- The Russian Army will soon receive the new Chukavin SVCh sniper rifle.
- It is designed by the maker of the AK-47.
- The Chukavin SVCh has a maximum range of more than 4,200 feet, depending on the round.
The Russian Army will soon receive the new Chukavin SVCh sniper rifle, according to Popular Mechanics.
The Chukavin fires 7.62x54mmR, .308 Winchester and .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, Popular Mechanics reported. The rifle also has a maximum range of more 4,200 feet, depending on the round, according to armyrecognition.com, a magazine that covers military technology.
Designed by Kalashnikov Concern, the maker of the AK-47, the Chukavin will replace the Dragunov SVD, which has been in Russian military service since the 1960s.
Russian President Vladimir Putin himself fired the Chukavin five times in September, hitting a target nearly 2,000 feet away with three of those shots, according to Russian state-owned media.
Unveiled at Russia's Army 2017 forum, the Chukavin is shorter and lighter than the Dragunov without compromising durability, according to Kalashnikov.
Alexey Krivoruchko, the CEO of Kalashnikov, told Russian state-owned media outlet TASS in 2017 that the Russian Defense Ministry as a whole and the Russian National Guard were interested in the rifle, according to thefirearmblog.com.
Russian state-owned media reported in May that the Russian Army will also replace the AK-74M with Kalashnikov's AK-12 and AK-15.
Watch Putin test out the SVCh below:
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