SVT-40 Inspection Notes/Buyer's Guide:
Well, I got a chance to take a closer look at the SVT in the shop today, this time armed with a lot of information. I was looking for a couple things, here's my quickie buyer's guide:
Exterior:
-Matching Serial Numbers: No numbers matched, but was acceptable since "SA" stamps on the mag and reciever indicated Finn capture and re-arsenal. This is a 1941 rifle. All numbers were stamped, none penciled, which
I believe indicates the rifle was either 1)not made under as much pressure as later guns, and 2)parts were not replaced by the typical arsenal process that would re-match everything (likely since the Finn's did the rearsenalling).
-Maker's Stamp: An assortment of parts, Ivhesk and Tula; Reciever group was Ivesk, magazine looked to be Tula. There are
no visible import marks.
-Stock Condition: Stock was refinished, evidenced by
no stamps, serials, cartouches, except 1 "daisy" looking mark. Fairly blonde color, heavily laqcuered, with few (but deep) dings, and a long repaired crack in the upper handguard. The sling mount was the more common stud at the bottom of the stock. No cracks at the grip/wrist area. Stock had only one cutout for the safety, indicating it is an original "SVT" stock, as opposed to the later/beefier "AVT" stock. other than the foregrip crack, there were no other repairs visible.
-Blueing Condition: All exterior metal was still blue, except on corners. The bolt looked yellow-green, which I believe meant it was white-metal with laqcuer on top of it. The bolt knob itself was blue/brown, probably due to natural usage wear/corrosion. The reciever has scope mounts milled, but they are unused, by lack of mounting notch. This indicates this rifle was not a late 1941, since I believe the scope mounts were left off at that point.
I looked up how to break one of these down earlier today, so I took a crack at field stripping the SVT in the store. Taking it apart was far easier than reassembling it, at least as far as getting the spring cover back on was concerned (
ten minutes it took me
), but overall not as bad expected.
Interior:
-Bolt/Carrier: All the bolt/reciever/cover parts looked good; nothing rusted, bent, or missing. They were all a bit loose, though this may be intentional (likely). I would guess the recoil spring is a bit played out, mainly due to its age. It felt weaker than any recoil spring I've come across, pistol or otherwise. There were a few obvious shiny spots at contact areas.
-Barrel/reciever: The lever-thing at the back of the reciever was pretty stuck (didn't want to tear up my thumb picking at it), so I had to examine the rifling from the muzzle
. Needless to say, I don't envy the soldiers who had the same opportunity back in the day... Anyway, the bore was pretty dark (common), with light frosting that
could have been dust or dirt. I couldn't run a patch or slug down the barrel. Rifling was still very obvious, but I couldn't tell how sharp it was. Sounds like a run of the mill SVT barrel. Acceptable, nothing special. The crown looked decent, I think it'd be hard to damage one with the giant six-slot (earlier) brake on the end of the thing. I couldn't check headspace or verify it wasn't rechambered to something stupid.
-Gas System: This gun still has the cleaning rod (bent, but a +50$ value), which once removed, allowed me to take off the cool stamped steel heat guards that cover the gas system. The ring that holds the hand guards together was very loose, especially since I've heard some folks have to pry them off. This means the top handguard rattles quite a bit. Probably doesn't affect operation, though. The piston, a simple forward facing cup that is blasted by the gas tube, was easy to move against its return spring, with no hitching or obvious grinding felt. Sounds like the operating rod isn't bent
. When pulled all the way to the rear, I saw that the gas tube and cup, while coated with a thick layer of black soot, were not rusted, and looked dirty more than pitted. As seen by the amount of soot on my hands after this inspection, I couldn't really judge what shape these delicate/vulnerable parts were in without a thorough cleaning. I am fairly sure they are functional, since the barrel is in decent shape, and the action still cycles smoothly.
Summary: I decided to pass on the rifle since the asking price of 900$ is out of my league, especially since I just dropped a chunk on a FN49. The dealer was completely unwilling to bring the price down
any, which is his right, but still kept the rifle about 100$ above my "buy" threshold. If I had reason to believe this rifle was worth 1500$ or something, I'd go for it, but that is simply not the case; it's a Finnish capture refurb in decent condition, and 900$ is a fair price for it. Maybe if it's still there in a month or so *tear* I'll feel more like paying the price. I do have more respect for the LGS, though; they know how to set fair prices, and find cool stuff to stock (until I let the cat out of the bag recently, they had
six K31's collecting dust). At least now I feel informed enough to buy sight-unseen online, if I find a better deal elsewhere. I thought I had moved on from this rifle when I decided to buy the FN49, but I now realize I want an SVT more than ever (
and the FN49 )
'Till then I'll be a-wishin'...Oh well, I'll get to know the Belgian in the meantime
TCB
) though, modern platforms are more competitive. I was kinda hoping I'd be able to find a cool/quirky older semi platform (for little scratch) that can hang with today's offerings (like my K31 in bolt-action). Guess I'll just have to start combing through pawnshops and estate sales for that "killer deal" now that I know what's out there. Or buy a CMP Garand like everyone else
. Before the FN49 even arrives
I've done business with this shop before (picking up the FN49 from them, too), so I believe I can talk them down a tad. Is 900$ for what appears to be a decent-to-good quality (I'm not qualified to rate it) SVT-40 worth the trouble of obeying the speed limit and cooking my own meals for a month?
), so I shouldn't feel bad about wanting to use the thing for now, right?
