SVT 40 A special one of mine.

[james@mosinguy.com]

I purchased this SVT 40 at an online auction for $800 in 2012. I think it was a fair price considering the condition of it. It is a 1940 Tula. The Tula Armory is in my opinion the superior manufacturer of Russian military firearms. I have Mosins and AKs as well as the SVT and I just like the Tula better and, it has a slightly better value than the Izhevsks.

The stock had a couple of pits on the fore end which had been filled with some kind of putty that did not work well. The metal fore end pieces were badly rusted and worn. The front muzzle/flash hider and sight piece was missing and it did not have a cleaning rod. The bolt was stained or otherwise splotchy discolored (it was not the traditional plumb color). And last, but not least, the rear stock sling swivel was/is missing.

I purchased new metal fore end pieces and muzzle end with sight and six slot flash hider from Numrich. I had the bolt polished by Max Shepard who did an excellent job. Max specializes in Mosin Nagant bolt work. Then I cleaned out the pits in the stock and filled and finished them with real wood filler. I mixed stain to match the stock. I used steel wool over the stock to get a smooth surface without damaging the originality of it. Finally I put on several coats of Formby's Tung oil. Unfortunately I used the high gloss which looks very good except, for the purist, it looks refinished.

In any event, I am proud of this rifle and especially like the way it shoots. The 7.62X54R is a really powerful round equivalent to the 30 06. I have a Garand which for shooting I like only marginally better because of the lesser recoil I attribute to the heaver overall weight of the Garand.

http://www.mosinguy.com/svt-40_click.htm

PS - If anybody comes across a rear sling swivel for the SVT I would appreciate the information... ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