I also own an SVT-40, bought it back in 2006. It is now my favourite among the guns that I own. I posted several videos with it here on TH-cam. Greetings from Ukraine.
My father served in WW2..He was always very respectful of the great courage and inner strength of the Soviet Army and the Russian people. As a child, my brothers and I were forbidden to watch the American television series, Hogan's Heroes because my dad considered it sacrilege to make humor out of the plight of POW'S. This was in the late 1960's.
Yeah. 99% of Allied soldiers survived in German POW camps. There are plenty of English soldiers' testimonies of the more than fair treatment they received whilst in German POW camps. Too bad more is shown in documentaries of the Rhineland Meadows "Camp" for the surrendered German soldiers that were intentionally starved to death by the war criminal Eisenhower.
@@marcogram1216 Have a source on that 99%? Because actual, fact based stats show 1/5 American POW's died in camp compared to about 1/15 German POW's. Americans weren't in charge of all allied POW camps, very few in actuality. We cannot be blamed for what the French, Soviets, and Brits did to their POWs. At the end of the day it still pales in comparison to the atrocities committed by the Nazi's. You could take all the war crimes committed by the Allied forces and still be at less than 1% of the atrocities the Nazi's and their allies carried out.
@@DigitalRX2r Simple. Go to the British soldiers' interviews in Dresden. Oh yeah, allied pows did die alright, especially after being firebombed. Those "factbased" numbers are in Other Loses. It more than DOCUMENTS the Rhineland Meadows camps AFTER the war. Why do you think when those sorry ass crews bombing civilians parachuted out wounded members? They knew the Germans would take care of the wounded. Allied propaganda is still strong to this day. Simple fact is the US had zero business in either WW1 or 2. Also, Google or the like, is the last place to look for 'facts'. It's so controlled now that its all but useless for non-pc information.
The SKS and the FN FAL owes its design to this rifle.Like some guys have posted here,i wish they had more SVT 40s here in the US but they have more collectors in the US than soldiers in the Russian Army.
Nice video. It's actually rather refreshing to see someone with a critical eye towards the SVT-40 rifle and to go into detail about Soviet infantry tactics and it's pre-war history.
This man is a real wise man. You sir just earned 1 more sub. I highly agree with you that the power of the Red Army didnt come from their great number but the tactics and the weapons they used, not to mention they were fearless (almost suicidal) soldiers. Same with the VietCong, they didnt fight for communisism, but for motherland and family. I hate when people on the internet talk bullshit like "VietCongs=idiotic communists and meatshields". Do not believe this. Like the Red Army, the NVA and VietCong were fierce fighters with effective tactics, and they fought for their homeland, not for communism (they didnt even know what communism was). The only reason the lost millions souls was that they had far inferior weaponry compared to the US army (with the respective exception of the glorious AK47s).
On my SVT I could remover the whole piston to clean it. It had also lineair grooves in the barrel on the spot of the neck of the case to prevent lock up when very hot.
I have 5 of them, including and orig sniper model, and absolutely love the SVT40. MUCH better than given credit for, as you know! Do you mean removing the piston and inner gas check? I see what you mean that he did not remove the gas port assembly, prob due to time. I always take mine all the way down to clean them. Some of the old ammo gets things pretty fouled. I see SO many guys NOT adjusting the gas for the ammo they are shooting them complain it is not reliable when just adjusting the gas would do it fine. If you open it all the way it will fire just about ANYTHING! Mine also ALL seem to group better than that BUT I do free float the barrel with cork which makes a HUGE difference. The snipers did that also in the field. Great post my friend! Take care!
The SVT40 is a seriously underrated weapon. It gave the germans food for thought and it encouraged them to make their own semi-auto rifles. They even copied the SVT40's gas system for the Gewehr 43.
I have purchased a SVT40 The person I purchased it from thought it was an SKS i did not know what a svt40 was at the time. I do now. It is a fine Weapon 1 of my prized in my collection Amminition is Inexpensive and when I am at the range the range officer calls ceasefire he thinks I am shooting something much larger. Then the 762x54 great channel brother I have been a subscriber for silver years now I really enjoy your channel
Köszönöm szépen! Very well done with full respect to our History and with the balanced level of details and fun - would like to be in your shoes shooting zombies...Missed this channel when used to live in Hungary.
A great video and deeply appreciated. I owned a Finnish Rework many decades ago and loved it and all I had to fire in it was dirty surplus ammo. It was totally reliable for me in limited shooting. This video reflects my impression also. What I really like about capandball's videos is that he does not get caught up in repeating secondary history and has a great perspective. Thank you and Happy Victory Day! Al USA
I always enjoy a bit of history with a review of an antique rifle. Thank you for the video. I learned something new today. And I do wish to learn more. You sir have earned yourself a new subscriber today. Have great day. From a fan across the Atlantic.
Thanks for the excellent video on the SVT. Your issue with the firing pin getting stuck in forward position and prematurely striking the primer on the cartridge reminds me of the 'slam fire' issue with the SKS. Slam fire is a safety hazard though i have never heard of an SKS blowing up from it. It happens when bolt has not been disassembled and cleaned and dirt causes firing pin to get stuck in forward causing rifle to fire when charged. SKS has free floating firing pin vs SVT which has a spring but perhaps both weapons could experience same failure. Was your failure on your SVT a result of dirt in bolt around firing pin? Thanks again for your video.
The safety made me laugh - typical Russian design: while other guns have complex internal mechanisms and the like - the Russians just have a block for the trigger. Typical Russian common sense.
Whenthe French MAS 36 was made available for sald in Australia, a similar idea was used to fit a safdty catch. I wonder if that idea was copied from the Russians.
I find it ironic that Stalin believed in modern warfare to be dominated by automatic weapons while Hitler proudly said that a soldier only needed bolt action rifles. But then again we all know who won the war.
