Are all grooved reciever SVT40's actually snipers?

[Tudenom]

I might have a line on one of these rifles and want to make sure I know what to look for before I walk in the room. Just because it has a groove for a scope mount does it mean that the rifle is a "sniper rifle"? Were a whole bunch of grooved recievers made then the best converted to sniper usage?

 

[Stevo]

From the mosinnagant.net SVT section:

It was decided that the SVT-40 would be used as the Red Armies sniper rifle in April of 1940, replacing the Model 1891/30 PE Mosin Nagant and therefore the production of the bolt action Mosin was halted. All SVT-38's and SVT-40's had the optical sight mounting rails on the sides of the receiver until late 1942. Some SVT-40's have been observed without these rails most of which were Ishevsk production of 1941 dated guns as well as some Tula produced weapons in 1940-41. These non railed rifles of early production are very few in number and are a prime collectors item for the Tokarev fan. Rails ceased to be milled into the receivers of the SVT-40 in October of 1942, and the Tokarev was removed from production as a sniper rifle at this time; however, the SVT was used until the end of the war as a sniper rifle. Production of the SVT-40 snipers were approximately 7,000 in 1940, 34,710 in 1941, and 14,200 in its final year of service as the Red Army's primary sniper rifle in 1942.

I've seen this in my own SVT-40:

The SVT-40 was a competent sniper rifle but was plagued by problems with first shot inaccuracy. It was found in testing that a 10 to 15 cm discrepancy was evident in patterns fired at 100 meters. The "flyer" consistently being the first shot. It was determined that the barrel shifted longitudinally along with the receiver. Further stock work did not alleviate the problem. It was also determined that the scope mount needed to be attached more securely to the ifle. These problems were too severe to continue production until solutions could be found.

I couldn't find anything regarding the selection process for the rifles to be "sniperized".

 

[Tudenom]

I found this on The Russian Mosin Nagant Page:

http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/soviet_sniper_article.htm

Three years later in 1940 the 1891/30 7.62 mm sniper rifle was replaced by the new 7.62 mm self-loading sniper rifle that used the Tokarev (SVT) system. This differed from the basic SVT-40 standard model by not only having a new general-purpose 3.5 magnitude PU telescopic sight (the universal sight), but also by its precision made bore that enhanced its accuracy.

I'm guessing that there were special purpose built SVT-40's for sniping, but any goof with a regular rifle and a PU scope and SVT mount could put the two together and call it a sniper. I wonder if there's some kind of marking somewhere to know for sure?

 

[JP]

Only a few were modified as snipers compared to the numbers with machined rails, these have special markings on them. Many fakes have been made over the years (Sarco has been selling repro mounts for years), right now reproductions are being made in Germany using reproduction mounts and scopes (WW2 markings are being reproduced on the scopes).

 

[Snow Dog]

The best way to tell if the rifle was ever fielded as a sniper is to look for a small U-shaped cut-out in the rear of the receiver, just above the trigger release flap. This cut, along with the side rails, were for the scope mount. The rails by themselves are common but without the small-cut out don't mean much. The mount would slide into the receiver rails and be held in place by a set screw that bottomed out in the cut-out notch.

There are reproduction mounts and scopes available that do not use the notch. They are expensive and will cost you more than you paid for the rifle itself. http://www.sarcoinc.com/feat47.html

 

[JP]

P.S. The cuts (by the way there are three different types) must be accompagnied with the appropriate markings otherwise they could have been made last week with a milling machine.

 

[Tudenom]

Is there anywhere on-line that has a photo of SVT-40 Sniper markings?

 

[carbonrod]

No. Not all svts with rails were snipers.

A few other ways that one can spot a fake are the trigger, the finish and style of the mount(have not seen a fake get both of these right) and possibly the markings on the scope. The fit of the mount to the rifle is also a good indicator.

I have only ever seen 5 authentic SVT snipers up close, and only shot 2, but I have seen many fakes. Sadly, I learned the hard way and bought a fake from a dealer who I have seen somewhat recently attempting to sell reproduction mauser snipers as authentic . I would pay a pretty penny for an authentic SVT sniper.

If you want to PM, email (carbonrod_78Athotmail.com) or post some pics of the scope mount and the rifle without the mount on, I'd be glad to help as best as I can.