The NRA helped promote this deadly Russian sniper rifle that has the US military worried

Screenshot/Ruptly

The T-5000 sniper rifle

• The National Rifle Association once helped promote the ORSIS T-5000, a deadly Russian sniper rifle that has worried the US military. 
• The US Army even listed it in a report about "the Russian threat and how Russian Led Separatist Forces (RSLF) conducted operations in Eastern Ukraine since March of 2014."
• The T-5000 fires a .388 Lapua Magnum round, which is an 8.6 or 8.58x70mm round, that can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away, and can penetrate every known body armor currently fielded. 

The Army released a report in late 2016 that centered on the Russian threat in Ukraine and detailed how the capabilities of Russian snipers have grown, thanks in large part deadly new Russian sniper rifle, the ORSIS T-5000.

And it also just so happens that the National Rifle Association once helped promote the T-5000, according to Mother Jones.

In 2015, the NRA sent a delegation to Moscow, where they toured the facilities at ORSIS (the Russian company that makes the sniper rifle), test-fired the T-5000 and were even included it in an ORSIS promotional video, Mother Jones reported.

The delegation included NRA board member Peter Brownell, NRA donor Joe Gregory, former NRA President David Keene, and former Milwaukee County Sheriff and Trump supporter David Clarke, Mother Jones and The Daily Beast reported. 

The delegation also met with Dmitry Rogozin, who had been sanctioned by the Obama administration over the invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, during the trip, which was also partially paid for by a Russian gun-rights organization called the Right to Bear Arms, Mother Jones reported. 

Rozogin was Russia's deputy prime minister who oversaw the defense sector at the time, but was not retained by Russian Prime Minister-designate Dmitry Medvedev in Putin's new administration, Reuters reported on Monday. 

The US Army report from 2016 described the T-5000 as "one of the most capable bolt action sniper rifles in the world."

A former Soviet Spetsnaz special forces operator, Marco Vorobiev, said the gun "can compete with any custom-built bolt action precision rifle out there," according to Popular Mechanics.

"It is well designed and built in small batches," he said. "More of a custom rifle than mass produced." 

The T-5000 fires a .388 Lapua Magnum round, which is an 8.6 or 8.58x70mm round, that can hit targets up to 2,000 yards away, Popular Mechanics reported. 

A .388 Lupua Magnum round is more than two times more powerful than a 7.62x54R round, The National Interest reported in December, adding that there's no known body armor in the field that can stop the round. 

The T-5000 has reportedly been used by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine, Iraqi special forces operators, and has been spotted being used by Chinese troops and Vietnamese law enforcement officers, Popular Mechanics and thefirearmblog.com reported. 

Russian media via thefirearmblog.com

A Russian-backed separatist in Ukraine with the T-5000.

The Russian military is also beginning to field the T-5000, and it has even been tested with Russia's "Ratnik" program, which is a futuristic combat system that includes modernized body armor, a helmet with night vision and thermal imaging, and more, The National Interest and Popular Mechanics reported. 

The rifle, however, has had problems opening the bolt, The National Interest reported. 

Still, the T-5000's range has helped Russian forces in Ukraine "fix Ukrainian tactical formations by employing sniper teams en masse," the 2016 Army report said.

The sniper teams "layer their assets in roughly three ranks with spacing determined by range of weapons systems and the terrain ... with the "final rank [consisting] of highly trained snipers" with the best equipment, the report said.

They then "channelize movement of tactical formations and then direct artillery fire on prioritized targets."

"Several sniper teams will work together to corral an enemy formation into a target area making delivery of indirect fire easy and devastating," the report said. "Russian snipers also channelize units into ambushes and obstacles such minefields or armored checkpoints."

The "capabilities of a sniper in a Russian contingent is far more advanced than the precision shooters U.S. formations have encountered over the last 15 years," the report said.