SVT-40 vertical shot dispersion

M-A-X

M-A-X

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This question is for SVT-40 owner or ex-owner, I want to know your experience about this.

Is that so bad? I heard the 2 first shots(cold barrel) are the flyers then you have your 3 shots groups about 2 inch bellow your flyers, this at 100m. Exemple below.

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Did you found any remedy to this?

Can you consider the SVT-40 a good hunting rifle or because of the vertical shot dispersion is just good for plinking?

:ar15:
 
Are you varying the pressure on the barrel when you shot this? Sometimes if you change you position and push down more on the front of the barrel you can get the same effect,
 
There can be huge variations generated just by how you hold the rifle ON the sandbags. Tokarevs do not have the sturdiest of stocks.... not in strength.... but in flex, due to their length and lightness. So it is easy to put them off, just a bit.

If you have a rifle that likes to change its point of impact (first 2 high, then 2 inches lower at 100.... things like that) then all you really have to do is know what it is doing. Your first 2 shots out of a cold barrel are the ones that count when you are hunting. These ones don't look bad at all: inch by inch-and-a-quarter at 100, not shabby.

There is nothing on this part of the map that demands much better than 1 MOA.
 
Mine shoots about the same at 100 yards. It does seem to travel a bit when the barrel gets warm. Having that said, its the first one or two with a cold barrel that really count. Also, I find that the 150gr shoot a better group than the 180s. I prefer to hunt with 180gr, but with open sights either round has fine enough groups to hunt a bit over 100 yards.

I've only had my SVT for a few weeks now. I feel the ammo makes a difference and I'm still on the learning curve with this rifle, but so far it will meet my needs for some early bush hunting for whitetail doeys. It would be great to get it to shoot up to match performance, however, I have a long way to go yet before I'm there.
 
You didn't say if the above group was shot with surplus or factory SP... If it was with surplus, grab a couple boxes of Prvi - you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Either way, that group is good enough @ 100m to bag pretty much anything you might care to hunt. You just need to do your part =)
 
The 1908 loading of the 7.62x54R "3-line" cartridge actually saw the last military use of a true Minie-spec bullet. It was a 149-grain spitzer-type FMJ with an open conical-cavity base.

I really think that this unusual bullet was one of the secrets of the accurate shooting that so many of these old rifles were capable of doing.

That said, we have fairly soft copper-based bullet jackets these days and, for purposes of obturation, the flat-base ones are (1) cheaper, (2) obturate better and are (3) very darned accurate. And a really nice thing is that Hornady makes an excellent .312" flatbase bullet in their Spire Point design.

This SHOULD be a really excellent bullet in the 7.62x54R as far as accuracy is concerned..... and you can stoke it right to original .30-'06 levels with about 49 grains of 3031. See Barnes, 6th Ed.

With .30-'06 power and MOA accuracy, it's pretty hard to go wrong.

I think friend M-A-X is ready for Bambi!
 
Couldnt agree more about the flat based bullets being needed. This REALLY begins to show with the older 1891s aswell. My 1901 Sestroryetsk shoots like junk with BT ammo, but will easily do 2 inch at 100m with flat based stuff!
 
But will the vertical stringing disappear if he uses these bullets in his reloads and holds the rifle in the same way when zeroing and shooting?
I am also interested in the SVT-40 but do not like to hear about vertical stringing. If there is a cure for it I would be happy to purchase this rifle.
 
Any rifle civilian or military at the instant of firing the barrel starts moving downward due to chamber pressure and gravity and then rebounds upward.

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The rifles bedding and up pressure at the fore end tip helps control this movement. The average Remington 700 rifle has 3 to 9 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip of the stock.

Old rifles have "old wood" that has had years to dry out and change bedding forces. If you notice some rearsenaled Russian rifles have hard paper fiber gasket material "shims" add to make up for wood shrinkage.

Remove your stock and "study" the bedding and any of the contact points and see if you can find any problems.

If the stock is loose and if any oil is on the bottom of the receiver you have the makings of a slip and slide and receiver movement.

My bet is on dried out wood and poor bedding forces on the barrel.

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My second tip would be to NOT be a cool cat and listen to Rap Music when shooting for group size.

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No I dont know about the ammo used for the picture

No I dont have a SVT-40 yet but im interested of getting one. Like Teapot said im also interested in the SVT-40 but I dont like what I heard about the vertical shot dispersion(V.S.D). I simply searched on internet informations about the rifle...I wanted to know what im getting before buying. ;-)

From the historical records It seen to be a design flaw or something like that. If if you look on wikipedia and other gun historical website they say:
"In service, SVTs frequently suffered from vertical shot dispersion. For a sniper rifle, this was unacceptable and production of the specialized sniper variant of the SVT was terminated in 1942". Yeah this sentence scare a bit, huh?!

Maybe the modern ammo solved the problem, maybe frenquently is not always(ref citation above), maybe post 1943 models solved the problem....there's a lot of maybe, it's why I ask about your experiences.

I want to put a PU scope on it but if it cant straight...why put 500$ for a rifle that cant shoot straight. Does anyone of you have a repro sniper? I want to hunt deers(100m and less) and coyote(300m) but how's the accuracy of the SVT-40 at 300m?

Fiddler, did you say that V.S.D happen when your barrel is warm?

Deltasilver: So if I use modern, non-surplus ammo the problem can be solved?

:onCrack:
 
M-A-X said:
Deltasilver: So if I use modern, non-surplus ammo the problem can be solved?

:onCrack:
Click to expand...

I dunno if SOLVED is the right word. I found my groups to tighten up when using Prvi SP. I'm on my 3rd SVT-40 now (the nicest example of the three) and it shoots a 3"ish @ 100 when I'm having a good day. It's a typical refurb mix-master '41 - don't recall the arsenal atm.

my local range is flat for the first 200m but turns into a pretty good uphill hike in a cut past that, so I have no idea how she'll group @ 300.

I shot a couple 'yotes with it when we had the bounty over the winter at over 100m - the bullets went more or less where I wanted. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for deer, but I have my M38 for that.

If you were closer I'd let you take her for a test drive :)
 
bigedp51 said:
Remove your stock and "study" the bedding and any of the contact points and see if you can find any problems.

If the stock is loose and if any oil is on the bottom of the receiver you have the makings of a slip and slide and receiver movement.

My bet is on dried out wood and poor bedding forces on the barrel.
Click to expand...

Even if the the problem is present since day one, your idea is good. Im sure it will accurize the rifle. :)
 
i have a referb and at 200 meters i can put most rounds on a paper target. i dident buy this rifle to hunt with, for me its just a fun rifle. i figure at 200 meters most of my rounds are within a 5-6 inch group.
 
My SVT has the same behaviour except narrower groups. I tightened up all the metal fittings and handguards with paper. It seemed to help because it reduced the rattle and shake of things as the barrel flexed. The ammo I have is Serbian M-something ball which is better that than the Russian heavy ball.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
My SVT has the same behaviour except narrower groups. I tightened up all the metal fittings and handguards with paper. It seemed to help because it reduced the rattle and shake of things as the barrel flexed. The ammo I have is Serbian M-something ball which is better that than the Russian heavy ball.
Click to expand...

Can you tell me your grouping in inchs at 100m?
 
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