The SVU OTs-3 sniper rifle was a deep modernization of the famous SVD army sniper rifle. The rifle was offered to units as a weapon for combat in the city.
The sniper rifle, called SVU OTs-3 (shortened sniper rifle), was developed by specialists from TsKIBSOO of the city of Tula. At its core, the new rifle was a deep modernization of the famous and well-proven army SVD sniper rifle, which was created by Izhevsk designer E. F. Dragunov. The creation of a shortened version of the SVD rifle for the needs of the USSR Airborne Forces began in the 70s of the last century. At the same time, the designer L. V. Bondarev proposed in 1975 an interesting variant of changing the SVD using an unusual but promising bullpup scheme.
In the Airborne Forces, the first samples of a new sniper rifle, designated SVU or OTs-03 (TsKIB third sample), were demonstrated in 1979, but at that moment the military did not show due interest in weapons, believing that the SVD sniper rifle already in service was quite answers all their requests. Small-scale production of the new SVU rifle was started only in 1991 at the insistence of the command staff of the Vympel special forces group of the KGB of the USSR (today, Directorate B of the Special Forces Center of the FSB of Russia). At the same time, sniper rifles were altered in Tula at the TsKIB production base from SVD rifles, which were supplied from army warehouses. Also, the rifle was offered to units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia as a weapon for military operations in the city. In urban conditions, the increased maneuverability of soldiers with an SVU short sniper rifle can be considered an absolute plus of this weapon.
The Tula SVU sniper rifle uses basic mechanisms and a modified receiver from the famous SVD rifle. At the same time, locking by turning the bolt and a gas outlet mechanism with a regulator and a short stroke of the gas piston from the SVD rifle were preserved in the SVU. At the same time, the trigger mechanism has undergone changes, which was equipped with a long rod connecting it to the trigger, brought forward.
At the same time, when creating a new rifle based on the SVD, the pistol grip was changed, the frame butt was replaced with a shoulder butt plate, the trigger mechanism, the sight mount was changed, and a number of issues related to balancing the rifle were resolved. "Linear recoil" with a sufficiently high power of the rifle cartridge required the use of special devices that could successfully compensate for the high recoil energy. During the development process, it was also discovered that it was possible to slightly shorten the rifle barrel without compromising the accuracy of the weapon. As a result, the rifle barrel was shortened by 100 mm, and the gas chamber was shifted back. At the same time, the increased loads on the gas piston rod required the designers to take special measures to prevent possible breakdowns. This problem was solved by installing a hinged earring on the rod, which rested against the wall of the gas outlet tube. The connection between the trigger and the trigger was realized through the trigger rod, which was installed along the wall of the receiver on the left side.
To reduce the effect of recoil on the shooter, an elastic butt pad was used - a shoulder rest, as well as a three-chamber muzzle device. The butt-pad was rigidly fixed to the receiver, it was also equipped with a leaf spring and could easily turn forward, which helped to absorb some of the recoil energy when fired. The muzzle device of the SVU rifle was complex and played the role of both a muzzle brake, which could absorb up to 40% of the recoil energy, and a compensator-weight, which reduced barrel vibrations and shifted the center of gravity of a sniper rifle forward, and a flame arrester. In addition, by cooling and expanding the gases inside the chambers, this device also helped to reduce the sound of a shot to an acceptable 150 dB.
The plastic pistol grip was placed near the center of gravity of the weapon and had a comfortable ergonomic shape, well in the hand. A somewhat enlarged trigger guard made it possible to fire from a rifle and with gloves. A special non-adjustable "cheek" was mounted on top of the receiver, which gave support to the shooter's head when aiming. The plastic pads of the fore-end, as well as their mountings, were taken from the SVD, but a cutout was made in the left pad due to the forward displacement of the sight mount.
An optical sight PSO-1 (1P43) was installed on the SVU sniper rifle. At the same time, the sight mount was moved slightly up and forward. A variant with the installation of sights of the NSPU type, as well as a laser designator is possible. On the new rifle, the SVD sector open sight gave way to a diopter sight, which was made like a hunting weapon: a front sight with a fence and an adjustable diopter were installed on folding racks. The drum of the diopter sight, as well as the sight bar on a conventional SVD, could be set up to 1300 meters, which is even more than the effective firing range of such a weapon.
