Starting to look for an SVT40 - need guidance

[MeatMarket]

I want to find a good SVT 40. What kind of prices should I expect to pay? What kind of details should I look out for? I want to find one of wartime production, as original as possible. Does anyone know any good sources?

[Junk Yard Dog]

$700-$1000 seems to be the going rate these days unless you get very lucky. They are most all wartime production, most will be Soviet refurbs done the same way as the Mosins, or Finn captures with the SA ( these can bring a premium price) a rare few came home from Gulf 1 with returning GI's. They were a shitty combat weapon, too many small parts that could be easily lost in the field, a gas system that if not cleaned would jam up the weapon, and as long as the regular bolt rifle Mosin. It was a commie attempt to keep up with the USA and the M1 Garand, only it wasn't designed by John Garand. It was discontinued in favor of sub machine guns during the war, a wise decision. They have not been imported in some years, the only way to get one is if another collector sells one, they show up on gunbroker sometimes.

[Ban-One]

Ahhh...the SVT-40 search begins...nice! I love these rifles. A member once described them as military oddities and I think that description fits well and its one of the things that draw me to the SVT-40. As was said, look for Russian manufacture and Finn refurb versions. I have heard that the Finn refurbs are more accurate...go figure...and they certainly do command a higher price. There is a lot of info on the internet so do some reading before you spend the $700-$1000 that they go for nowadays. Also, read about the different stock types. I believe there are two types of stocks, the SVT-40 which is slim and the AVT-40 which was made a little thicker for automatic fire. Can you imagine a 7.62x54r round in an automatic rifle? I think the AVT-40 has safety cutouts on both sides of the stock but my memory is hazy so do some reading. I dont think it matters which stock you get but its good to know what you are looking at. Also, keep an eye on the gas system. If these were not cleaned properly the corrosive ammo can do a number of the gas system and I have seen some nasty pictures of corrosion. On some of the better gunbroker auctions the sellers will actually take the gas system apart and photograph it to show that there isnt any advanced corrosion going on. Also, there were two types of muzzle breaks used on the SVT-40, one has the six slots or finns and the other has two large square openings in it. I believe the muzzle break with the six slots is the older style.

Thats all I've got. Like I said, do some reading before you buy but if you find one less than $1000 you are doing well.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I called them military oddities Like the Ljungman AG42, SAFN49, and various other short lived semi auto's that were tried out before the FAL, and AK took over in the post war period. Interesting steps in firearms development that managed to get off the paper and into actual production.

[MeatMarket]

Much thanks to both of you. I think I found a website dedicated to this rifle with tons of info to read. I'll definitely do some research.

[Ban-One]

"I called them military oddities"

AHA! I knew I heard that phrase here somewhere but I couldn't remember who said it. I think you have coined a phrase that is completely appropriate for these rifles. I do not own one but I had a chance to hold one at a recent gunshow. I remember thinking how slender and frail the rifle felt. It didnt seem like it would hold up to much punishment at all...but I suppose it served its purpose. From what I read the Germans and the Finns seemed to like them very much. I suppose in an age of bolt action rifles any semi-auto rifle would have been a prized possession.

[stubbicatt]

These rifles, probably more so than other surplus firearms, really need to be evaluated on a piece by piece basis. Those with good bores will often shoot very well indeed. The fit of the action in the stock will also contribute to better accuracy. Those with the genuine sniper notch will fetch a premium, as well they should, and consequently, one is apt to find examples where a notch was added to the receiver by unscrupulous sellers in effort to make the rifle more desirable. One needs to know what a bona fide sniper notch looks like before plunking down his hard earned shekels. There are certain arsenal markings which are considered more valuable due to rarity, and a refurb with import marks may be considered less valuable to a collector than an original, non refurb, non import marked rifle.

I can understand a bias towards the Garand, and its rugged character. The SVT rifles in their design are arguably more sophisticated than the Garand, even if they are overly complex in comparison to the Garand.

The SVT is an elegant rifle showing a particular genius, whose many features show up in other later rifle designs, and whose construction is nearly miraculous considering the state of industry in the Soviet Union in the 30's when it was developed. --For those who can appreciate the sophistication and elegance of the design, it is a great firearm. The thing is longer than the Mosin Nagant 91/30, about a pound lighter, and has a noticeably softer recoil character than that rifle. It has a detachable box magazine which is readily topped off with stripper clips also used in the M/N infantry rifles.

