SVT-40 (sniper rifle): reviews of hunters, photos, characteristics

Among the huge number of firearms used in the war of 1941-1945 by Soviet soldiers, none causes so many diverse reviews, like SVT-40 (sniper rifle). Experts and the military found it not very successful, so the release of the rifle soon ceased.

The development of such weapons occurred during the war years, when the manifestation of quality diminished in favor of quantitative indicators. There is an opinion of experts that if it were not for war, the rifle could be designed without flaws, especially since many of those who used weapons say about it positively.

Description of the rifle

Powder gas, diverted from the stem channel, is used for the short stroke of the gas piston. A regulator is installed in the chamber to change the amount of exhaust gases, which affects the use of the rifle in different circumstances and allows changing the conditions for the use of various types of cartridges.

The piston transmits the movement of the bolt, and the spring returns it. The trunking channel is locked with a bolt that tilts in a vertical plane. In the trunk box there is another spring, which serves to return the bolt to the frame in the reverse position. The rifle lies at the base of the rifle, the mechanism is lowered by the trigger. The trigger is locked by a fuse.

Work in battle

Charging the store is done without removing the clips from the rifle. The sight is carried out by a fly and namushnik. Sniper rifle SVT-40 with an optical sight PU has a brake in the barrel of the barrel. The later modification has a muzzle mechanism similar to the AVT-40, and a bayonet knife, resembling a blade for wearing in a special sheath on the waist belt.

If the shooting is made from the lying position, then the weapon is supported by the left hand and is located on the palm of the hand in front of the store. The use of the rifle from sitting, standing and from the knee involves holding the gun in the shop. A well-trained shooter makes about 25 shots a minute, if the store is pre-filled. If you fill the store with two clips, the number of shots is reduced to 20 per minute.

Application of a silencer

Sniper rifle SVT-40 with a silencer is tested at the test site in the spring of 1941. The device is designed only for bullets with supersonic speed, and for rifle ammunition with reduced speed it does not fit. This design of the muffler does not change the given speed and combat accuracy, but the sound from the shot is almost not extinguished, and the brightness of the flash remains the same.

The gases from the gunpowder do not leave the barrel after the shot, but they are delayed by the silencer, which leads to the fact that when the shutter is opened, hit the arrow with a dense stream. The device for silent shooting from a rifle was damaged during test events, and its design was no longer being finalized.

Characteristics of a self-loading rifle

During the Finnish-Soviet war in 1939-1940, the sniper rifle SVT-40 was first used. Characteristics and technical indicators:

• Caliber rifles - 7.62;
• Weighs 3.8 kg without bayonets and cartridges;
• Caliber of cartridges - 7,62х54 mm;
• Length of the rifle - 1 m 23 cm;
• Standard shooting speed - from 20 to 25 rounds per minute;
• The initial speed of the bullet is 829 meters per second;
• Range of sight - up to 1.5 km;
• The store holds 10 ammunition.

History of creation

The desire to turn conventional weapons into automatic analogs leads to the fact that Fedor Tokarev starts to produce SVT-38 rifle, which during the war with the Finns passes a severe test school. Application in combat conditions makes it possible to identify all the shortcomings of weapons. These are heavy weight, failures in work, susceptibility to pollution and low air temperature readings, and the need for constant lubrication.

The designer is tasked to make an easier rifle and reduce the size, while increasing the reliability and strength. Weaponsmiths do not reduce the linear amount of detail, which can lead to violations in the automation. They go by making finer details, reducing the length of the bayonet, and the shop, casing and fore-end undergo structural changes. There is a sniper rifle SVT-40. The photo below conveys the design changes.

In 1940, a self-loading rifle went into service with the army. The product received the required characteristics, low weight, but the production of parts is at the maximum level, the details of the rifle are obtained sensitive to the accuracy of manufacturing and compliance with technological rules. The weapon requires complex maintenance, which is not always ensured in combat conditions.

Sniper rifle

Sniper rifle Tokarev SVT-40 increases production only with the beginning of the war in 1940. During this period, about one million rifles are produced. Attempts are made to equip the weapon with a sniper scope, but to create effective accuracy of shooting it is necessary to change the design, so in time of war the designers refuse such an idea, and the rifle is produced according to the old model.

