SVT-40 magazine mods

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So as I'm having trouble finding any extra magazines for the SVT-40 (and seriously considering ordering from the states and going over/pinning and bringing back some), I was wondering if anyone knows what parts need to be custom fit on these mags?

Mine has last-round-hold-open and feeding issues. The feeding issues I think are related to the angle of the mag (but also could be solved with minor filing/polishing), but the piece of the follower that is supposed to push up on the tab that holds the bolt open simply seems too low.

If I was to weld/file parts on this, what parts need material added/removed? I think the two lock pieces on the back of the mag should have more meat on the bottom (there is a fair bit of movement in the magwell), which I think would bring the follower piece up higher too, but wondering if just adding a bit of material to the follower might do the trick.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? :)
 
I'm keeping an eye on this thread in order to learn the answers to your questions. I want a couple of SVT mags, especially a short 5 round mag
which I understand might be available. Hopefully people will start chiming in with real information.
 
SVT mags are hard to find and expensive if you do find one. The aftermarket mags are not made to spec and have feed issues.

Speculation is that they were made from a copy of a drill purpose mag that was never made to function properly.

I too am looking for a replacement mag at a reasonable price as I have 2 SVT-40s and only one mag.
 
I'm having a bit of luck at the moment by working on the mag I have. I'm running the vid camera while I do it, so if it works I'll share.

I understand the aftermarkets have to be custom fitted anyway, so best I cut my teeth on this one, although if I screw it up I'll be trying to make the questionable archangel mosin ones fit lol.
 
Nothing on hand at the moment. We have 2 to 5 broken unsuccessfully modded repro mags if any one wants them for experimenting $8 each plus shipping. We can add them to the website on Monday
 
i have a problem with my mag holding open on the last round. the issue with my mag is the tab on the front. the mag sits too far forward, so the tab on the back that engages the bolt hold open slides right past it.

i cut a piece of metal and put it in between the receiver and the front of the mag. well problem solved....just not fixed.

try it with yours before you mess with it too much. mags are pricey.
 
223762 said:
i have a problem with my mag holding open on the last round. the issue with my mag is the tab on the front. the mag sits too far forward, so the tab on the back that engages the bolt hold open slides right past it.

i cut a piece of metal and put it in between the receiver and the front of the mag. well problem solved....just not fixed.

try it with yours before you mess with it too much. mags are pricey.
Click to expand...

I did more or less the same thing this evening, but with the follower. The one I have has two tabs spot welded onto the bottom of the follower to limit cap. I bent the front one a bit, filed the bottom of the bolt square (it was rounded a bit), and hammered out the rear tab on the follower as best as I could. As of right now it's holding open and feeding rounds. I need to put 40 rounds through it to see if it holds up. I did get it recorded, just trying to piece it together now.
 
Last time I saw a magazine it was close to $100. Don't know if that's higher than what they normally sell for.

Seems the story I heard, was a lot of these magazines came over, years ago, but none of the guns really did. Since none of the guns came over until relatively recently (so I have been told) no one had any supplies of these magazines on hand. Just what I heard...
 
I picked up a repo mag off the EE for 40$ shipped a couple months back, They are around you just gotta be patient.

Seller was honest and said it didn't work 100% on his SVT... I must of put over 200 rounds thru it now and havent had a single issue. ( Knock on wood )

Best way to get original mags is to buy a cheap SVT and part it out... :)
 
woodchopper said:
SVT mags are hard to find and expensive if you do find one. The aftermarket mags are not made to spec and have feed issues.

Speculation is that they were made from a copy of a drill purpose mag that was never made to function properly.

I too am looking for a replacement mag at a reasonable price as I have 2 SVT-40s and only one mag.
Click to expand...

I picked up a pair of the repros a year and a half ago, it took a while to get them to work right. There were two main issues (with the ones I got, and your mileage will almost certainly vary).

Problem #1: The tab on the back of the magazine that the magazine catch clicks onto to hold the mag in the well was too long (enxtended maybe 1/8th of an inch too low). This was fairly easy to fix with a dremel. I just ground off a littl bit at a time until it seated firmly and the magazine catch clicked into place.

Problem #2: This was WAY more of a pain to sort out. The magazine feed lips were bent over too far. This held the top round too low to get picked up by the bolt as it travelled forward. It took some very careful bending to get the magazine to open up enough that the top round would get picked up by the bolt, but not open so much that they no longer held the rounds in place. This sounds simple, but it really wasn't. It was a lot of fiddling in the garage with dummy rounds to test, and a few trips to the range firing live rounds (because when things start cycling with the speed and force that they do when you fire live rounds, it behaves differently than when you're just racking the bolt manually), with adjustments between range trips, before I finally got it right.

Both of the repro mags now work fine in my SVT-40. I wouldn't bet a nickle on whether they would work on anyone else's.
 
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