The purpose of this article is to provide interested people with all the most important and interesting information regarding such ammunition as the 9x39 SP-6 cartridge. History and reasons for its creation, main characteristics and capabilities. And as a nice bonus for true connoisseurs, a brief description of the combat units using this type of ammunition is all collected here and provided to your attention.
History
The history of the SP-6 cartridge dates back to the mid-1980s in the city of Klimovsk, which is located in the Moscow region. The designers of the Central Scientific Research Institute of Precision Engineering ("TsNIITochMash") by that time were already hard at work on the creation of a special ammunition designed for low-noise (silent) firing. It was known in advance that this type of ammunition would be used by the developed VSS rifle (Special Sniper Rifle, alsocalled "Vintorez") and automatic AS (Automatic Special, also known as "Val").
In addition to the basic development requirements, the designers were faced with the task of providing the SP-6 cartridge with sufficient penetration at a limited bullet speed. This restriction was necessary, because even when firing with the use of noise suppression devices, at the moment the bullet reached a speed of 331 m / s, there was a sonic boom that unmasked the shooter.
Despite the difficult requirements, several prototypes of ammunition of various designs were developed, but only the 9x39 mm SP-5 cartridge, developed by designer N. V. Zabelin and technologist L. S., passed the selection. Dvoryaninova. And a little later, a modification of the SP-6 was released, developed by the designer Yu. Z. Frolov and the technologist E. S. Kornilova.
Tactical and technical characteristics of the cartridge SP-6
The developed modification of the 9x39 SP-6 ammunition had the following characteristics:
- caliber - 9 mm;
- sleeve length - 39 mm;
- total cartridge length - 56 mm;
- bullet weight - 16g;
- cartridge weight - 23g;
- amount of gunpowder - 0.6 g;
- bullet speed - 305 m/s;
- muzzle energy - 754 J.
Appearance of ammunition
Let's take a closer look at the SP-6 cartridge. You can see some interesting details in the photo:
- Bullet SP-6 –semi-sheathed, as evidenced by the black nose of the armor-piercing core, not covered with a bimetallic sheath. This greatly helps to distinguish the cartridge of this modification from its progenitor with a solid shell.
- If you carefully examine and compare the SP-6 cartridge with the ammunition of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, you will notice a striking similarity between their shells. After all, when developing cartridges of caliber 9x39, the existing cartridge case from cartridge 7, 62x39 was taken as the basis, but its muzzle had to be expanded to 9 mm in diameter.
Specifications
The design of the SP-6 cartridge is significantly different from its predecessor, but only the bullet has been modified, while the rest of its components remain intact.
So, what changes have affected the cartridge bullet? To answer this question, let's turn to an illustration that clearly demonstrates all its "insides". As you can see, the main part of the bullet of the SP-6 cartridge is occupied by an armor-piercing core, while at the same time, in the precursor cartridge, the core occupies about a third of the internal volume of the bullet. This design made it possible to significantly increase the penetration ability of the ammunition.
It is important to note that the material of the core is not known for certain. There are two opinions about this: some refer to high-carbon hardened steel (approximately grade U12), and others that the core consists of heavy-duty tungsten carbide. What is true and what is fiction is known only to a few people involved in the direct developmentthis cartridge.
Features
As already mentioned, the 9x39 SP-6 cartridge belongs to the armor-piercing class, you need to know what it is capable of. Gunsmith experts who conducted field tests claim that the SP-6 bullet fired from the VSS Vintorez or the Val machine is capable of penetrating a steel sheet (grade and hardness not specified) 8 mm thick at a distance of 100 meters. It is also known that the same bullet can hit an enemy protected by an armor plate of protection class 2–3 at a distance of 300–400 meters.
This means that hitting a SP-6 projectile is equivalent to hitting a bullet fired from a Kalashnikov assault rifle from a distance of 5 meters. In addition to body protection, armor-piercing rounds can hit enemies hiding behind a light barrier or inside lightly armored vehicles.
Weapons
The SP-6 cartridge is used by at least 9 shooting systems, but VSS Vintorez and AS Val are still the most interesting. They will be discussed:
- Special Sniper Rifle - developed by employees of "TsNIITochMash" in the 80s of the 20th century by order of special forces. Adopted in 1987 and still in use today. Due to its design features, high reliability and accuracy, it became very popular during armed conflicts on the territory of the present Chechen Republic, and the VSS also performed well in combat clashes in the urbanareas where the use of a standard sniper rifle was less convenient. The rifle, among other things, had a unique "appearance", mainly due to the non-removable muffler barrel and the characteristic shape of the wooden butt. VSS is modular, in other words, it can be dismantled into its component parts and transported in a more compact form. An ordinary diplomat is quite suitable for such transportation.
- Automatic Special - developed by the same "TsNIITochMash" on the basis of the already well-known "Vintorez". The differences between these models of special weapons are not so significant: "Val" is equipped with a metal folding butt, a full-fledged pistol grip and a slightly modified automation system, which made it possible to increase its service life. There is also a variant of ammunition supply from the magazine for 10 (like VSS), 20 and 30 rounds.
Results
9x39 caliber cartridges, as, indeed, the samples of special weapons associated with them, are, without any exaggeration, outstanding creations of design thought, combining the seemingly contradictory characteristics of penetrating ability and speed. The only drawback of this ammunition is a relatively small firing range of 400 meters. Such a distance, I must say, is very modest for a rifle.
However, do not forget that the cartridge was originally designed with an eye to the requirements of the special services, according to which, in the first place, when developing cartridges SP-5 and SP-6, there was not a maximum firing range, butthe ability to carry out silent shooting without compromising penetration. And no one will argue that the designers did their job with a bang.
