The ASVK is Russia's most powerful sniper rifle, able to penetrate 20 mm steel at a distance of 500 meters and destroy light armor from 2 km.

During the war in Chechnya, the Russian army searched for a rifle that could effectively destroy enemy forces from a distance.

This is why Russian arms companies decided to design a gun model inspired by the most powerful foreign sniper rifle using .50 BMG 12.7 × 99 mm ammunition, like the American Barret M82 / M107, which is

The Army's Large Caliber Sniper Rifle (ASVK) was born, using bullets of 12.7x108 mm, becoming Russia's most powerful sniper weapon when it could easily penetrate 20 mm thick steel plates at a distance.

This is the type of ammunition used for Soviet and Russian heavy machine guns and tanks, including DShK, NSV and Kord, for about 30-40 USD / bullet.

ASVK uses a bullpup design, with the ammunition box placed behind the trigger or "integrated" into the stock.

ASVK gun barrel is thickened, has a large volume to reduce recoil when fired.

The barrel is fixed to the ammunition chamber, but has almost no contact with other parts of the gun.

The sturdy ammunition box, heavy barrel and manual ammunition mechanism help increase ASVK's accuracy in combat.

The ASVK and its variants are used by the Russian and two other armies, primarily for anti-sniper missions, destroying light armored vehicles and enemy machine guns from a distance of 1.5-2 km.

Yuri Sinichkin, a former Russian sniper, said that the ASVK is more powerful than the US and European 12.7 mm rifles, which is very suitable for removing enemy light armor from a long distance.

The biggest downside of ASVK is the high accuracy, not even meeting the requirements of snipers in real battle conditions.

Another downside of ASVK is its expensive cost, about $ 37,000 per gun, equivalent to heavy sniper rifles from rival brands such as Barret and Accuracy International.

"With this money, I'd rather buy American rifles because they are superior in functionality and technique to ASVKs," said the former Russian gunner.