I picked up this SVT months ago and received advice from other CGN SVT aficionados before purchase. I finally just got it home to photograph.
First thing that struck me was the color of the stock...could it possibly be an SA capture? After the rifle was handed to me, I realized the bolt was plum coloured...darn...just another Russian refurb. But wait...this rifle was a refurb but it was different than any of the recent imports.
1. The stock retains the natural arctic birch colouring, not dark shellac. The serial number on the left butt stock is stamped in a different direction than all other refurbs I've seen. The stock is also an AVT stock and dated Tula 1943 - the same year as the receiver. After removing the hand guard, the channel is stamped/serialized and matching the receiver (not seen on any other refurbs I've examined).
2. All metal parts that are maker marked are marked Tula. All metal parts are bright blued vs dark dip blueing. The bolt handle is electro penciled but was marked on the underside of the bolt handle and done before plum blueing. The bottom of the bolt mechanism was also electro penciled, but done before the plum blueing. Again, not typical of any other refurb. The trigger guard is also stamped vs electro penciled and matches the receiver, the font is even the same. The safety lever does not have the drilled hole to lighten the rifle (these solid safety's are generally only seen on SVT38's and AVT rifles). The muzzle break is also the larger 4x break. Some references state that this was a cost savings strategy, while other resources state that this break was desined for AVT rifles and that left over parts were used on SVT rifles (similar to AVT marked stocks). The gas system is not electro penciled to match as seen on the vast majority of refurbs. The magazine is also not electro penciled and internally pinned. The receiver is marked Tula 1943, AVT's were only made in late 1942-early 1943 or only during 1943 depending on the reference.
3. To top off the rifle, it came with the longer/proper SVT sling but not the other standard recent refurb extras.
The purchase was made at a small gun store and I was charged a hefty $450. The result is an SVT40 that looks remarkably close to and AVT40. This is the closest I could come to owning a real AVT as almost all parts are correct for such a rifle (minus full auto parts). The other nice things is that there is only one refurb mark on the receiver and other than the plum bolt, there is very little to show that this is a refurb SVT.
First thing that struck me was the color of the stock...could it possibly be an SA capture? After the rifle was handed to me, I realized the bolt was plum coloured...darn...just another Russian refurb. But wait...this rifle was a refurb but it was different than any of the recent imports.
1. The stock retains the natural arctic birch colouring, not dark shellac. The serial number on the left butt stock is stamped in a different direction than all other refurbs I've seen. The stock is also an AVT stock and dated Tula 1943 - the same year as the receiver. After removing the hand guard, the channel is stamped/serialized and matching the receiver (not seen on any other refurbs I've examined).
2. All metal parts that are maker marked are marked Tula. All metal parts are bright blued vs dark dip blueing. The bolt handle is electro penciled but was marked on the underside of the bolt handle and done before plum blueing. The bottom of the bolt mechanism was also electro penciled, but done before the plum blueing. Again, not typical of any other refurb. The trigger guard is also stamped vs electro penciled and matches the receiver, the font is even the same. The safety lever does not have the drilled hole to lighten the rifle (these solid safety's are generally only seen on SVT38's and AVT rifles). The muzzle break is also the larger 4x break. Some references state that this was a cost savings strategy, while other resources state that this break was desined for AVT rifles and that left over parts were used on SVT rifles (similar to AVT marked stocks). The gas system is not electro penciled to match as seen on the vast majority of refurbs. The magazine is also not electro penciled and internally pinned. The receiver is marked Tula 1943, AVT's were only made in late 1942-early 1943 or only during 1943 depending on the reference.
3. To top off the rifle, it came with the longer/proper SVT sling but not the other standard recent refurb extras.
The purchase was made at a small gun store and I was charged a hefty $450. The result is an SVT40 that looks remarkably close to and AVT40. This is the closest I could come to owning a real AVT as almost all parts are correct for such a rifle (minus full auto parts). The other nice things is that there is only one refurb mark on the receiver and other than the plum bolt, there is very little to show that this is a refurb SVT.
