[HawkI]

The SVT-40's look really cool and I've heard some (key word "some"), are quite reliable. I'd love to own one of these babies, but I've heard that some are very picky with ammo (7.62x54R) and on top of that, the ammo isn't as readily available like say the 7.62x39. I've even read that the Russians abandoned using the SVT-40 and went back to the Mosin-Nagant because of similar reasons.

How much would I be paying for an SVT-40 with good furniture that doesn't jam and go 2x4?

[c3shooter]

Hawk- have no experience with this rifle, but not sure that the Russians "went back to" the M-N. I think they went forward to the SKS, AK, Dragunovs, etc. And there is a TON of cheap MILSURP 7.62 Russian out there- but it will not last forever.

[HawkI]

I read that the Russians went back to the Mosin-Nagants only during WWII because of problems the Svt and Avt 40's had.

[General-Logic]

Beautiful rifles. I have never had trouble with any I have fired. They are loud and awesome. On my wish list for sure. Since this thread needs pictures:

[HawkI]

Originally Posted by General-Logic

Beautiful rifles. I have never had trouble with any I have fired. They are loud and awesome. On my wish list for sure. Since this thread needs pictures:

Yes, absolutely beautiful. If I can't find a fairly priced SVT-40 I'll stick with my original goal of buying a Finnish M39 Mosin-Nagant.

[General-Logic]

Russian M-14...gorgeous rifle. I havent seen one in person for a few years. They seem to be sort of hard to find. I'd LOVE to have one in .308...somebody should do that.

[RobDennis]

The ammo is pretty plentiful and it comes in spam cans. While I personally dont care for the 40 all I can say is the one I fired was pretty accurate.
They can be found here and there.. prices have dropped a lot. They used to sell for 1000=1200 they're down to 850 or so

[HawkI]

All I've heard from a few people is that this rifle jams a lot (after maybe every 40 rounds). Sounds like this gun is a just a wall ornament and not a shooter to me.

[jpattersonnh]

Originally Posted by HawkI

All I've heard from a few people is that this rifle jams a lot (after maybe every 40 rounds). Sounds like this gun is a just a wall ornament and not a shooter to me.

I'm not sure where you heard they were unreliable, they are great rifles. 7.62x54r is a potent round. The Basic system with mods is the basis of the SVD and Tiger, both of which are used by Russia to this day. The reason the Soviets used the PU,91/30 in WW2 was ease of production. A bolt gun is far cheaper and easier to produce than a milled semi-auto. Soviet doctrine of the day was to throw mass of numbers at the enemy, not technology. China uses a similar doctrine today. With an armed force of 3,000,000 compared to the Russians 400,000 you could arm the chinese w/ rocks and they would win if the russian each had an AK w/ 30 rounds. A force ratio of 7.5 to 1 is similar to the Soviet WW2 doctrine.

Edit: Vic Thomas did a great article on the SVT. http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/svt401.asp