Russia’s National Guard Orders Kalashnikov’s SV-98 Sniper Rifles

Russia’s Kalashnikov Group will deliver 26 SV-98 7.62 mm bolt-action sniper rifles to the country’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya), TASS reports quoting the source from Russian industry as saying.

The source did not disclose the variant of the rifle but said the deliveries will conclude in November. "The National Guard has signed a contract worth RUB8 million [USD128,020] for 26 SV-98 sniper rifles with the Kalashnikov Group. The firearms will have been delivered to the customer by 20 November," the source said.

The National Guard is supposed to get the latest variant of the sniper rifle, which is chambered for 7.62x54R cartridges. This modification of the SV-98 is based on an aluminum chassis with adjustable skeleton folding buttstock and two upper MIL-STD-1913 rails for an optical sight and a night detachment, respectively.

The SV-98 is fitted with a 650 mm barrel and is fed by 10-round polymer magazines. The firearm features an overall length of 1,375 mm (with a silencer), a combat weight of 7.8 kg, and a muzzle velocity of 820 m/s. The rifle is accurate at a distance of up to 1,000 m with the use of its organic sight. The SV-98 has received an adjustable firing mechanism with a trigger pull varying between 1.0 kgf and 1.5 kgf. The baseline sniper rifle has been complemented by the 1P69 Giperon (Hyperon) 3-10x variable optical sight, a quick-detachable tactical silencer, and a bipod. A monopod (‘third leg’) is integrated with the lower part of the buttstock.