G22 (rifle)
| G22 with NSV 80 II | |
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| general information | |
| Military designation: | G22 |
| Country of operation: | Germany |
| Developer / Manufacturer: | Accuracy International |
| Manufacturer country: | United Kingdom |
| Production time: | since 1997 |
| Model variants: | modified AWM-F |
| Weapon Category: | Sniper rifle |
| Furnishing | |
| Overall length: | 1,233 mm |
| Total height: | 270 mm |
| Total width: | 90 mm |
| Weight: (unloaded) | 8.1 kg |
| Barrel length : | 659 mm |
| Technical specifications | |
| Caliber : | .300 Winchester Magnum |
| Possible magazine fillings : | 5 cartridges |
| Ammunition supply : | Box magazine |
| Number of trains : | 4th |
| Twist : | Right twist |
| Visor : |
Open sights 12-fold ZF |
| Mounting system: | Picatinny rail |
| Closure : | Cylinder lock with six locking lugs |
| Charging principle: | multi-shot repeating rifle |
| Lists on the subject | |
The G22 is a sniper rifle of the Bundeswehr . It is the first rifle since the Bundeswehr was founded that was specially procured for this purpose. The British company Accuracy International Ltd. 1997 was awarded the contract to deliver the weapon.
history
As part of the Bundeswehr missions abroad and based on the experience of the NATO partners with the effects of snipers, the Bundeswehr leadership decided to rethink equipment. In particular, the peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslavia showed that a soldier equipped with the G3A3 assault rifle with telescopic sight was greatly inferior to enemy snipers, most of whom deployed the SWD Dragunov . The increased use in built-up areas also required a rethink in order to preserve the proportionality of the means to protect the civilian population. Studies by the United States' armed forces from the Vietnam War show that normal soldiers used a disproportionate amount of ammunition to incapacitate an enemy.
These requirements and the immediate need for the troops prompted the Bundeswehr to test various sniper rifles without tendering a new development. The winner of these tests, in which the German companies Mauser as well as ERMA and Keppler also took part, was the English weapons manufacturer Accuracy International with its AWM- F rifle . Due to the immediate need for action, a total of 58 rifles - eight of them without the "G" designation - were delivered to the SFOR troops in Bosnia and to the KSK under the designation G23 before the actual introduction . These were unchanged rifles of the AWM- F (Arctic Warfare Magnum - Folding Stock) type, while the G22 is a slightly modified version of the AWM-F rifle.
technology
The G22 is a repeating rifle , in which the sniper After each discharge, manually - by movement of the closure on the bolt handle - a cartridge from the magazine into the cartridge chamber feeds. In contrast to a self-loading rifle, the precision is higher because when the shot is fired there is no movement of the breech with a resulting shift in the center of gravity. By using a silencer, it is possible to partially conceal the shooter's position when firing a shot, as the muzzle bang of the supersonic ammunition used is partially reduced and the muzzle flash is dampened - only the sonic boom of the projectile remains.
The rifle is designed for use against human targets at distances of up to 800 meters; For larger targets such as radar systems , helicopters or unarmored vehicles, the combat range increases to 1000 meters (whereby weapons with a larger caliber, such as the Barrett M82 , are mostly used for this). According to the operational principles of the snipers of the Bundeswehr, the G22 is intended for defensive / reactive use ("anti-sniper rifle"). This means that the slower rate of fire, in contrast to a semi-automatic weapon, is usually negligible. However, an offensive use of the weapon is possible.
Part of the modifications to the AWM-F for the Bundeswehr is to equip the G22 with a ground spur in the foldable buttstock with cheek rest to create a stable three-point support during the observation phase and a screw-on muzzle attachment with emergency front sight that carries the silencer. The muzzle attachment also has eleven holes in two rows that face upwards. Due to their arrangement, they reduce recoil and when firing a shot without a silencer, they prevent dust from being stirred up that could give away the sniper. The equipment also includes a bipod.
The first shot hit probability is over 80% at 1000 m. In the shot tests with ten rounds at a target with a diameter of 30 cm at a distance of 600 m, the soft-core ammunition was in a range of 22 cm and the full-jacket hard-core ammunition was 23 cm.
Clasp
The G22 has a conventional cylinder lock with six locking lugs, which are arranged in two rows of three lugs each. To protect against penetrating water or dirt, the closure has millings that are intended to prevent freezing or the occurrence of malfunctions. In contrast to conventional repeating rifles, the bolt handle is bent backwards, which makes repeating easier for the shooter and reduces the contours of the weapon. When the weapon is cocked, the end of the firing pin emerges at the end of the breech and enables the shooter to tactfully check the state of the weapon during the night. The weapon safety catch is also located at the rear end.
