The SVD (Russian: Снайперская винтовка Драгунова, Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova, lit. "Dragunov sniper rifle") is a 7.62 mm semi-automatic sniper rifle, developed in the former Soviet Union.
It was selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing designs: the first was a rifle (known as the SSV-58) designed by Sergei Simonov, the second (prototype designated 2B-W10) – by Alexander Konstantinov, and the third rifle, the SVD-137, was a design by Evgeny Dragunov. Extensive testing of the rifles in variable environmental conditions resulted in E. F. Dragunov’s design being accepted into service in 1963. At the same time an initial pre-production batch of 200 rifles was assembled, and from 1964 serial production was carried out at Izhmash.
Since then, the SVD has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact, among them Poland (since 1966) where it's called the SWD. Licensed production of the rifle was established in China (Type 79 and Type 85) and Iran (as a direct copy of the Chinese Type-79).
It was selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing designs: the first was a rifle (known as the SSV-58) designed by Sergei Simonov, the second (prototype designated 2B-W10) – by Alexander Konstantinov, and the third rifle, the SVD-137, was a design by Evgeny Dragunov. Extensive testing of the rifles in variable environmental conditions resulted in E. F. Dragunov’s design being accepted into service in 1963. At the same time an initial pre-production batch of 200 rifles was assembled, and from 1964 serial production was carried out at Izhmash.
Since then, the SVD has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact, among them Poland (since 1966) where it's called the SWD. Licensed production of the rifle was established in China (Type 79 and Type 85) and Iran (as a direct copy of the Chinese Type-79).
Design details
The SVD is a semi-automatic gas-operated rifle with a short-stroke gas-piston system. The barrel breech is locked through a rotating bolt (left rotation) and uses three locking lugs to engage corresponding locking recesses in the barrel extension. The rifle has a manual, two-position gas regulator. The weapon is fed from a curved box magazine with a 10-round capacity and the cartridges are double-stacked in a checker pattern. After discharging the last cartridge from the magazine, the bolt carrier and bolt are held back on a bolt catch that is released by pulling the cocking handle to the rear. The rifle has a hammer-type striking mechanism and a manual lever safety selector. The rifle's receiver is machined to provide additional accuracy and torsional strength. The SVD receiver bears a number of similarities to the AK action, such as the large dust cover, iron sights and lever safety selector, but these similarities are primarily cosmetic in nature.
The SVD is a semi-automatic gas-operated rifle with a short-stroke gas-piston system. The barrel breech is locked through a rotating bolt (left rotation) and uses three locking lugs to engage corresponding locking recesses in the barrel extension. The rifle has a manual, two-position gas regulator. The weapon is fed from a curved box magazine with a 10-round capacity and the cartridges are double-stacked in a checker pattern. After discharging the last cartridge from the magazine, the bolt carrier and bolt are held back on a bolt catch that is released by pulling the cocking handle to the rear. The rifle has a hammer-type striking mechanism and a manual lever safety selector. The rifle's receiver is machined to provide additional accuracy and torsional strength. The SVD receiver bears a number of similarities to the AK action, such as the large dust cover, iron sights and lever safety selector, but these similarities are primarily cosmetic in nature.
The SVD's barrel is ended with a slotted flash suppressor. The barrel’s bore is chrome-lined[1] for increased corrosion resistance, and has 4 right-hand grooves with a 320 mm (1:12.6 in) twist rate. The barrel is not rifled throughout its entire length; only 547 mm (21.5 in) contains lands and grooves. Later the twist rate was tightened to 240 mm (1:9.4 in) which slightly deteriorates the accuracy of fire with regular cartridges and reduces the muzzle velocity to 810 m/s (2,657.5 ft/s). This was done in order to facilitate the use of tracer and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition. These special bullet types required a shorter twist rate for adequate stabilization.[2]
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