Type Assault Rifle In service 1987–present | Place of origin Soviet Union Used by Russian Federation | |
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Wars First Chechen War and Second Chechen War, 2008 South Ossetia war, War in Donbass, Insurgency in the North Caucasus (used by Russian special forces) Designer TsNIITochMash
Pyotr Serdyukov | ||
The AS "Val" (Avtomat Special'nyj Val, Russian: Автомат Специальный Вал or Special Automatic Rifle, code name: "Shaft", GRAU designation 6P30) is a Soviet-designed assault rifle featuring an integrated suppressor. Development of a special rifle (AS) "Shaft" began in the first half of the 1980s in the Central Research Institute of Precision Engineering (TSNIITOCHMASH), in the city of Klimovsk, Moscow region. The lead designer of the rifle is Pyotr Serdyukov.
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It was developed in 1987 by TsNIITochMash (Central Institute for Precision Machine Building). Since 1987, it was added to the arsenal of the Soviet Army and the KGB and is used by Russian Spetsnaz special forces and the MVD, FSB, OMON, SOBR, GRU, and select units of the Russian Army.
Due to the rifle being both expensive and in limited quantity, it is very rarely deployed according to some Russian Spetsnaz operators. It is deployed in special operations that are either sabotage or reconnaissance units behind enemy lines and is a favorite of Spetsnaz operators.
Design
Its effective range is approximately 300 m, as it uses heavy subsonic 9x39mm SP-6 (high-performance armor-piercing) ammunition, as well as the SP-5 ball round used by the VSS Vintorez suppressed sniper rifle. It can also use the same 10 or 20-round magazines as the VSS. Controls are similar to all AK-type rifles with charging handle on the right side, tangent rear sight, magazine release button behind the magazine well, and safety lever above the trigger guard. The fire selector is, however, located within the trigger guard, behind the trigger. The "Val" has two modes of fire, semi-automatic and fully automatic fire at a rate of 900 RPM. According to its users, the "Val" is reliable, accurate, and well liked.
It has an AK-type side mount for various optical sights, including the 4x PSO-1 scope and night sights such as the 1PN51 calibrated for use with the 9x39mm round. The standard open sights are graduated up to 400 m in 25 m increments.
The "Val" shares 70% of its components with its sister-gun, the VSS Vintorez. Differences are furniture made of high impact polymer and a skeletonized steel stock which folds to the left for storage and transportation (gun can operate with stock folded).
Since the SP-5/6 bullet weighs about twice as much as that of the 9×19mm Parabellum, its muzzle energy is about twice as high as that of a subsonic 9×19mm Parabellum bullet fired from e.g. a HK MP5SD.
The weapon was designed to be effective against ballistic body armor and soft-skinned vehicles at distances up to 400 meters.
The reliability of the rifle is equivalent to an AKM, including functioning in difficult conditions such as dust, dirt, sand, rain, at a temperature range from -50 °C to +50 °C.
Variants
The SR-3 Vikhr is a compact assault rifle based on the AS Val, chambered for the same round, featuring a new stock but lacking an integral suppressor.