1941 SVT 40 just had to have one

[Cheese Noodles]

Here is my first Tokarev SVT 40, it does have some issues, first the stock - somebody just had to give it a go and remove that wonderful Soviet Red and all the markings. The SN stamp on the received also looks most odd. Not import marked and the bolt carrier is still in the white. This was picked up in the first half of the 80s. I had seen a few and really wanted one, they looked so business like. My funds were meager but I kept my eyes open. This rifle was found with no magazine and at the time they were not that common. The bore looked good, the bolt was a bit off in SN than the rest of the rifle. A price was agreed upon and I took it home. Another delay until I found a magazine. I ran into some of the common issues, failure to cycle every time and the rifle would string upwards after 4 or 5 rounds. I was still happy to have the rifle. I later acquired one of the Russian Refurbs that shot much better. Also learned some of the care and feeding habits on the forum that everybody should know when shooting the SVT 40. She now just hangs out in the safe and I snapped a few pictures when I was giving the periodic oiling and wipe.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

A friend of mine bought one and had no idea what was what with it...so we took it out. He had a couple problems too and we adjusted the gas, set the sights and it now shoots fine. If we didn't have mag restrictions here I'd have one. I sure liked shooting them better than the bolt guns same caliber...

[Cheese Noodles]

My rifle tuning skills were not great, I can do the basics. I found the issues with semi auto was, eating all my ammo. Shooting 7.62x54R, I have a roughed up Finn M39, pretty accurate, got most of my ammo.

[fernleaf]

At first glance it looked like a Bulgarian refurb to me and seeing the [KK20] mark on the magazine sealed the deal and confirmed it.

The Bulgarians stripped the original Soviet finish off and applied a very light coloured lacquer finish. We can see similar finishes on Bulgarian Steyr M95s and M91/59s.

There'll probably be a [KK10] mark or two on the stock.

[Cheese Noodles]

Well, I got the rifle with NO magazine, which helped lower the price to my meager status. That being said, could be I just happened to purchase Bulgarian magazine with out knowing it. Can you indicate where the KK10 marking should be? Any pointers would be nice. Any comments or thoughts on the receiver S/N marking? It looks ground and re-stamped to match the bolt carrier. Any other signs of Bulgarian rework would be interesting. Thanks for the input. I learn something new with every visit.

[Ridolpho]

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

[Cheese Noodles]

Here is a shot of the S/N on the receiver, it does not look correct. As noted, my knowledge and funds were limited when I got this, but I wanted one back then and they were few and far between.

[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

[fernleaf]

Bulgarian refurb marks tend to be on the comb of the stock just in front of the buttplate - but they could be anywhere. I forgot to mention about the vertically stamped serial number on the stocks, good catch Ridolpho.

Could you post up photos of any seemingly insignificant marks on the stock and of the stock serial number if there is one?