Tokarev tried to design a self-loading carbine on the basis of a rifle. Its trials began in January 1940 along with the Simonov carbine. But both samples were recognized as unfinished. So, Tokarev's carbine turned out to have too poor accuracy when conducting automatic fire. Therefore, his automatic carbines were not officially in service with the Red Army, but in 1940-1941. they were produced at the Tula Arms Plant No. 314, where several hundred such carbines were manufactured. In 1941, a small batch of both automatic and self-loading sniper carbines was made as a gift. Well, and they were presented to both party leaders and marshals, for example, the same K. E. Voroshilov. They were produced until 1943, and the self-loading version was even adopted by the German Wehrmacht under the designation SiGewehr 259/2 (r). That is, they were by no means a rare trophy! The Finns in the Winter War fell into the hands of 4000 SVT-38 rifles and also 15 thousand SVT-40 at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, so they also used it very widely. Moreover, not only during the war years, but also after it until 1958. But the most interesting thing is that later they sold 7,500 SVT-40 rifles in the USA to the Interarmz company, which threw them into the civilian weapons market. In the West, it is noted that the rifle is in demand even today. At the same time, such points as the low price of the cartridge 7, 62 × 54 mm R, which allows not to save on ammunition, the aesthetic appearance (!), The glorious historical past (!!) and "pleasant shooting characteristics" (! !!). All that remains is to exclaim, oh yes we are, we made this rifle!
SVT-40 at the Army Museum in Stockholm.
It is known that the circumstances in the first months of the war developed in such a way that at that time most of the rank and file of the Red Army, who knew how to competently operate the SVT, died or were taken prisoner. While the majority of the newly recruited reservists of older ages did not understand either the device of this rifle, or the need for careful maintenance and compliance with all the rules of its operation. That is why the Tokarev rifle has earned the reputation of a capricious weapon sensitive to cold and pollution in the Red Army. And nevertheless, in many units of the Red Army that had good training, and, above all, in the marines, the successful use of SVT was noted until the very end of the war. In the troops of our opponents, SVT, unfortunately, was also used more competently, which made it possible in some way to smooth out its design flaws.
SVT-40. The safety lever behind the trigger is clearly visible.
The bolt carrier and the bolt box cover with the slot for the clip from the "three-line".
Another factor that caused shortcomings in the operation of the SVT-40 rifle were small gunpowder supplied from the United States under Lend-Lease, which had additives that helped to store cartridges for a long time and protected the barrel from corrosion. However, these additives caused increased carbon formation in the rifle's vent mechanism, which required particularly frequent cleaning.
Sniper rifles: SVT-40 and "three-line" М1891 / 30. Right view.
Another reason why Tokarev's rifle, as they say, “didn’t work,” is its technological complexity. That is, to put it simply, it was difficult and expensive for the domestic industry to produce it. The production of six SVT-40s was comparable in labor intensity to 10 Mosin rifles, which was a very important circumstance in the conditions of total war and the mass conscription of people into the army. A significant drawback was that the SVT-38 required 143 parts (including 22 springs), for the manufacture of which 12 steel grades were needed (of which two were special). Therefore, the military leadership of the country relied on simpler and cheaper, as well as well-mastered in production, magazine rifles with manual reloading, but the task of getting powerful automatic fire was assigned to submachine guns with their simplest automatic equipment, cheap and not demanding to care for. Tokarev's rifle required good handling, which was not impossible to achieve in conditions of mass conscription. However, in all Soviet sources, including the work of D. N. Bolotin, it was noted that in the hands of well-trained snipers and marines, she showed good fighting qualities. It is noted that the SVT-40 was somewhat lighter than the American Garand rifle, had a more capacious magazine, but, however, was inferior to it in reliability. In general, she was … more modern than her American "partner", which perfectly characterizes the high quality of the Russian weapons school.
