SVT-40 sniper list

fenceline said:
Same 1941 Tula... ЖБ 5004

IMG-20130902-00828_zps435e9813.jpg


Not sure what the "DE 11UE" means...

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DE 11 UE is an export stamp, if i am right, its a U.N rule regarding exporting military firearm.
Joce
 
Well, I went into town this morning to get a coffee for myself and some supplies for the farm...

So, after stopping in at Good 'ol Tim Hortons, I made my way to Canadian Tire to pick up supplies... and what is a trip to Canadian Tire now without checking out the firearms selection!? ;)

They have more and more varied stock every time I go in there. There were the usual Hunting rifles/Shotguns, as well as a new batch of SVT40's, SKS's, Mosin's, M31 Suomi's, VZ-58's, and now, instead of the usual 1 or 2 Tavors... they had 11.... yes, ELEVEN!! 10 black, 1 FDE!

....and...... hanging just above the Israeli Tavors, guess what I found??!!



Yes kids, that's right... a TNW MG34!! It is of course a new made TNW receiver, but the main original maker of this one was s/243 (Mauser Werke AG, Borsigwalde) from 1940. Now, if I didn't already have one, it would be tempting... still... a TNW MG34 at Canadian Tire... What a brave new world!

PS: Price tag was just shy of $4800. And no, they do not ship or do Layaway....

But I digress...

The real reason for this post is, of course, (after I fawned over the new toys), to tell you what I found after this.... So, I made my way down to the SVT40's. And yes, ladies and gentlemen, I found another Sniper! :D

Actually, none of the ones in the display cabinet were very interesting, all standard 1940-41 Tula Infantry Rifles, but the nice young man who was helping me mentioned they had another crate in the back... well..... I mentioned I was looking for certain dates, makers, and variations... and he asked if I was looking for one with a notch in the back!!?!? I said... "YESSS!!!" :evil:

So, he went and picked out the nice 1942 Tula Sniper that was sitting all lonely like in the back of the warehouse!!

It is sporting a nice 1944 dated AVT "naval" (late war) stock, early sling swivel, later style 2/4 Port Muzzle Brake, etc.

PS: Ratnik. Does this one fit into the correct serial range for a factory made Tula Sniper? The notch and markings look correct.













Please mind the grease slathered all over the rifle. Will get it cleaned up later.
 
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Congratulations with nice find, Darryl!
Yes, НБ is 1942 sniper prefix, and it have close serial number to known sniper rifles. Next known serila number was taken from prooving ground report (NIPSVO) in 1942.
Interesting, that your rifle is second known to me that have C proofmark near rails. Second one is next HB prefix
 
@DF. You really lucked out on that. Any chance there were 2 in the back room? How is the bore condition?
 
SteelCap said:
@DF. You really lucked out on that. Any chance there were 2 in the back room? How is the bore condition?
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There are no snipers left out of this crate.

I picked a sniper each out of the 2 crates they had. There was a third sniper, but it was a field conversion... So I left it for another cat to buy. It's already gone too.
 
Ratnik said:
If finish inside the notch is not different from finish at other parts, most possibly it is field made
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So what does a field made really mean? I am assuming the rifle was found to meet the sniper requirement in battle? So it was notched and provided with mount and scope?
 
Locos said:
I can get pics if you really want, but for the two snipers I have they are:

1941
НЖ 1649 (no C proofmark)

1942
CA 6693
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Thank you! No need in pictures, you rifles match to supposed sniper prefixes, so I think there is nothing unusual.

SteelCap said:
So what does a field made really mean? I am assuming the rifle was found to meet the sniper requirement in battle? So it was notched and provided with mount and scope?
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In some cases, notches were added and mounts were attached to some rifles at field workshops. But the main problem was that mounts were produced only by Tula\Mednogorsk, and they were issued only with sniper rifles, and were stamped with rifle serial. So the only way for field workshops to get scope mount was to take it from factory sniper, if it was damaged. So quantity of such rifles can't be very high. We see too many of them now. So big % of them are fakes.
I want to discuss in this thread only factory issued snipers, because it is almost impossible to find out when notch was added to field snipers. And there is no any system in their serial numbers, these were random rifles, so their study will give us nothing.
But such field updated snipers are known in museums and were founded in relic condition, so they exists.
 
Ratnik said:
Thank you! No need in pictures, you rifles match to supposed sniper prefixes, so I think there is nothing unusual.


