PU Sniper

[Ridolpho]

Just had a chance to give a '43 Tula (refurb) an initial test. This is one of the ones refurbished post WW2 that are not supposed to be collectable. I don't know why- a No. 4T or '03A4 that was arsenal rebuilt is still pretty desirable. Perhaps the sheer number of these is the issue? It has matching (deep stamp) bolt/ action body. Triggerguard is restamped to match. The scope number is stamped on the left side of the barrel right above the wood. The scope mount base is very nicely installed. Anyway, I bought it to shoot and finally got a chance to put a few rounds through it at the ancestral Ridolpho shooting range in Saskatchewan. Tightened the scope bracket into the mount, set everything at "zero" and it got right onto the bullseye at 100 yards shooting prone off a mat. I shot 5 but only 4 are visible- didn't have a called flyer so either had a "dud" round or 2 bullets through one hole. Rushing to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitos I backed off to 300 yards and set the range accordingly and was shocked to find 4 of 5 on the paper. I haven't shot prone much and was having a heck of a time getting a consistant chin-weld but this combo appears to have good potential and I'm anxious to get it on a proper bench rest for more testing. These rifles were obviously set up pretty well during the refurb- post is dead center in the scope and cross hair drops to center at about 600 meters setting. Fun shooting and not nearly the recoil of D-Bombs carbine!

Ridolpho

Information

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[SVT-40]

Very nice rifle, congrats. that is an original sniper with a SVT-40 scope you can tell by the bigger end of the scope . Another way o tell it's a sniper issue other than having the scope serial number stamped on the side is by having C H stamp above the Tula star. I see yours has the C . the H was probobly not struck well. The CH stamp was the stamp of approval for sniper rifles. it was picked out by there testers (sharp shooters), only the most accurate ones had the CH stamp

[WarPig1976]

Nice shooting,what ammo did you use?

[Ridolpho]

Warpig: I was using "prvi partizan", FMJ, 182 gr. It sells up here for pretty reasonable prices. I was interested to note that there was a bit of obvious fouling after 5 rounds but virtually none after 30. If I didn't mention in the original post, the bore on this rifle is fantastic. Trigger pull, on the other hand, was vague, if not heavy. Very different feel from the Lee Enfields I am most used to.

Ridolpho

[WarPig1976]

I see, might I suggest polishing all contact points on the trigger group. It's amazing what that does to improve a MN trigger pull. I haven't used a gauge but the difference is huge.
The problem with the MN trigger is milling marks and it's crude,not much can be done for that but we can knock the milling marks down without fear of creating an unsafe trigger.

[big bear]

Which vendor did you get your nice TULA from?

[Ridolpho]

Bigbear: The nice folks at PS Militaria in Quebec. I've bought a few nice rifles from them.

Ridolpho

[Devious6]

I have two "43 Tulas - one just like yours and one a restored ex-sniper. Your rifle is just as collectible as any other refurb PU - don't let people run it down. These rifles command the same amount at gun stores and shows as other PU imports. Nice rifle!!

[Ridolpho]

Devious6: Thank you, Sir! The comment about the limited collectability of these is made in the Lapin book but glad to hear your thoughts. It's kind of nice to still see fairly low prices on Mosins (including sniper variants) given how crazy things are getting in the world of Springfields, Lee Enfields, Garands, etc. It's also nice to buy something with minimal expectations and to be very pleasantly surprised by solid quality and functionality. I'm registered in the "Ross Rifle Shoot" here in July and may just use this rifle instead of one of my No. 4T's in the scoped class.

Ridolpho

[Devious6]

Non-import, non-refurb PUs are like same condition M1 carbines, Garands, etc. High end collectors will pay huge $$ for them. But, the reality is that almost all WWII vintage US and Soviet rifles were re-furbed...so the vast majority of collectors collect them. Of course, they will never demand the high prices of the "correct" rifles...but they sure seem to fly out of the racks when they go up for sale.

It's interesting to hear the reactions to the quality of Soviet rifles - I hear Russian junk all the time. But, in reality they are simple and solid. They stand up to tremendous abuse but were easy and fast to produce. The optics of the PU scope are rock solid and not prone to the drifting in US, British and German scopes. And, Mosin PUs perform well against O3A4s, M1Cs and Ds, Enfields, and any other Vintage class sniper. It brings a smile to my face every time my competition partner and I compete in a VS match....and even us old retired colonels beat more than 1/2 of the field using these pieces of Russian junk.