The Lobaev sniper rifle represents a modern family of Russian sniper rifles. This weapon appeared several years ago, but today independent experts recognize that the Lobaev SVL rifle is one of the most accurate sniper weapons in the world. It seriously displaced the American M-200 rifle, which was considered first-class in sniper business.
The history of the appearance of the Lobaev rifle
In 2009, a new company appeared on the Russian arms market, which began to deal with high-precision small arms. developed and manufactured the SVL rifle, which over the next few months was carefully discussed by gun enthusiasts.
However, in 2010 the company closed, all its employees moved to the United Arab Emirates, where they worked at the TADS enterprise. The reason for the closure of the company was rumored to be a conflict with IzhMash, but there are no official comments on this matter.
Employees of the former Tsar Cannon, working in the UAE, under the leadership of V. Lobaev, created several new types of high-precision weapons. Some of them have already been adopted by the Arab Emirates Army.
In 2013, Lobaev returned to Russia, where he created a new one). Today, the SVL model range includes 6 main models, while the development of new models does not stop.
Modernization works
Being a young, talented company striving for success in the weapons business, KBIS is constantly working to improve weapons and to create new models based on them.
For 2022, 6 models are being produced, but this is not the limit.
The 2009 sample has already found new life in the following types of Lobaev Design Bureau:
- DXL-2 “Scalpel”, based on a shortened bolt group;
- DXL-3 "Retribution", an evolution of the KING action and the best of DUKESS;
- DXL-4 "Sevastopol", a special device for anti-sniper fire;
- TSVL-10 (TSVL-10), a continuation of the “Stalingrad” discussed above;
- DVL-10 (SS-113), the first-born of the family of silent machines;
- DVL-10 M1 “Saboteur”, or (DVL-10 Saboteur), a continuation of the line, involves the use of original ammunition designed by Lobaev;
- DVL-10 M2 "Urbana", or (DVL-10 M2 Urbana), created for combat operations in the city.
KBIS, under the leadership of Vladislav Lobaev, continues to work, constantly introducing new options and trying to introduce new technical ideas. In itself one of the best examples in this sector of the arms market, SVL, however, is under serious development.
Rifle SVLK-14S
The main features of the 2009 Lobaev sniper rifle were:
- long firing range;
- high precision fire.
Lobaev's SVLK-14S sniper rifle is currently the longest-range in the world; it was able to hit a target at a distance of 4178 meters. It became its further development, which made it possible to maintain the main advantages of the previous model. This rifle can use different cartridges:
- .300 Winchester Magnum;
- .338 Lapua Magnum;
- .408 Cheyenne Tactical.
Depending on the wishes, the rifle receives a bolt and barrel, which are designed for use with the selected cartridge. The SVLK-14S is equipped as standard with a 10.4 mm barrel and bolt, which makes it possible to use the 408 CheyTac cartridge.
The rifle has the following characteristics:
- The length of the SVLK-14S with a barrel length of 780 mm is 1430 mm.
- Total weight – 9.6 kg.
- The initial bullet speed is 900 m/s.
- The effective firing range reaches 2300 meters.
- The basic configuration includes a T muzzle brake and a Picatinny rail.
- The temperature for using weapons is from -45° to +65°.
- For the convenience of the shooter, the trigger mechanism is equipped with an adjustable trigger force.
SVLK-14S is designed for firing at a distance of over 2 kilometers. That is why its design is made as rigid as possible. The rifle receiver is made of aviation aluminum, the insert is made of high-alloy steel. The rifle does not have a magazine - the cartridge is fed manually. SVLK-14S is equipped with a LOBAEV Hummer Barrels, which is manufactured from stainless steel by KBIS. The stock is made of carbon fiber, fiberglass and Kevlar. A bipod can be attached to the stock.
Not machines, but people
We found the company in a state of transformation - what was once a semi-handicraft workshop is turning into a manufacturer of serial products. The first impression is a Soviet factory, modern high-tech production, workshop and construction site under one roof. The construction of new premises has recently been completed, but most of them are empty: gray concrete floors, cinder block walls, cold...
“You write like that, and everyone will think that we have a garage here,” Vladislav reproaches me half seriously. “That’s why we’re trying not to give tours for now, because people haven’t seen what was here a year ago—an empty hangar.” “Soon we’ll start putting everything in order and finishing it up, but in a year you won’t recognize anything here at all: there will be a trading house, and there – LOBAEV Robotics.”
