VKS (ВКС) or VSSK (ВССК) is a Russian

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, ...

, straight-pull bolt-action, magazine-fed

sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long range shooting, long-range rifle. Requirements include high accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment, and optics, for anti-personnel weapon, anti-personnel, anti-materiel rifle, anti-materiel and sur ...

chambered for the

12.7×55mm STs-130 The 12.7×55mm cartridge is used in some Russian firearms such as the VKS bullpup sniper rifle, the ShAK-12 bullpup battle rifle and the RSh-12 revolver. The cartridge can carry a projectile weighing between 108 grains and 1173 grains and i ...

subsonic round. The weapon is also known by the name VSSK and the additional name Vykhlop (Выхлоп), "Exhaust", which comes from the development program. It was developed in around 2002 for the special force units of FSB. The 12.7×55mm VKS silenced sniper rifle is intended for special operations that require silent firing and penetration much superior to that provided by

9×39mm The 9×39mm is a Soviet rifle cartridge. The cartridge yields increased performance in shorter barrels and effective subsonic performance. History and design The 9×39 is based on the Soviet 7.62×39mm case but with the neck expanded to fit a ...

VSS silenced sniper rifle. Typical targets for the VKS are combatants in heavy body armor or behind cover. The weapon uses an integral suppressor.

Design

The special round has an overall length of 97 mm. The accuracy is claimed as 1

minute of arc A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

at a 100-meter range with precision bullets. Cartridge variants: * STs-130 (СЦ-130) - standard * STs-130U (СЦ-130У) - for training * STs-130PT (СЦ-130ПТ) - increased accuracy (59 gram bullet) * STs-130PT2 (СЦ-130ПТ2) - increased accuracy (solid bronze bullet) * STs-130VPS (СЦ-130ВПС) - increased penetration (76 gram bullet). Capable of penetrating 16 mm of steel at 200 meters, or body armor up to GOST 5 at 100 meters.

References

External links

VKS

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(Photos of what appears to be a different variant of the VKS, or one of the similar competitive weapons of the same or similar development program. One of the differences is the muzzle suppressor, which can be removed and the weapon fired without it.) 12.7 mm firearms 12.7 mm sniper rifles Straight-pull rifles Sniper rifles of Russia Silenced firearms Bullpup rifles TsKIB SOO products {{Rifle-stub