Richard Roberson actually, no. The Germans and axis power military outnumbered the Soviet army up till late 1942/early 1943. Only then did the Soviets mobilize enough troops to the battlefield. Germany lost the war in mid 1942. The story you heard about the overwhelming number for the most part shows how good are the deceptions the red army are putting out. As the Germans couldn't predict the direction of the attack and always got caught off guard leading to local units being significantly outnumbered and destroyed one after another. The Soviets rarely have more than a 1.5 time advantage in number all the way up to 1945.
The parity between the axis and the soviets on the eastern front wasn't big till late 1944, when all the axis offensive operations had utterly failed due to multiple factors
When you are really pressed to fight a war as massive as World War one or World War 2 every weapon becomes paramount not only in terms of quantity but also quality. Bolt actions worked well in certain conditions and should have been retained until automatic rifle, assault rifle, and semi automatic rifle production ramped up in great numbers. The Soviets and Warsaw Pact nations understood this even after the end of the 2nd World War and to this day old wartime reserves still exist. Hitler did not undergo such measures until it was too late. Certainly they deployed newer arms but it wasn't enough to make up for both the numbers and quality the Soviets and Allies sent off to war. In World War 1's case it was matter of until bolt action, lever action, and other repeating arms could be fielded in sufficient numbers in both smokeless and black powder. Battlefield loses did make for havoc among many different militaries resulting in the redeployment of old single shot breech loading rifles, percussion cap muzzle loaders, and even some older flintlock rifles/muskets. Those same battlefield loses also resulted in the most modern redeployment of catapults.
A good explanation of Soviet Deep War theory, however, I would argue that the Germans merely invented a tactic, blitzkrieg, and lacked the operational awareness that the Soviets developed. The Germans tried to use that tactic to win wars with almost no thought given to strategic or operational consequences.
These are really nice rifles, and I had a fun day with a group several months ago plugging away at a gong. Only criticism I would have is that the muzzle brake (at least the style on the rifle I shot) really pushes a lot of the shockwave backwards. It's not a big deal for the shooter, because it's also directed off to the sides, but if you're shooting in a group and have friends spectating behind and to the sides of you, the rifle is ridiculously loud for them. In my shooting group we were only comfortable when wearing ear plugs under our earmuffs. Still tons of fun though.
I "Happened" into 1942 dated SVT-40 from my gun dealer friend. He took several things in on trade and told me about the SVT-40. I had never heard of it at that time. I went to his shop to look at. I cleaned the barrel, which was a little dirty. Someone had also tried to mount a scope on it as there are three small, evenly spaced holes, drilled & tapped at the rear of the left side of the reciever. Looked like maybe for some kind of rail/Weaver mount, but the stock, where the holes are drilled, has been trimmed to accomodate a Mosin Nagant PU type side mount. I got what I considered a good deal, so I acquired the rifle. Shoots well. Am glad I have it.
The SVT was originally envisioned to be a semi-auto sniper rifle. Some of the earlier ones still have the artifacts of this purpose. Lucky you! That's a piece of history!
I also have great respect for the men (and many women too) who served and fought in the Red Army. And according to the British military historian Antony Beevor, the average Tommy respected them too, while being well aware that if Soviets hadn't bleed so much, then it would have been the Western Allies who would have had to make as many sacrifices. And Max Hastings thinks no other nation other than Russians could have pulled trough those hardships and still emerge victors.
Nice vid - i think this is the 3rd time viewing it. Are you in 🇭🇺 & can have such “tools?” I’m in the states & finally picking up my SVT next week. Very $$$…
One comment capandball. First a very great and informative video. You always continue to impress me. I am a retired Special Forces Weapons man and sniper among other qualifcations. However, I noticed that when you reassembled the rifle that you put the barrel band with the sling attachment on the same side of the rifle that the bolt carrier handle is on. Yet in your photos of shooting and and holding the rifle show the barrel band and sling attachment is on the opposite side of the rifle than the bolt carrier charging handle. The bolt carrier charging handle would tend to dig into the soldiers back if the forward sling attachment was on the same side as the bolt carrier charging handle. A great video in any case. Just an observation about the sling attachment. However anyone could make that mistake, and it certainely doesn't effect the operation of ther rifle.
Great video! Even though the SVT-40's magazine is readily detachable, were additional magazines issued with the rifle to facilitate fast reloads? Or was the situation more similar to the SMLE rifles where the magazine was really just intended to be removed for cleaning, and reloading was usually done via the stripper clips? I'd really love to own an SVT-40, but they are both uncommon and rather expensive in the US. It's a bummer, because 7.62x54r is quite cheap and plentiful, especially for a full size rifle cartridge, and it would be great to have more semi-auto rifles that chambered it.
+tristikov It was possible to exchange magazines, but due to training, soldiers reloaded weapon in classical manner using strip clips. Also magazines were too expensive to provide greater quantity to the soldiers. We are talking about mass infantry attacks.
Yikes, the floating firing pin of the SKS that I used to have always worried me since it was tapered, going into the firing pin hole, and hence could get jammed in there, causing slam fires. I purchased a spring loaded firing pin that was always held back by the spring, worked great! Good fix. I wonder if the same could be done for the SVT40? Oh never mind, you said it broke, and it looks like it already has a spring.
Great video. These guns are rare and expensive in the States. $1200 to $1600 from what I have seen. However, the ammo is very cheap. I would recommend a M1 Garand. As always, great info.
It's very easy to check the firing pin before you take it to the range as well. Just remove the bolt, push the firing pin in, and slide then cross pin out to remove the spring and the firing pin for examination.
the photo of Finnish war - soldier carry AVS -36, not SVT-38. AVS can be easily recognised by a very large muzzle brake and a longer than svt`s magazine
Having own a few Russian weapons, I would not use the word CRUDE, The pressure on the Russians was they excepted good enough as a pass.Your stripping of the SVT-40 shows why the Female Snipers using the SVT-40 were successful. The SVT-40 is complicated and requires a consistent and delicate touch to optimize it performance. I have had my hand on one in the late 1960's in Toronto. There is no question the rifle had a lot of potential but in field use it did not stand up to the average Russian soldier and his environment. Like the Canadian Ross Rifle it really required more care and cleaning.