There are almost no people in uniform here; the bosses, including the owner of the company, look more like shooters who have come from a winter shooting range to warm up. We pass through a room where the shafts of long machines, painted in a nondescript green color (Soviet), our guide explains, rotate along the walls.
And here’s the beauty: five- and ten-axis CNC machines blinking with control panels and displays (some cost millions of euros), collected from almost all over the world - America, South Korea, Germany. Some have not yet been fully unpacked. Cunning mechanisms with manipulators transform metal blanks into elegant receivers and bolts. A little further are workbenches where rifles are assembled. There are also tables where weapons are cleaned...
Photo: Roman Markin, Lenta.ru
“The main thing is not the machines, but how they are used: technology, people,” continues Vladislav. — In the Emirates, we had a Swiss machine for deep drilling, very expensive, ultra-modern, but it could not provide the processing parameters we needed. “I have never hidden the fact that we use American technology, an American approach to organizing production.”
OVL rifle
On the basis of sniper weapons, Lobaev created the OVL - the Lobaev hunting rifle. Ordinary civilians have the right to purchase it.
OVL is produced in calibers .22 - .338 LM. The main feature of the rifle is the .408 CheyTac cartridge, thanks to which the target engagement range is increased to 2.2 km. Shooting demonstrates accuracy of 0.2-0.3 MOA. The cost of OVL is quite high; for 6.5 mm caliber the price starts at 350 thousand rubles.
Rifle TSVL-8
The tactical sniper rifle was created as a weapon that had a simplified design and fairly high performance. TSVL-8 was created with the “skeleton” concept, as well as some modifications to reduce the load on the receiver. Therefore, the weapon received a small aluminum chassis and an original support system.
Characteristics of TSVL-8:
- The initial speed of the .338 Lapua Magnum bullet is 900 m/s.
- The maximum effective fire range is 1400 m.
- Technical accuracy - 0.4 MOA.
- TSVL-8 can be equipped with barrels 740 or 680 mm long. The total length of the rifle is 1290 mm. The weapon is equipped with a folding stock, which allows the length to be reduced to 1016 mm.
- Total weight – 5.5 kg.
- The barrel can be equipped with a T-Tuner muzzle brake.
- Ammunition is supplied from a detachable box-type magazine with 5 rounds.
Rifle TSVL-10
Another type of tactical sniper weapon. In fact, this rifle is a redesigned version of the TSVL-8, designed to use the .408 CheyTac cartridge. The entire design involves modification only for a different type of ammunition.
Characteristics of TSVL-10:
- Total length – 1290 mm, with the butt folded – 916 mm.
- Total weight – 6.5 kg.
- A barrel length of 760 mm is used.
- The initial bullet speed is 900 m/s.
- The effective fire range thanks to the new ammunition has increased to 2100 m.
6. Technical accuracy - 0.4 MOA.
Rifle DXL-3
The DXL-3 high-precision rifle is a kind of transitional link between the TSVL and SVLK-14S family. Its main feature is the original aluminum stock, where all the units are mounted. For ease of use, the rifle is equipped with a folding stock, which is used on products of the TSVL family.
Characteristics of DXL-3:
- Trunk lengths of 740 or 680 mm are used. The total length in the basic configuration is 1350 mm or 1076 mm with the stock folded.
- Total weight – 7.2 kg.
- Ammunition is supplied from a detachable box-type magazine with 5 rounds.
- Maximum effective range – 1600 m.
- The initial bullet speed is 900 m/s.
- Accuracy – 0.35 MOA.
At the customer's request, the rifle can be equipped with a bolt group and barrel chambered for .300 Winchester Magnum and .338 Lapua Magnum.
Long-range tricolor
On a table covered with a green tarpaulin, demonstration samples are laid out - five rifles of different calibers.
—Can you shoot with them?
- Yes, one of those with sights, but let me show you our warehouse first, otherwise they say that Lobaev still makes one rifle at a time.
We go into a small room, there is a pyramid with rifles against the wall, on the floor there is a stack of three large cases and a couple of dozen cases wrapped in black plastic film. This is a batch of rifles prepared for shipment to a dealer.
