A group of netizens from the weapon forum /k/ have bandied together to build a clone of the infamous Russian VSS Vintorez suppressed rifle.
A (original) VSS Vintorez. Photo by Vitaly V. Kuzmin
They wrote on their Tumblr blog …
For those who don’t yet know, we are a group of guys from /k/ who are dedicated to the cause of bringing the VSS Vintorez to civilian hands. The way we intend to accomplish this is through reverse engineering. Through extensive research we’ve managed to get our hands on a lot of information about the rifle, and using this research we’ve begun the process of recreating the VSS in CAD, deducing themeans of production, and ensuring we have the materials and tools necessary to complete the job.
Along the way, we will use this site to keep people informed of our progress. Stay tuned.
According to subsequent blog posts they believe they will have a functioning prototype by the end of the year. They would like to be able to sell the final product for under $2000.
Thanks to T.G. for the tip.