The ShAK-12, (Russian: ШАК-12) originally under the name ''ASh-12.7'' (АШ-12.7, which stands for "Автомат штурмовой 12.7мм" or "automatic assault carbine 12.7mm")

battle rifle A battle rifle is a service rifle chambered to fire a fully powered cartridge. The term "battle rifle" is a retronym created largely out of a need to differentiate automatic rifles chambered for fully powered cartridges from automatic rifles cha ...

is a dedicated CQB/

Urban Operations Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...

weapon, developed by

TsKIB SOO The Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Arms, abbreviated TsKIB SOO () is a Russian small arms design bureau based in Tula, Russia. It was established in 1946, and it is currently managed as a branch of the KBP Instrument D ...

("Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Arms"), a subsidiary of the

KBP Instrument Design Bureau JSC ''Konstruktorskoe Buro Priborostroeniya'' (KBP) ( Joint-Stock Company - Instrument Design Bureau) is one of the main enterprises in the field of Defense industry of Russia, Russian defense industry, based in Tula. It is engaged in designing ...

Tula, Russia Tula (, ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast in Russia, located south of Moscow. Tula is located in the northern Central Russian Upland on the banks of the Upa (river), Upa River, a tributary of the Oka (river), Ok ...

, by request from the Russian

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterin ...

(FSB). The weapon was designed with extreme short-range

stopping power Stopping power is the supposed ability of a weapon – typically a ranged weapon such as a firearm – to cause a target (human or animal) to be incapacitated or immobilized. Stopping power contrasts with lethality in that it pertains only to a ...

in mind for FSB

urban combat Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and the complex ...

units. According to the Russian press, the first batch of ShAK-12 battle rifles were delivered to the FSB in late 2011.

Overview

The ShAK-12 is a dedicated "Close/Urban combat" weapon for high-risk

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

operations, which must combine high

with limited penetration and a short 'dangerous range', to avoid

collateral damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

to innocent bystanders or hostages. To achieve these goals, the designers of the ShAK-12 developed special large-calibre ammunition, loaded with a variety of bullets. The ammunition used for the ShAK-12 is the 12.7×55mm straight-walled, rimless brass case based on .338 Lapua Magnum, originally developed by the same organization that developed the silenced

VKS sniper rifle VKS (ВКС) or VSSK (ВССК) is a Russian bullpup, straight-pull bolt-action, magazine-fed sniper rifle chambered for the 12.7×55mm STs-130 subsonic round. The weapon is also known by the name VSSK and the additional name Vykhlop (Выхлоп ...

.12,7х55 СЦ-130
Standard loading for the ShAK-12 is a lightweight, subsonic ammunition with an aluminium core, exposed at the front and hollowed at the rear and partially enclosed into a bi-metal jacket. The cartridge has a bullet weight of 7-33 grams when utilizing ShAK-12 loads. It has several loadings; light, heavy and a duplex load with two light bullets. This new Russian cartridge bears certain conceptual similarities to a family of big-bore cartridges developed in the US for the AR-15 platform, such as .458 SOCOM, .499 LWR or .50 Beowulf, although the Russian cartridge uses a longer case and generally a heavier bullet load. Its US counterparts are usually loaded with bullets weighing 19 grams and up.

Design

The ShAK-12 features a

bullpup A bullpup firearm is one with its firing grip located in front of the Chamber (firearms), breech of the weapon, instead of behind it. This creates a weapon with a shorter overall length for a given barrel length, and one that is often lighter, ...

layout, with a stamped steel receiver and a polymer housing/stock. It utilizes a short recoil operating system, which means that after it fires the round the barrel slides backwards with the bolt for a short distance, utilizing the recoil of the cartridge, while the bolt keeps traveling backwards fully to eject the spent shell casing without redirecting gasses. It is unknown what kind of locking system it uses, however it most likely uses a 2 or 3 lug rotating bolt. Firing controls include two separate levers; a fire mode selector (Semi/Auto) at the rear and an ambidextrous safety (Safe/Fire) above the pistol grip. There are several configurations of the basic rifle. The first one features an integral carrying handle with a built-in rear

diopter sight A diopter sight is an Iron sight#Aperture sights, aperture sight component used to assist the aiming of ranged weapons, mainly firearms, airguns, and crossbows. Diopters function to precisely align the shooter's eye with the front sight and the ...

and a folding front sight. A length of

Picatinny rail The 1913 rail (MIL-STD-1913 rail) is an American rail integration system designed by Richard Swan that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It forms part of the NATO standard STANAG 2324 rail. It was originally used for mount ...

is installed on the carrying handle to accept various optical sights. Another version that was observed on some photos features a "flat top" configuration with a Picatinny rail running on top of the receiver, as well as front and rear sights installed on folding bases. Other variations have a Picatinny rail below the fore end or a 40mm underbarrel

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...

. Muzzle devices include a

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral (ported barrel) to the construction of, the muzzle or barrel of a firearm or cannon that is intended to redirect a portion of propellant gases to counter re ...

or a quickly-detachable

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a gun barrel#Muzzle, muzzle device that suppresses the muzzle blast, blast created when a gun (firearm or airgun) is discharged, thereby reducing the sound inten ...

. The Russian Federal Security Service has adopted the ShAK-12 in small numbers, with other designs such as the

Dragunov sniper rifle The SVD (СВД; ), GRAU index 6V1, is a semi-automatic designated marksman rifle/sniper rifle chambered in the 7.62×54mmR cartridge, developed in the Soviet Union. History The SVD was designed to serve in a squad support role to provide pre ...

and Heckler & Koch MR308 remaining more common.

Ammunition

*12,7x55mm Легкая Пуля (''Legkaya Pulya'' (LP) > "Light Bullet") ullet Weight: 7 grams (108 grains)Light supersonic saboted lead bullet with an aluminum core. *12,7x55mm Тяжелая Пуля (''Tyazhelaya Pulya'' (TP) > "Heavy Bullet") ullet Weight: 33 gram (509 grains)Heavy subsonic lead bullet. *12,7x55mm Двухпульный (''Dvukhpul'niy'' (DP) > "Double-Bulleted", "Duplex Bullet") ullet Weight: 17 grams (262 grains) eachTwo bullets loaded inline. *12,7x55mm Бронебойная Пуля (''Broneboynaya Pulya'' (BP) > "Armor-Piercing Bullet") ullet Weight: 18 grams (277 grains)Lead bullet with an armor-piercing core.

Users

* : Adopted by the FSB

References

{{Bullpup firearms 12.7 mm firearms Bullpup rifles Izhevsk machine-building plant products Rifles of Russia TsKIB SOO products Weapons and ammunition introduced in 2010

Overview

Design

Ammunition

Users

See also

References