In some cases, notches were added and mounts were attached to some rifles at field workshops. But the main problem was that mounts were produced only by Tula\Mednogorsk, and they were issued only with sniper rifles, and were stamped with rifle serial. So the only way for field workshops to get scope mount was to take it from factory sniper, if it was damaged. So quantity of such rifles can't be very high. We see too many of them now. So big % of them are fakes.
I want to discuss in this thread only factory issued snipers, because it is almost impossible to find out when notch was added to field snipers. And there is no any system in their serial numbers, these were random rifles, so their study will give us nothing.
But such field updated snipers are known in museums and were founded in relic condition, so they exists.
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Thanks Ratnik. So any mismatch between the rifle and scope is more likely a field made. I have a 1942 SVT40 on the way but its not a sniper....hard to find one (unless your name is Desert_Fox :))
 
I will add mine to the list

Serial HB1322. Tula 1942. Wide, flat bottom notch with rounded corners. AVT type stock, force matched since the cartouche has been heavily sanded down (big flat area on the stock) and the new serial applied there.


Is the 2-sided cutout for the safety/selector an absolute indication of an AVT stock? Reason being is this rifle has the sling swivels, no cartouche on the right hand side, and the wrist feels thinner than my other SVT with a "A 1945 (tula star)" marked stock, the selector cut, and the mosin style sling cutout. I thought the AVT stock was thicker?

BTW 1945 Tula stock, 1940 Izzy receiver. I think that's neat. Pity it's not the reverse!
 
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Mark-II said:
I will add mine to the list

Serial HB1322. Tula 1942. Wide, flat bottom notch with rounded corners. AVT type stock, force matched since the cartouche has been heavily sanded down (big flat area on the stock) and the new serial applied there.


Is the 2-sided cutout for the safety/selector an absolute indication of an AVT stock? Reason being is this rifle has the sling swivels, no cartouche on the right hand side, and the wrist feels thinner than my other SVT with a "A 1945 (tula star)" marked stock, the selector cut, and the mosin style sling cutout. I thought the AVT stock was thicker?

BTW 1945 Tula stock, 1940 Izzy receiver. I think that's neat. Pity it's not the reverse!
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Thank you!
Stocks with with 2-sided cutout are definitely AVT stocks. But early and late stocks can differ in some details.
I don't think that stock is original to your rifle, because it is a refurb. But it can be correct - I suppose, that late sniper SVT's, like yours, produced since summer, 1942 were issued in AVT stocks (with 2-sided cutout) - after all available quantity of SVT stocks was used, there was no special production of SVT stocks. Production of refular SVT's was stopped in June.
Here is such late sniper SVT - AVT stock, wide trigger guard, plum bolt.
e9aab1d47068.jpg
 
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Ratnik said:
Thank you!
Stocks with with 2-sided cutout are definitely AVT stocks. But early and late stocks can differ in some details.
I don't think that stock is original to your rifle, because it is a refurb. But it can be correct - I suppose, that late sniper SVT's, like yours, produced since summer, 1942 were issued in AVT stocks (with 2-sided cutout) - after all available quantity of SVT stocks was used, there was no special production of SVT stocks. Production of refular SVT's was stopped in June.
Here is such late sniper SVT - AVT stock, wide trigger guard, plum bolt.
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I didnt realize that SVT were issued from the factory with AVT stocks. I assumed that the AVT stock was swapped later on during a refurb. Not so, it seems!
 
tootall said:
I didnt realize that SVT were issued from the factory with AVT stocks. I assumed that the AVT stock was swapped later on during a refurb. Not so, it seems!
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I belive in 99,9% of cases stocks that comes with refurbs, and not original to those rifles.
Regular SVT's were produced in SVT stocks. Only in June, 1942 SVT's and AVT's were produced together. In July, only AVT's and sniper SVT's were left in production.
It's my assumption, that some sniper SVT's that were produced post July 1942 and under October 1942 were issued in AVT stocks. This assumption is based on photo posted above, and few sniper rifles from museums. But quantity of such rifles can't be high.
So belive that all late sniper SVT's were issued in AVT stocks, as confirmed fact, is not correct.
Accept this assumption is plausible is more correct.
 
I did not realize that the plum bolt carrier showed up in wartime. I just assumed that it was part of the post war refurbishment.

Thanks for the clarification on the stocks too. Even as parts bin rifles they have an interesting history.
 
Mark-II said:
I did not realize that the plum bolt carrier showed up in wartime. I just assumed that it was part of the post war refurbishment.

Thanks for the clarification on the stocks too. Even as parts bin rifles they have an interesting history.
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Plum bolt carriers can be observed since 1942
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