Bulgarian "light" refurb SVT40

[EastCoastCollector]

Might not be a Mosin but is fighting comrade, the now crown jewel of my meager collection: a VERY lightly refurb'ed 1943 Tula SVT40 "refurbished" in Bulgaria. This one stands out from the rest up here in the frozen north in that the only parts that appear to not be original to the rifle are the handguard (not originally numbered, Bulgaria numbered them and this does not match) and magazine.
Everything else, including the stock, has originally matching stamped parts, and no electropencilling, crossed out serials, or Soviet arsenal refurb marks anywhere on the rifle. Im not even sure this thing saw action as the bore is MINTY, mirror shine.
While these are still being imported into Canada its incredibly rare to see anything that this closely resembles a non-refurb (that Ive seen to date anyway). Cheers guys and I hope you enjoy her as much as Im sure I do.

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/LZaEJ

[SA1911a1]

That is a very nice rifle. If I lived up there I would have a serious collection of those. Congrats!

[Junk Yard Dog]

We saw three types of SVT imported here, Finn capture, Soviet post WW2 refurb and a handful brought back from the sand box as war trophy's after Gulf 1. I do not recall seeing any Bulgarian imported SVT's I am guessing however many there were must have ended up in Canada, very nice.

[EastCoastCollector]

Thanks guys she definitely is the nicest SVT Ive seen. Most of what Ive seen have been post war refurbs (95% of them actually) and the very VERY occasional Finn capture. These are what are referred to as "old" imports up here, from my knowledge theyve been here longer than most SVTs in the country. They came into the country wrapped in Bulgarian newspaper fitted with Bulgarian slings (as mine still proudly wears). Im mainly an SKS aficionado but when I saw this come up for sale I had to grab it. Hard to think Ive only had my firearms license for 3 years haha

[Longcolt44]

Very nice SVT. I bought mine about 5 years ago it's a '42 Tula. These shoot as good as they look, cleaning is a little time consuming.

[ground ape]

A big number of SVT 40s were captured and used by the Nazis. Have any shown up here other than bring backs?

[EastCoastCollector]

A big number of SVT 40s were captured and used by the Nazis. Have any shown up here other than bring backs?

As far as Im aware the SMALL handful of legitimate Nazi captures have all been found in the US, none of them as far as Im aware up here. Plus they are easily faked now with just about every old stamp and proof mark available to buy. Id be very weary about purchasing one.

[ground ape]

Thanks for that. I read that the Russians lost 3.6 million (!) troops in the first 6 months of the war along with hundreds of thousands of STV 40s, to the Wehrmach, who liked them, printed operation and maintenance manuals and were re-issued to their army. For certain there are many pix on U-tube of German soldiers carrying this rifle. Then there is the German re-issue and subsequent manufacture of the PPSH since they had s==t load of these in the same haul.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Stalin had purged the Red Army of most of it's most capable officers by 1941, and to make matters worse he failed to believe the Germans were seriously invading for over a week after the initial attack and held back reinforcements. The Germans took so many prisoners in the wars first weeks that they couldn't feed or house them, many starved to death. Weapons were captured in huge numbers.

[ground ape]

So where are the German capture SVT 40s?

[zeebill]

Stalin's purges did indeed almost cost him the war but one thing they did do was the officers that were left knew how to be survivors. Bill

[ground ape]

Marshall Koniev, for example, on one occasion only firm support from Zhukov saved him from punishment by death at the hands of the commissariat. He had failed miserably at the Vyazma pocket.

[ground ape]

Marshall Koniev, for example, on one occasion only firm support from Zhukov saved him from punishment by death at the hands of the commissariat. He had failed miserably at the Vyazma pocket.