. 5:17 I noticed your rear sight picture is adjusted up quite a bit. It should be all the way down because your shooting only around 50 yards and the first notch is for 100 yards. From what I see, it looks like your rear sight is adjusted and set to 500 yards currently. I have mine beside me and my sight picture is at 500 yards to equal what yours looks like. (That’s how I’m able to tell your at 500 yards on the rear sight)
What metal treatment process gives that purplish color seen on this rifle's bolt carrier? I have seen it before on other Eastern Bloc firearms and always liked the look of it. Is it a type of bluing done with a different chemical agent?
I had one, 1941 tula i belief, and the recoil on these rifles are unbelievable soft for such a high powered cartridge. gas settings can be changed what is a good idea. very interesting rifle.
Well now, this was a surprise. I like your videos a lot, your expertise of military tactics and weapons through history is amazing. Can't wait to see more!
That's very curious. On the 50m group and the 100m group there is first a round hole low and slightly left, then a couple of inches higher and a little more left a jagged hole, then less jagged a little higher, followed by round holes again lower and to the right, completing the group.
Lets not forget that there was some ammounts of AVS36 Simonov rifles in use as well on the field...There is unknown reason why SVT40 was chosen better than AVS36 Simonov design...After WW2 Simonov resume rsearch of better carabine for Soviet army,his success was SKS,it is SKS what outfitted SVT40 in Soviet/Russian army....SKS was somehow modified version of SVT40,have similar receiver and trigger mechanism and same tilting bolt mechanism...
I think that rifle needs to warm up before it fires accurately. Everything fits together a little tighter when it's hot. Might be worth checking out at least.
А про советских солдат зря. Они сражались не только за семьи и Родину, но и за коммунистический строй. Коммунисты не отсиживались в тылу, а сражались на фронтах, на передовой.
I read other comments. It does look similar to an AK or SKS. More primitive with more parts. It is pretty good engineering considering the U.S. Was using the M1Garand with the 10 round enblock clip that flies out to hit the ground and go ting..... I would want an ACT just as a collector piece. Wouldn't have to fire it. They being so expensive here and u don't want to just throw one in the trash.
I think svt40's are really nice looking rifles, and feel good in the hands. They're nice and slim, and pretty light. It's just too bad as you say they aren't as durable or bullet proof as some.
The gun comes apart the same way as an AK type rifle. That's interesting. It makes sense since alot of Russian soldiers who fought in world war two with the SVT40 would be familiar with field stripping the later AK47s. I don't understand why alot of semiautomatic rifles of this era only had one 10 round magazine and you had to still use striper clips to reload the gun. Why not 20 round magazines?
The Soviet Army developed excellent Self Propelled Guns using their T-70 tank chassis for the SU-76mm, the T-34 tank chassis for the SU-85mm and SU-100mm. The KV heavy tank chassis was used for the SU-122mm and SU-152mm guns. These along with the Pphs-41and ubquitous Soviet mortars helped win the Second World War for the Soviets. Tens of thousands of the SU-guns were produced to Soviet rifle divisions overcome Wehrmacht defensive positions with mobile firepower. The Soviets had one out of six men in their artillery and mortar units. One put of every four Soviet soldiers had a fully automatic weapon or semiautomatic SVT-40 rifle at the end of WW2. The Soviets organized artillery divisions putting hundreds of guns and katyusha rockets per kilometer on breakout fronts to pulverize German positions. These heavy artillery concentrations allowed tank and infantry teams would push deep into German positions. Tank rider battalions armed with the Ppsh-41 rode on tanks. These tank riders only dismounted right on top of Wehrmacht positions to engage Germans in close quarters battle.
It pretty much sucks here in the U.S. Alright. For some reason President Clinton met with the Russians and outright banned importation of this rifle in particular. So. What's in country before the ban is all we have. I guess he thought it was some kind of death weapon. Lol. Have never heard of a drive by shooting using an SVT. I have always wanted one but the price is as high as a nice Garand. In Canada they are plentiful and only 400 bucks or so. So much for a free country.
Stew Knoles not sure about that. Maybe regarding SVT's and SKS's we are. Regarding general freedom of choice/use of firearms we are lacking big time. SCAR, AK's, FAL's, G3's are all prohibited. AR's and handguns can only be used at a rifle range etc. I drool at the freedoms the US still has.
My goodness gracious. These people came up with what Nathan Bedford Forest did during the Civil war along with other. No doubt this combination of tactics has been around since the neolithic at least. People just keep forgetting them. If I understood you correctly the design is solid but the actual execution was lacking?
I'm glad that I found your channel. There's not any other channel that shows the intricacies of arms as detailed as yours, capandball. :D Keep it on. I'm sorry if I'm being rude, is it okay if you guys do a take on the Karabiner 98k? Are you guys gonna be doing that anytime soon? It's my favorite rifle in all of history and maybe you guys had already have tons of request about it :P I just want your opinion of it's recoil, efficiency, accuracy, comfort..etc, just to know if it's what it cut out to be. Thank you. Greets from Malaysia, I'm a history buff too :) PS. What does "capandball" means?, I'm quite curious :P do you these videos yourself or you have others to help and how do you get the guns to review them?
Edrane Granne Hi, the videos are made by me, sometimes a friend or my father helps holding the camera, but all editing and other staff is self made. I have axess to the predesessors of 98k as well, so I tink I can make a film about its history. Capandball is an alternative term for percussion muzzleloading guns. Cheers, c&B
@@vaninec Well, yes, well, yes .. Only we do not have such a quantity .. And in general, having a weapon is to have a lot of problems .. It's good to go to the shooting range, shoot and calm down .. but have it .. . Well, no really ..
Rimmed cartridges are such a pain in the ass to feed from stripper clips, but at least there's a few tricks to getting it done well. Still prefer rimless rounds and clips like for my M1917 Enfield rifle.
About like having a over gassed 30/06... but its similarity to being like the SKS is nice but they built an AK style platform that took the 762 by 54R I would still like to have one of those.... for me it isn't about the money it's about what the rifle can do and if it's an antique is such as that I was still shoot it... but I've been known to pay upwards two to three grand for a rifle especially for something like that....
