Sup /k/, can you give me a little info regarding the SVT 40? I'm going to buy one on Friday and would like to learn some things and details what to look out for. Also all kinds of pro-tips related to the gun.
For example what markings/stamps in the stock/receiver etc that could provide some insight on the gun's origin, year of manufacture, the factory it was made in and so on.
And before you ask, no, this is not going to be my first gun, i know how to basically operate the gun. Just asking for some more info and little details.
Pic related is the gun, though in bad resolution
>>30569702
Canuck?
>>30569702
Hey, /k/anada /k/ommando here - if you are getting one in Canada make sure you bring a bore light (or if your local gun dealer isnt jewish he might let you borrow one off the shelf) - point is a lot of the guns, mainly SKS's and SVT-40s are literally freshly dug out of the ground and covered in grease to protect them - make sure the barrel is clean and has alright to good rifling left in it.
Also make sure you give it an 11/10 clean. When I got my SKS I had to take it all apart, clean it over the course of 2 days literally pulling chunks of dirt and grease off with paper towel,, cloths, and cleaning materials.
Other then that you should be a-ok, also if you score it for under $350 you got yourself a great deal.
>>30569709
>>30569746
Nope, not a Canuck. I'm from Finland. Also the price is 590€ from the gunstore I'm picking it up. That's....pretty much in my book, but on the other hand, I've visited them with my dad and friends so many times over the past few years that I'm more than likely to get a handsome discount on the gun and ammo.
>>30569803
Jealous. Im american and I paid like 1300 usd
>>30569844
That's quite alot! The cheapest SVT I found in a gunstore is 400€. But I don't know the store, nor the owners, so I rather go to my regular supplier
>>30569702
Pros:
>badass
>'detachable' magazines
>history
Cons:
>magazines are not interchangeable between guns, they will need to be force matched with the gun, they are also expensive and uncommon (at least in the US)
>the gas system is a bit annoying to clean (in some people's opinion, anyway)
>when first fielded by the Russians, it had horrible accuracy issues, this is probably remedied on most civilian market guns, but don't expect to get a good result with mounting a scope
>>30569873
>it had horrible accuracy issues, this is probably remedied on most civilian market guns, but don't expect to get a good result with mounting a scope
lolwut the only issue people had with the SVT-40 was the 3 piece piston and rod
Buy yourself a wrench to regulate the gas flow, there's a company that makes good repros for cheap. Also remember to torque the regulator after your range trip. Finally, after shooting surplus ammo, clean the ENTIRE thing pretty much head to toe
>>30569896
Pic related is mine
>>30569873
Thanks for your reply.
Yeah the magazines are 90€ pretty much everywhere I found them. In comparison AK steel mags are ~10€ a piece. Although I have stripper clips for Winchester M95 already, so it's not the first priority for me.
I'm also not going to mount a scope on the gun as the iron sights are so good to me. Maybe if I stumble into a good bargain of an original scope I might buy it.
The biggest reason I'm getting one is because they're getting rare and hard to come by even here in Finland. I have accuracy weapons for serious hunting and such from before, but I just have to have an SVT aswell, and now is the time fornit.
>>30569924
You have an m95? Post pics
>>30569891
There was a pronounced stringing issue after the rifle got warm. It's the major reason it was dumped from the marksman role pretty fast.
>>30569924
>the magazines are 90€ pretty much everywhere I found them
They're also all worthless repro trash. Stick with the original mag and strippers.
>Maybe if I stumble into a good bargain of an original scope I might buy it.
You will not. Original SVT mounts and glass are unicorns, outrageously expensive, and you'd need the correct grooved receiver for it anyway.
>now is the time fornit
The time for it was six years ago. Got mine for like $120 and the ammo for under 10 CPR.
If I had the presence of mind to stock up on pact ammo, I'd be a rich guy right now.
>>30569896
>Finally, after shooting surplus ammo, clean the ENTIRE thing pretty much head to toe
This is the most annoying aspect of owning the rifle for me. The action is fucking filthy, and if I'm not thorough with my cleaning, I wind up with traffic-cone rust.
>>30570023
Its cause you keep your rifle in the shower
>>30569702
>Sup /k/, can you give me a little info regarding the SVT 40
it doesn't exist.
>>30569803
Fellow Finnfag with SVT-40 here. I got mine bit cheaper, but it is a refurbished rifle and that happened few years ago. Is the rifle that you are planning to buy one of the rifles captured during World War 2 or refurbed?
They are fun rifles to shoot, but neither terribly reliable or accurate. I was lucky to have a friendly gunshop owner who imported a small lot of rifles and gave me an opportunity to pick out the best of the lot. I succeeded finding one which had barrel with excellent bore condition and when everything is set just right it will barely stay with-in 9-ring of 03 target from 150 meters.
There used to be original mags available for about 90 euros from Asetalo, but they seem to be no longer available.
