The rifle is chambered for the .308 Winchester cartridge and, according to the developers, allows firing with an accuracy of 0.5 arc minutes.
The Russian holding company “High-Precision Complexes”, part of the state corporation “Rostec”, announced the early delivery of a batch of MTs-566 self-loading sniper rifles for units of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine. The developers claim that this type of small arms has “proven itself excellently” in combat operations on the Ukrainian front. The press service of the Russian holding reported this on April 27.
On this occasion, Army Recognition observers write that the early delivery of this batch coincides with the celebration of “Sniper Day,” which emphasizes Rostec’s desire to meet the needs of the Russian military on the battlefield. It is also noted that the weapon has been praised by the Russian military for its innovative design and ability to compete with advanced Western sniper rifles in accuracy and reliability.
What is MTs-566
MTs-566 is a self-loading sniper rifle produced by Tula gunsmiths, first introduced in 2018 and initially intended to meet the needs of the civilian hunting market. The design of the MTs-566 was developed on the basis of the OTs-129 rifle, created to meet the specific requirements of the Russian military.
Self-loading rifles MTs-566 chambered for .308 Winchester have already received positive reviews – the design of the weapon ensures a shooting accuracy of 0.5 arc minutes, which puts it among the most effective examples of high-precision firearms in the world.
Basic performance characteristics of the MTs-566 rifle. Source: overclockers
The rifle was originally created for the 7.62×51 mm NATO cartridge and uses a short-stroke gas piston system. Comparable to the American M110 and Ukrainian UAR-10, the MTs-566 has a 60 cm long barrel and is equipped with a top rail along the entire length of the barrel.
The rifle is equipped with folding sights, a folding stock, a forend with four guides and a silencer that partially covers the barrel. In the civilian version of the rifle, the silencer acts as an empty expansion chamber without internal partitions, but it remains unclear whether this configuration was retained in military versions.
The MTs-566 differs from similar AR-10 models in having a shallower lower receiver and a higher pistol grip, suggesting a different firing mechanism that takes up less space than the AR-10’s trigger mechanism.
In addition, the rifle is equipped with built-in folding sights, which are less susceptible to damage compared to rail-mounted sights.
Important
A Ukrainian sniper eliminated a Russian officer from almost 4 km away: features of his weapon (photo, video)
The rifle has been seen in reports demonstrating its effectiveness at ranges up to 1000 meters. At the same time, shooters using the MTs-566 in reports note the use of 20x optics and praise the characteristics of the 7.62×51 mm cartridge for its high rate of fire and shooting comfort.
Let us remind you that at the end of December, the Kalashnikov concern sent the first batch of Chukavina sniper rifles (Microwave) to the customer. The developers claim that the rifle differs from the SVD in design, increased range and accuracy of fire.
