Posted on 02/04/2020 8:12:33 AM PST by w1n1
Initially losing to Simonov’s AVS36, Tokarev's design was later retried and adopted as the SVT 38, later becoming the SVT 40 after the Finnish Winter War debacle that the Soviet Union found itself in, just prior to the Second World War.
The SVT-40 saw widespread service during and after World War II. The initial reaction of the troops to this rifle was negative. Among the issues were that the rifle was too long and cumbersome, difficult to maintain, and the magazine had a tendency to fall out.
In service, SVTs frequently suffered from vertical shot dispersion. The army reported that the rifles were of "flimsy construction and there were difficulties experienced in their repair and maintenance".
The stock, made of Arctic Birch, was prone to cracking in the wrist from recoil. This was generally remedied by drilling and inserting one or two large industrial bolts horizontally into the stock just before the wrist meets the receiver.
Many rifles were also poorly seated in their stocks, letting the receiver shift on firing. This led to a field modification that selectively shimmed the stock with birch chips, usually around the receiver and in between where the wood stock meets the lower metal hand guard.
However, on the plus side the SVT-40 design is pretty much forward thinking in many aspects, the rifle featured a 10 round detachable magazine,..Read the rest of Tokarev SVT-40.
If they had built them well it would have been as good as the M-1.
Good design, crappy execution.
I like my far more common Tokarev tt-33 pistol. It can shoot little holes through a brake disc with the right projectile.
And in the back of the neck, if you wear a leather apron, it always gets the job done and doesn't make much of a mess.
and reasonable recoil when doing dozens or hundreds a shift.
and reasonable recoil when doing dozens or hundreds a shift.
I have a couple tins of surplus 7.62×25mm Tokarev cartridges, but I also have a bunch of boxer primed brass which I reload. If I recall correctly the recipe that I perfected uses 5.6 grains of titegroup powder which is approximately twice what I use in a typical 30 caliber pistol cartridge. My “hot loads” clock out at about 1800 fps which is almost as fast as a 30 carbine rifle. A .45acp obviously makes a bigger mess, but the 7.62×25mm Tokarev has greater penetration.
IIRC Blokhin used a Walther mod 2 .25, so that if the bodies were discovered Katyn could be blamed on the Germans with at least some plausibility.
When I’ve taught some gals to shoot, I start them with my big old 6” Colt King Cobra, with super light .38 loads, the recoil is so minimal they don’t develop the ‘flinch’ before the shot reaction.
A number of these were sold on civilian market in USSR after the war as OSK-88 (with bayonet mount sawn off to meet regulations). Most of the shortcomings they are writing about are way exaggerated. It is pretty much dependable weapon, at least for hunting or plinking purposes. Of course SVD is better but OSK is half the price now.
I notice the rifle in the accompanying photo has a “white” bolt. Mine, and every other one I have seen, had a “plum” colored bolt from being arsenal refinished in the Ukraine. Clinton stopped the importation of these in 96 so they all went to Canada where they are common as dirt but cannot be legally brought back into the US. The accuracy problem is not so much the rifle but the cheap Russian surplus ammo in 440 round spam cans that most people shoot. If you shoot WWB or R-P 7.62x54R factory ammo (expensive and hard to find) accuracy improves dramatically. The SVT-40 also has an adjustable gas system that allowed soldiers to compensate for extreme cold and variations in ammo loading. Most owners never mess with it but adjusting it can improve accuracy. Be very careful, find good instructions and read them carefully or you will strip the gas valve nut.
I didn’t practice much with it but people who like it say with good ammo it hits accurately to up to 800 yards.
I like the 7.62x25 round. Not one to be discharging inside an apartment complex though.
If you are pointing out that they tend to keep on going through stuff you are right. I have slowed them down a bit though by using a jig to make them hollow points. And recently they are now producing factory hollow points in 7.62x25 with a reduced velocity.
If you are pointing out shotgun, I would agree. Either a shotgun or a .38/.45 with fragmenting defensive rounds for discharging inside a structure.
Yeah I was saying they do have a lot of penetration. Nice round.
Do your home made hollowpoints expand reliably?
The shell graphic was to emphasize my above point.
“Do your home made hollowpoints expand reliably?”
It depends on how deep you drill the nose. Drilling deeper makes them expand a little more. But they don’t really open up at the nose, the nose tends to push backwards and they increase in diameter back at the waste of the bullet. And the deeper you drill them the less accurate they are at longer distances of course. They do increase quite a bit more than FMJ and this slows them down pretty well in soft targets for closer range. Factory hollow points do better, but for a long time factory HP ammo for these was unavailable so the easiest option was to get a drilling jig and drill your own. And of course drilling your own surplus ammo is much cheaper.
Privi partisan makes 7.62x25 hollowpoints.
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