VSS "Vintorez"

Summary

Country	🇷🇺 Russia
Category	Sniper rifle
Manufacturer	TSNIITOCHMASH

Technical specifications

VSS "Vintorez"
Fire Rate	Single shot rounds/min.
Caliber	9 x 39 mm SP-5 or SP-6 subsonique
Magazine	10 - 20 rounds
Length	894 mm (35.2 in)
Weight	2.6 kg (5.7 lb)
Range	600 m (1969 ft)

Description

The AS Val (6P30) and VSS Vintorez (6P29) are Soviet-designed firearms featuring an integral suppressor, based on the prototype RG-036 completed in 1981 by TsNIITochMash. Development of the Vintorez began in 1983, and the Val in 1985, by TsNIITochMash designers P. I. Serdyukov and V. F. Krasnikov, to replace modified general-purpose firearms like the AKS-74UB, BS-1, APB, and PB for clandestine operations. Manufacturing started at the Tula Arms Plant after adoption by the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in 1987. Their origins can be traced back to the study of a captured suppressed pistol following the 1960 U-2 incident, leading TsNIITochMash designers including G. Petropavlov, Yu Krulov, V. Sabelinikov, A. Neougodev, A. Deryagin, A. Khinikadze, I. Kas'yanov, P. Serdyukov, V. Petrov, and V. Levchenko to pioneer suppressed weapons and ammunition in Russia. With increased tensions in the late 1970s and 1980s, the KGB and GRU ordered the development of small arms for covert operations. The VSS Vintorez was developed parallel to the AS Val, and intended as a suppressed sniper rifle for Spetsnaz, capable of defeating NATO body armour at ranges up to 400 meters with minimal noise.

The firearms use a gas-operated rotating bolt, a modified Kalashnikov action, combined with an integral suppressor, and are chambered for the 9×39mm subsonic cartridge. The suppressor employs a dual-chamber principle: propellant gases are vented through barrel perforations into a first chamber for cooling and pressure reduction, then pass through a second chamber via mesh screens to further break the gas stream. This significantly lowers the sound signature. The VSS and Val share the same suppressor and operating systems. The AS Val is optimized for the 9×39mm SP-6 cartridge with a heavy 250-grain bullet, while the VSS Vintorez is optimized for the 9×39mm SP-5 subsonic cartridge with a hardened steel or tungsten tip designed to defeat body armour.

Magazine types differ: the AS Val typically uses a 20-round detachable box magazine, while the VSS Vintorez uses a 10-round magazine. These magazines are interchangeable between the two rifles and can also accept SR-3 Vikhr magazines, and vice versa. The magazines feature horizontal indentations for tactile identification, preventing confusion with Kalashnikov-pattern magazines, and providing rigidity. The VSS Vintorez can be broken down for transport in a specialized aluminum briefcase, which typically includes a PSO-1-1 (1P43) telescopic sight, an NPSU-3 night sight, and two magazines. The AS Val can mount the PSO-1 telescopic sight from the SVD rifle or the 1PN52-1 night sight. Both rifles are also equipped with iron sights. Both models are selective fire designs. While the Vintorez is primarily used in single-fire mode with 10-round magazines, it can fire short bursts of automatic fire and utilize the 20-round Val magazine in emergencies. The full automatic fire option of the Vintorez can also be used for ambushes or engaging soft-skinned vehicles.

Modernized variants designated ASM (6P30M) and VSSM (6P29M) exist. The VSSM features an aluminium buttstock with adjustable cheek and butt pads. Both the ASM and VSSM are outfitted with Picatinny rails on the top dust cover and on the sides and bottom of the suppressor, located forward of the handguard. The mounts shrouding the suppressor are removable on these variants. A new 30-round magazine was introduced for use with the ASM. Deliveries of these modernized versions began in 2018.

Both the AS Val and VSS Vintorez have been issued to Soviet troops since the late 1980s, and saw use during the First Chechen War (1994) and the Second Chechen War (1999). They remained relatively obscure to Western intelligence until the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, where they were used by both Russian and Georgian forces, and have also been observed in use by Russian Spetsnaz during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The VSS Vintorez was used in limited numbers by the Security Service of Ukraine's Alpha Group guarding the Ukrainian embassy in Iraq in the 2000s, but was reportedly retired from Ukrainian security forces by 2014 due to ammunition scarcity, according to Militarnyi. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a significant number of AS Val and VSS Vintorez rifles were captured from Russian forces.

Current and former users include:

• Armenia (small numbers received from Russia before 2014)

• Belarus (various special forces)

• Cuba (Mobile Brigade of Special Troops)

• Georgia (army and police special forces, some configured with Aimpoint and Kobra red dot sights)

• India (MARCOS)

• Russia (Special forces, Federal Security Service (FSB), OMON)

• Ukraine

• Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (former)

• Soviet Union (former).