1941 SVT 40 just had to have one

[Ridolpho]

Cheese Noodles: If you've got it stripped for cleaning there's virtually nothing left to do to get the barreled action out of the wood. Drop the trigger group and unscrew the single cross pin and of it comes! You can see, then, how well it's fitted to the stock- some are very loose which probably contributes to accuracy issues. Easy to shim and tighten it up. In any case, it is a nice SVT 40- nicer than most refurbs (plus it's a simplified Tula with no side-rails).

Ridolpho

[mdarnell19]

This rifle is not a Bulgarian refurb. The magazine is a Bulgarian refurb but not the rifle. The rifle is a terrible fake (receiver serial number). The vast majority of Bulgarian refurbs are 1943 dated and they didn't renumber things. Most are typically factory original with a coat of finish to the stock. The bolt carrier on this rifle is from a Izhevsk rifle and some one tried to number the receiver to match it and did not paying attention to the bolt itself. Then they sanded and cleaned the stock to make it look "pretty."

[Cheese Noodles]

Bubba may have done his work, but at the time (30+ years ago) I did pick it up pretty cheap. No magazine was a great starting point and by the time I covered all the other issues, I was happy to be he new owner. I wish it at least it had the great Russian Red stock so I could just hang it on the wall. It was my first Russian rifle so it has a bit of a dear spot for me. I do have the standard Russian Referb SVT40 with the plum bold carrier and it shoots pretty good. If I did not get the this SVT 40, I would have spent the money on booze and some girl who really did not like me. I did enjoy learning about the Bulgarian SVT40s, if you have pictures of one, please post it.

[Ridolpho]

Here are 3 "Bulgarians". All '43 but one is built on a salvaged earlier Izhevsk action with side rails. All have excellent bores and 2 of them are essentially brand new condition.

Ridolpho

[Cheese Noodles]

The bolt carrier on this rifle is from a Izhevsk rifle

How can I tell it is a Izhevsk bolt carrier?

[mdarnell19]

Tula only numbered their bolt carriers on top for a very short period of time. The vast majority are numbered on the bottom. Izhevsk and Podolsk always numbered their bolt carriers on the top as shown in your pictures. Look for a Arrow in a Triangle stamp on the bottom of your carrier. There is a chance it is a Podolsk carrier also.

Here are pictures of a nice True Bulgarian refurb. As mentioned above, often these are found with the serial number on the stock being vertical. This one has it's factory original stock number.

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[big bear]

Cheese Noodles: The restamped serial on the receiver is unusual. A photo of it would be nice. I have three of the so-called Bulgarian refurbs and they all have the serial # restamped vertically on the left buttstock. Two of them have distinctive cherry red "bluing" on bolt/ carrier. The lacquer finish on the stocks is quite distinctive close up. Many of the Bulgarian refurbs have mint bores which is not common in the world of SVT's.

Ridolpho

Lots of the Russian refurb SVT's imported into Canada have same reddish/purple bolt color.Lots of discussions about significance/lack of significance of the hue of the bolt. I have a few SVT's, fun to shoot. But.... and I don't care what anyone says, they are a real p.i.a. to strip for cleaning after shooting corrosive ammo. As a result I don't shoot mine as often as I'd like. Conversation goes like this... gee it would be nice to take the SVT to the range, if any chatty range bums interfere with my shooting I'll break out my SVT, the muzzle blast will give me a nice buffer zone so I can shoot in peace. BUT, do I really want to spend an hour cleaning the damned thing and putting it back together....

[Ridolpho]

big bear: Many experts now feel that "bluing" of the bolt/ carrier was initiated in '42 and is not simply a refurb characteristic. Unfortunately the key reference for the SVT, which discusses things like this, is in Russian (R. Chumak).

You're right about the muzzle blast- recently let another shooter fire one of my SVT 40's at the range and made the mistake of standing just to the side and rear. The later large window type aren't nearly as bad (or effective).

With regard to shooting corrosive, I have my cleaning regimen perfected to the point that I can do one of my SVT's about as fast as a Mosin. However, I've gotten the best accuracy by far with Wolf and PRVI non-corrosive (but heavier bullets than optimal for the SVT).

Ridolpho

[Cheese Noodles]

I will look for the Izhevsk mark on the bolt carrier & bolt, I have one on my M44 if I remember. I sort of lost track of some of the details once I got my SVT 40 refurb and it went to the range. As I learn more, it would be cool to have a Finnish, Bulgarian and Russian SVT 40. I have seen the period photos of them in the hands of more than the Red Army. When I went shooting rifles, I always had the most 7.62x54R on hand, but it got used up by a rattily Finnish M39 that was just more accurate.

[mdarnell19]

big bear: Many experts now feel that "bluing" of the bolt/ carrier was initiated in '42 and is not simply a refurb characteristic. Unfortunately the key reference for the SVT, which discusses things like this, is in Russian (R. Chumak).

This is no feeling. It is a fact that by very late 1941 when Tula factory #314 was evacuated and relocated to the Mednogorsk Factory that they started bluing bolts and bolt carriers. War time bluing is a cherry red color while post war refurb bluing is more black and dark purple.

I will look for the Izhevsk mark on the bolt carrier & bolt, I have one on my M44 if I remember. I sort of lost track of some of the details once I got my SVT 40 refurb and it went to the range. As I learn more, it would be cool to have a Finnish, Bulgarian and Russian SVT 40. I have seen the period photos of them in the hands of more than the Red Army. When I went shooting rifles, I always had the most 7.62x54R on hand, but it got used up by a rattily Finnish M39 that was just more accurate.

This is a good goal. I have not seen many Bulgarian refurbs surprisingly. But haven't looked too hard.

And yes, the Germans used Soviet weapons a lot. It is what got me collecting Soviet rifles.

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