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Russian hi-tech firm to showcase new noiseless sniper rifle

The company will showcase a whole range of MTs-116M rifle modifications at the Army-2018 arms show

MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. A new Russian 12.7mm quiet sniper rifle derived from the MTs-116M gun will be demonstrated for the first time at the Army-2018 arms exhibition in Kubinka outside Moscow in late August, a representative of the Shipunov Instrument-Making Design Bureau (the rifle’s developer) told TASS on Monday.

The company will showcase a whole range of MTs-116M rifle modifications at the Army-2018 arms show, including 7.62x51mm (.308 Winchester), 7.62x67mm (.300 Winchester Magnum) and 8.6x70mm (.338 Lapua Magnum) guns, the representative said.

More powerful cartridges (with the greater powder charge due to the cartridge’s larger size) provide for better trajectory flatness and more accurate shooting, the representative said.

"Considering the high-quality production of barrels, the bullet’s deviation is just 13mm per 100m," the representative of the design bureau said.

Besides, the design bureau will demonstrate rifle variants chambered for the 7.62mm subsonic ammunition and 12.7 noiseless cartridges," he said.

All the modifications have retained the stock of the MTs-116 rifle and use the standardized trigger and striking mechanism but have different barrels.

As the design bureau’s specialist said, the MTs-116M rifle’s quiet large-caliber modification will be intended for Special Forces for their use largely in urban conditions.

This new rifle can inconspicuously hit an enemy in good protective gear (a high-class armor vest) at short distances of up to 300m.

The bullet’s large caliber (12.7mm) and weight compensate for its low flight speed and low energy and help retain the damaging effect.

As the design bureau’s specialist explained, propellant gases emerging from the barrel are the main source of the sound during a shot. In a subsonic cartridge, gases flow out of the barrel at the subsonic speed, correspondingly, which helps use the silencer more effectively to reduce such factors unmasking the shooter as the shot loudness and flame.

In a quiet cartridge, powder gases stay inside the cartridge case and a special piston pushes a bullet into the bore. A rifle with such a cartridge produces neither flame nor shot sound. The only thing that can be heard is the clattering of moving mechanical parts in the breech casing, for example, the breechblock.

MTs-116M rifle

The MTs-116M baseline magazine-type sniper rile is chambered for the standard 7.62x54mm domestic cartridge and is designed for police and anti-terror operations. It has an effective range of 700-800m.

According to open sources, the rifle is produced in small batches and is used by Special Forces of the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Federal Security Service. MTs-116 rifles were earlier noticed in Syria: they were used by snipers of Syrian government forces.