Rifle by John Garand (Army Museum, Stockholm)
The SVT-40 sniper modification was used by many wonderful snipers of the Great Patriotic War, among them Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Ivan Sidorenko, Nikolai Ilyin, Pyotr Goncharov, Afanasy Gordienko, Tuleugali Abdybekov and many others.
Sniper rifles: SVT-40 and "three-line" М1891 / 30. Left view.
The design of the SVT-40 is based on the principle of exhausting gases from the bore with a short stroke of the gas piston. Locking was carried out by tilting the shutter in the vertical plane. USM rifle - trigger. The fuse is designed in such a way that it blocks the trigger. The rifle has a detachable magazine, for 10 rounds, with a two-row arrangement. Moreover, the store could be equipped without separating it from the rifle, using ordinary clips for the Mosin rifle. Since it used powerful rifle cartridges, the designer provided a gas brake on the barrel, and also equipped it with a gas regulator, which made it possible to change the amount of gases discharged when fired from the barrel. The sighting devices are ordinary, the front sight is covered with a front sight. For bayonet combat, the rifle was equipped with a bladed bayonet-knife, but it adjoined it only when necessary, and it was fired without a bayonet.
Assembly diagram of SVT-40.
A trained shooter, having pre-prepared magazines with him, could fire up to 25 rounds per minute, and when replenishing the magazine from clips - up to 20 rounds per minute. According to the state number 04 / 400-416 of April 5, 1941, the rifle division of the Red Army was supposed to have 3307 SVT-40 rifles and 6992 rifles and carbines with manual reloading. In the rifle company, respectively, 96 and 27, and in the squad it was necessary to have only eight pieces of self-loading rifles.
Muzzle brake, front sight with front sight, ramrod and gas vent mechanism.
A sling swivel for a belt and numerous holes to facilitate the rifle as a whole.
In 1941, it was planned to produce 1.8 million SVTs, and in 1942 already 2 million. However, by the beginning of the war, only the western military districts received the regular number of SVT-40s. Interestingly, the Germans immediately noted the superiority of the Soviet troops in automatic weapons. In particular, the commander of the 2nd Tank Army, General G. Guderian, in his report on the hostilities on the Eastern Front, on November 7, 1941, wrote: "Her [Soviet infantry] armament is lower than the German one, with the exception of the automatic rifle."
Calculation with MG-34 and … SVT-40 rifle (Bundesarchiv)
Polish soldiers of the Anders army on the territory of the USSR in 1942.
Interestingly, both in the United States and in Western Europe, after the end of World War II, the idea of a self-loading rifle chambered for a powerful rifle cartridge continued to dominate for a long time, until the mid-1960s. And rifles similar to the Soviet pre-war ABC and SVT, such as the M14, BM 59, G3, FN FAL, L1A1, have been in service for many years and are still in service, although they are in secondary roles.
But the marines to fight the SVT was … "normal"!
TTX. The SVT-38 self-loading rifle had a weight with a bayonet and a magazine of 4, 9 kg (0.6 kg more than the weight of the SVT-40, and had a heavier bayonet, a stock and a number of other small parts. The length of a rifle with a bayonet of 1560 mm was also more the total length of the SVT-40 was 85 mm due to the longer bayonet. The muzzle velocity of the bullet was 830 m / s (840 m / s), the aiming range was 1500 m, and the maximum range of the bullet could reach 3200 m.
But the American "guards" even got to the Greek guards, who parade in their unusual form near the parliament building …
The SVT-40 sniper rifle had a higher quality of the barrel bore processing and a removable bracket for the PU telescopic sight. A total of 48,992 such rifles were produced. The AVT-40 modification did not differ in weight or size from the SVT-40, but it had a fire translator, the role of which in these rifles was played by the fuse box. In this case, in addition to two positions ("fuse on" and "fire"), he could also occupy the third, which gave the rifle the ability to fire in bursts. However, the duration of such a fire should not have exceeded 30 shots, that is, only three magazines in a row, since otherwise the barrel would become excessively hot.
