SVT-40, Range Report

[StukaJr]

Hit Angeles Range last Saturday to test fire my re-arsenaled SVT-40.

Used 150 gr SP Wold Gold to try it out (and as a source for reloadable brass) - took 3 shots and a rubber mallet to figure out that gas setting of 1.3 was sufficient. Chamber was cleaned twice, second time with Denatured Alcohol as a starter. Bore is clean with strong rifling - I got the grooves to shine with JB boreshine paste but the lands still have some dark looking crud... Might have to try the plug-and-soak trick. 60 rounds of 150gr Wolf Gold with zero malfunctions of any kind.

Store clerks (name of the store will remain anonymous) assured me that 180 gr Winchester White box was Kosher, but I remained sceptical and left them in the bag until midway through shooting... Good, since as soon as I tried the 180 gr - I noticed wipes on the body of the brass and primers had mad craters on them, not to mention that the shape of the bullets made them very poor feeders... Switched to 150gr and problem was solved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEAs9nicqws

^^ Had to overlay the music as all the background drone made it sound like an arms bazaar...

Awesome shooting and beautiful (to my eye) rifle - took some time to get used to the trigger (I'm spoiled by two stage triggers). Fast and moderate recoil - not a difficult rifle to shoot. Mostly shot from sitting position at a steel circle plate at 200 yards - next time, will shoot it on paper as I'm sure the sights need a little tweaking (but not as much as my trigger pull).

[caldude]

Nice looking rifle. I just got my SVT-40 today. Can't wait to take it to the range this weekend.

[TonyNorCal]

Very pretty rifle, nicely photographed.

What did the two of you pay for your SVTs?

[caldude]

What did the two of you pay for your SVTs?

I tried the GunBroker route, but the nice ones were getting bid out of my price range (typically going for $1100+). Even the beat up looking ones were going for $950. I ended up getting mine from Tombstone Arms. He had the price at $935 and then dropped it to $895. Pictures of the one I got are still shown on the Tombstone site so you can see how it looks. This would probably be an $1100 gun on GunBroker.

I'm not really a collector, so I didn't care much about rarity, etc. I was more concerned about bore condition, metal finish condition, and the condition of the wood.

Contra Costa Collectibles has (or had) two SVT-40s, but they had them priced at around $1100 and $1400 - way more than I wanted to pay for them (or what my wife would let me pay).

[EBR Works]

Congrats! A beautiful rifle - I love mine also!

[Fate]

I love my SVT-40 too! The one thing you didn't mention was how LOUD they are!

[G-Man WC]

Loud? ...You forgot yourear plugs!

[duenor]

Matt has a nice SVT-40 in the desirable AVT stock for sale right now if anyone is interested. It is $900 and IIRC the numbers match.

My own SVT is one of my most cherished semi autos in the whole collection.

[StukaJr]

Very pretty rifle, nicely photographed.

What did the two of you pay for your SVTs?

Thanks,

Got mine at Martin Retting's for a sweet deal of $750 + Dros and all the fun stuff ... I suppose the fact that it's re-arsenaled makes it less of a collector's value (purple bolt, electric pencil markings, non-matching magazine) - but it has good bore and well functioning gas system... It's a shooter and a good shooter at that...

I try to visit that store at least once a week, during lunch - they sometimes have rare rifles popping up... My SVT was behind the counter, with all of the rare rifles that are too expensive to be on the floor...

And I paid for that rifle myself - the fella' in yellow shirt is my friend / shooting partner and we don't share beyond that He was there trying out his OLL, so we made it a date.

[Xerxes]

My SVT was one of the few things I bought that was not at the high price point (I usually buy high and sell low).

Back in the mid 90's picked up an SVT40, M44 (both rearsenaled but clean and not pitting blued over and barrels shiny but with that thick yucky shellac) 2 x 440 round tins of real Russian WWII vintage, an extra magazine, and very nice bayonet for $395 out the door and believe it or not it was at a gun show in Pleasanton from a guy that had tons of SVT's, M91's, M44's, Russian SKS's, and all the 7.62x54R you could ever want at 6.25 cents a round. Just wish I bought a baker dozen of those SVT's and Russian SKS's that were selling for $79 or $84 for laminated out the door.

My only regret on my SVT purchase is I bought them when they first appeared at the gun shows/shotgun news- without really researching them first, so I concentrated on condition and ended up getting one without the sniper rails and it has the usual dutch repair in the stock that was done so nicely that the thick Shellac hid it when I was looking at it at the show because I did not know about looking for one without that common repair. I wish I purchased one with rails as I would have bought the mount and P/U to go with it to complete the set.

Oh well, at least it is one gun that I bought that I can sell for allot more than I paid for it.

[EBR Works]

has the usual dutch repair in the stock that was done so nicely that the thick Shellac hid it when I was looking at it at the show because I did not know about looking for one without that common repair.

Do you have a photo of this repair? I am unfamiliar with this and I have searched for an example to no avail. Thanks.

[StukaJr]

Yeah - I'd appreciate even a verbal description of what to look for... If I ever decide to remove shellac, that is. Thanks

Otherwise - great purchase... A Bayonet alone is now half of what you've paid