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WEAPONS OF THE WORLD: Silent Sniper Rifle
StrategyPage.com ^ | September 29, 2003

Posted on 09/29/2003 3:34:04 PM PDT by John Jorsett

The lowly .22 caliber long rifle round is becoming a favorite among snipers. Professional assassins (usually thugs working for organized crime) have long favored using .22 caliber (5.56mm) pistols for their work. While not a powerful round, if you shoot someone up close with a .22 caliber pistol several things are noted.

1- The victim is dead if you shoot him in the head, whish is what pros usually aim for (as these guys like to say, "two in the head and you know he's dead.")

2- There is hardly any sound if you use a silencer, and not much even if you don't.

3-A 22 caliber pistol is small, even with a silencer. That makes it easier to conceal, and easier to dispose of.

Then the Russians noted that Chechen snipers were effectively using .22 LR (long rifle, them little bullets kids use to hunt squirrels and rabbits with) weapons. Inside towns and cities, the .22 LR sniper was very effective, especially since the Chechens would improvise a very workable silencer by putting a plastic bottle on the end of the rifle's barrel, with a hole in the bottom of the barrel for the bullet to exit. Using a cheap scope, Chechen snipers were very deadly at ranges of less than a hundred meters. Such ranges were pretty common in built up areas. And since you usually did not hear the shot (to the head or face, of course), you had a hard time finding the shooter. Having suffered from these low tech .22 caliber Chechen snipers for ten years, the Russians have come out with their own professional .22 LR sniper rifle, the SV-99. This is a little heavier (at 8.3 pounds) than your usual .22 LR rifle, but is built for professionals. It has a heavier barrel, a bipod, silencer and scope. It's 39 inches long and can accept five, eight or ten round magazines. There is a compartment in the butt stock for two five round magazines. With the SV-99, at a hundred meters, a skilled shooter can consistently put all rounds in a half inch circle. This is a specialist weapon, most likely used by commandos. But any trained sniper can quickly adapt to using it. And snipers like not being heard.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; miltech; sniperrifle
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SV-99:


1 posted on 09/29/2003 3:34:04 PM PDT by John Jorsett
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To: *bang_list
Bang
2 posted on 09/29/2003 3:44:10 PM PDT by Atlas Sneezed
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To: John Jorsett
I picked up a lot of folks shot with 22 caliber bullets and they seem to tumble and do their damage internally. They might not kill as quickly as a larger caliber , but they kill you just as dead. Sometimes you could hardly find the entrance wound, and they seldom exit.
3 posted on 09/29/2003 3:49:31 PM PDT by sgtbono2002 (I aint wrong, I aint sorry , and I am probably going to do it again.)
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To: John Jorsett
Looks kewl. I have a Remington .308, two Winchester 30-30s, and three .22s (Marlin / Browning / Ruger).

Can I buy one of these silenced carbines in North Carolina? I want to take out a few deer that are eating our floral and vegetable gardens.

My current horsepower weapons would bother the neighbors and violate the "covenants" in our private neighborhood.

We've got plenty of the "locals" who'd take away the venison.

4 posted on 09/29/2003 3:49:39 PM PDT by Cobra64 (Babes should wear Bullet Bras - www.BulletBras.net)
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To: Cobra64
I had a friend down in Louisiana who used to hunt Gators out in the swamps with an improvised silencer. He would use a potatoe on the end of the rifle. I guess it worked, he was never caught lol. I'd hate to see what a potato would do to the end of your favorite .22 tho.
5 posted on 09/29/2003 3:53:41 PM PDT by Leatherneck_MT (If you continue to do what you've always done, you will continue to get what you've a‚i]±s got.)
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To: John Jorsett
Oh, great. Now Chuckie Schumer can say I've got a half-dozen "sniper rifles" in my safe.

I will say this - if I'm hunting people I want as much lead in the pipe as I can stuff. People sometimes shoot back.

6 posted on 09/29/2003 3:53:54 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Cobra64
Check out these links for NFA firearms...funny thing about suppressors, in some European countries it is considered rude not to use one on a firearm..

http://www.impactguns.com/library/legalities/caniown.htm

http://www.full-auto.com/library_laws.htm

Have fun...
7 posted on 09/29/2003 4:02:54 PM PDT by MD_Willington_1976
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To: John Jorsett
A little additional info:

http://club.guns.ru/eng/sv99.html
8 posted on 09/29/2003 4:25:36 PM PDT by Khurkris (Scottish/HillBilly - Revenge is an Art Form for us. Ranger On...)
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To: John Jorsett
"...with a hole in the bottom of the barrel for the bullet to exit..."
- - -
Yes, it is always important to have a hole in the end of your barrel.
It makes the weapon function much better than without one.
9 posted on 09/29/2003 4:29:07 PM PDT by DefCon
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To: sgtbono2002
I picked up a lot of folks shot with 22 caliber bullets

ambulance? medivac?

I worked ambulances in and around NYC back in the early 70s, both professional and a local volunteer. Best thing I got out of it was my wife. Every friday night for 6 months on the volunteer ambulance I was the crew chief and she was my crew. Got spoiled as she did everything I said. Then we got married (g).

10 posted on 09/29/2003 4:36:54 PM PDT by Phsstpok (often wrong, but never in doubt)
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To: John Jorsett
I'll bet that my scoped 10-22T (beautiful laminated stock) with sub sonic rounds would do well in this role.
11 posted on 09/29/2003 4:43:43 PM PDT by Eagle Eye (There ought to be a law against excessive legislation.)
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To: Cobra64
Can I buy one of these silenced carbines in North Carolina? I want to take out a few deer that are eating our floral and vegetable gardens.


