SVT 40 bore conditions from Cosmoline?

Lebel

Lebel

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I had an SVT-40 once that came straight form the cosmoline. When I cleaned it from the bore it was pristine as I would expect. I was at a gun show recently where I seen several SVT-40's, some still in cosmoline and some cleaned out. Most of the de-greased ones had horribly corroded bores, I assume it was that they weren't properly cleaned form the last owner, (not the Russian solder form WW2, smartasses) after using corrosive primed ammo. I spoke to one dealer who said that not all of them have good bores right out of the grease. I'm just curious, have some people bought some of the "arsenal re-ferds" cleaned the grease out only to find a parts-gun-grade bore? :confused:
 
My barrel is pitted yet still has strong rifling and remains accurate enough. Shooting light ball surplus, I get 4" groups at 100 yards which as I understand is typical. Even though some of these were issued as snipers, don't expect yours to be.
 
Lebel said:
I had an SVT-40 once that came straight form the cosmoline. When I cleaned it from the bore it was pristine as I would expect. I was at a gun show recently where I seen several SVT-40's, some still in cosmoline and some cleaned out. Most of the de-greased ones had horribly corroded bores, I assume it was that they weren't properly cleaned form the last owner, (not the Russian solder form WW2, smartasses) after using corrosive primed ammo. I spoke to one dealer who said that not all of them have good bores right out of the grease. I'm just curious, have some people bought some of the "arsenal re-ferds" cleaned the grease out only to find a parts-gun-grade bore? :confused:
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I would think that most all the " arsenal refurbs " would have very good to excellent bores since they had been "refurbed " and checked over before being put into long term storage ; but not all Red Rifles being imported into Canada are refurbed , many are just used military surplus that were never checked over or refurbed , and were just bunkered away after use , and are now outdated and surplus to the countrys of orgin military needs...
 
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WWII wore out a lot of the bores. You see the same in Mosin Nagants as well. Since they stopped manufacturing the SVT in 1945, I would assume that any bores that were still 'shootable' were put back into war stores. Any utterly unusable ones had the actions stripped and were used for spare parts. I have three SVT's, all still in the cosmo when I got them, all in varying stages of 'dark bore'. They still seem to shoot OK with strong rifling. One Mosin I own with a moderately pitted bore is an excellent shooter, I don't consider them a write off until the rifling starts to wash out or the pits get fairly large.

And remember, 'in Soviet Russia, rifle wears out you!'
 
The Russian what?
Most milsurps came from European dealers who would do anything but refurbish 'em. Costs too much in time and money. The rifles are sold 'as is, where is' usually. Just because a rifle came in a crate doesn't mean it's a Russian crate. And Ivan didn't use cosmoline. Just some kind of cheap grease.
 
Stuff that came out of the SVT I bought yesterday was more like cosmoline diluted with oil. I've never seen packing grease so thin. Luckily the rifle is in good shape and is ready for a hard life. ��
 
The bore, gas block, receiver, bolt carrier and bolt on the one I bought myself for Xmas were all great, the stock as well. Everything you could see had a decent coating of cosmo/commie goo...

HOWEVER...

When I stripped it down to start cleaning it up, the internals of the trigger pack were notsomuch coated. Took a while to get everything freed up and working properly.

I think a lot of it depends on how far into the vodka Ivan was in when he got around to dipping and packing the particular rifle you ended up getting. Millions of long guns, pistols, sub-machine guns, etc. were getting packed up "for future use" at the end of the war, and I would be more surprised by ultra efficient, 100% quality control, than I would be to see some duds working their way through, poorly preserved and packed, rushed in at the end of the month so that some Commisar could nod and smile and say he made the quota for the month and keep the vodka and perks flowing.

And no, that really isn't a dig against Russia or Russians... You see the same things happening in every massive government, bureaucratically driven operation. It's a universal truth that transcends all political systems and societies.
 
What "refurbished" means varies with the type or firearm, at least in my experience.

SVTs seem to have been refurbished and stored if they had just "some" useable life. Almost all have dark bores, worn rifling and chambers with some evidence of gas erosion. I've looked at quite a few and it is very rare to find an SVT bore that is better than an "average" M91/30. These were front line weapons in WW2 so most would have seen action.

M91/30s that are available now have probably been gone through several times where the best were kept and the more worn ones are discarded. Generally these seem to have 'plenty" of useable life remaining. I am guessing that most of the pre-war ones you find now spent the war leaning against the door in some outpost the far east. They were refurbished and immediately stored (stocks are almost pristine)

The M44s recently for sale from Collectors source ($199) are very unusual. They have been refurbished (remarked butt plates, floor plates) but then re-issued and used for a period of time before being haphazardly stored. Unlike the other refurbished firearms, these have stocks that show considerable wear and damage with no attempt to make repairs prior to storage. The bolts are refurbished (ground and re-stamped) but then mismatched during storage. The receivers are heavily worn but some the bores are the best of any of the Mosins I have seen.

It is very rare to encounter a refurbished SKS with anything other than a bright bore and sharp rifling (even the pre-chrome ones).

Does this match what others have observed?
 
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mine is in good condition and currently repacked in grease and in storage as I don't shoot it much anymore the bore was ok and shoots well. btw just because these were snipers dose not mean they shoot one hole groups the upper body is a decent size target and that's all they are meant to hit
 
but still no reason to pay top dollar for a rotted out bore, whether it shoots fine or not.

antiqueguy said:
mine is in good condition and currently repacked in grease and in storage as I don't shoot it much anymore the bore was ok and shoots well. btw just because these were snipers dose not mean they shoot one hole groups the upper body is a decent size target and that's all they are meant to hit
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I would have though “refurbished” meant replacing the rotted out pitted barrel with a new one than placing in storage. I bought an SVT for Marstar in the cosmo but when I put the cleaning rod down the bore I got cosmo mixed with rust; back she goes! I think its 30/70 that you get the bore you would expet form the words factory refurbish and in packing grease. The top dollar valaues of 300+ should only go to the good bores, the rest a parts grade sh*t!
 
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