Unlike most of the weapons in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the VSS Vintorez cannot be purchased from Drebin, the arms dealer. Instead, it's located in South America at the Confinement Facility.
The Vintorez was developed in the late 1980s by Petr Serdjukov at the Central Scientific Institute for Precision Machine Building, abbreviated TsNIITochMash. The weapon is manufactured by the Tula Arms Plant, which has also produced the AK-47 and Mosin-Nagant.
The Vintorez was put into service in 1987. The rifle was primarily issued to Spetsnaz units - Russian special forces; its built-in suppressor made it ideal for stealthy operations, as did its ability to be stripped down and secretly transported.
The Vintorez is gas-operated, meaning that gas from the cartridge being fired is used to eject the spent casing and chamber a new round. It's also select-fire, meaning it has different rates of fire, which can be toggled by a switch.
The intergrated suppressor wraps around the barrel, which itself has a series of small holes drilled in the rifling grooves. These holes allow the venting of exhaust gases. The suppressor can be easily removed for maintenance or transporting purposes, but the rifle should not be fired without it.
The VSS normally used 10-round magazines and fired in semi-auto mode, but it can be switched to full auto and fitted with 20-round magazines.
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