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12.7×55mm STs-130

Russian military subsonic intermediate rifle cartridge

Field	Value
name	12.7×55mm
image	VKS Ammo.jpg
caption	From left to right, STs-130PT (sniper), STs-130PT2 (sniper with solid bronze bullet), STs-130VPS (high penetration / armor piercing).
origin	Russian Federation
type	Rifle
design_date	2002
is_SI_specs	yes
parent	[.338 Lapua Magnum](338-lapua-magnum)
bullet	13.01 mm
shoulder	13.76
base	14.86
case_length	54.91 mm
length	97.3 mm
is_SI_ballistics	yes
bwunit	gram
bw1	59
btype1	STs130PT
vel1	295
en1	2567
bw2	48.2
btype2	STs130PT2
vel2	295
en2	2097
bw3	76
btype3	STs130VPS
vel3	295
en3	3307
bw4	33
btype4	PS-12
vel4	300
en4	1485
bw5	17.94
btype5	PS-12B
vel5	300
en5	807.3

The 12.7×55mm cartridge is used in some Russian firearms such as the VKS bullpup sniper rifle, the ShAK-12 bullpup battle rifle and the RSh-12 revolver. The cartridge can carry a projectile weighing between 108 grains and 1173 grains and is predominantly used to fire heavy subsonic loads. The high penetration VKS round can penetrate up to 16 mm of steel at 200 m or body armor up to GOST 5A or NIJ III at 100 m. The accuracy of this cartridge when loaded with precision VKS bullets is claimed to be one MOA at 100 m up to the effective range limit of 690 m.

Despite being chambered in the same cartridge, the ShAK-12 (and RSh-12) would not be able to feed or chamber rounds designed for the VKS due to significant length differences in the bullet component of the cartridge and thus requires its own, shorter, loads. The ShAK-12 rounds have less range compared to the VKS with the maximum effective range of the loads reaching in between 100 and 300 m.

Cartridge variants for use in the VKS

STs-130 (СЦ-130) - standard
STs-130PU (СЦ-130ПУ) - for training
STs-130PT (СЦ-130ПТ) - increased accuracy (59 gram bullet)
STs-130PT2 (СЦ-130ПТ2) - increased accuracy (solid bronze bullet)
STs-130VPS (СЦ-130ВПС) - increased penetration (76 gram bullet)

The carbine, a manually operated version of the VKS, is also designed for this full-length variant.

Cartridge variants for use in the ShAK-12 assault rifle

From left to right, light bullet, double-bulleted, heavy bullet, and armor-piercing bullet

PS-12 [ПС-12] Tyazhelaya Pulya (TP) or "Heavy Bullet" - Heavy subsonic lead bullet weighing 33 grams (509 grains).
PS-12A [ПС-12А] Legkaya Pulya (LP) or "Light Bullet" - Light supersonic lead bullet with an aluminum core weighing 7 grams (108 grains).
PS-12B [ПС-12Б] Broneboynaya Pulya (BP) or "Armor-Piercing Bullet" - Lead bullet with an armor-piercing component weighing nearly 18 grams (277 grains).
PD-12 [ПД-12] Dvukhpul'niy (DP) or "Double-Bulleted" - Two bullets loaded inline weighing 17 grams (262 grains) each.
STs-174 [СЦ-174]: civilian hunting load. Case headstamped 12.7x55 МЦ. For revolver carbine , a civilian hunting version of the RSh-12.

References

(2011-12-05). "ASh-12.7".
"Патроны 12,7×55 мм: ПД-12, ПС-12Б, СЦ-130 ПТ, ПТ2, ВПС [#787975] - Галерея - ВПК.name".
(11 January 2025). "12.7x55 Ammo boxes".
(3 September 2021). "Револьверный карабин МЦ-569 и МЦ-570 (Россия)".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

pistol-and-rifle-cartridges subsonic-rifle-cartridges

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