SVT-40 Accuracy Follow up Review

[Hardlickher]

Hey there guys. Remember me? The one who did the SVT-40 Ammunition and Accuracy review like maybe... almost a year ago? Remember this one?

SVT-40 Shooting Ammo Review

Its been almost 1 year, on a long hiatus, I finally return to give a follow up on this old review. The questions at the end of the last review was, Is there a way we can make the SVT-40 more accurate? Is it shifting in its stock? I can clearly answer the first question. Yes. The second question, I'll leave the answer up to your own judgment. Like before, this review will be fairly long so if you don't have the time I suggest you read this another time. If you have the time, grab a coffee, kick back, and enjoy the SVT-40 Accuracy follow up.

For about the whole year, I only used my SVT-40 once after that review when someone gave me the tip that removing the cleaning rod makes the rifle more accurate. I tried it and didn't notice a difference at all. About two weeks ago, I see a guy at my shooting range with a 1943 SVT-40 with the 4 port muzzle break. His was shooting great! 3" (76mm) every time at 109 yards. (100 meters) I asked if I could examine his rifle to see if I could notice any difference from his to mine that may be making it shoot better. What he did tell me is, he sanded the barrel channel until no wood was touching the barrel. He even showed me. What I noticed was his barrel band was super tight. You couldn't even flex the stock of the rifle it was so tight. Mine will pop off sometimes while shooting and the whole rifle flexes like crazy. So, I came up with the cazy idea to sand the barrel channel and to shim that barrel band so it would be tighter. I came up with the idea to put a piece of fabric under the barrel band. It worked but later in this review, I'll show you why it was a bad idea to put the fabric right under the barrel band.



I never run corrosive ammunition though my SVT-40. Not saying corrosive ammunition is bad. Just I'm too lazy to clean the gun right away and I don't like spending more than one hour to get a gun clean. So, I use the only non-corrosive ammunition that is available at the moment. 185grain (12.9 grams) FMJ MFS and 203grain (13.1 grams) SP MFS. I notice a lot of people have major reliability issues with their SVT-40 even on the highest gas setting. However, I have my rifle on setting 1.3 and it was very reliable. I had it on 1.2 before and it was even reliable then but I decided to move it up to 1.3 for a little extra reliability. It had two stove pipes with the 203gr ammunition but not an issue with the 185gr. I got the 203gr soft points because I was going to use my Mosin Nagant on a hunting trip this coming hunting season. However, after today, the SVT-40 will be coming instead.



Now the first five shots was with the 185gr ammunition but the shots were too high and two were off paper so I took another five shots. The first actual group I could look at was pretty good! Three of the five shots were under an inch! (24mm) The whole group together was 4.5" (11.4cm). Remember how it shot before? I thought that was pretty amazing. Way better than before. Then I took some more shots and the fabric under the barrel band started to do something that made my accuracy drop. First, I'll show you the two next five shot groups.



Group got a lot bigger!



And even bigger! I was thinking... What the heck is going on here? Is the barrel getting too hot? Is what I was thinking. While I was letting the gun cool down I noticed it. The fabric came out from under the barrel band!



The stock was loose again. Flexing like it was before! I took the gun apart and came up with the better idea to put the fabric under the shoulder thing that goes up. You know, the barrel shroud. It worked way better and its still super tight. Refer to figure: 6.



With that fixed, I let the barrel continue to cool off and set up a new 109 yard (100 meter) target. Some other people showed up at the range and they were admiring the SVT-40. They were some people that didn't even know you would own something like that around here. They thought the rifle was, "sleek and elegant looking." That's a very good complement for a 1940's communist battle rife. Just imagine how much it would cost a manufacture to make one of these rifles today. They don't make em like they use to. Good old wood and blue steel. Who needs synthetic camo when your gun already blends in to the nature around you?



..... Yes that is 109 yards (100 meters) A solid just under 3" (76mm) group. I took another five shots right after checking this group and the group again opened up a tiny bit. I'm assuming the rifle starts to wobble like a wet noodle once it gets too hot. Sure enough, through out the day, as long as I kept the rifle somewhat cool, it shot like this the rest of the day.



Second five shot group




This was the best group of the day with the 185gr FMJ. This group was so amazing, I had to measure the 4 shots that were on the paper once I brought it back to the bench.



Under 2"! (5cm) Does this not prove that a tight barrel band and a free floated barrel channel is the answer to the SVT-40's inaccuracy issue? The whole group together with the fifth shot is 3" (7.6cm)



Now this is a five shot group with the 203gr SP. I'm amazed. The rifle is pretty accurate now! The fifth shot is off paper but what ever! Evidently its shooting the way it should. I looked though my range bag to try and find my sight adjustment tool but couldn't find it. Oh well, I'll save it for another fun day at the range. I will sight this "Sleek and elegant" communist girl in to hit center of a paper and consider her ready for hunting season that is fast approaching. I've always gone hunting with my CZ 550 .270 but I've always wanted to hunt an animal with an old surplus military rifle for nostalgic reasons and a test of my skill as a hunter. Hunting with a scoped rifle is just too easy. Besides, I have never hunted a deer past 109 yards (100 meters) making me feel like scopes are redundant. Around my area anyways.



That leaves me with my closing statements and conclusion. Can the SVT-40 be accurate? Yes it can. How do you achieve better accuracy? By simply opening up the barrel channel by sanding it so wood is no longer pinching it. (Mine was pinching in the 4 spots where the stock had evidently been repaired during refurbishing) & by making sure that barrel band is tight. Try this. I'm interested to see other results. This makes me realize why the soviets had inconsistent accuracy with their SVT-40's. I mean by how some were accurate enough to be a sniper model while some were too inaccurate to get the privilege to have a scope on it. I mean, these rifles for the most part were hand made meaning each gun was a little different than the other. I use to dis the SVT-40 all the time in other forums for being inaccurate but I kept it because it looks cool. Many people told me theirs were accurate 3 - 4 inches (7.6 - 10cm) yet mine was 6 - 8 inches. Anyways, I liked my SVT-40 before just from its history and how it looks. Now I love my SVT-40 since its also now accurate enough for me to take it hunting.

I hope you all enjoyed this follow up and that everyone who has been looking for a cure to your rifles accuracy issues has just found the solution. Keep on collecting and shooting everyone.

Hardlickher

Information

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[Ridolpho]

Hardlickher: Thanks for sharing all that. It does make sense that tightening the grip of the front band so that it holds the upper and lower guards in precisely the same way shot after shot would help accuracy. With the heating effects I'm wondering if one or both of the guards are tight against the front "lug"? that the lower fits into when cold- then barrel expansion with shooting would loosen the guards and change barrel vibes (similar effect with Garands).
With regard to floating, acc. to the new book by Chumak, the standard was to set them up with up-pressure at forend tip. Free floating is not, apparently, mentioned. However, in an old thread I started I described a test of float vs. up-pressure with the same rifle. Definitely got best results with free floating- honest 2 inch 5 shot groups with iron sights. I have noticed that a number of my refurbs (right out of the crate) were well floated and two probably non-refurbed rifles are very nicely floated so I believe it was utilized at some point by the soviets.

Ridolpho