Ukraine’s Giant Rifle – the Snipex Monomakh

There are a significant number of different large calibre anti-materiel rifles in use in Ukraine. One of the largest is the Monomakh, a 14.5×114mm semi-automatic, box magazine-fed anti-materiel rifle from the Ukrainian company Snipex. Snipex is a subsidiary of the XADO Chemical Group.

Snipex are well known for their series of precision anti-materiel rifles which includes the M100, T-Rex and Alligator. The Monomakh, introduced in 2021, is the company’s first semi-automatic rifle. It is recoil operated and feeds from a 5-round box magazine. It has a barrel 1,200mm [47.2in] long and an overall length of 2,050mm [6.7 feet], Snipex list its weight without a magazine as 25kg [55lbs]. The rifle has a listed muzzle velocity of 950 to 980 m/s and an effective range of just under 2,000 metres [1.2 miles]. The weapon is fired from a bipod with a monopod supporting the butt of the rifle. It’s key feature is its reciprocating barrel which helps soak up the recoil from the 14.5mm cartridge.

*A scopeless Monomakh at the range (via social media)*

The Monomakh appears in imagery from Ukraine fairly infrequently, the earliest sighting of one of the rifles I could find was a photograph posted by a GUR member in late April 2022. Subsequently a number of videos of the weapon being fired at ranges by Ukrainian combatants was published in the Summer of 2022. The first posted on 7 August, shows a magazine being loaded into the rifle and the weapon chambering a round. Later that month a short video of a Monomakh firing at a range was published.

The earliest photograph of one of the guns I could find in 2023 was shared by a Ukrainian combatant in mid-July. Several months later, in September 2023, another Ukrainian combatant shared a photograph of himself holding up a Monomakh at a range. The same combatant also shared a short clip of himself firing the rifle, again at the range. In the clip he appears to be firing the rifle without sights or an optic. He is also seen helping the bolt into battery after each shot, the bushing which guides the barrel as it recoils into the receiver appears to have come loose. The rifles are typically paired with substantial optics, Snipex offer two of their own 6–24×56 scopes, the Jove 50 and the Galaxy G50. In late October, a female sniper with the 3rd Shock Brigade, posted several photographs and a video of herself firing a Monomakh from a position inside a building.

*A Ukrainian combatant holds up a Monomakh (via social media)*

The large size and hefty weight of the Monomakh limits it applications somewhat but the 14.5mm round is useful against light armoured vehicles, buildings and field fortifications – the main limitation is getting it in, and out, of position to engage targets. There are videos of it taking two men to move the similarly heavy T-Rex and Alligator rifles. From the limited sample of imagery of the Monomakh in theatre it is difficult to gauge how widespread its use actually is. The simpler to manufacture bolt action Snipex rifles are seen more frequently.

My thanks to Cloooud and AbraxasSpa for help sourcing some of the imagery used in this article/video.

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Accuracy International Rifles in Ukraine

In this article/video we’ll examine the use of Accuracy International rifles in Ukraine. This was prompted by an interesting video that was shared by the Belorussian Kastus Kalinoukski volunteer regiment a few days ago. They explain some of the rifles characteristics and how they employ it.

The rifle shown in the Kalinouski Regiment’s video is described as an Arctic Warfare (AW) model or L118A1 (the British service designation for the rifle) but in the video the sniper mentions it is chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum, meaning its actually an Arctic Warfare Magnum (AWM). It’s fitted with a Schmidt & Bender 5-25×56 PM II optic with a P4FL reticle.

*Ukrainian sniper with an AXMC mounted with an Archer TSA-9 , March 2022, (via Social Media)*

Our first sighting on an Accuracy International rifle in the field came around the end of March when a Ukrainian sniper was pictured with an AXMC mounted with an Archer TSA-9 thermal scope. A week or so later on the 11 April, members of the Georgian Legion were seen with an AWM.

In a video from the 17 April another AWM can be seen in a video filmed by a member of the Georgian Legion. On the 21 April a photo of international legion volunteers training included another AWM. At the very end of the month a well equipped Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force unit, reportedly made up of international volunteers featured another AWM.

*Member of the Kalinouski Regiment with AWM, September 2022, (Kalinowski Regiment*)

At the beginning of May a volunteer was seen in a number of photos, first posed with a French flag holding an AT308 (Accuracy Tactical), the latest evolution of the AW. On around the 4 May another photo of a TDF unit included the same sniper and rifle – in this photograph the bolt handle and action is more visible and its profile and the presence of an AICS (Accuracy International Chassis System) PMAG suggest the rifle may be a Remington 700 in an Accuracy International chassis. Finally, on 17 May, a short clip of a sniper in a hide position. He’s armed with a rifle which looks to be the same as seen in the earlier photographs.

*A member of the Kalinowkski Regiment with an AWM (via Social Media)*

On the 19th May a photo of a member of the Kalinoukski Regiment was shared holding an AWM in a black stock. Several weeks later on 26 June, snipers of the Georgian volunteer unit posed, with one armed with what appears from the stock shape to be an AWM. On 17 September Russian telegram channels began sharing a photo of a Ukrainian sniper’s AW rifle captured in the Bakhmut area.

*a Ukrainian sniper with a suppressed AX308, May 2022, (via Social Media)*

Other Accuracy International rifles have also been sighted, in April 2022 Chechens were pictured with a captured AXMC and a photo of a Ukrainian sniper with a suppressed AX308 with a NightForce optic was shared in late May.

In terms of where the rifles originated from the only confirmed source for at least some of the rifles is a reported transfer of rifles from the Dutch military. From the limited data set available we can see that the AWM are the most commonly seen in the field. But as with any survey which relies on open source intelligence this isn’t an exhaustive look at where the rifles are being used and which units have them.

