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 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 better differentiate the intermediate-powered assault rifles (e.g. the StG-44, AK-47, M16 ...

is a dedicated

CQB Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections officers ...

/ Urban Operations weapon, developed by

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

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

KBP Instrument Design Bureau JSC ''Konstruktorskoe Buro Priborostroeniya'' (KBP) (russian: АО «Конструкторское бюро приборостроения», AO konstruktórskoje bjuró priborostrojénija Joint-Stock Company - Instrument Design Bureau) is one ...

Tula, Russia Tula ( rus, Тула, p=ˈtulə) 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, a tributary of the Ok ...

, by request from the Russian

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

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

stopping power Stopping power is the 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 weapon ...

in mind for FSB

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

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 government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

operations, which must combine high

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

collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...

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 The .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70 mm or 8.58×70 mm) is a rimless, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It was developed during the 1980s as a high-powered, long-range cartridge for military snipers. It was used in the War in Afghanistan and ...

, originally developed by the same organization that developed the silenced VKS sniper rifle.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 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporat ...

platform, such as

.458 SOCOM The .458 SOCOM (11.63×40mm) is a moderately large round designed to work in an AR-15 platform. This is achieved by installing a 458 bolt and barrel. The round offers a supersonic muzzle velocity of and , similar to a light .45-70 but with a m ...

, .499 LWR or

.50 Beowulf The .50 Beowulf is a 12mm caliber rifle cartridge developed by Bill Alexander of Alexander Arms for use in an AR-15 rifle. Design and specifications The cartridge utilizes a rebated rim, sized to match the rim of the 6.5mm Grendel round. The ...

, 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 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 The diopter is an aperture sight component used to assist the aiming of devices, mainly firearms, airguns, and crossbows. It is found in particular as a rear sight element on rifles. To obtain a usable sighting line the diopter has to have a c ...

and a folding front sight. A length of

Picatinny rail The Picatinny rail ( or ), or Pic rail for short, also known as a MIL-STD-1913 rail, 1913 rail or STANAG 2324 rail (cancelled), is a military standard rail interface system that provides a mounting platform for firearm accessories. It was ...

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 or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The m ...

. Muzzle devices include a

muzzle brake A muzzle brake or recoil compensator is a device connected to, or a feature integral 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 recoil and unwant ...

or a quickly-detachable

suppressor A silencer, also known as a sound suppressor, suppressor, or sound moderator, is a muzzle device that reduces the acoustic intensity of the muzzle report (sound of a gunshot) and muzzle rise when a gun (firearm or air gun) is discharged, by ...

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

Dragunov sniper rifle The SVD (russian: Сна́йперская Винто́вка систе́мы Драгуно́ва образца́ 1963 года, lit=Sniper Rifle, System of Dragunov, Model of the Year 1963, translit=Snáyperskaya Vintóvka sistém'y Dragunóv ...

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 Assault rifles of Russia Izhevsk machine-building plant products TsKIB SOO products

Overview

Design

Ammunition

Users

See also

References