Looks like the shooter and rifle in this vid is getting about 2-3MOA groupings. We're talking minute-of-man at roughly 500-600m perhaps, but the sights might have to be better zeroed for that. Well, not so much 'minute of man' as 'minute of upper body', so if you're aiming for the torso, you have pretty much the same chance of hitting the forehead as you do of hitting their 'little soldier'. Out to 800m+, that shooter and that rifle is probably lucky to get 3 hits out of 10 on a man sized target. Don't have any real numbers to support that theory, it's just guesstimation. I specify "that shooter and that rifle" because different shooters can change things quite a bit, just like different examples of the SVT-40 can produce better or possibly poorer results, depending on its condition and quality. Another aspect is ammunition; better ammo could help too, potentially. There's a lot of aspects that go into shooting a firearm accurately, this isn't an example of what every shooter can do with every SVT-40. Get someone like Mag30th and give him the best hand-picked SVT-40 you can possibly find, and he'll probably take it out to 800m, maybe even his trademark 1000yd (900m). Give someone like me an SVT-40, then whether it's an old junker or a prestine high quality original factory-produced WWII sniper variant, I'd probably be lucky to reach 500m with one in ten shots. I've only gotten to 300m so far, and i believe I need MUCH more practice before I can get past 400m, though I think as I am, if the target is big enough, I could manage 400m, though not with any amount of precision, and with limited consistency. Hopefully this comment doesn't seem like I'm taking a jab at the shooter, he seems to know what he's up to, just explaining to people who may be overly critical that there's a lot of variables in play when it comes to accuracy, and you cannot take one singular video then expect it to encompass the experiences of all shooters around the world with all SVT-40s ever fired. Happens too often... see one video of an AR-15 exploding or malfunctioning frequently, and AK fanboys think it's a dangerous and unreliable firearm. See one video of someone getting poor accuracy with an AK, and AR fanboys think the AK shoots minute-of-barn at 200m. See a Glock jamming, M1911 fanboys get up in arms. See an M1911 jam, and Glock fanboys start taunting. The internet is a cruel and biased world... some people even thing it's a series of tubes, but that's just stupid, I've seen vids where tubes bend. I say a volume of pipes would be far superior, I mean it's obvious, give me a minute, I'll find a vid where tubes are shown to be bad and that will prove that ALL tubes are junk! Edit: Hope the joke at the end was understood. Anyways, at 12:30, the person disassembling handles the gas piston cap, or at least that's what I'm going to call it. It should come off with ease. I've owned an SVT-40 since about 2011 or so, disassembled it many times. I actually find the M1 Rifle to be simpler to disassemble, but the SVT has many advantages of its own of course.
You can see this as the distant relative of the SKS and AK type rifles. Dust cover and exposed spring behind two piece bolt. I do not know why the barrel is so long in comparison to other autos of the time. Still in the Bolt Action mindset.
I also own an SVT-40, bought it back in 2006. It is now my favourite among the guns that I own. I posted several videos with it here on TH-cam. Greetings from Ukraine.
@America b
Hope you are doing well in these trying times. And your svt-40 will help you be safe.
OK you got me. I now must aquire one.
Using it well I suppose.
My father served in WW2..He was always very respectful of the great courage and inner strength of the Soviet Army and the Russian people. As a child, my brothers and I were forbidden to watch the American television series, Hogan's Heroes because my dad considered it sacrilege to make humor out of the plight of POW'S. This was in the late 1960's.
do you remember any stories that you could share?
Your father was good, wise man.
Yeah. 99% of Allied soldiers survived in German POW camps. There are plenty of English soldiers' testimonies of the more than fair treatment they received whilst in German POW camps. Too bad more is shown in documentaries of the Rhineland Meadows "Camp" for the surrendered German soldiers that were intentionally starved to death by the war criminal Eisenhower.
@@marcogram1216 Have a source on that 99%? Because actual, fact based stats show 1/5 American POW's died in camp compared to about 1/15 German POW's. Americans weren't in charge of all allied POW camps, very few in actuality. We cannot be blamed for what the French, Soviets, and Brits did to their POWs. At the end of the day it still pales in comparison to the atrocities committed by the Nazi's. You could take all the war crimes committed by the Allied forces and still be at less than 1% of the atrocities the Nazi's and their allies carried out.
@@DigitalRX2r Simple. Go to the British soldiers' interviews in Dresden. Oh yeah, allied pows did die alright, especially after being firebombed. Those "factbased" numbers are in Other Loses. It more than DOCUMENTS the Rhineland Meadows camps AFTER the war. Why do you think when those sorry ass crews bombing civilians parachuted out wounded members? They knew the Germans would take care of the wounded. Allied propaganda is still strong to this day. Simple fact is the US had zero business in either WW1 or 2. Also, Google or the like, is the last place to look for 'facts'. It's so controlled now that its all but useless for non-pc information.
The SKS and the FN FAL owes its design to this rifle.Like some guys have posted here,i wish they had more SVT 40s here in the US but they have more collectors in the US than soldiers in the Russian Army.
Well done, my friend. Great mix of history and shooting, as usual. Thanks.
britishmuzzleloaders wow you're here, great channel by the way.
Nice video. It's actually rather refreshing to see someone with a critical eye towards the SVT-40 rifle and to go into detail about Soviet infantry tactics and it's pre-war history.
I am fortunate enough to own an SVT40 and an American M1 Garand. Two great rifles from the greatest generation. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much for the documentary.
This man is a real wise man. You sir just earned 1 more sub. I highly agree with you that the power of the Red Army didnt come from their great number but the tactics and the weapons they used, not to mention they were fearless (almost suicidal) soldiers. Same with the VietCong, they didnt fight for communisism, but for motherland and family. I hate when people on the internet talk bullshit like "VietCongs=idiotic communists and meatshields". Do not believe this. Like the Red Army, the NVA and VietCong were fierce fighters with effective tactics, and they fought for their homeland, not for communism (they didnt even know what communism was). The only reason the lost millions souls was that they had far inferior weaponry compared to the US army (with the respective exception of the glorious AK47s).
On my SVT I could remover the whole piston to clean it.
It had also lineair grooves in the barrel on the spot of the neck of the case to prevent lock up when very hot.
I have 5 of them, including and orig sniper model, and absolutely love the SVT40. MUCH better than given credit for, as you know! Do you mean removing the piston and inner gas check? I see what you mean that he did not remove the gas port assembly, prob due to time. I always take mine all the way down to clean them. Some of the old ammo gets things pretty fouled. I see SO many guys NOT adjusting the gas for the ammo they are shooting them complain it is not reliable when just adjusting the gas would do it fine. If you open it all the way it will fire just about ANYTHING! Mine also ALL seem to group better than that BUT I do free float the barrel with cork which makes a HUGE difference. The snipers did that also in the field. Great post my friend! Take care!
The SVT40 is a seriously underrated weapon. It gave the germans food for thought and it encouraged them to make their own semi-auto rifles. They even copied the SVT40's gas system for the Gewehr 43.
+AldanFerrox Not only that, the gas system from the SVT 40 was later copied to make the so called,"not really original" the Sturmgewehr 44
+Ruben Nieto Aaaah, not really original, it was the first assault rifle in the world, but it's definetly not original(sarcasm).
and FN FAL.
I have purchased a SVT40 The person I purchased it from thought it was an SKS i did not know what a svt40 was at the time. I do now. It is a fine Weapon 1 of my prized in my collection Amminition is Inexpensive and when I am at the range the range officer calls ceasefire he thinks I am shooting something much larger. Then the 762x54 great channel brother I have been a subscriber for silver years now I really enjoy your channel
As usual, interesting and informative not only in respect of the rifle but also the background history.
Köszönöm szépen! Very well done with full respect to our History and with the balanced level of details and fun - would like to be in your shoes shooting zombies...Missed this channel when used to live in Hungary.
Love this video. Thank you for pointing out that most Russians fought for their motherland and not Stalin or communism .
very nice svt40 review sir.
Many thanks for good words for the Soviet soldiers
they were rapists and murderers!
You're thinking of Germans Petron
TheTriptamineDream the Germans didn't shoot their own men
@@angelzipp Oleg is from skandinavian Hélgi
@@petrondacus1671 dickhead
A great video and deeply appreciated. I owned a Finnish Rework many decades ago and loved it and all I had to fire in it was dirty surplus ammo. It was totally reliable for me in limited shooting. This video reflects my impression also. What I really like about capandball's videos is that he does not get caught up in repeating secondary history and has a great perspective.
Thank you and Happy Victory Day! Al USA
I always enjoy a bit of history with a review of an antique rifle. Thank you for the video. I learned something new today. And I do wish to learn more.
You sir have earned yourself a new subscriber today.
Have great day. From a fan across the Atlantic.
Great upload 👍 I use sv as my main weapon in world war hero's
Thanks for the excellent video on the SVT. Your issue with the firing pin getting stuck in forward position and prematurely striking the primer on the cartridge reminds me of the 'slam fire' issue with the SKS. Slam fire is a safety hazard though i have never heard of an SKS blowing up from it. It happens when bolt has not been disassembled and cleaned and dirt causes firing pin to get stuck in forward causing rifle to fire when charged. SKS has free floating firing pin vs SVT which has a spring but perhaps both weapons could experience same failure. Was your failure on your SVT a result of dirt in bolt around firing pin? Thanks again for your video.
The safety made me laugh - typical Russian design: while other guns have complex internal mechanisms and the like - the Russians just have a block for the trigger. Typical Russian common sense.
Whenthe French MAS 36 was made available for sald in Australia, a similar idea was used to fit a safdty catch. I wonder if that idea was copied from the Russians.
You safty is your head.
It's called K.I.S.S.
Keep,
It,
Simple,
Stupid,
Eh if it works, it works. No need to be fancy with something that can be simple.
@@LinkTheSamurai
Your the awnser to the question nobody asked.
Thank you from Arizona.. I manufactur small arms and have always been intrigued by the Russian approach.. It is nice to see videos such as yours.
I find it ironic that Stalin believed in modern warfare to be dominated by automatic weapons while Hitler proudly said that a soldier only needed bolt action rifles.
But then again we all know who won the war.
WW2 German infantry tactics were based around the light machine gun. The riflemen supported the machine gun rather then vice versa.
Richard Roberson actually, no. The Germans and axis power military outnumbered the Soviet army up till late 1942/early 1943. Only then did the Soviets mobilize enough troops to the battlefield. Germany lost the war in mid 1942.
The story you heard about the overwhelming number for the most part shows how good are the deceptions the red army are putting out. As the Germans couldn't predict the direction of the attack and always got caught off guard leading to local units being significantly outnumbered and destroyed one after another. The Soviets rarely have more than a 1.5 time advantage in number all the way up to 1945.
The parity between the axis and the soviets on the eastern front wasn't big till late 1944, when all the axis offensive operations had utterly failed due to multiple factors
@@richardroberson2564
Only 8 millions of them were soldiers...
Another 19 (!!!) million people died due nazi's ''OST plan''.
When you are really pressed to fight a war as massive as World War one or World War 2 every weapon becomes paramount not only in terms of quantity but also quality. Bolt actions worked well in certain conditions and should have been retained until automatic rifle, assault rifle, and semi automatic rifle production ramped up in great numbers. The Soviets and Warsaw Pact nations understood this even after the end of the 2nd World War and to this day old wartime reserves still exist. Hitler did not undergo such measures until it was too late. Certainly they deployed newer arms but it wasn't enough to make up for both the numbers and quality the Soviets and Allies sent off to war. In World War 1's case it was matter of until bolt action, lever action, and other repeating arms could be fielded in sufficient numbers in both smokeless and black powder. Battlefield loses did make for havoc among many different militaries resulting in the redeployment of old single shot breech loading rifles, percussion cap muzzle loaders, and even some older flintlock rifles/muskets. Those same battlefield loses also resulted in the most modern redeployment of catapults.
Greatings from Poland!
Lengyel Magyar két jó barát
Hans Poland&Hungary... fighthing the russians together since the middle ages
A good explanation of Soviet Deep War theory, however, I would argue that the Germans merely invented a tactic, blitzkrieg, and lacked the operational awareness that the Soviets developed. The Germans tried to use that tactic to win wars with almost no thought given to strategic or operational consequences.
*bewegungskrieg
These are really nice rifles, and I had a fun day with a group several months ago plugging away at a gong.
Only criticism I would have is that the muzzle brake (at least the style on the rifle I shot) really pushes a lot of the shockwave backwards. It's not a big deal for the shooter, because it's also directed off to the sides, but if you're shooting in a group and have friends spectating behind and to the sides of you, the rifle is ridiculously loud for them. In my shooting group we were only comfortable when wearing ear plugs under our earmuffs.
Still tons of fun though.
I "Happened" into 1942 dated SVT-40 from my gun dealer friend. He took several things in on trade and told me about the SVT-40. I had never heard of it at that time. I went to his shop to look at. I cleaned the barrel, which was a little dirty. Someone had also tried to mount a scope on it as there are three small, evenly spaced holes, drilled & tapped at the rear of the left side of the reciever. Looked like maybe for some kind of rail/Weaver mount, but the stock, where the holes are drilled, has been trimmed to accomodate a Mosin Nagant PU type side mount. I got what I considered a good deal, so I acquired the rifle. Shoots well. Am glad I have it.
jason60chev some of these were tapped for scopes for the soviets in ww2
The SVT was originally envisioned to be a semi-auto sniper rifle. Some of the earlier ones still have the artifacts of this purpose. Lucky you! That's a piece of history!
I also have great respect for the men (and many women too) who served and fought in the Red Army. And according to the British military historian Antony Beevor, the average Tommy respected them too, while being well aware that if Soviets hadn't bleed so much, then it would have been the Western Allies who would have had to make as many sacrifices.
And Max Hastings thinks no other nation other than Russians could have pulled trough those hardships and still emerge victors.
What a fantastic video :) Really excellent stuff.
Nice vid - i think this is the 3rd time viewing it. Are you in 🇭🇺 & can have such “tools?” I’m in the states & finally picking up my SVT next week. Very $$$…
Thanks for unbiased information. I am signing for your channel.
just fired my first SVT 40 sweet shooting piece
This guy knows his shit!
Roberto Castro 14:35 "clip"
One comment capandball. First a very great and informative video. You always continue to impress me. I am a retired Special Forces Weapons man and sniper among other qualifcations.
However, I noticed that when you reassembled the rifle that you put the barrel band with the sling attachment on the same side of the rifle that the bolt carrier handle is on. Yet in your photos of shooting and and holding the rifle show the barrel band and sling attachment is on the opposite side of the rifle than the bolt carrier charging handle. The bolt carrier charging handle would tend to dig into the soldiers back if the forward sling attachment was on the same side as the bolt carrier charging handle. A great video in any case. Just an observation about the sling attachment. However anyone could make that mistake, and it certainely doesn't effect the operation of ther rifle.
Great video! Even though the SVT-40's magazine is readily detachable, were additional magazines issued with the rifle to facilitate fast reloads? Or was the situation more similar to the SMLE rifles where the magazine was really just intended to be removed for cleaning, and reloading was usually done via the stripper clips?
I'd really love to own an SVT-40, but they are both uncommon and rather expensive in the US. It's a bummer, because 7.62x54r is quite cheap and plentiful, especially for a full size rifle cartridge, and it would be great to have more semi-auto rifles that chambered it.
Soldiers were issued only one magazine
+tristikov It was possible to exchange magazines, but due to training, soldiers reloaded weapon in classical manner using strip clips. Also magazines were too expensive to provide greater quantity to the soldiers. We are talking about mass infantry attacks.
Yikes, the floating firing pin of the SKS that I used to have always worried me since it was tapered, going into the firing pin hole, and hence could get jammed in there, causing slam fires. I purchased a spring loaded firing pin that was always held back by the spring, worked great! Good fix. I wonder if the same could be done for the SVT40? Oh never mind, you said it broke, and it looks like it already has a spring.
btw it also exists a full automatic version of SVT
its called the AVT and it sucked
I never thought I'd hear you of all people call a magazine a clip.
Great video besides that😅
Great video. These guns are rare and expensive in the States. $1200 to $1600 from what I have seen. However, the ammo is very cheap. I would recommend a M1 Garand. As always, great info.
I have a SVT-40 made by Tula in 1942, I bought it back in 1990, come with sling, bayonet, cleaning/tool kit, had a chance to buy the SVT-38
It's very easy to check the firing pin before you take it to the range as well. Just remove the bolt, push the firing pin in, and slide then cross pin out to remove the spring and the firing pin for examination.
Thank you for a very good brief on a historically significant rifle.
Best vid yet...Greetings from South Africa
Отличное видео, хорошая винтовка в руках специалиста
I've happily owned 3 of these rifles
the photo of Finnish war - soldier carry AVS -36, not SVT-38. AVS can be easily recognised by a very large muzzle brake and a longer than svt`s magazine
Excellent video! Nice comments! Many thanks.
Something about that vented sheet metal front end makes this rifle look so wicked cool.
Having own a few Russian weapons, I would not use the word CRUDE, The pressure on the Russians was they excepted good enough as a pass.Your stripping of the SVT-40 shows why the Female Snipers using the SVT-40 were successful. The SVT-40 is complicated and requires a consistent and delicate touch to optimize it performance. I have had my hand on one in the late 1960's in Toronto. There is no question the rifle had a lot of potential but in field use it did not stand up to the average Russian soldier and his environment. Like the Canadian Ross Rifle it really required more care and cleaning.
Very nice video as always. One question was that ammo loaded down? Normally when a 7.62x54r hits a water bottle they basically vaporize.
glockfan112 No, it is normal FMJ military target shooting ammo.
Well made vid, interesting and entertains. I always enjoy your videos and recommend them to others. !
cool! video!
btw budapest is really beautiful in the winter when the river freezes
. 5:17 I noticed your rear sight picture is adjusted up quite a bit. It should be all the way down because your shooting only around 50 yards and the first notch is for 100 yards. From what I see, it looks like your rear sight is adjusted and set to 500 yards currently. I have mine beside me and my sight picture is at 500 yards to equal what yours looks like. (That’s how I’m able to tell your at 500 yards on the rear sight)
What metal treatment process gives that purplish color seen on this rifle's bolt carrier? I have seen it before on other Eastern Bloc firearms and always liked the look of it. Is it a type of bluing done with a different chemical agent?
I googled it and someone said "They tried combining blueing and case hardening in a one-step process, and the parts came out looking plum"
Just found one if these for sale today. Loved it as Soon as I put my hands on it. You showcased this rifle well. Great video.
Wow! Great and objective presentation
You did an excellent job on that video
Very informative! I was always curious what role SVT40 played in infantry tactics. I enjoyed learning from this video.
I had one, 1941 tula i belief, and the recoil on these rifles are unbelievable soft for such a high powered cartridge. gas settings can be changed what is a good idea. very interesting rifle.
Excellent Video.........
Thanks for covering one of my all time favorite rifles. Great video as always.
Well now, this was a surprise. I like your videos a lot, your expertise of military tactics and weapons through history is amazing. Can't wait to see more!
That's very curious. On the 50m group and the 100m group there is first a round hole low and slightly left, then a couple of inches higher and a little more left a jagged hole, then less jagged a little higher, followed by round holes again lower and to the right, completing the group.
It's possible the barrel rifling is a bit worn down, and the rounds are keyholing slightly
Lets not forget that there was some ammounts of AVS36 Simonov rifles in use as well on the field...There is unknown reason why SVT40 was chosen better than AVS36 Simonov design...After WW2 Simonov resume rsearch of better carabine for Soviet army,his success was SKS,it is SKS what outfitted SVT40 in Soviet/Russian army....SKS was somehow modified version of SVT40,have similar receiver and trigger mechanism and same tilting bolt mechanism...
I would like to see pictures and more explanation of the gun that was destroyed in your out of battery discharge, please.
I think that rifle needs to warm up before it fires accurately. Everything fits together a little tighter when it's hot. Might be worth checking out at least.
It's nice to see you having a good time while telling us about this beautiful weapon.
А про советских солдат зря. Они сражались не только за семьи и Родину, но и за коммунистический строй. Коммунисты не отсиживались в тылу, а сражались на фронтах, на передовой.
The muzzle break reminds me of a Cutts Compensator, very popular in shotgun sports 50 years ago.
Or what it was originally designed for, the Thompson SMG more than 80 years ago. And ya I agree. Good observation.
18 moa accuracy is excellent if you use it as a concealed carry secondary pistol.
You forgot to show how with a cartridge tip in the hole in the back you release the trigger group form cleaning.
I read other comments. It does look similar to an AK or SKS. More primitive with more parts. It is pretty good engineering considering the U.S. Was using the M1Garand with the 10 round enblock clip that flies out to hit the ground and go ting.....
I would want an ACT just as a collector piece. Wouldn't have to fire it. They being so expensive here and u don't want to just throw one in the trash.
I think svt40's are really nice looking rifles, and feel good in the hands. They're nice and slim, and pretty light. It's just too bad as you say they aren't as durable or bullet proof as some.
Your channel is just fantastic, thank you for sharing these cool firearms and the history that they helped create with us!
very very good structured video.
thanks for the good video. absolutely awesome content!
Great video and very interesting history, Definitely one of the best videos i have seen on the SVT. Hope to visit your wonderful country someday!!
Excellent video and very informative.
Thank's for the video, I have enjoyed many so far. Please keep them coming.
The gun comes apart the same way as an AK type rifle. That's interesting. It makes sense since alot of Russian soldiers who fought in world war two with the SVT40 would be familiar with field stripping the later AK47s. I don't understand why alot of semiautomatic rifles of this era only had one 10 round magazine and you had to still use striper clips to reload the gun. Why not 20 round magazines?
The Soviet Army developed excellent Self Propelled Guns using their T-70 tank chassis for the SU-76mm, the T-34 tank chassis for the SU-85mm and SU-100mm. The KV heavy tank chassis was used for the SU-122mm and SU-152mm guns. These along with the Pphs-41and ubquitous Soviet mortars helped win the Second World War for the Soviets. Tens of thousands of the SU-guns were produced to Soviet rifle divisions overcome Wehrmacht defensive positions with mobile firepower. The Soviets had one out of six men in their artillery and mortar units. One put of every four Soviet soldiers had a fully automatic weapon or semiautomatic SVT-40 rifle at the end of WW2. The Soviets organized artillery divisions putting hundreds of guns and katyusha rockets per kilometer on breakout fronts to pulverize German positions. These heavy artillery concentrations allowed tank and infantry teams would push deep into German positions. Tank rider battalions armed with the Ppsh-41 rode on tanks. These tank riders only dismounted right on top of Wehrmacht positions to engage Germans in close quarters battle.
another fantastic video, keep up the good work :)
It pretty much sucks here in the U.S. Alright. For some reason President Clinton met with the Russians and outright banned importation of this rifle in particular. So. What's in country before the ban is all we have. I guess he thought it was some kind of death weapon. Lol. Have never heard of a drive by shooting using an SVT. I have always wanted one but the price is as high as a nice Garand. In Canada they are plentiful and only 400 bucks or so. So much for a free country.
+Stew Knoles is it even possible to get them in Canada? I mean even pepper sprays are kinda prohibited there
Not 100 Percent sure i have heard, as a collector that a canadian can purchase one for under 500 canadian
+StrikeFromTheSkies yes they are plentiful
Mr Jackson, your lucky.
Stew Knoles not sure about that. Maybe regarding SVT's and SKS's we are. Regarding general freedom of choice/use of firearms we are lacking big time. SCAR, AK's, FAL's, G3's are all prohibited. AR's and handguns can only be used at a rifle range etc. I drool at the freedoms the US still has.
Another excellent historical presentation. Bravo and thank you!
I got 2
Both working flawless
And if u use good not 70 years old gun machine ammo it shoot better that Any new semi automatic
My buddy has one of those..WWII relic..kicks like a mule for a gas operated weapon..but is dang accurate 👍👍
My goodness gracious. These people came up with what Nathan Bedford Forest did during the Civil war along with other. No doubt this combination of tactics has been around since the neolithic at least. People just keep forgetting them.
If I understood you correctly the design is solid but the actual execution was lacking?
I'm glad that I found your channel. There's not any other channel that shows the intricacies of arms as detailed as yours, capandball. :D Keep it on.
I'm sorry if I'm being rude, is it okay if you guys do a take on the Karabiner 98k? Are you guys gonna be doing that anytime soon? It's my favorite rifle in all of history and maybe you guys had already have tons of request about it :P I just want your opinion of it's recoil, efficiency, accuracy, comfort..etc, just to know if it's what it cut out to be. Thank you. Greets from Malaysia, I'm a history buff too :)
PS. What does "capandball" means?, I'm quite curious :P do you these videos yourself or you have others to help and how do you get the guns to review them?
Edrane Granne Hi, the videos are made by me, sometimes a friend or my father helps holding the camera, but all editing and other staff is self made. I have axess to the predesessors of 98k as well, so I tink I can make a film about its history. Capandball is an alternative term for percussion muzzleloading guns. Cheers, c&B
Oh "Cap & ball"... that makes sense xD I thought it meant something else.
Alright, thanks for your dedication :) will be waiting for more. Cheers.
Oh, I forgot to ask. How do you get access to your firearms as in where do you get it?
Edrane Granne THey belong to shooter/hunter friends on mine usually.
Oh okay :D
Fascinating little lecture and demonstration. Thank you.
I am interested in where in America so many old Soviet weapons, and even in such good condition?
From USSR
@@vaninec Well, yes, well, yes .. Only we do not have such a quantity .. And in general, having a weapon is to have a lot of problems .. It's good to go to the shooting range, shoot and calm down .. but have it .. . Well, no really ..
Very good. I always give a like when I learn something new and interesting. So here it is! Keep up the good work!
Rimmed cartridges are such a pain in the ass to feed from stripper clips, but at least there's a few tricks to getting it done well. Still prefer rimless rounds and clips like for my M1917 Enfield rifle.
It'd be nice if we could actually get these imported here in the U.S.
They were relatively plentiful in the 1990s (a buddy of mine had one), but they've long dried up here in the USA.
You didn't say about First Russian AR
Fedorov avtomat (1906) with Fedorov ammo 6,5x45
15:16 practice makes perfect my good sir.
About like having a over gassed 30/06... but its similarity to being like the SKS is nice but they built an AK style platform that took the 762 by 54R I would still like to have one of those.... for me it isn't about the money it's about what the rifle can do and if it's an antique is such as that I was still shoot it... but I've been known to pay upwards two to three grand for a rifle especially for something like that....
Where's the infantry tactics part? I only see army group tactics (at best).
Looks like the shooter and rifle in this vid is getting about 2-3MOA groupings. We're talking minute-of-man at roughly 500-600m perhaps, but the sights might have to be better zeroed for that. Well, not so much 'minute of man' as 'minute of upper body', so if you're aiming for the torso, you have pretty much the same chance of hitting the forehead as you do of hitting their 'little soldier'. Out to 800m+, that shooter and that rifle is probably lucky to get 3 hits out of 10 on a man sized target. Don't have any real numbers to support that theory, it's just guesstimation.
I specify "that shooter and that rifle" because different shooters can change things quite a bit, just like different examples of the SVT-40 can produce better or possibly poorer results, depending on its condition and quality. Another aspect is ammunition; better ammo could help too, potentially. There's a lot of aspects that go into shooting a firearm accurately, this isn't an example of what every shooter can do with every SVT-40. Get someone like Mag30th and give him the best hand-picked SVT-40 you can possibly find, and he'll probably take it out to 800m, maybe even his trademark 1000yd (900m). Give someone like me an SVT-40, then whether it's an old junker or a prestine high quality original factory-produced WWII sniper variant, I'd probably be lucky to reach 500m with one in ten shots. I've only gotten to 300m so far, and i believe I need MUCH more practice before I can get past 400m, though I think as I am, if the target is big enough, I could manage 400m, though not with any amount of precision, and with limited consistency.
Hopefully this comment doesn't seem like I'm taking a jab at the shooter, he seems to know what he's up to, just explaining to people who may be overly critical that there's a lot of variables in play when it comes to accuracy, and you cannot take one singular video then expect it to encompass the experiences of all shooters around the world with all SVT-40s ever fired. Happens too often... see one video of an AR-15 exploding or malfunctioning frequently, and AK fanboys think it's a dangerous and unreliable firearm. See one video of someone getting poor accuracy with an AK, and AR fanboys think the AK shoots minute-of-barn at 200m. See a Glock jamming, M1911 fanboys get up in arms. See an M1911 jam, and Glock fanboys start taunting. The internet is a cruel and biased world... some people even thing it's a series of tubes, but that's just stupid, I've seen vids where tubes bend. I say a volume of pipes would be far superior, I mean it's obvious, give me a minute, I'll find a vid where tubes are shown to be bad and that will prove that ALL tubes are junk!
Edit: Hope the joke at the end was understood. Anyways, at 12:30, the person disassembling handles the gas piston cap, or at least that's what I'm going to call it. It should come off with ease. I've owned an SVT-40 since about 2011 or so, disassembled it many times. I actually find the M1 Rifle to be simpler to disassemble, but the SVT has many advantages of its own of course.
You can see this as the distant relative of the SKS and AK type rifles. Dust cover and exposed spring behind two piece bolt. I do not know why the barrel is so long in comparison to other autos of the time. Still in the Bolt Action mindset.
Huh? SVT had 625mm barrel length, compared to the M1 Garand's 610mm.
There were also the theories of airpower alone. I don't suggest they were correct however they gained a lot of followings