The magazine itself is one of the evidences of genius, as no matter how I have tried, I have not been able to induce rimlock with the SVT 40 magazine, and there is no "interrupter" like the M/N. The thoughtful provision of scope rails is a first of any such design of which I am aware. The fluted chamber to aid in extraction is also a first -- if only JT Thompson et. al. had had that sort of inspired adaption in their attempts at the 30-06 chambered, Blish locked, design! The muzzle brake is remarkable, and a first in an infantry rifle if I am not mistaken. Remarkable in that the brake works at all, with its simple, single chamber, design, but it certainly does soften the recoil impulse. The tilting block is a first, and antedates the FN development of a similar system -- there are FN advocates who suggest that their design was independently developed, but I suspect that FN benefitted from the genius of Mr. Tokarev's design bureau.

Lastly, to me the SVT 40 assembly so reminds me of those Babushka dolls, where there is a doll within a doll within a doll? By this I mean that the overlapping subassemblies hold the whole thing together. The bolt is held securely within the carrier, which is tipped easily into its tracks in the receiver, and the carrier is in turn held in place in its tracks by the sliding top cover, which is held securely by the mainspring, tensioned between the carrier and top cover. These assemblies are all held in place by each other.

The upper handguard is held in place by the stamped steel ventilation piece located over the gas system. The steel ventilation piece is held in place by the barrel band. The barrel band is held in place by the pivoting latch. The pivoting latch is held in place by the cleaning rod when properly secured through the bayonet lug and inserted into its slot in the forestock. The cleaning rod in turn is secured by a latch located in the bayonet lug. All components are secure and yet easily removable with no tools necessary. The gas system itself is also an example of a certain genius... allowing as it does ammunition of differing characteristics while not beating the rifle to death upon opening of the breach. It too is readily disassembled with the use of only one, small, multifunction tool. Try shooting 200 grain ammo through a Garand and you will be visited with an instant reminder of a design weakness in that product. That is, if you can extract the op rod from your skull near your right eye.

The muzzle extension, which holds the gas block, front sight, and brake is threaded onto the outside of the muzzle end of the barrel, all held in place by a smallish steel wedge drifted through a slot in the gas block, the barrel, and the other edge of the gas block. The small wedge is in turn drilled vertically to allow gas from the barrel port into the gas block. All these assemblies are sort of interwoven and integral in the assembly of the rifle, and they all support one another.

The trigger group is held into the stock and action similarly to the later SKS design, and is released for cleaning by inserting a cartridge through a trap door on the heel, or rear, of the receiver, said trap door pivoting aside to reveal the trigger guard latch. This same trapdoor allows the scope base a ready reference on the fore/aft plane of the receiver to assure a return to zero when the base is removed and reinstalled. The same trapdoor when pivoted aside allows ready access to the chamber end of the bore for cleaning (although I don't think this was an intentional aspect of the design, but it sure is mighty handy to the modern shooter with his long Dewey cleaning rod).

The shortcomings of the rifle have been well documented, and internet lore is pervasive. It is accurate enough, and its first round mystery impact is well documented, as are cracks in the stock and wood. It is far from perfect, due I submit to the limitations of the available materials to construct the rifle in the era of its aegis, rather than the design itself.

A fascinating design which is admirable from most any perspective, and in my way of seeing things, it is an aesthetically attractive piece.

Get you one! You will like it I think.

[Junk Yard Dog]

The M1 Garand will handle any .30-06 you can find to put in it, a steady diet of heavy ball ammo will eventually cause it to batter itself to death unless you add a simple adjustable gas cylinder screw to it. It was designed to use the military's 147 grain M2 ball cartridge, but I have seen them hold up to amazing abuse and not come apart. The M1 Garand was a highly successful design that remained in service from 1936 to the mid 1970's even the 1980's as a training rifle with the military forces of a world superpower.
Thank you for the SVT40 information, these are indeed interesting rifles, relics of a bygone time when there was much experimentation going on in firearm design, many ideas were new and untried. Without the press of war maybe the USSR would have continued to refine the design of the SVT series rifles, we will never know, but some of it's ideas lived on in Sweden's Ljungman, and the later Egyptian Hakim.