It has three colored markings:
- Red point - unlocked (fire),
- 1st white point - Safe 1 (lock can be activated, shot is blocked)
- 2. White point - Safe 2 (bolt handle and bolt cannot be operated, shot blocked).
Sighting device
The G22 has two types of sights - an optical sight from Hensoldt AG (currently 2006: Carl Zeiss Optronics Wetzlar GmbH) with 3 to 12 times magnification and an open emergency sight.
Rifle scope
The rifle scope (ZF) is mounted directly on the housing, which has an integrated assembly with a stop. With 3x magnification the field of view is 9.2 m, with 12x magnification it is 3.2 m at 100 m. As with conventional riflescopes, the magnification is set with a rotating ring on the eyepiece.
The line art was developed for military use. It has very thin crosshairs to cover the target as little as possible, four mil-dots for moving targets, a class L5 laser protection filter, a distance estimation curve like the G36 and a scale in the right quadrant for reading off the height adjustment of the riflescope. It is completely illuminated by a dimmable diode (battery operated) and thus enables use at any time of the day. The ZF has two dust covers to protect the lenses . The lid on the eyepiece side also has a yellow filter to increase the contrast.
With the attachable night vision attachment (NSV 80 II) from Hensoldt Systemtechnik (Carl Zeiss Group), it is fully suitable for night combat. It is mounted a few centimeters in front of the telescopic sight using a mounting rail ( Picatinny rail ). The arrangement of the attachment is at an angle to the side of the weapon. Thanks to the 1: 1 scale image, no readjustment of the rifle scope is necessary. The residual light amplifier has an operating time of about 90 hours with batteries in continuous operation, when using rechargeable batteries this drops to about 30 hours. The NSV has an endless rotary switch for ON / OFF as well as an additional distance adjustment from 20 m to infinity.
Emergency visor
As a further modification, the German Armed Forces requested an emergency sight for the weapon to prevent the telescopic sight from failing. In conjunction with the muzzle attachment that carries the emergency front sight, the shooter is able to fight targets up to 600 m away. The adjustable rear sight has five holes for 200 m to 600 m and a night rear sight for 200 m.
ammunition
Compared to assault rifles such as the G3 ( 7.62 × 51 mm ), the G22 uses more powerful ammunition in .300 caliber Winchester Magnum (7.62 × 67 mm). There are two types of bullet for the Bundeswehr: a full jacket soft core and a full jacket hard core bullet ( AP, armor piercing ). These are developed and manufactured by MEN - Metallwerk Elisenhütte . Both types of ammunition are coordinated so that the shooter does not have to readjust the weapon when changing ammunition. Therefore, the impact point of the hard core bullet is 600 m 9 cm below that of the soft core bullet. Due to the difficult targets for a hard core bullet, the point of impact deviation is secondary. The AP ammunition penetrates a 20 mm armored steel plate with a hardness of 420 to 450 Brinell (HBW) at 100 m . At 600 m it is still 15 mm at a projectile speed of 570 m / s.
Combat value increase (2019) G22A2
The Bundeswehr is currently introducing a new G22A2 version with improved combat value (caliber 7.62 mm and a weight of 9.3 kg). Except for the cap and the tube, all other essential components have been changed. The main changes are:
- New riflescope with 25x zoom (made by Steiner-Optik )
- Ball spirit level that indicates that the weapon is tilted
- New muzzle brake reduces recoil by 50%
- Shoulder rest manually adjustable in length and individually adjustable in the cheek rest
- Reduced trigger trigger weight
- Ballistic calculator to predict the trajectory of the projectile
With the changes, a 90% first shot hit probability should be achieved.
See also
- G82 - SSG of the German Armed Forces in 12.7 × 99 mm NATO caliber
- G29 - SSG of the Bundeswehr in .338 Lapua Magnum caliber
literature
- Rolf Abresch, Ralph Wilhelm: Modern hand weapons of the Bundeswehr . Report publisher. ISBN 3-932385-10-1 .
- Sören Sünkler: Europe's elite and special units . Motorbuch Verlag 2008. ISBN 3-613-02853-0 .
Videos
- Bundeswehr: The G22 sniper rifle on YouTube . July 6, 2012. (Video; 4:22 min)
- Bundeswehr: G22A2 • The Bundeswehr's new sniper rifle on YouTube . January 27, 2020 (Video; 4:07 min)
Web links
- Accuracy International LTD
- G22 . In: bundeswehr.de .
- Armed Forces Press and Information Center: G22 rifle . In: streitkraeftebasis.de . October 12, 2006. ( archive.org )
- G22 at WaffenHQ
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bundeswehr: G22A2 • The Bundeswehr's new sniper rifle on YouTube . January 27, 2020 (Video; 4:07 min)