Items you should have with the rifle:
1. Sight adjustment tools: AK sight tool will work for adjusting height of front sight post if it goes through the hole on top of globe-shaped protection piece. For horizontal adjustment I am using adjustment tool made for m/91-30, it just need to be used upside down.
2. Gas system wrench. Gas key has pentagonal adjustment part. For the setting that you use, you have to line up the setting exactly. Also once you have done that tighten the gas tube properly for the rifle to work. Black River Gunsmithing used to make a reproduction, but they may no longer be in business.
Every now and then original tools are appearing in the market and I have succeeded finding some over the years. VKT even made some wrenches for the gas system.
Ammo should be steel cased and with light bullets. You should adjust the gas system for specific ammo by finding the lowest setting on which it works reliably. Get a rubber mallet with you when you do this - if gas setting is set too low, the rifle with re-chamber cartridge case and oh boy does it get stuck in there.
>>30570217
>>30570023
>>30570003
>>30569924
>>30569873
>"Soviet made weapon"
>existing
hey hello FBI agents, why are you still playing stupid, everybody knows cold war was a deception nowadays
>>30570023
My 1940 Izzy loves Tulammo and the brass cased Soviet competition stuff from the 80s
>>30570023
You could just not shoot surplus. Mine gets nice clean reloads.
>>30570217
I think it might be refurbed and not in the 100% original condition.
I'm buying the gun from Asetalo actually, so maybe they have some of those tools hidden somewhere, gonna have to ask. This is the most valuable info yet, so thanks!
Do you have experience with Wolf 7.62x54R ammo for target shooting, and maybe Lapua Mega for moose hunting? Those might be the two primary rounds I'm feeding the rifle. Maybe even Sako Range? What do you use?
>>30569955
Here you go
>>30570238
>>30570372
I was asking because there are also non-refurbed rifles in the market and they used to be that much more expensive. One of my friends bought one for 650 euros about 6 - 7 years ago while I bought mine for 495 about 8 years ago.
As mentioned you should stick with ammo that has steel cases and has light (9.6 - 9.7 gram) bullet like the Soviet service ammo. It was the ammunition type that that the rifle and its gas system were designed for and Soviet & Finnish manuals are pretty clear on the matter. Cartridge chamber is fluted (uritettu) for steel cases and soft brass cases are likely to cause reliability issues. I have not tested if 7.62 x 53 R with 12-gram Mega will even chamber (throat area of chamber was designed for shorter bullet than 12-gram mega), considering Soviet level of loose measurements it probably would, but gas system might not work with that ammo and shooting a lot of bullets so heavy might cause durability issues on the long run.
I have noticed that (original but non-matched) mags work best if loaded with 8 rounds max. Imported original mags had inbuilt capacity restricted to 5 rounds, but that was easy to fix.
Wolf 7.62 x 54R is overpriced garbage. I tested various surplus rounds when I bought the rifle and ended up buying a nice stockpile of late 60's - early 1970's Czechoslovakian surplus, the does not work with less than 1.5 gas setting with that ammo, but is very accurate. That Czechoslovakian surplus has not been anymore available for years, but I have good experiences about recent imports of Chinese factory 71 surplus with my Tigr.
Surplus ammo is ok, but if one uses it the rifle has to be cleaned properly after each time - and that included disassembling and cleaning gas system. It is also good to remove cleaning rod before shooting - at least mine the locking system for the rod occasionally allows the recoil to bump the rod pass the locking plug.
more....
>>30570965
...more
There were four or five manufacturers for SVT-40 depending if you consider Tula and Mednogorsk #314 as a same factory or not. Check the last post on this for production numbers:
http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?19072-Original-SVT-40-Rifles-1941-Podolsk-vs-1941-Tula
But for refurbed rifles rifle the manufacturer does not really effect its value that much - refurbed rifles have typically mixed lot of parts from various manufacturers with new serial numbers made with electric pen. Refurbed rifles were reblued and their rifle stocks finished with shellac. Their bolts were also routinely blued, which typically turned the bolts brown.
Non-refurbed rifles have stocks with darker brown (oil?) finish and finish of their steel parts tends to be quite worn. If SA property marked they are often mix of parts due to Finnish military refurb program in 1950's - there was no Finnish spare parts production, so parts were cannibalized from other individual broken rifles to get complete working rifles.
When it comes to non-refurbed rifles with matching serial numbers the manufacturer may really make a difference value-wise. Bolts in them are usually "on the white", even if according original documents during WW2 some manufacturers were blueing their bolts.
Basically all except late production rifles have grooved on side of the rear receiver for the scope mount, but not all them have the locking notch for the scope mount. That notch was usually only made for rifles that had been tested & selected as sniper rifles, but unfortunately the notch has been also faked quite a lot. I would not pay extra for a refurbed rifle with the notch, with non-refurbed original sniper it could a major factor in collector's market.
