Slagga Manufacturing has been working on the VSS project for five years, but in recent weeks the company has announced the achievement of a breakthrough moment, that is constructing a working prototype of a copy of the Russian rifle.
The American version of the weapon, under the name Viska, will of course be chambered for the original 9x39 mm round, but there are plans for more available and cheaper 7.62 x 39 mm and .300 AAC Blackout versions. Americans decided to introduce a number of small changes to the Russian project. Among other things are more modern manufacturing technologies used, the porting of the barrel was abandoned to increase accuracy without losing the efficiency of the silencer. The latter was achieved by changing the silencer's design. The interior is filled with a monolithic insert made on a CNC machine. In addition, the method of attaching the silencer was changed, ensuring that the point of impact of the bullet will not change after taking it off and putting it back on when cleaning the rifle.
Viska, like the Vintorez, will be able to be split into three parts: the silencer, a receiver and the stock, which is to facilitate carrying it in a stylish suitcase. The retail price after its release will be around 3,000 USD. The price seems fair considering what we're dealing with. It should be mentioned that the Russians from the TOZ (Tulskij Orużejnyj Zawod) plants introduced a semi-automatic version of the VSS to their offer, but equipped with a dummy silencer covering an extended barrel.
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Zu5tYJFZKlA?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" />
For those that do not have the knowledge - the VSS Vintorez is a Russian sniper rifle chambered for the 9x39 mm ammunition based on 7.62 x 39 mm casing with a widened neck. The principle of operation is classic for Russian weapons: a rotating bolt carrier and a gas system with a long stroke piston. The weapon is equipped with an integral silencer and is intended for precision shooting at a distance of up to 300 meters. This does not seem much for a sniper rifle, until you take into account that the Vintorez was created for special forces of the army and the police to effectively and silently neutralize targets in the form of guards or perpetrators of criminal acts involving hostages.
The VSS is not to be the last word of Americans in the pursuit of increasing the offer of "Russian" weapons in the US, the stream of which has dried up in connection with the import embargo introduced a few years ago. Another project of Slagga Manufacturing, after the start of sales of the Viska, is to be another Russian design in the form of a suppressed Vikhr special purpose carbine.
