Watch Vladimir Putin Land 3 Kill Shots At 600 Metres With Russia's Most Advanced Sniper Riflle

Russian President Vladimir Putin is as much a celebrity as he is a politician.

A walking Russian military stereotype, he¡¯s supposedly an expert in martial arts like judo and sambo, is cool enough to ride a horse bare-chested, and is apparently handy with a sniper too.

Reuters

The Russian leader demonstrated his skill with a rifle recently, while testing it out at a firearms expo in Moscow. Lining up with the Chukavin sniper rifle, Putin managed to hit three of five kill shots, in the head, liver, and abdomen, at a target a cool 600m away.

It¡¯s far from the longest known sniper shot, which holds the record at 3,540m, but still fairly impressive for a man who¡¯s spent the last few years with his hands full in politics.

Meet one of Russia's deadliest sniper rifles

The Chukavin, officially called the SVCh-308, is a product of Russia¡¯s legendary Kalashnikov concern, known for making the iconic AK-47. It¡¯s based off the design for the Russian SVD compact assault rifle, built by renowned weapons designer Evgeny Dragunov.

Experts say the SVCh is more accurate than the SVD and less prone having the optics dislocated, though the latter is still the main rifle for the Russian Army¡¯s marksmen.

The SVCh-308 comes in two configurations, one for 54R and .308 Winchester ammunition, and the other for .338 Lapua Magnum. It¡¯s a semi-automatic, as common for an assault-rifle that¡¯s also expected to serve as a long-range sniper, box magazine-fed, and features short stroke piston gas operated action. In the case of Putin¡¯s test, the rifle is also being used with the detachable folding bipod and tactical sound suppressor.

Firing .308 slugs, the rifle is capable of shooting at ranges up to 1,500m. And if test results remain as impressive, the Russian military might finally replace the SVD with this new design.