AS Val and VSS Vintorez

The AS Val "Shaft" (Russian: АС «Вал»; Автома́т Специа́льный, romanized: Avtomát Spetsiálny "Val", lit. 'Special Automatic') and VSS Vintorez "Screwcutter" (Russian: ВСС «Винторе́з» Винто́вка Сна́йперская Специа́льная, romanized: Vintóvka Snáyperskaya Spetsiálnaya "Vintorez", lit. 'Special Sniper Rifle "Screwcutter"'), 6P30 and 6P29 (GRAU designation) respectively, are Soviet-designed assault rifles featuring an integral suppressor based on the prototype RG-036 completed in 1981 by TsNIITochMash. The Vintorez (beginning in 1983) and Val (beginning in 1985) were developed by TsNIITochMash to replace modified general-purpose firearms, such as the AKS-74UB, BS-1, APB, and PB, for clandestine operations, much like the PSS Vul. Manufacturing began at the Tula Arms Plant after its adoption by the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in 1987.

The ASM (6P30M) and VSSM (6P29M) are modernized variants of the AS and VSS respectively. The VSSM is equipped with an aluminium buttstock with an adjustable cheek and butt pad and a new 30-round magazine was introduced to be intended for use with the ASM. Both rifles are also outfitted with a Picatinny rail on the top of the dust cover and on the sides and bottom of the suppressor, forward of the handguard. The mounts which shroud the suppressor can be removed. Deliveries began in 2018.

The AS Val can trace its origins back to the 1960 U-2 incident, where the Soviets captured US Air Force pilot Gary Powers alongside his equipment, including a suppressed pistol, which impressed them enough to issue a requirement for similar Soviet weapon. The captured pistol was examined by the TsNIITochMash at Klimovsk by a team of designers that included G. Petropavlov, Yu Krulov, V. Sabelinikov, A. Neougodev, A. Deryagin, A. Khinikadze, I. Kas'yanov, P. Serdyukov, V. Petrov, and V. Levchenko. They pioneered the development of suppressed weapons and specialized ammunition in Russia.

With increasing tensions between the West and the Soviet Union during the late 1970s and 1980s, and both the United States and the USSR locked in a war between proxies, the KGB and GRU ordered the development of small arms suitable for covert operations around the world and in 1981, weapon designers P. I. Serdyukov and V. F. Krasnikov of TsNIITochMash began working on a combination of a new suppressed rifle and subsonic cartridge.

Development of the VSS Vintorez was carried out in parallel with the AS Val, to provide a suppressed sniper rifle for Spetsnaz undercover or clandestine units and capable of defeating NATO body armour at ranges up to 400 m (440 yd) with little noise as possible.

The AS Val uses a modified Kalashnikov action - a gas-operated rotating bolt combined with an integral suppressor and chambered for the 9×39mm SP-6 cartridge firing a heavy 250 grain bullet at subsonic speed. The suppressor makes use of the dual-chamber principle: the propellant gases are vented through specially designed perforations along the barrel into the first chamber, where the hot gases cool down and lose pressure before passing through the second chamber via a series of mesh screens which break the gas stream even further before leaving the barrel. The resulting sound signature is significantly lower than an unsuppressed rifle, and even from a short distance it cannot be recognized as the discharge of a rifle. The VSS Vintorez suppressor and operating systems are exactly the same as the AS Val, but optimised to fire the 9×39mm SP-5 subsonic cartridge with a hardened steel or tungsten tip to defeat body armour.

The AS Val uses a 20-round detachable box magazine, while the VSS Vintorez uses a 10-round, though they are interchangeable. They can also accept the SR-3 Vikhr magazines and vice versa. The magazines have a series of horizontal indentations to provide tactile identification and prevent confusion with Kalashnikov-pattern magazines. The indentations also provide rigidity to the magazine walls.

The VSS Vintorez can be broken down for transport in a special aluminum briefcase for clandestine operations. A PSO-1-1 (1P43) telescopic sight, a NPSU-3 night sight with a 3.46X magnification, and two magazines are included in the briefcase. The AS Val can mount the PSO-1 telescopic sight of the SVD rifle, or the 1PN52-1 night sight. Iron sights are also provided to both rifles. According to Janes, the VSS telescopic sight has a length of 375 mm (14.8 in) and weights 580 g (20 oz), while the night sight has a length of 340 mm (13 in) and weights 2.1 kg (4.6 lb).