Russian Defense Industry Uses U.S. and Finnish Bullets for Sniper Rifle Ammunition

Russian arms manufacturer LLC Promtekhnologiya, which produces weapons under the ORSIS brand, has begun supplying the Russian Armed Forces with sniper ammunition assembled using American and Finnish bullets.

Previously, only cases of invaders using imported foreign-made ammunition or improvised cartridges had been documented, according to an investigation by The Insider. Now, however, a Russian defense plant is receiving foreign components in quantities sufficient to produce ammunition in serial at its facilities.

Between March 2022 and February 2024, Russia imported more than 10 million bullets manufactured in NATO countries. A significant portion was in .338 Lapua Magnum and .375 CheyTac calibers, designed for long-range shooting.

Russian specialized sources have confirmed receiving standard-issue ammunition manufactured by Promtekhnologiya for ORSIS rifles. The ammunition uses American-made Peterson cartridge cases and high-precision Hornady bullets weighing 11.53 grams.

Due to a shortage of American components, the manufacturer also widely uses Finnish Scenar bullets made by Lapua. These cartridges are loaded with Russian Irbis 570 powder and casings marked ORSIS.

Practical testing of these cartridges demonstrated an accuracy of 0.5 MOA at a distance of 300 meters. This allows a series of shots to land within a circle approximately 4.5 centimeters in diameter.

The Soviet and Russian defense industries have historically focused on mass-produced weapons and do not manufacture high-precision bullets of the required quality. Russian alternatives from the Barnaul and Novosibirsk plants are significantly inferior to their American and Finnish counterparts in terms of ballistic performance.

Some American-made bullets reach Russia through European Union countries. In particular, in June 2022, the Russian IF Tetis LLC filed a declaration for a shipment of Hornady bullets that had previously undergone testing at Finland’s Lapua Test Shooting Lab.

The Promtekhnologiya plant in Podolsk was established with significant Western technology involvement. The company previously assembled Glock guns out of Austrian kits and AR-10 rifles using American components.

Russian oligarch Konstantin Nikolaev, who built his business with support from former defense industry overseer Dmitry Rogozin and FSB General Sergey Beseda, founded Promtekhnologiya.

Despite his involvement in supplying the Russian military and smuggling ammunition from NATO countries, Nikolaev continues to maintain business interests in Italy. He owns the La Madonnina winery in Tuscany, valued at €40 million.

The oligarch’s Italian business continues to operate and receives EU funding. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, European agricultural agencies have paid the winery more than €107,000 in subsidies.