SVT40 feeding problems

[KNO3-]

So i tried to cycle a few rounds through my SVT40 and found the cartridge runs into the chamber and jams. It actually damages the tip of the bullet. Anyone else have this problem before? Im not sure if its the magazine or the rifle. You would think that when they referbed it they would cycle a few rounds through to make sure it worked. The mag is in properly and fits tight and i also havent touched anything, as you can see it has yet to be taken appart and cleaned.

Might be a bit hard to see but the bullet tip hits the chamber, if its feeding a cartridge from the left it does chamber a round sometimes but damages the bullet. From the right it fully jams and will not chamber the round.

 

[jongun]

I would assume a poor pinning of the mag. Had the same problem with my SKS until I switched to a Tapco mag.

 

[Stevo]

So i tried to cycle a few rounds through my SVT40 and found the cartridge runs into the chamber and jams. It actually damages the tip of the bullet. Anyone else have this problem before? Im not sure if its the magazine or the rifle. You would think that when they referbed it they would cycle a few rounds through to make sure it worked. The mag is in properly and fits tight and i also havent touched anything, as you can see it has yet to be taken appart and cleaned.

When it does this are you letting the charging handle fly or easing it forward?

 

[JeffMan]

Weak magazine. Magazine spring in wrong.

AS A SIDE NOTE: Be careful cambering live rounds (outside of the range) without having cleaned the cosmoline off.

I'm not assuming that your loading live rounds, or that you're not on the range, but that puppy could slam fire if the firing pin is stuck forward or even if you have a soft primer... I've been to THAT call and it's a BIG BIG BIIIIIIIIIG deal!

Again. Not assuming you're off the range or that those are live rounds.... just saying this because I met someone who really wish they hadn't done a "feed test."

 

[Caleb314]

Il second the weak mag spring or the follower is sticking because of cosmoline( looks like you haven't clean it all yet), also it looks like someone might have messed with the feed lips.

 

[cathaldj]

Mine bumps every bullet tip on the way in. I've gone through several forums and the consensus is that you have to treat the gun like a Russian would. Get rid of all of the Cosmo and lube, even if you need a q-tip and varsol. Your gun should be dry, no lube. Anywhere.

Get a 12ga brass brush and scrape the chamber down for a while, you might have burned Cosmo on the inside absorbing energy from the gas piston. When you reassemble the bolt, a very light coating of Hoppes #9 on the sliders only.

Turn the gas valve up, the bolt should hit the stop (yeah, yeah it's bad practice, but it's the only way to be sure the bolt has enough energy from the spring). Make sure the gas shutoff below the regulator is fully open and the port of the regulator is lined up with the barrel gas tapping.

When you put the magazine in, don't be delicate. You need to be seriously. pissed. off. at those Nazis.

If all that fails, grab a pair of needle-nose pliers and bend the ends of the magazine flanges up just a hair to allow the cartrages to sit slightly nose high in the mag.

 

[Stevo]

I've gone through several forums and the consensus is that you have to treat the gun like a Russian would. Get rid of all of the Cosmo and lube, even if you need a q-tip and varsol. Your gun should be dry, no lube. Anywhere.

Which forums are those?

The SVT, like any other firearm, requires lubrication.

The gas should be adjusted to run the action, no more.

 

[KNO3-]

When it does this are you letting the charging handle fly or easing it forward?

Does it both ways, letting it fly forward just jams the bullet into the area below chamber harder causing more damage the the bullet. I know guns dont cycle properly if you try to ease the handle forward, the handle was pulled back all the way and released.

I does sort of look like in the picture that it would clear but the bullet tip is actually running right into the bottom of the chamber, preticularly bad if its feeding from the right. From the left sometimes it does chamber the round but you can tell the bullet hit the edge as it deforms the tip quite a bit, most of the time it just jams.

 

[KNO3-]

Weak magazine. Magazine spring in wrong.

Mag spring is strong and pushing them tight against the feed lips. It does this with one round or all 5 loaded.

Edit: actually it loaded 1 round perfectly, only if it has 2-5 rounds does it jam. Where theres 1 round in there the bullet points more toward the chamber and exits the mag higher. The reason is when there is only one round its following the part on the follower, when there is another round in there its pressed against the feedlips harder so the round is more off the the side.

 

[KNO3-]

Mine bumps every bullet tip on the way in. I've gone through several forums and the consensus is that you have to treat the gun like a Russian would. Get rid of all of the Cosmo and lube, even if you need a q-tip and varsol. Your gun should be dry, no lube. Anywhere.

Get a 12ga brass brush and scrape the chamber down for a while, you might have burned Cosmo on the inside absorbing energy from the gas piston. When you reassemble the bolt, a very light coating of Hoppes #9 on the sliders only.

Turn the gas valve up, the bolt should hit the stop (yeah, yeah it's bad practice, but it's the only way to be sure the bolt has enough energy from the spring). Make sure the gas shutoff below the regulator is fully open and the port of the regulator is lined up with the barrel gas tapping.

When you put the magazine in, don't be delicate. You need to be seriously. pissed. off. at those Nazis.

If all that fails, grab a pair of needle-nose pliers and bend the ends of the magazine flanges up just a hair to allow the cartrages to sit slightly nose high in the mag.

Thanks but im pretty sure these things require lub as Stevo said, also they were issued with a little oil can if thats a clue.

As for the cosmo, burning, etc...this has never been fired, the cycling issue is happing by hand.

The mag clicks into place nicley without having to force it and the feedlips sit nicely in the reciever.

