Soviet SVT40 7.62X54mm

If readers are as old as I, they probably remember those fantastic ads in the back of American Rifleman in the 1960s. They were from an outfit called “Ye Old Hunter” and almost always concerned military surplus rifles from a myriad of nations. Prices were insanely low by modern standards but were still impossible for a West Virginia teenager.

Back to the future

Perhaps the most fascinating one was the semi-auto Soviet SVT40 in 7.62x54mm. They were eye catching, especially in the brand new era of space launches. This was because they had a modernistic appearance compared to most wood and steel military surplus rifles. They were long and looked pencil thin on those black and white pages. Also their handguards were combination wood and steel but both segments were perforated. There was another fixture at the barrels’ end of which I had no clue. To me both features looked “neat” but actually were for barrel cooling and recoil reduction; facts never entering my 13-year-old brain. They also sold for more than the many Mauser bolt actions listed in the ads, which in my thinking meant they had to be “more-better.”

Years passed, in fact many decades passed and never did a thought of SVT40s enter my brain. Although by the mid-1970s I became an avid gun show attendee, never did I so much as knowingly see an SVT40. My gun’riting career got off the ground in those years, mostly with me covering hunting rifles and revolvers with lots of handloading and bullet-casting articles. Noteworthy, however, was my secondary hobby of studying World War II history. Sometime early in the 21st Century, something clicked in my psyche and I became determined to build a shooting collection of World War II firearms.

Once started, it nigh-on snowballed out of control. But — it has been fun! Not only did I acquire an SVT40 but now have two. One wears iron sights and one has the special 3.5X PU scope intended only for SVT40s. Not all of them could accept scope mounts. To do so required a lateral groove across the rear of the receiver. The second SVT40 was purchased precisely because of this groove. It would have been nice to get one with an original scope, however I had to settle for reproduction scope and mounts made in the Ukraine but sold out of Canada I found on gunbroker.com.

The gun

SVT40s are gas operated semi-autos with a slight benefit over some other military semi-autos in having the gas system over the barrel instead of under. SVT40s are a fraction over four feet long with a barrel slightly over 24″. At 8-1/2 lbs. they are surprisingly light for a military rifle of this length. Magazine has a capacity of 10 rounds and it’s detachable but in combat they were not meant to be replaced with another magazine although it’s possible. Soviet doctrine dictated they could be loaded from above with five-round stripper clips.

Accuracy

My open-sighted SVT40 will give mediocre groups of about 3″ to 4″ at 100 yards. The scope sight one can shoot groups half the size. It was definitely a decent World War II sniper rifle.

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