The M93 Black Arrow ( sr, М93 Црна стрела/''M93 Crna strela'') is a
12.7×108mm
The 12.7×108mm cartridge is a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the former Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact countries, modern Russia, China and other countries. It was invented in 1934 to create a cartrid ...
anti-materiel rifle
An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware ( materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elim ...
developed and manufactured by
Zastava Arms
Zastava Arms ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Застава oружје, Zastava oružje) is a Serbian manufacturer of firearms and artillery, based in Kragujevac, Serbia. It was founded in 1853 when it cast its first cannon. It is the leading producer of firear ...
.
Overview
The rifle was designed in 1993 and entered production in 1998. The primary purpose of this rifle is long-range engagement and due to that, it is provided with an
optical sight
A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...
, which is included in the rifle set (8x magnification with the division up to 1,800 m) and a backup iron sight. Its mount can accept the sights of other manufacturers as well.
Design and features
The Zastava M93 Black Arrow rifle is available in both
12.7×108mm
The 12.7×108mm cartridge is a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and anti-materiel rifle cartridge used by the former Soviet Union, the former Warsaw Pact countries, modern Russia, China and other countries. It was invented in 1934 to create a cartrid ...
and
.50 BMG. It is a
bolt-action
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
, air-cooled,
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
-fed firearm with a
fixed stock.
The weapon is fed through a 5- or 10-round detachable, spring-loaded box magazine. The shoulder stock has a telescoping design, sitting aft of the ergonomic pistol grip unit. The bolt-action handle rests over the right side of the gun body. A carrying handle is affixed to the forend and the barrel is capped by a multi-baffled brake to assist in handling the massive recoil action. A folding bipod is also attached.
Its overall design is a scale-up of the
Mauser 98
The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the K ...
system, similarly to the
Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, with some influence from the French
FR-F1
The FR F1 is a French sniper rifle manufactured by the Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Étienne (''MAS''); one of several government-owned arms factories in France. The FR F1 was France's first purpose-built precision rifle for sharpshooters. Introdu ...
However the FR-F1 was built on basis of MAS-36 that was also influenced by Gewehr 98 (Mauser 98). Therefore the M93 and FR-F1 have some roots in Mauser 98.
The M93 has a trigger block safety design similar to Russian SVT 40 rifle
Users
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* : Used by Army Marksman
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Peshmerga
The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...
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*: Used by
Philippine Marines
The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) ( fil, Hukbong Kawal Pandagat ng Pilipinas) is the marine corps of the Philippines, a naval infantry force under the command of the Philippine Navy. The PMC conducts amphibious, expeditionary, and special ope ...
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YPG
See also
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Zastava M12
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Zastava M76
The Zastava M76 is a military semi-automatic designated marksman rifle developed and manufactured by Zastava Arms.
History
The Zastava Arms Company released the M76 in the mid-1970s. Since then it became the standard issue designated marksman r ...
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Zastava M91
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Zastava M07
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List of sniper rifles
References
Sources
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{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
M93
12.7 mm sniper rifles
.50 BMG sniper rifles
12.7×108 mm sniper rifles
Zastava Arms
Bolt-action rifles
Anti-materiel rifles
Serbian design