drops. The action is semiautomatic and gas operated. The stock has a thick rubber recoil pad, but is not adjustable in any way. The long barrel is quite conducive to accuracy, but the real limiting factor is the poor quality of the typical 12.7mm Russian round itself. Russian snipers normally use the B-32 API round, which is better than the average 12.7mm Russian API round, but still no match in quality to even the typical .50 Browning Machinegun round.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: There were perhaps 20 of these rifles already built before the Twilight War, though about 10 times that many were built during the conflict. All of these were V-94s; the OSV-96 does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline. (Russian Airborne, Air Assault, and special operations troops don’t use the V-94 if they can avoid it; they prefer the Czech ZVI OP-96 Falcon).

     Merc 2000 Notes: The V-94 never matched up to sales of Western rifles of the same general caliber. The OSV-96 has never been exported in the Merc 2000 timeline.

*Though the OSV-96 will fold to a bulk of 8 for transportation, it CANNOT be fired when folded!

KBP VM-2000

     Notes: The VM-2000 was a part of the same competition that produced the ASVK.  The VM-2000 is also a bullpup-pattern rifle, with a 1-meter-long heavy free-floating barrel and a magazine well at nearly the end of the buttstock. The stock has a thick rubber ventilated recoil pad, and can be adjusted to the shooter to a limited degree. The VM-2000 was judged to be more accurate than the ASVK, but is also heavier with the heavy-gauge barrel and larger multibaffle muzzle brake. The VM-2000 also has internal compensators in its mechanism to further tame recoil. The VM-2000 can have its magazine topped off while the magazine remains in the weapon, or single rounds fed directly into the chamber for each shot.

     It is possible that versions of the VM-2000 were chambered for 12.7mm and 14.5mm ammunition, but this could be Internet confusion as well – the VM-2000 was definitely chambered for the 12.7mm cartridge, but a few sources have it chambered in 14.5mm as well. (I’ll include both below, but I’m skeptical about the VM-2000 being chambered in 14.5mm; the competition which produced the VM-2000 was for a 12.7mm rifle and it takes very rare special, expensive ammunition to produce the accuracy needed for an antimateriel or sniper rifle with a 14.5mm KPV cartridge.) In any event, only ten of these rifles are confirmed to have been produced as far as is known, and their disposition is not known. The reason they were rejected for service in favor of the ASVK is believed to be political rather than due to the technical aspects of the VM-2000. My stat work seems to show the VM-2000 to be the superior rifle, but that is only a game mechanic, so take it with a grain of salt.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The VM-2000 does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Kovrov ASVK

     Notes: This weapon, born of street fighting in Chechnya in the 1990s, is more or less a bullpup version of an experimental heavy-caliber model of the SV-98. This rifle was originally known as the SVN-98, then the KSVK, and is now called the ASVK in its military service configuration, and has little resemblance any more to the SV-98.

     The ASVK was designed for special operations use for countersniper work after experience in Chechnya, and is meant to be able to shoot through heavy brick, cinder block, concrete, and other such materials. One of the most noticeable features of the KSVK is its massive muzzle brake at the end of its 1-meter barrel; originally a huge pepperpot-style device, it is now a large multi-baffle device on the ASVK that also works as a low-efficiency suppressor and muzzle-blast reducer. It has the typically Russian-style scope bracket on the right side of the receiver, and has folding backup iron sights.

     Operation is a bit unusual due to the bullpup layout and size of the ASVK. The bolt uses an extension that makes its manual operation easier with the bullpup configuration; the primary cocking handle is just ahead of the trigger guard and points downward, though it otherwise operates normally. A secondary cocking handle is found just ahead of the magazine well, used when clearing the weapon for maintenance. The ASVK is built primarily of a light, strong steel alloy, except for a rubber cheekpiece and a rubber recoil pad. The bipod is underneath the operating rod; it is adjustable for height and cant. It is not removable, but folds forward. A carrying handle is found at the center of balance.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Though a rare weapon, the ASVK could be found during the Twilight War (production continued during the war at a very low rate). However, if you did encounter one, it usually meant you were up against Russian special ops units; they very jealously guarded their ASVKs.

Simonov PTRS

     Notes: This was one of two 14.5mm antitank rifles employed by the Soviets in World War 2 (the other being the PTRD, above). It used a complex semiautomatic action that made the weapon easier to fire and absorbed some of the massive recoil, but also made the design much more complex than the PTRD and, since it was longer, it was more fragile. They were removed from service after World War 2, except in certain specialist sniping riles, but none are in service today.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon reappeared in the hands of snipers in Category III and Mobilization-Only units during the Twilight War. In addition, some were also used in Africa and by Vietnam.

TsKIB SOO OTs-44

     Notes: Related both to the VM-2000 (above) and the VSK (Russian Sniper Rifles), design cues were also taken from an experimental assault rifle called the OTs-03. The OTs-44 beings together a shorter 750-millimeter barrel and a full-barrel-length heavy-duty suppressor; according to company literature, a shot from the OTs-44 cannot be heard from more than 30 meters, but the Russians are prone to exaggeration. While the suppressor is large and beefy, the 12.7mm Russian cartridge is very powerful. Perhaps TopWar.ru has a better take on this, reporting that the suppressor quiets the report to that of an SVD Dragunov sniper rifle. I have included lines in the stats for hypothetical subsonic 12.7mm Russian ammunition, this is basically covering my bases, as I have not been able to find out whether there is such a thing as 12.7mm Russian Subsonic ammunition. (The Russians have come up with shorter-cased subsonic 12.7mm ammunition, but this is not what the OTs-44 fires.) The purpose of the OTs-44 appears to be an attempt to not destroy the hearing of its snipers rather than clandestine operation. The OTs-44 has a foam rubber recoil pad on the butt to ease the pain of firing. The OTS-44 uses a recoil spring and buffer similar in concept (if not execution) to that of the AR series, with the spring and buffer using a tube at the top of the stock above where the shooter puts his shoulder. The magazine is contained in the buttstock, but due to the design it can be difficult to insert into the stock magazine well.