The Thunderstorm assault rifle was developed and created directly for the fighters of special units. The baptism of fire of the rifle-grenade launcher complex took place during the war in Chechnya. Since then, this weapon has been invariably in service with the FSB of Russia. To date, the OTs-14 can be safely considered the strangest domestic machine gun. If only because he uses the bullpup layout.
With the layout of bullpups in the vastness of their native Fatherland in the second half of the 20th century, things did not go well for a very long time. Designers found it extremely difficult to overshadow the incredibly successful design of the AK, from which many “auxiliary” weapon models and modifications of the original machine gun came. Although there were attempts to use bullpup in the USSR. The most famous and most successful domestic weapon with a bizarre layout, of course, is the OTs-14 Groza rifle-grenade launcher system.
The development of "Groza" began in 1992 at the facilities of TsKIB SOO. Constructors V.N. Telesh, Yu.V. Lebedev and N. Myskin undertook the creation of a new machine gun, which was supposed to occupy an extremely specific niche in the future - a cover for a sniper. As a result, Groza was made on the basis of the OTs-12 Tiss assault rifle, which was created almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. And speaking quite briefly and honestly, the "Thunderstorm" is the "Yiss", translated into bullpup.
As a result, the designer got a compact and extremely powerful modular rifle system. Presented OTs-14 in two versions "Groza-1" and "Groza-4". Machine guns differ primarily in calibers. "Edinichka" shoots classic 7.62x39 mm, and the "Four" fires with a caliber 9x39 mm, which is also used in VSS Vintorez and AS VAL. Modification under 7.62 mm was created primarily for the needs of the army, and under 9 mm for the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.
The difference in calibers is directly reflected in the firing characteristics of the weapon. The Groza-1, chambered for 7.62 mm, has a rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute, a muzzle velocity of up to 750 m/s, and an effective range of up to 600 meters. Such a machine is powered by magazines for 30 rounds. "Groza-4" chambered for 9x39 mm boasts a rate of fire of 700 rounds per minute, an initial bullet speed of 300 m / s and an effective range of fire of 200 meters. The ammunition of this modification is carried out from magazines for 20 rounds. In this case, both machines can be equipped with an underbarrel grenade launcher. GP-25 "Bonfire" firing 40 mm VOG-25 and VOG-25P grenades with a rate of fire of 5-6 rounds per minute.
Another common point between the two "Thunderstorms" is the possibility of installing a PO4x34 diopter optical sight on the weapon. But in terms of their mass-dimensional parameters, the weapon is also different. "Four" weighs 2.7 kg without cartridges and without a grenade launcher. The weapon has a length of 720 mm. "One" without additional elements already weighs 3.1 kg. At the same time, its length is noticeably less - 700 mm.
Field tests and baptism of fire machine was in the years of the First Chechen campaign (1995-1996). The shooters highly appreciated the compactness of the weapon, good balance and high reliability, quite comparable to the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Weapons chambered for 9 mm are distinguished by high lethality, and the use of a silencer, coupled with a subsonic cartridge, almost completely guarantees the invisibility of the shooter when fired. Praised by the special forces and the modularity of the machine.
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Scold OTs-14 "Groza" for insufficient magazine capacity of 20 rounds, a short aiming line, strong gas contamination around the shooter's face when firing, the impossibility of using weapons from the left shoulder. The domestic special forces did not really like the solution with a single trigger for a machine gun and a grenade launcher. Nevertheless, the rifle-grenade launcher system as a whole made a positive impression, and therefore is in service with law enforcement agencies to this day.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why Russian Gyurza is banned in the USA: what is the peculiarity of the gun.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/080921/60448/
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