Watching this thread with mild amusement...
Yes many stocks have been refinished in varying colors and sizes however one thing holds true - the Finns were not known for making stocks for the SVT 40. I won't say it never happened but there's certainly no record of it in the collecting community (and I've asked around).
Here is a bit of history on the stocks:
https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?504617-Tokarev-SVT-40-Identifying-collecting-and-FAQ
m. Stocks. The two-piece stocks for SVT-38 were wide and heavy and the Army requested modifications to make the rifle lighter. The first SVT-40 stocks were slimmer and were prone to cracking in the wrist area. So the first change to the SVT-40 stock was to address this issue and the stock was widened from 46mm to 49mm. This change was tested by commission in August - September of 1941 (Source: 1. Page 181). Ruslan Chumak in his book claims that this change was implemented only in 1944. However my observations tell me that it was probably implemented sometime in the middle of 1942. To understand the next feature change we need to remember that in the middle of 1942 select-fire version of rifle was introduced under the designation of AVT-40. To allow safely lever / fire selector to move to the right side stock should have had second cutout on the right side added. Such stocks were also marked with letter “A” on the right side. This was second major change to stock. By the time of its implementation Factory No.314 in Mednogorsk apparently had supply of both wide and narrow types of stocks. This caused situation when some AVT-40 rifles were assembled with narrow stocks with two cutouts and at the same time some SVT-40 rifles were assembled with wide stocks with only one cutout on the left side. SVT-40 and AVT-40 production overlapped only for one month – June 1942 (Source: 1. Page 231). Altogether these observations and facts make me think mid 1942 was the switch over date for wide stock. Later in 1942 even semi-auto only sniper rifles had wide stocks with two cutouts as result of process of unification of stock supply. The next significant change in stock occurred during the first part of 1944: a new type of stock with rear sling slot instead of rear swivel was introduced. It is not clear if the sling slot instead of swivel was part of the original Aug-Sep 1941 commission recommendation. There’s one known 1941 Podolsk stock with the sling slot, however we don't know if it was mass production or experimental run.
To sum up, stocks can be of following types: early narrow or late wide, early with swivel or late with sling slot, early SVT with one safety lever cutout and late AVT (or we might call it universal as it was used on sniper SVTs) with two cutouts. It's not correct to call wide stock "AVT" as AVTs were issued with narrow stocks too. It's also not correct to call stock with sling slot "Naval" as they have nothing to do with the Navy.
Yes many stocks have been refinished in varying colors and sizes however one thing holds true - the Finns were not known for making stocks for the SVT 40. I won't say it never happened but there's certainly no record of it in the collecting community (and I've asked around).
Here is a bit of history on the stocks:
https://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?504617-Tokarev-SVT-40-Identifying-collecting-and-FAQ
m. Stocks. The two-piece stocks for SVT-38 were wide and heavy and the Army requested modifications to make the rifle lighter. The first SVT-40 stocks were slimmer and were prone to cracking in the wrist area. So the first change to the SVT-40 stock was to address this issue and the stock was widened from 46mm to 49mm. This change was tested by commission in August - September of 1941 (Source: 1. Page 181). Ruslan Chumak in his book claims that this change was implemented only in 1944. However my observations tell me that it was probably implemented sometime in the middle of 1942. To understand the next feature change we need to remember that in the middle of 1942 select-fire version of rifle was introduced under the designation of AVT-40. To allow safely lever / fire selector to move to the right side stock should have had second cutout on the right side added. Such stocks were also marked with letter “A” on the right side. This was second major change to stock. By the time of its implementation Factory No.314 in Mednogorsk apparently had supply of both wide and narrow types of stocks. This caused situation when some AVT-40 rifles were assembled with narrow stocks with two cutouts and at the same time some SVT-40 rifles were assembled with wide stocks with only one cutout on the left side. SVT-40 and AVT-40 production overlapped only for one month – June 1942 (Source: 1. Page 231). Altogether these observations and facts make me think mid 1942 was the switch over date for wide stock. Later in 1942 even semi-auto only sniper rifles had wide stocks with two cutouts as result of process of unification of stock supply. The next significant change in stock occurred during the first part of 1944: a new type of stock with rear sling slot instead of rear swivel was introduced. It is not clear if the sling slot instead of swivel was part of the original Aug-Sep 1941 commission recommendation. There’s one known 1941 Podolsk stock with the sling slot, however we don't know if it was mass production or experimental run.
To sum up, stocks can be of following types: early narrow or late wide, early with swivel or late with sling slot, early SVT with one safety lever cutout and late AVT (or we might call it universal as it was used on sniper SVTs) with two cutouts. It's not correct to call wide stock "AVT" as AVTs were issued with narrow stocks too. It's also not correct to call stock with sling slot "Naval" as they have nothing to do with the Navy.