Automatic weapons

In 1942 an automatic model SVT-40 was produced. The sniper rifle now fires automatically. But Tokarev's weapons are not designed for such a load. Self-loading rifles do not withstand the tests in combat, because of the discovery of a number of shortcomings, production is declining. In January 1945, the Defense Committee decides to withdraw SVT-40 from production.

Designer Tokarev is working on creating an automatic carbine, based on SVT-40. Sniper rifle of the 1940 model is converted into a carbine, the main function of which is a single fire. The automatic rifle retains all the flaws of the rifle. Reports from the front indicate that soldiers are not willing to use weapons because of unreliability, complexity of the structure, lack of accuracy.

Positive characteristics of weapons

Despite the unflattering feedback on SVT-40, the sniper rifle has a number of advantages. The lightweight design made it possible to move maneuverably in combat and during marches. The sniper rifle differs from its ancestor SVT-40 by a 3.5-fold PU sight, which has a light weight (only 270 g). Mounting the sight allows shooting at a range of up to 600 m.

The achievement of self-loading weapons is an increased firing rate in comparison with the Mosin rifle. Simplicity of the application allows you to get a kickback in the shoulder, rather than catching the thrown trunk.

Disadvantages of a self-loading rifle

SVT-40 sniper rifle does not have much use in the ranks of the army due to the complexity of the design, which makes it difficult to manufacture in production and during combat operation. The requirement of constant maintenance is impossible to fulfill in the conditions of mass conscription in wartime. The drawbacks include the gas regulation system, which has not been worked out until the end, and the possibility of losing a removable magazine, and the inconvenient design contributes to contamination, dusting.

The desire to reduce weight leads to the fact that there are failures in the operation of automatic mechanisms SVT-40. The sniper rifle retains its dimensions, but the weight is reduced by using thinner details and increasing the number of holes in the casing, which leads to additional contamination.

Sniper rifle SVT-40 and its use

Initially, it is planned that a self-loading rifle will be the main small arms of infantrymen and will greatly increase the power of firing with targeted fire. The state is supposed to have several thousand such weapons in each division, and the ratio of rifles with a self-loading mechanism and nonautomatic devices was supposed to be brought to a ratio of 1: 2.

By the beginning of the summer of 1941, about a million SVT-40 weapons were manufactured. Sniper rifle reviews of hunters received not only positive. Most of the weapons were concentrated in the western districts of the border zone. Simultaneously with these rifles American M1 Garand are produced, which are equal in functionality to the Soviet version.

German gunsmiths used captured samples of Soviet rifles, put them into service with the army, since they did not have such items. The middle of the Second World War was marked by the fact that the Germans are developing and manufacturing a rifle, the details of which resemble SVT-40. In the Soviet Union, the production of a self-loading rifle is decreasing, and soon it stops altogether. The complexity of production, a large number of structural details make manufacturing expensive and unpromising. In the rifle of 143 elements contains 22 springs. Several types of special steels are used in the manufacture of knots.

Varieties of modifications

• SVT-38 produced before 1940, characterized by a mass, 500 grams greater than the next model. Her bayonet has not yet undergone facilitating changes, the bed has an originally created shape.
• SVT-40 refers already to the improved form with a shorter shield, begins to be mass produced in 1940. It is distinguished by high reliability, it is simplified in comparison with the previous version by 600 grams.
• Sniper rifle SVT-40, the characteristics of which allow to produce targeted fire, was accepted for production in 1940. It is distinguished by the presence of a special stop for the installation of the sighting device and a more perfect treatment of the trunk surface.

• AVT-40 is an automatic version with small improvements in the trigger release mechanism, the appearance resembles the base model SVT-38. Despite the labor of designers, it was not possible to create a reliable automatic rifle, and the production of such weapons was rolled up in 1942.
• AKT-40 is an automatic carbine, which does not take root in the army, although it is intended to conduct an aimed automatic fire.
• SVT-O refers to the hunting type of weapons, converted from weapons SVT-40, which was withdrawn from the army mobilization reserve. To date, the product is presented in the form of weapons for single firing. Available to the general public from 2012.

In conclusion, it should be noted that for the production and improvement of the design of the rifle are selected not too successful years of war, rates are made on the number of weapons, and not on its quality. If this happened in peacetime, then on the basis of a rifle, better weapons would be produced for shooting.