Check out our earlier article/video on the use of Savage Arms rifles in Ukraine.

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Siege of Jadotville & The Sniper Bren – Is The Bren More Accurate?

If you’re familiar with the film Siege of Jadotville you will remember a scene in which the Irish company’s sniper takes on a long range shot… with a Bren. The sniper exchanges his Rifle No.4(T) for a Bren (MkII – in reality, according to contemporary photographs of Irish troops in the Congo, it would have been a MkIII) and single loads a round with the magazine removed.

Following discussion of how plausible this scene is during an episode of the Fighting on Film podcast we teamed up with Richard Fisher, of the Vickers MG Collection and Research Association, to test out the plausibility of the scene. In the film the sniper is seen to be highly proficient with his Rifle No.4(T), barely missing a shot. When tasked with shooting a target which appears to be approximately 400 yards away he sets down his No.4(T), with its No.32 3.5X telescopic sight, and takes a Bren, sets the sights, loads a single cartridge into the breech and takes the shot. The shot strikes and kills the target, a man in a white suit who was directing an attack on the Irish/UN positions.

This scene raises a number of questions:

Why does the sniper do this?
Is the Bren more accurate than a Rifle No.4(T)?
Can you easily single-load a Bren?

*At the range, behind a Bren MkI with a MkIII barrel (Rich Fisher)*

The video above explains our methodology for trying to answer some of these questions. We gathered a group of shooters to fire both a Rifle No.4(T) and a Bren MkIII (in our case a MkI Bren fitted with the shorter barrel of a MkIII). The shooters come from a range of experiences ranging from successful competition shooters to myself (who hasn’t shot a long range competition in 18 months) and Rich (who hasn’t fired a rifle at significant ranges in over a decade). We fired at two ranges 100 yards and 400 yards, with the latter representing the scene from the film, at representatively sized targets. We used 174gr PPU .303 ammunition in all weapons except the 7.62x51mm L4 (which does not directly factor into the results of this experiment).

Can You Easily Single-Load A Bren

In the morning before the shoot the group of shooters carried out familiarisation of the handling and Normal Safety Precautions (NSPs) for the Bren. It was then that we discussed the part of the scene where the sniper single-loads a round into the chamber. It was decided to test this question using a L54A1 Drill Purpose Bren held by the Vickers MG Collection and Research Association’s collection.

*Rich demonstrates single-loading a cartridge into the Bren’s breech with an L54A1 Drill Purpose Bren*

In the video you will see that this was possible but it was easily fumbled. It was possible to accidentally nose the round into the gas piston or to drop it though the action, out of the ejection port. It is imaginable that in the stress of combat it might prove difficult – but it is certainly possible to single-load the Bren in this way.

*Measuring up: working out the Figure of Merit (Rich Fisher)*

Is the Bren More Accurate Than a Rifle No.4(T)?

In short, no. We found that the average figure of merit value showed that the No.4(T) was more accurate at both 100 and 400 yards than the Bren. The caveat to this is that our data set for 400 yards was incomplete with some misses and off paper hits meaning only partial groups were recorded.

In terms of measuring the accuracy of the weapons we worked out individual shooter and group average Figure of Merit values. We explain how this was done in the video (with reference to this video from Rob of BritishMuzzleLoaders). The raw data can be seen below:

First we have the the raw data for the Rifle No.4(T) at 400 yards for all shooters combined input into the Figure of Merit (FoM) spreadsheet which calculated the FoM and group size and generated a grouping diagram:

Below is the raw data for the Bren Mk3 at 400 yards for all shooters combined input into the Figure of Merit (FoM) spreadsheet which calculated the FoM and group size and generated a grouping diagram:

Below is a summary of the FoM and group data for each shooter with the various weapons as well as an averaged value:

*Summary of the data showing individual shooters and averages*

Tom’s group for the No.4(T) at 400 yards was off paper and not recorded, the data for Kev, Matt and Rich on the MkIII was partial due to misses and shots off paper – this is perhaps somewhat indicative of the advantage the No.4(T)’s scope gave over the Bren’s iron sights at 400 yards.

What would we do differently if we have the chance to repeat the experiment?

It would be useful to replicate the firing of the No.4(T) and Bren again to rectify the partial data we recorded at 400 yards. It would also be useful to fire the Bren mounted on a tripod rather than off the bipod. This would provide a useful control comparison with human factors effecting the weapon minimised. We had hoped to do this on the day but did not have the time. It may also be beneficial to enable each shooter to have 5-10 rounds to get on target and compensate for wind etc. and then shoot their representative five round group.

*Sniper Bren: the sniper takes aim with ‘the Bren on single shot’*

Why Does the Sniper Do This?

So why does the sniper do this in the film? Firing from the bipod would theoretically provide a more stable shooting platform than an unsupported rifle. There was, however, plenty of sandbags for him to take a supported shot with the No.4(T). There has been some suggestion that it was believed that the Bren was a more accurate weapon but data from service trials and our experiment show that it was not superior to a scoped, accurised rifle. The scene was probably a result of cinematic license, the sniper had previously been shown to be able to hit anything he had thus far aimed at so having him swap to “the Bren on single shot” gives an added weight to the scene and the action of single-loading rather than firing from the magazine adds to the technical theatricality of the scene depicting the sniper as a capable expert.

We hope you found the video interesting, special thanks to all who helped make the video happen, it was a big and sometimes chaotic effort! Do check out Vickers MG Collection & Research Association’s channel. For more videos and articles on the Bren Gun click here.

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