Among the huge number of firearms used by the Soviet soldiers in the 1941-1945 war, not one evokes as many versatile reviews as the SVT-40 (sniper rifle). Experts and the military considered it not too successful, so the release of the rifle soon stopped.
The development of such weapons occurred in the war years, when, for the sake of quantitative indicators, the manifestation of quality decreased. There is an opinion of experts that if it were not for the war, then the rifle could be constructed without flaws, especially since many of those who used the weapon respond positively about it.
Rifle description
For a short stroke of the gas piston, powder gas is used, discharged from the barrel channel. A regulator is installed in the chamber to change the amount of exhaust gases, which affects the use of the rifle in different circumstances and allows you to change the conditions for the use of different types of cartridges.
The piston transfers the movement to the shutter, and the spring returns it. The stem channel is locked with a shutter that warps in a vertical plane. In the barrel box there is another spring, which serves to return the shutter on the frame to the opposite position. The rifle’s bed is composite; the trigger is pulled by the trigger. The trigger is locked by a fuse.
Work in battle
The store is charged without removing the clips from the rifle. The sight is carried out by a front sight and a namushnik. The SVT-40 sniper rifle with a PU optical sight has a brake in the barrel muzzle. The later modification has a muzzle mechanism similar to the AVT-40, and a bayonet-knife, which in appearance resembles a blade for carrying in special sheaths on a waist belt.
If shooting is carried out from a prone position, then the weapon is supported by the left hand and is located on the palm in front of the store. The use of a rifle from a sitting position, standing and from a knee involves holding the weapon by the store. A well-trained shooter fires about 25 shots per minute if the store is pre-filled. If you make filling the store with two clips, then the number of shots is reduced to 20 per minute.
Muffler
The SVT-40 sniper rifle with a silencer is being tested at a training ground in the spring of 1941. The device is designed only for bullets with supersonic speed, and for rifle ammunition with a reduced speed, it does not fit. This design of the silencer does not change the speed and combat accuracy given to the bullet, but the sound from the shot is almost not extinguished, and the flash brightness remains the same.
Gases from gunpowder after a shot do not come out of the barrel, but are delayed by a silencer, which leads to the fact that when the shutter is opened, an arrow is struck in the face with a dense stream. The silent rifle device was damaged during testing and its design was no longer being finalized.
Characteristics of a self-loading rifle
During the Finnish-Soviet war in 1939-1940, the SVT-40 sniper rifle was first used. Characteristics and technical indicators:
- rifle caliber - 7.62;
- 3.8 kg weapon weight without bayonet and ammunition;
- cartridge caliber - 7.62x54 mm;
- rifle length - 1 m 23 cm;
- standard rate of fire - from 20 to 25 rounds per minute;
- initial bullet speed - 829 meters per second;
- Sight range - up to 1.5 km;
- the store holds 10 ammunition.
History of creation
The desire to turn conventional weapons into an automatic analogue leads to the fact that Fedor Tokarev begins to produce the SVT-38 rifle, which during the war with the Finns undergoes a harsh test school. Use in combat conditions allows you to identify all the shortcomings of weapons. This is a lot of weight, failures in operation, susceptibility to pollution and low air temperature readings, as well as the need for constant use of lubricant.
The designer is tasked with making a lighter rifle and reducing dimensions, while increasing reliability and durability. Gunsmiths do not reduce the linear magnitude of parts, which can lead to disturbances in the operation of automation. They go through the manufacture of finer parts, reduce the length of the bayonet, and the store, casing and forend undergo design changes. The SVT-40 sniper rifle appears. The photo below conveys design changes.
In 1940, a self-loading rifle entered service with the army. The product received the required characteristics, low weight, but the production of parts is carried out at the utmost level, rifle parts are sensitive to manufacturing accuracy and compliance with technological rules. The weapon requires complex maintenance, which in combat conditions is not always provided.
Sniper rifle
Tokarev sniper rifle SVT-40 increases production only with the outbreak of war in 1940. About a million rifles were made during this period. Attempts are being made to equip the weapon with a sniper scope, but to create effective accuracy of fire, you need to change the design, so in wartime designers refuse such an idea, and the rifle is made according to the old model.
Automatic weapons
In 1942, the automatic model SVT-40 was produced. The sniper rifle now fires automatically. But Tokarev’s weapons are not designed for such a load. Self-loading rifles can not stand the test in battle, due to the discovery of a number of shortcomings, production is reduced. In January 1945, the Defense Committee decided to withdraw from production SVT-40.
Designer Tokarev is working to create an automatic carbine based on the SVT-40. The 1940 model sniper rifle is converted into a carbine, the main function of which is single fire. An automatic carbine retains all the flaws of a rifle. Reports from the front indicate that soldiers are not willing to use weapons due to insecurity, complexity of the structure, and lack of accuracy.
Positive Weapon Features
Despite the unflattering reviews of the SVT-40, the sniper rifle has several advantages. The lightweight design made it possible to maneuver around the battlefield and during marching throws. The sniper rifle differs from its ancestor SVT-40 with a 3.5-fold PU sight, which has a small weight (only 270 g). Mounting the sight allows you to fire at a range of up to 600 m.
The achievement of self-loading weapons is an increased rate of fire compared to the Mosin rifle. Ease of use allows you to get recoil in the shoulder when firing, and not catch the tossing barrel.
Disadvantages of a self-loading rifle
The SVT-40 sniper rifle does not have much use in the army because of the complexity of the design, which creates difficulties for manufacturing in production and during operation in combat conditions. The requirement of continuous technical maintenance cannot be fulfilled in conditions of mass conscription in war time. The disadvantages include an incomplete gas supply control system and the possibility of losing a removable magazine, and an inconvenient design contributes to pollution and dusting.
The desire to reduce weight leads to the fact that there are failures in the operation of automatic mechanisms SVT-40. The sniper rifle retains its dimensions, but the weight is reduced due to the use of finer parts and an increase in the number of holes in the casing, which leads to additional pollution.
SVT-40 sniper rifle and its use
It is initially planned that a self-loading rifle will be the infantry’s main small arms and will greatly increase the power of aimed fire. The state is supposed to have several thousand such weapons in each division, and the ratio of rifles with a self-loading mechanism and non-automatic devices was supposed to be brought to a ratio of 1: 2.
By the beginning of summer 1941, about one million SVT-40 weapons were being manufactured. Sniper rifle reviews of hunters received not only positive. Most of the weapons were concentrated in the western districts of the border zone. Simultaneously with these rifles are produced American M1 Garand, which are equal in functionality to the Soviet instance.
German gunsmiths used captured samples of Soviet rifles, put them into service with the army, since they did not have such products. The middle of World War II was marked by the fact that the Germans were developing and producing a rifle, the details of which resemble the SVT-40. In the Soviet Union, the production of self-loading rifles is reduced, and soon it completely stops. The complexity of production, a large number of structural parts make manufacturing expensive and unpromising. The rifle of 143 elements contains 22 springs. In the manufacture of units, several types of special steels are used.