Firing with a diopter sight was possible both with the removed and mounted optical sight. Raising the diopter sight above the butt did not force the shooter to tilt his head unnecessarily when firing. The SVU rifle was powered by a regular SVD store, designed for 10 rounds. It was impossible to mount a bayonet-knife on the rifle, there was no provision for mounting for it.
Later, in 1993, according to the requirements of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the city of Tula, a new version of the OTs-03A or SVU-A sniper rifle was created and mastered (after being put into service). This rifle was distinguished by the fact that it had the ability to conduct automatic fire.
This improvement was not the last. In 1995, at the suggestion of the military personnel who operated IEDs in Chechnya, another version of the SVU-AS rifle (OTs-3AS) was developed and adopted, which was equipped with a bipod. Such a rifle differed from SVU-A in the presence of a folding bipod, which was placed under the barrel on a special bracket. For firing while standing or with an emphasis on a tree or wall, the bipod was made to turn sideways.
Both SVU-A and SVU-AS rifles were distinguished by the presence of a modified firing mechanism, which made it possible to conduct automatic fire. The choice of the fire mode depended on the degree of pressing the trigger - a short press made it possible to fire single cartridges, a long press (all the way) - automatic fire. The locking system, automatics, the design of the bolt carrier and the bolt, the assembly of the parts of the firing mechanism, as well as the receiver, have not undergone any changes compared to the IED version.
The automatic fire mode was implemented by increasing the length of the trigger stroke. At the same time, the hammer, when cocked, did not disconnect the sear from the trigger, so the next shot from the rifle was fired by a self-timer after the bolt came to the forward position and the barrel was locked.
Since this sniper rifle was designed according to the bullpup scheme, the trigger thrust was longer than that of the SVD. And the fact that a special translator was included in the design of the SVU-A and SVU-AS rifles, which was located within the trigger guard and limited the movement of the trigger, made it possible to introduce a second firing mode without making major changes to the rifle's trigger mechanism.
The butt of a sniper rifle, whose functions were performed by the rear of the receiver, was equipped with a spring-loaded butt pad. The stock itself, forend and cheek lip were made of polyamide.
At the same time, the rifle bipod required significant additions. For their installation, a special horizontal rod was used, which was rigidly attached in front of the receiver. The retraction angle and articulation of the bipod allowed them to rotate relative to the weapon. The bipods themselves were made telescopic and had 4 fixed height settings (maximum height - 320 mm). They could rotate around their axis 90 degrees to the left or right. The bipod was folded back.
It is worth noting that automatic fire from SVU-A and SVU-AS sniper rifles could only be fired in the most extreme cases, since the relatively small magazine capacity and light barrel did not allow the shooter to conduct any intensive shooting in this mode. Later, in order to somehow rectify the situation, two new magazines for 20 and 30 rounds were created. However, when conducting intensive fire in bursts using these magazines, powder gases accumulated in the muzzle attachment chambers and the effectiveness of the weapon dropped significantly.
From the point of view of ensuring the accuracy of fire when firing single cartridges, according to available information, at short and medium distances, the series of SVU rifles was approximately comparable to the characteristics of a Dragunov sniper rifle. Since 1991, a bullpup sniper rifle has been produced in Tula in small batches, in total, about 1000 samples have been produced. The main customers of the rifle were the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
The performance characteristics of the IED:
Length - 980 mm.
Barrel length - 510 mm.
Rifle width - 50 mm.
Height with an open sight - 229 mm.
The caliber of the weapon is 7, 62 mm, the cartridge used is 7, 62x54 mm R.
Magazine: detachable box-horn magazine for 10 rounds (20 and 30 for SVU-A and SVU-AC).
Rate of fire - 30 rds / min (650 rds / min for SVU-A and SVU-ATs).
The initial speed of the bullet is 830 m / s.
Sighting range - up to 1300 m.
Effective sighting range - 800 m.
The mass of the rifle is 4, 4-6, 1 kg, depending on the magazine capacity and the type of sight.