Silencers are legal in most states (but not all, so check with the seller.)

They are normally prohibited for hunting. (Although they are quite useful for illegal pest control, as the article explains.)

You pay the $300-600 and up for the "can," and pay a $200 tax for the transfer, along with fingerprints, paperwork, and a signature from yout local Sheriff of police chief.

A 22LR subsonic, silenced will not be adequate for deer. You want a heavy bullet that will have adequate killing energy at subsonic speeds. The best are marginal, so be certain about shot placement. Consider a 30 caliber 220 or 240 grain bullet, in a 300 whisper cartridge (you can buy a nice bolt gun with an integrated suppressor in this cartridge.) 338 Whisper is even better. 44 Mag works OK.

Of course, if you don't mind the supersonic crack that occurs even with a silenced report, you can shoot standard velocity ammunition for appropriately chambered guns.
12 posted on 09/29/2003 5:01:55 PM PDT by Atlas Sneezed
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To: Billthedrill
I agree with you, Billthedrill. If you gotta play the sniper thing- be too far away to be heard locally and use a big honkin bullet with low drag (like a 7mm or so). I mean, assassinations are different than a true sniper function, aren't they? I think the sv-99 is great for some freaks to pull off a planned, thought-out murder. But I don't think it would do the job for the situations that most professional snipers would find themselves in. I mean, I'm not a sniper, but as a prior soldier, a lot of us have thought about that stuff a few times.
13 posted on 09/29/2003 5:10:23 PM PDT by marteny
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To: Eagle Eye
I'll bet that my scoped 10-22T (beautiful laminated stock) with sub sonic rounds would do well in this role.

Thanks Eagle Eye, for the recommendation.

I'm looking at the Ruger catalogue as I type. The 10/22T - bull barrel, tiger-striped stock is a nice touch. Very nice set-up.

There will be some fresh venison for the locals. Venison ain't our favorite. We like rare prime rib with juices, mashed potatoes & gravy, veal, and shrimp. All the "bad stuff."

14 posted on 09/29/2003 5:24:27 PM PDT by Cobra64 (Babes should wear Bullet Bras - www.BulletBras.net)
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To: John Jorsett
cover

The lowly .22 caliber long rifle round is becoming a favorite among snipers. Professional assassins (usually thugs working for organized crime) have long favored using .22 caliber (5.56mm) pistols for their work. While not a powerful round, if you shoot someone up close with a .22 caliber pistol several things are noted.

The original 1973 movie version of Day of the Jackal (remade as The Jackal, with Bruce Willis) had a very professional assassin using a specially made single shot 22 rifle. He hand drilled the bullets and filled them with mercury and then capped it with a putty to hold the mercury in place.

1- The victim is dead if you shoot him in the head, which is what pros usually aim for (as these guys like to say, "two in the head and you know he's dead.")

He practiced with a watermelon as a target and regular 22 bullets first. He'd hit it dead on and get a nice neat hole. Then he switched to the mercury loads and poof - no more watermelon.

Interesting movie, but it was most interesting to me for the portrayal of stuff like this. The guy playing the assassin (Edward Fox) was a cold blooded SOB who didn't look it. That's what's really frightening.  Remember Wednesday Adam's line from the first Adams Family movie about her apparently not wearing a Halloween costume?  "I'm going as a serial killer.  They look like everyone else."

2- There is hardly any sound if you use a silencer, and not much even if you don't.

In the book and first movie his target was De Gaulle at ceremonies in Paris. The silenced gun was so effective that he was able to miss once or twice and no one noticed it.

3-A 22 caliber pistol is small, even with a silencer. That makes it easier to conceal, and easier to dispose of.

The gun broke down into pieces that fit into the aluminum tubes of crutches.  The butt plate was obviously one of the pads on the top of the crutches.  He folded one leg up (rather painfully) to make it look like he was an amputee and used that ruse to get past the guards to a vantage point overlooking the square.

I never though the same about "little" 22s since then.  Someone else pointed out to me once that a 22 is bigger around than an ice pick and you wouldn't want that being introduced into your body, even without much relative speed.


15 posted on 09/29/2003 5:28:07 PM PDT by Phsstpok (often wrong, but never in doubt)
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To: Leatherneck_MT
Did you actually see a demonstration of this potato silencer or is this something your friend told you? Was the spud bored out or was it just slammed or pushed on the muzzle?
16 posted on 09/29/2003 5:59:36 PM PDT by neverdem (Say a prayer for New York both for it's lefty statism and the probability the city will be hit again)
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To: Phsstpok
Good movie,better weapon.
17 posted on 09/29/2003 6:02:21 PM PDT by Redcoat LI
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To: MD_Willington_1976
LOL. Mind your manners. One mustn't be rude.
18 posted on 09/29/2003 6:04:03 PM PDT by neverdem (Say a prayer for New York both for it's lefty statism and the probability the city will be hit again)
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To: Joe Brower
Will this "sniper rifle" be banned along with the .50BMG "sniper" rifles? Which one is more likely to be used in a crime?
19 posted on 09/29/2003 6:09:10 PM PDT by Blue Collar Christian (Aren't you suspicious that so many Democrats like the "Republican" Arnold?><BCC>)
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To: John Jorsett
http://arms.host.sk/firearms/vss.htm

The VSS, another specially designed sniper rifle.
This one has a supressor built into the barrel, allowing
quiet operation.
20 posted on 09/29/2003 6:10:49 PM PDT by Saturnalia (My name is Matt Foley and I live in a VAN down by the RIVER.)
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