There are two muzzle brake designs, from which the one with two large vents on each side was for AVT-40 (select-fire version). There was also a reinforced stock version also mainly originally issued with AVT-40.
and more...
>>30571269
...and more.
Suggested reading:
http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/SVTsection.asp
http://www.jaegerplatoon.net/RIFLES4.htm
Podolsk (& Zlatoust) were earlier thought be Kovrov factory.
>>30570965
Do you have experience with the ammo that's sold by the name STV? It's cheap as hell, but didn't work properly 100% of the time with the Winchester. If it works with SVT, I won't have a problemwith cleaning the gun, because Ialways clean my guns after shooting
SVT owner here.
As already mentioned you should check the bore but something just as important to do is to check on the gas piston/cup for corrosion. if its all rusted to hell and theres a sloppy fit then you can look forward to undergassing and timing issues.
The previously mentioned advice on steelcased ammo with light projectiles is something i definitely agree with. I tried shooting Prvi Partizan brasscased ammo out of mine and the brass was so soft that it got pressure cut into the flutes of the chamber to a point where it cut clean through the walls of the casing and causes some horrible extraction issues.
However with steel ammo it runs flawlessly on 1.3 setting
>>30571498
STV Group is European company that sells surplus ammo originating from all over the place. What I remember the company is Slovakian or Slovenian.
If you want to know what the ammo that they sell actually is, you have to open the box and check the headstamps. Also check more than round or two, since sometimes (although relatively rarely) 300 round cardboard boxes that their ammo usually comes in contains ammunition from more than one manufacturer.
As mentioned Chinese ammo with 71 headstamp should be good, if you can find it. The batch of SVT Group ammo that I bought few months back was it.
Good source for 7.62 x 54R ammo headstamps:
http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmoID.htm
>>30571607
I would just disassemble the rifle, particularly the gas system before buying the rifle. There are instructions online and videos about in youtube.
One of my friends once tried to shoot Sellier & Bellot commercial ammo (loaded with 11.7 gram FMJ) with his SVT-40 - the rifle failed to remove cartridge cases.
Prvi is good stuff, but neither easy to find or cheap in here.
>>30571799
Should be:
Prvi is good stuff for Mosin-Nagants, but neither easy to find or cheap in here.
Some of the 7.62 x 54R ammo is bit problematic in that sense that one has to know what it works with. The Czechoslovakian surplus that I usually shoot with SVT-40 for example has lacquer coated cases and if used in Mosin-Nagant causes horrible case of sticky bolt.
>>30571744
>What I remember the company is Slovakian or Slovenian.
It's Czech. Most of the 54r they sold was Russian, Bulgarian or Chinese.
As for steel cases in an SVT, my experience is that copper washed works fine, lacquered won't work for shit unless you bump up the gas setting several steps.
>>30569702
They're kickass guns. If you were thinking about an optic other than a P/U, it's a bit of a pain.
I've got Scout Industries designing a pair of mounts for the SVT. Should offer the same quality of their Vz.58, AK and SKS models. One should be a Scout-style mount, the other should sit closer to the rear, allowing for regular optics to be used. They've agreed to send me some prototypes to test, so keep your eye out, I'll make a thread testing them when they do.
Okays, thanks for your input, guys. One thing that I wonder is, how are the gasport marks? Are they Russian alphabets or just numbers? To be able to read them and adjust them correctly, it'd be cool to know what it says in case it's Russian.
>>30572079
Just numbers, 1.1 through 1.7
It corresponds with the diameter = 1.1 to 1.7 mm.
>>30572155
Some Finnish-reworked guns also have 2.0 setting - presumably due to standard issue service ammo with 13-gram D166 bullets being used. Finnish manual (which seems to be basically translation of Soviet one with some changes) did not appear until 1950's, so it is feasible that wrong type of ammunition was used at least in some extent before that.
>>30572155
Ah, allright. Thank you kindly. So, from what people here have said, 1.3-1.5 seem to be the most often used settings?
>>30572361
Yes, but it really depends on what you shoot and how worn your regulator / springs are. If your rifle is in good shape, 1.2 or 1.3 should work fine with surplus light ball.
>>30572397
Okay, thanks again! Lucky me, one of the sellers at the gunstore is actually a gunsmith, so i'm gonna put him take a look at the stuff you lovely people have told me.
And people said asking questions here will only get you trolled. Bah!
>>30572397
Tools that I use with SVT-40, from left to right:
1. Black River Gunsmithing gas adjustment wrench reproduction.
2. VKT-manufactured gas adjustment wrench.
3. LT-2 sight adjustment tool for front sight horizontal settings. Intended for Mosin-Nagant m/91 and m/91-30, but also fits SVT-40 when placed around front sight globe instead of barrel.
4. Original SVT-40 tool for front sight post & rifle stock crossbolt (good to check every now and then).
