New Russian silenced sniper rifle based on MTs-116M.

A new Russian-made 12.7mm silenced sniping rifle based on the MTs-116M rifle will be unveiled at the Army 2018 exhibition in Kubinka in the Moscow Region in late August, a representative of the Shipunov Instrument-Making Design Bureau told TASS. The Shipunov Instrument-Making Design Bureau is the developer of the rifle.

A new Russian-made 12.7mm silenced sniping rifle based on the MTs-116M rifle will be unveiled at the Army 2018 exhibition in Kubinka in the Moscow Region, in late August (Picture source: Twitter)

During the exhibition, the company will display a whole range of MTs-116M rifle modifications, including rifles chambered for 7.62x51mm (.308 Winchester), 7.62x67mm (.300 Winchester Magnum) and 8.6x70mm (.338 Lapua Magnum) cartridges, the representative said. More powerful cartridges (with a greater powder charge due to the cartridge case’s larger size) ensure better trajectory flatness and firing accuracy, the representative added.

"Considering the high quality of the barrels, the bullet’s deviation is only 13mm per 100 meters," the representative said. "Besides, rifle versions for 7.62mm subsonic and 12.7mm silenced cartridges will be shown," the representative said. All the modifications have the stock of the MTs-116 rifle and use a versatile trigger and firing mechanism but have different barrels.

According to the representative, the MTs-116 rifle’s silenced large-caliber version is expected to be used by special units mainly in urban conditions. This rifle can stealthily hit an enemy in good protective gear (a high-class armor vest) at short distances of up to 300 meters. The bullet’s large caliber that is 12.7mm and its high weight compensate for its low speed and low energy and retain its destructive effect.

As the representative of the design bureau said, powder gases coming from the barrel are the main source of the sound during a shot.

In a subsonic cartridge, gases leave the barrel at the subsonic speed, which allows using the silencer more effectively to reduce such telltale factors as shot loudness and flame.

In a silenced cartridge, powder gases remain inside the cartridge and a special piston is used to direct a bullet to the bore. A rifle with such a cartridge does not produce any flame or shot sound. The sole thing that can be heard is the clattering of moving mechanical parts in the receiver, for example, the bolt.

The baseline MTs-116M magazine-type sniping rifle fires the standard 7.62x54mm cartridge and is designed for police and counter-terrorist operations. It has a range of 700-800 meters.
According to public sources, the rifle is produced in small batches and is used by the Interior Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the Federal Security Service. MTs-116 rifles were noticed in Syria earlier. They were used by snipers of Syrian government forces.