 

[Beater]

I fought with one with the same prob. thought first off the mag spring, in wrong or not strong enough. took it apart and stretched it a bit, only made the problem worse. all in all and long story shot, it is the mag not fitting the rifle properly in my case. I swaped out the mag and was all good. that being said mags are expensive and hard to come by. I had a case of SVTs and that mag wouldn't work in any of them. I think that with a lil experimentation I could have added some to the bottom of the mag locking tab at the front to raise it up some, and it would have worked. if you know anyone close you can try a mag from a diff gun , that's what I would do first.

 

[cathaldj]

Can't remember off hand where I saw the advice about starting the rebuild with a dry gun, but it would make sense to me getting all the cosmo off and out of the gun first, then oiling it where it counts. Mine simply won't run properly without keeping it as dry as possible in the cold.

 

[KNO3-]

Can't remember off hand where I saw the advice about starting the rebuild with a dry gun, but it would make sense to me getting all the cosmo off and out of the gun first, then oiling it where it counts. Mine simply won't run properly without keeping it as dry as possible in the cold.

It actually looks far worse in the pictures, you can barely see the cosmo with your eyes...for some reason the camera flash really made it show up. Im with you, i thought about cleaning it but the problem seems so obvious that i cant see cleaning it making any difference. Im going to see if i can try another mag.

Anyone in Surrey BC have a SVT40 mag(s) that i could try?

 

[mr.664]

I machined a feeding ramp into mine, never had a jam after that

 

[KNO3-]

I machined a feeding ramp into mine, never had a jam after that

Yeah it seemed to me looking at it that would be the solution. When you say you machined it into yours do you mean you machined a piece and put it in there? On mine there is no material to machine, unless i machined the barrel itself/lower portion of the chamber.

Im hesitant to do that since if i did then there would be a portion of the casing that wouldn’t be supported by the chamber since a small portion of the chamber on the bottom would be machined on an angle to feed the round.

If you could post a picture of what you did that would be awesome.

I made a paint drawing for the two ideas i came up with to solve the problem, i would actually prefer to mod the magazine and leave the rifle as is. On the magazine since the cartridges sit quite far back i could weld in a metal piece that extended up past the top a bit and provide a feeding ramp. Its exaggerated in the picture but i probably would only need 3/16" thick and maybe 1/8" higher then the top of the mag to solve the problem. Only thing is the bolt might hit this as i think it gets pretty close to the top of the mag, i may not have any room there at all which only leaves me with the other method...

I could think of is to machine a ramp into the chamber as seen on the right but i would rather not do this.

Or i guess i could talk to a gunsmith and just have it done professionally. Also you will notice i have pinned the mag at 5 rounds...i read a recent story on here about someone getting kicked out of school for a gun shaped pop-tart so maybe you can get in trouble for a paint drawing of an unpinned mag.

 

[gewehr76]

I would suggest shooting the rifle first. Have you done that?
If you going to modify the mag with the ramp, your rounds will not chamber. with bolt's quick action and the way the 54R cartridge is shaped the nose of the round will not be aimed in to the chamber, but above it. This will cause stovepiping. Also lips of the mag will not hold the cartridge for duration of bolt cycle and proper feeding in to the chamber.
As it was suggested earlier, try to get your hands on another mag or just polish the feed lips of the mag and try shooting the rifle.

 

[mk3]

Actually trying to help, not being a smart ass, but the 54R is rimmed, and if you don't put them into the mag properly with the rims in a staggered manner it could cause feed issues. Good luck, they are so much fun when they run!

 

[Kiese18]

I was having similar issues with mine feeding the first round, intermittently and only after reloading and attempting to close the bolt.

 

[KNO3-]

Actually trying to help, not being a smart ass, but the 54R is rimmed, and if you don't put them into the mag properly with the rims in a staggered manner it could cause feed issues. Good luck, they are so much fun when they run!

Not smart ass at all...i noticed this when i got the ammo even before the gun and was currious how that would work. I did make sure they were staggered like that, the way the mag is shapped assists in this almost. I wish it was a stupid mistake like that.

I would suggest shooting the rifle first. Have you done that?
If you going to modify the mag with the ramp, your rounds will not chamber. with bolt's quick action and the way the 54R cartridge is shaped the nose of the round will not be aimed in to the chamber, but above it. This will cause stovepiping. Also lips of the mag will not hold the cartridge for duration of bolt cycle and proper feeding in to the chamber.
As it was suggested earlier, try to get your hands on another mag or just polish the feed lips of the mag and try shooting the rifle.

Yeah i figured as much, looking closer at the way the mag works in the rifle modding the mag will not work. And no i havent shot the rifle yet, figured it wasnt worth driving out if it was doing that at home. (yes im using dummy rounds) The only round that loads properly is the last round because there isnt another cartridge pushing against it so the nose of it can lift up enough to enter the chamber. All 4 other cartridges jam...and thats from releasing the bolt from all the way back.

Now if the round was coming from the left of the mag sometimes it would load the round but the tip of the bullet was seriously damaged from it bouncing off the edge of the chamber. Im thinking even if it does fire and cycle it shouldnt be damaging the bullets on the way in.

I was having similar issues with mine feeding the first round, intermittently and only after reloading and attempting to close the bolt.

Hmm, sounds like i have a worse case of that... what about if you cycle all the rounds through by hand? Im not alble to cycle a single round except for the last one.


Thanks for all the help...im going to see if i can try a few different mags and if that doesnt work ill probalby take it to a gunsmith.

 

[TheSteamingPile]

try polishing the inside of the mag lips. very lightly mind you.