#14.5x114

At SHOT Show 2024, Cadex Defense, the Canadian company renowned for manufacturing precision rifles and weapon upgrades presented their innovative CDX-X145 sniper rifle. The CDX-X145 is a long-range anti-materiel bolt action rifle chambered in 14.5×114mm cartridge.

In  Part 1, we looked at some of the Azerbaijani-made small arms showcased at the ADEX 2022 exhibition in Baku. In Part 2, we’ll look at more unique and lesser known products of the Azerbaijan defense industry – large caliber sniper rifles and machine guns.

The 14.5x114mm cartridge proved to be very effective in an anti-materiel role in modern warfare. Ukrainian companies have designed multiple anti-materiel rifles chambered in this cartridge within the past several years. In fact, the 14.5mm Snipex T-Rex and Alligator rifles have been recently adopted by the Ukrainian army and their semi-auto sibling, Snipex Monomakh, is being tested by the government. Another Ukrainian company that is extensively exploring the capabilities of this cartridge is the Mayak Plant. Earlier, we took a look at Mayak Plant’s Horizon’s Lord anti-materiel rifle and their new 12.7x114HL cartridge created by necking down the 14.5×114 to .50 caliber. Today, we’ll talk about another Mayak Plant design, the PG-14.5 Night Predator (ПГ-14,5 Нічний Хижак), an anti-materiel rifle chambered in 14.5x114mm.

Snipex is a Ukrainian company ( XADO Chemical Group subsidiary) specialized in designing and manufacturing anti-materiel rifles, particularly, AMRs chambered in 14.5x114mm. We have previously reported about their T-Rex and Alligator 14.5mm bolt action (single-shot and magazine-fed) anti-material rifles. The company continues expanding their 14.5mm anti-materiel rifle line and during the Arms and Security 2021 exhibition introduced a semi-auto 14.5x114mm anti-materiel rifle called Snipex Monomakh.

Snipex, a Ukrainian company specialized in designing and manufacturing anti-materiel rifles, has recently announced the release of a new rifle called Alligator. If you recall, about a year ago, we reported about their T-Rex rifle. Both the T-Rex and Alligator are bolt action rifles chambered in 14.5x114mm and apparently share a lot of design elements. The major difference is that T-Rex is a single-shot rifle, while the Snipex Alligator is a magazine-fed one.

Snipex, a Ukrainian company specialized in manufacturing of anti-materiel rifles, has announced a new rifle called Snipex T-Rex. The new gun is chambered in 14.5x114mm. The model name is given because of the very powerful cartridge and the distinctive shape of the rear monopod that reminds the legs of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The subject of armor penetration previously was largely confined to the realm of big bore rifles or cannons intended to tackle tanks and other kinds of armored vehicles, but as the popularity of steel and composite body armor increases, it has become more and more relevant to the subject of small arms. It may be tempting to pull contextless data from different sources, and present them as being comparable, but in most cases this is a mistake. Unfortunately, quoting armor penetration numbers from two different countries or organizations is not a good way to compare the capabilities of rounds against one another, as I will explain.

The Simonov PTRS 14.5mm anti-tank rifle was a very innovative rifle, that seemingly offered the Soviet AT gunner of the early part of World War II a frightening amount of firepower. Its semiautomatic action, and en-bloc clip loading gave the infantry five rounds of high velocity heavy AT rifle ammunition on tap, that could be fired as fast as the trigger could be pulled and the target reacquired. By comparison, the contemporary single-shot Degtyarev PTRD seems downright crude. However, as this evaluation translated by EnsignExpendable of the Soviet Gun Archives blog shows, things are not always how they seem: