SVT-40 sniper, adjusting reproduction mount.

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derr12

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Hey guys, got out to function test and sight in my svt-40 sniper and reproduction scope and mount i nabbed on sale from things militaria.

The mount is off center by about 3 scope notches. Is there a method of massaging the mount so I can get it close to zero?

It's a soviet, so i assume it involves a hammer and/or sickle.
 
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Judging form the lack of tips, im guessing about the best way to go would be to just deal with the off-centered reticle or get myself one of the reproduction scopes that moves the whole sight picture instead just the reticle.
 
wouldnt that just bend the mount finger just a tad? it seems like all the beef of this mount is at the rear. i suppose i could try it and see if it changes the poi with my laser boresighter. It could work if there is a bit of slop on one sire or the other... dunno tho, it seems pretty tight already.

I wonder if there is a way to shim the scope so it sits left or right in the mount there. it's a hinged clamshell design... Ill see if i can play with it a bit tonight when the kids are asleep and report back. I cant be the only guy who's had this issue.
 
Apart from bending the mount to get it to line up correctly, which I don't recommend, the best bet is just to use the dials to zero it. I zeroed mine and just left the dials wherever they ended up, but you can unscrew the dials and set them to zero after you get the scope lined up. There's a couple videos on youtube that show you how to do that, it's he same as for the mosin scopes.
 
bending hey? can i jsut grab it while its on the rifle and hulk that bad boy over till it's centered or do i gotta put it in a vice and whack the bugger?
 
I would mount it on the rifle and find a pipe or hardwood dowel the same diameter as the scope but longer in length in order to get some leverage as you adjust the alignment, with it mounted in the rings carefully adjust it in the direction needed. You want to bend the mount but keep the two rings in line with each other.
 
On my replica sniper the mount was so poorly collimated with the bore that when zeroed the post was at the extreme edge of the field of view. I discovered this at the range and made it better by putting a large crescent wrench to work. Crude but it moved the post into a more useful position in the field of view. When I got it home I improved it further by filing the side of the mount (the groove) in which direction I wanted the post to move. The key is to keep the legs tightly clamping on the receiver by bending them together a bit and file away. I've been informed on "Gunboards" that this was how it was done in the field by armorers. Final comment is that my repro mounts all gave good collimation on actual original sniper rifles (4 of them) but could be way off on non sniper rifles that have the side rails. In '41, at least, the sniper rifles were assembled separately from the regular rifles with barrels selected to give decent alignment to the receiver. So if you have a problem try the filing approach on the mount first and only bend it as a last resort.

milsurpo
 
I discovered that the zero wanders a tad if you grab the mount and move it from side to side. enough where i figured it was due to too much slop. so i added a couple brass shims to the back of the notch to hold the pin a bit farther forward. seems to have reduced the slop a lot (its not totally gone) and it got me closer to 1.5 notches from perfect zero which is close enough.

I guess that's what they were talking about when they said these guns can loose zero after a bump?
 
derr12 said:
I discovered that the zero wanders a tad if you grab the mount and move it from side to side. enough where i figured it was due to too much slop. so i added a couple brass shims to the back of the notch to hold the pin a bit farther forward. seems to have reduced the slop a lot (its not totally gone) and it got me closer to 1.5 notches from perfect zero which is close enough.

I guess that's what they were talking about when they said these guns can loose zero after a bump?
Click to expand...

Heh I knew shims were the answer :) I've personally noticed on the Svts that I've owned and the ones my buddies have that poor bedding seems to be the big thing given there are no screws to set proper torque with so losing zero from a bump could have something to do with that as well.
 
Do I understand correctly that you are trying to adjust the cross hairs? If so; I read in "The Official Soviet Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle Manual" That this is done by adjusting the windage and range knobs to the correct location (sight in like normal scope), then loosen the screws on the turrets and turn the metal collars (not sure the name, the parts with the numbers on them!) until they are at zero. This is all based on the mosin nagant PU scope, but I think the SVT is similar? I could scan a picture to clarify if i'm not making any sense. You can also grab that book off Amazon for $30.
 
Yeah that's all good till your crosshairs are 2/3rds to the left or right of the sight picture. After shimming it's still close enough to center whew that approach isn't going to be annoying.
 
kaskirov said:
Do I understand correctly that you are trying to adjust the cross hairs? If so; I read in "The Official Soviet Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle Manual" That this is done by adjusting the windage and range knobs to the correct location (sight in like normal scope), then loosen the screws on the turrets and turn the metal collars (not sure the name, the parts with the numbers on them!) until they are at zero. This is all based on the mosin nagant PU scope, but I think the SVT is similar? I could scan a picture to clarify if i'm not making any sense. You can also grab that book off Amazon for $30.
Click to expand...

Yes, the problem is (with some rifles) that when you zero the scope the cross-hair is significantly moved out of the sweet spot of the field of view. These are different from modern scopes- the optical axis of the mount has to be quite close to aligned with the bore to have a satisfactory situation. Once you have it within a MOA or two then you use the mechanical adjustment of the scope to finish the job. Same situation with the LE No. 4 T- the axis of the bracket has to be nearly aligned with the bore.

milsurpo
 
I'm surprised Horilka hasn't commented yet ;)

One thing to remember - please use a shim or spacer under and at the back of the scope notch where the mount holds on, if not, you will damage the original sniper notch.
 
derr12 said:
Hey guys, got out to function test and sight in my svt-40 sniper and reproduction scope and mount i nabbed on sale from things militaria.

The mount is off center by about 3 scope notches. Is there a method of massaging the mount so I can get it close to zero?

It's a soviet, so i assume it involves a hammer and/or sickle.
Click to expand...

How much was it? I would like to get one too. Do you need a notch cut on the dust cover,
 
If my all metal mounts are slightly off I use my old amature blacksmithing skills and reshape it. I use generally a combination of Anvil/hammer/vice with a propane torch to heat the metal slightly to be able to reshape. Then check with levels etc. Sometimes requires rebluing of metal depending on original coating.


My SVT40 holds zero with no sniper notch with the scope and mount I bought from Westrifle. I have not removed the mount for full breakdown cleaning yet. Will see how this holds when I take off and put it back on.
 
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