Why or why not? thinking of getting one as my go to / at the ready rifle but know nothing about them.

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"If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. We are the last stand!" -Ronald Reagan

No way. Too much muzzle blast gives away your position. Stock is weak. Action is very rough on ammunition and could "part" a case at the wrong time. Front sight is part of the gas regulator,muzzle brake and wanders when hot. You loose your zero. Gas regulator takes a special wrench.

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Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club '70-72
GMCM(SW) USN 68-89
1776-2012 USA RIP
President NM MILSURPS

Geez, glad I asked got anything good to say Rapidrob?

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"If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. We are the last stand!" -Ronald Reagan

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No man ever said: "Damn, I wish I'd bought a smaller safe!"

Frequently wrong, never in doubt!

I like mine. For history, the muzle blast clears the tables on your left and right of people, and the pure awesome it screams while at the range.

Go to gun? No. As awesome as it is, it is crude to compared what is out now.

Get an svt for the history.
An AK for shtf weapon.

I can't speak for myself on the AK part since I don't own one. But it makes sense.

Sent from my EVO while on the move (tapatalk)

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Gun-buy-high;
When you want to get home ASAP to bask in the glory of your new weapon
Side-effects include;
Not remembering anything between the time of purchase till sitting at home with the weapon in hand,
a mad female,
and an influx of ammo purchases.

The question was 'would you take it into combat?" It was not presented as "how do you like your SVT-40?"
The reasons stated show that the rifle had design problems, and the Russians knew that. The rifle was pretty short lived in combat.
Do I like my rifle?, Yes its fun to shoot. Relatively accurate. Would I take it into combat, no way. For first generation full and semi-automatic rifle,it did an OK job. It was a stop-gap firearm. Of all of the rifles Russia used in WWII it was very quickly sold off as surplus in the 1950's and '60's.

_________________
Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club '70-72
GMCM(SW) USN 68-89
1776-2012 USA RIP
President NM MILSURPS

Point well made and well taken.

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No man ever said: "Damn, I wish I'd bought a smaller safe!"

Frequently wrong, never in doubt!

Well the Germans certainly used enough of the ones they captured.They thought they worked pretty good.But would i use it most likely not i would select the M1 Garand in the closet next to it.But in the SVTs defense if they are kept clean and well maintained they can be a dependable rifle.The problems the Russians had were a lot of front line troops did not maintaine them very well.Well trained special units with large numbers of SVTs did really well with them

The SVT is featured in this months "Gun Tests", and they rave about it, and give it an "A" rating.

Gun Tests does a lot of raving. I used to pay attention to them, but their reviews often seem poorly conceived and executed. I subscribed for many years, but after finding that I wanted to write a letter to them after reading about 1/2 of the guns they worshiped or panned, I simply cancelled my subscription.

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No man ever said: "Damn, I wish I'd bought a smaller safe!"

Frequently wrong, never in doubt!

SVT is as good a rifle as any that has seen combat...how many other rifles have served with 3 different, variously opposing armies in the same war? SVT demise was due mostly to the collapse of the Soviet infrastructure, followed by a change in philosophy about rifles in combat...not any shortcomings of the rifle itself. The lower-powered hi-cap rifle was the wave of the future. Never heard of any "wandering front sight issues". Excess muzzle blast being a detriment in combat...gimme a break! (reminds me of the Garand en-bloc clip "ping") The rifle is a tad long and ungainly...I'll admit, but relatively light weight. While the stock is not the most rugged....I doubt it would ever fail from the loads imposed by firing the weapon...more likely to fail from rough handling. Also bear in mind that Russia's capability to produce consistent, reliable, quality ammo during WW2 was also questionable.

The barrel is too thin and warps when hot. The front sight is held in place by a key way that is attached the the barrel. The POI wanders when the barrel is very hot.
As the gas gets dirty it would be opened to a larger gas port. This will cause the rim to be pulled off. A common problem with this rifle. Not what you want to happen in combat.
Russia still wanted a full power rifle to be used that was semi-auto/full auto to replace the SVY-40.
They knew the Kurtz round the Germans used was ideal for street fighting. But a long range rifle was still needed. The rifle that followed was and still is one of the best semi-auto rifles made. The modified SKS type action was used for the Dragunov SVD rifle. A far superior rifle in all respects.
The SVT-40 filled a need in it's day.A stop-gap weapon that served well even with it's problems.

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Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club '70-72
GMCM(SW) USN 68-89
1776-2012 USA RIP
President NM MILSURPS

Now would you take a PSL-54 to war? How would it rate against a SVT?

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"Mongo only pawn in game of life."

I agree with Rob's comments, I've seen the same issue with mine, wandering zero when hot, etc. I think they are neat, but it would not be my go-to battle rifle.

Frank

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"If it's wierd, old and rusty it's probably something I need"

Vintage Military Match results and info at: www.tcgc.org/burkes_blog

Barrel on the Dragunov no heavier than Tokarev barrel...and Garand barrel no heavier either, for that matter...just hidden under some wood. Muzzle extension is threaded...the key is just an additional retainer...it doesn't loosen. Adjustable gas has nothing to do with rifle being dirty...just clean the thing !! Adjustment is what allows rifle to function from 70 degrees f to -40 degrees. SVT easily the equal of any contemporary rifle ...Garand, G-43. Sure, the Dragunov is an improvement, but it doesn't diminish the Tokarev.