Rear tab is stuck on the SVT40

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Ioncannon

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I just finished a day at the range and got to try out my new SVT40 (it's sooooo fun to shoot!). Did a quick clean at the range, just wiped with Windex and a bit of solvent to clean out the salts and also down the barrel.

Anyway, 1h ago I did a more thorough clean when I got home. Reassembled the whole gun, and now I have a problem. The rear tab that swings open to allow a cleaning rod through, or to release the trigger group is stuck open. I can't seem to swing it closed, no matter how much I press down or move it back and forth. Any way to fix it?

PS: Holy crap does corrosive ammo start fast. Looked in the gas piston and a layer of orange already appeared in 2h! Shouldn't be a problem now though, flushed it with Windex + solvent + oil on the outside so it moves smoothly. Now it's nice and shiny.
 
Ioncannon said:
PS: Holy crap does corrosive ammo start fast. Looked in the gas piston and a layer of orange already appeared in 2h! Shouldn't be a problem now though, flushed it with Windex + solvent + oil on the outside so it moves smoothly. Now it's nice and shiny.
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Holy crap, what kind of ammo are you using (Czech, Soviet?), and where do you live? Mine was pretty dirty after about 2 hours and no rust, but then again I ran a couple of non corrosive rounds through it at the end.
 
.30/06 FTW said:
Holy crap, what kind of ammo are you using (Czech, Soviet?), and where do you live? Mine was pretty dirty after about 2 hours and no rust, but then again I ran a couple of non corrosive rounds through it at the end.
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Czech surplus, and I am in Mississauga, but went to the Silverdale range near St. Cathrine's. Was a bit humid today, so maybe that is why?
 
Ioncannon said:
Czech surplus, and I am in Mississauga, but went to the Silverdale range near St. Cathrine's. Was a bit humid today, so maybe that is why?
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Yup. Try shooting some non corrosive x54R afterwords. It'll blow some of the corrosive salts out and won't rust as quick. I left my SKS for a day and a half and it was fine after shooting only 5 rounds of MFS.
 
.30/06 FTW said:
Yup. Try shooting some non corrosive x54R afterwords. It'll blow some of the corrosive salts out and won't rust as quick. I left my SKS for a day and a half and it was fine after shooting only 5 rounds of MFS.
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Interesting, will have to find some non-corrosive 7.62x54R (kinda hard.... only brand I know is Tulammo).

Also your sig about spraying from the hip is hilarious lol!
 
Dried cosmoline looks a lot like rust, it's probably dried cosmoline that got cooked out of your gun while firing, I've seen an SVT left for a month after shooting corrosive ammo and it had no pitting or rust.

Non-Corrosive is available anywhere from $13 for 20 (MFS) to $25 for 20 (S&B). If this was your first time shooting it, it was probably just dried cosmoline (that stuff's a ##### to get fully rid of), no way rust sets in in 2 hours unless you're keeping the thing in a steam chamber.

Also, yeah, if you take the trigger guard out make sure it's back in properly, it can be a pain.
 
Im glad the rubber mallot worked for you. Didnt for me. I had to put the rubber grips on the vice, and put her back that way. What a pain.

Some other non corrosive ammo:
PPU - brass cased for reloading!!! Save the brass, you can sell it afterwards if you dont reload yourself.
LVE - from westrifle, pretty good round, and cheap to boot
MFS - good round as well. Very common to find these at gun shows, gun shops and the like. The contrasting zinc plated casing looks perty. If you get it cheap enough ($0.50c/rnd) its worth it, but at 0.75+ might as well get PPU and sell the brass)
Tulammo - Never used these, but heard good things
Sellier and Bellot - your more expensive factory ammo clad with brass

Note only sellier and PPu have lead core/copper jacket. All others have steel in the bullet.
 
The guys on here exaggerate how much damage corrosive ammo will do. I leave my sks's and svt's for weeks after shooting corrosive without cleaning them. Yeah will get some surface rust on them but it scrubs off next time you clean it. When I got my two svt's they were both blackened and pitted on the barrel and internals. They have obviously seen far more abuse then I'm going to put them through by not cleaning them for a few days, and they still run and shoot fine. Guns aren't delicate flowers... they're metal tools... at least mine are. Who cares if the bore isn't shiny.
 
CousinTony said:
The guys on here exaggerate how much damage corrosive ammo will do. I leave my sks's and svt's for weeks after shooting corrosive without cleaning them. Yeah will get some surface rust on them but it scrubs off next time you clean it. When I got my two svt's they were both blackened and pitted on the barrel and internals. They have obviously seen far more abuse then I'm going to put them through by not cleaning them for a few days, and they still run and shoot fine. Guns aren't delicate flowers... they're metal tools... at least mine are. Who cares if the bore isn't shiny.
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Huh, so it probably was dried cosmoline then or nothing damaging. Still, don't want to take chances.
 
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