Russian anti-material rifle MC-572 Astarta dubbed Barrett killer unveiled at Army 2023.

During the Army 2023 exhibition held in Moscow from August 14 to 20, Rostec showcased its new large-caliber rifle MC-572 "Astarta" at the "Army-2023" forum. It has been humbly nicknamed the "Barrett Killer", clearly referencing the famous American anti-material rifle.
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Anti-Material Rifle MC-572 Astarta "Barrett Killer" (Picture source: Russian Media )

A company representative stated, "Today, we are introducing our new 12.7mm anti-material rifle 'Astarta' to the public for the first time. According to our experts, considering its overall characteristics, this rifle can be termed as the 'killer' of the renowned American rifle in this class, the Barrett M82."

According to the developers of "Astarta", it is lighter, more affordable, and more accurate than its American counterpart while maintaining the same reliability. "In comparative tests, the Barrett managed to group five shots within six centimeters, whereas the 'Astarta' achieved a grouping of 1.5 centimeters," they noted.

The high accuracy of this new weapon is attributed, in part, to a design innovation – a "clamped" barrel, a feature also present in the smaller-caliber MC-566 rifle. "When switching the firing mode from automatic to single-shot, the accuracy achieved is comparable to rifles with a bolt-action mechanism," the company added.

Furthermore, mass production of the "Astarta" rifle is set to begin in four months. During the forum, a representative of the holding informed journalists, "We are preparing for production... We plan to start mass-producing this rifle in about four months. This is the first time we've accelerated production under these conditions."

However, the actual characteristics of this new rifle remain to be seen. Moreover, if production proceeds as planned, we might witness this weapon in the conflict in Ukraine, providing a real assessment of its battlefield performance.