Photo: Roman Markin, Lenta.ru
“Currently 50 rifles per month go on sale, and from March we will increase deliveries to 100. This is a fairly serious series for products of this level of complexity,” says Vladislav and adds that the equipment allows making 5,000 products a year, but production is linked to demand, and “it’s not a fact that they will sell as quickly as they are made.”
One of the rifles in the pyramid stands out for its size - this is the same barrel from which a record shot was fired last summer (now this record has already been broken by the Americans and Australians).
“Ours is SVLK-14, but the design is not serial,” explains the head of the company. - A heavily redesigned McMillan stock was used, the bolt group was made in two copies - titanium firing pin, titanium chassis. The barrel is ours, 780 millimeters long, which is shorter than the standard SVLK-14, which is 900 millimeters. But due to the denser channel, we practically did not lose bullet speed; the ballistics corresponded to a rifle with a long barrel.”
At the shooting range - it is a couple of hundred meters from the production - we take three rifles: the light tactical DVL-10, its silent modification DVL-10 "Saboteur" and the ultra-long-range SVLK-14 with a stock the color of the Russian tricolor - from which Lobaev's team is going to establish a new world record.
After shooting, we carefully collect the cartridges - each of them is used several times - and return to the workshop, where we continue the conversation.
Ultra-long-range rifle SVLK-14
Photo: Roman Markin, Lenta.ru
“We are now preparing to release a new rifle - a high-precision long-range semi-automatic in .338 LM (Lapua Magnum) and .408 Cheytac calibers. We developed similar weapons in the Emirates, then we managed to achieve the desired accuracy, but problems with reliability remained,” says Lobaev. - Now we managed to solve them. “Barretts” (Barrett rifles) in similar calibers give an accuracy of about two minutes and reliably hit the target at distances of up to 1600 meters, up to a maximum of 1800. And we brought the accuracy to half MOA for .408 cartridges and ensured reliable hit of the target at distances of two kilometers . Believe me, doing a half-minute, two-kilometer self-charge is very, very difficult.”
The designer refused to show the prototype: the rifle had been disassembled, the components were being worked on, but he promised that the finished product would be presented approximately in March.
Rifle DVL-10
The silent sniper rifle is one of the latest developments by KBIS. DVL-10 is offered to various units of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies that need a tool for silent and high-precision performance of assigned tasks.
A subsonic cartridge called the .40 Lobaev Whisper cartridge is offered for use with the DVL-10 rifle. The initial bullet speed is 315 m/s, allowing the shot noise to be significantly reduced. It is also suggested to use a silent firing device with a subsonic cartridge; it covers the barrel.
The use of a subsonic cartridge affected the characteristics of the weapon:
- The maximum effective range of DVL-10 is no more than 600 m.
- Accuracy – 0.5 MOA.
- Rifle weight – 4.1 kg.
- Ammunition is supplied from a detachable box-type magazine with 5 rounds.
All units are mounted on an aluminum chassis, which is equipped with a folding stock. All KBIS rifles have high performance, which is why they are of great interest. However, they are unlikely to become widespread. And there are two reasons:
- cost of weapons;
- low production rates.
According to some sources, the production capabilities of KBIS do not allow the production of more than several dozen rifles per year of each model. This is caused by their manufacturing technologies. Therefore, the cost of rifles starts from several thousand dollars.
Video about the rifle
Shooting from a Lobaev rifle
Use on the battlefield
The UAE army does not fight wars, so the Arab experience does not stand out in any way in the field of use of the weapons in question. Fortunately, the Russian Presidential Security Service also does not have to repel attacks and conduct counter-sniper combat. At least, they are unlikely to talk about this in the near future.
The presented type of long-range weapon is used primarily as excellent hunting rifles and sporting rifles, helping to set records for shooting range and accuracy.
Here the Russian rifle is not inferior to the best American and European analogues. In the meantime, the rifle is available to everyone, thanks to computer shooters based on dystopias.
The hunting models of this developer are in great demand on the weapons market.
They have already gained fame as accurate and reliable weapons. But there is also a fly in the ointment. The manufacturer, which literally assembles each new model of sniper rifles by hand, is capable of producing only a few dozen weapons per year. Accordingly, this makes the brothers' models extremely expensive.
