The SVD (áÃÂÃÂ; ), GRAU index 6V1, is a semi-automatic designated marksman rifle/sniper rifle chambered in the 7.62ÃÂ54mmR cartridge, developed in the Soviet Union.
The SVD was designed to serve in a squad support role to provide precise long-range engagement capabilities to ordinary troops following the Warsaw Pact adoption of the 7.62ÃÂ39mm intermediate cartridge and assault rifles as standard infantry weapon systems. At the time, NATO used battle rifles chambered for the 7.62ÃÂ51mm NATO fully powered cartridge as standard infantry weapon systems and had not yet adopted an intermediate cartridge and assault rifle of their own, allowing them to outrange their Warsaw Pact counterparts.
The SVD was developed through 1958âÂÂ1963 and selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing groups of designers, led by Sergei Simonov (prototype rejected in April 1960), Aleksandr Konstantinov, and Yevgeny Dragunov. Extensive field testing of the rifles conducted in a wide range of environmental conditions (Konstantinov's competing 2B-W-10 prototype was simpler and cheaper but less accurate, durable and reliable) resulted in Dragunov's proposal chambered for the 7.62ÃÂ54mmR fully powered cartridge being accepted into service in July 1963. An initial pre-production batch consisting of 200 rifles was assembled for evaluation purposes, and from 1964 serial production was carried out by Izhmash, later called Kalashnikov Concern.
Since then, the SVD has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact. China produced a copy of the SVD through reverse-engineered samples captured during the Sino-Vietnamese War as the Type 79 and 85. Iran also produced a clone, the Nakhjir 3, which was a direct copy of the Chinese Type 79.
In Russian service, the SVD is to be replaced with the Chukavin SVCh sniper/designated marksman rifle. In February 2023, it was reported that the Chukavin SVCh began to be mass-produced by Kalashnikov Concern. When chambered for the 7.62ÃÂ54mmR, the Chukavin SVCh uses SVD compatible box magazines.
In Ukrainian service, the SVD was largely replaced in the sniping role with Western sniper rifles chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum or 7.62ÃÂ51mm NATO cartridges and anti-materiel rifles such as the Barrett M107A1. The domestically produced UAR-10 sniper rifle is also replacing the SVD in Ukrainian military and law enforcement units. According to McNab, the SVD remains in service with Ukrainian forces in the designated marksman rifle role.
The SVD bears a number of cosmetic similarities to the AK family of rifles but these similarities are for the purpose of standardizing manual of arms. This has occasionally led to misidentification of the SVD as an AK variant, and vice versa.
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 hammer-type striking mechanism and a manual lever safety selector. In addition to the trigger disconnect, the fire control mechanism has a second disconnector which does not allow the hammer to fall until the bolt has been closed, similar to a sear in a select-fire weapon. However, the SVD was only designed for semi-automatic fire. The firing pin in the SVD is not retained, i.e. "free-floating", and it is therefore possible for accidental discharge to occur as the bolt pushes an unfired cartridge into the chamber, should there be an obstruction in the firing pin channel resulting from poor maintenance or extreme cold.
The firearm is operated by a short-stroke gas piston system with a two-position gas regulator. The gas regulator can be set with the help of the rim of a cartridge. Position #1 leaves a gas escape port opened, whereas position #2 closes the gas escape port and directs extra gas to the piston, increasing the recoil velocity of the gas-piston system and is used for resolving reliability issues, which arise from fouling in the gas port/action, extreme cold, high altitude, or using under-powered ammunition.
The rifle is fed from a detachable curved box magazine with a 10-round capacity and the cartridges are double-stacked in a staggered zigzag 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's receiver is machined to improve precision by adding torsional strength.
The barrel profile is relatively thin to save weight. Its bore is chrome-lined for increased corrosion resistance and features four right-hand grooves. Originally, the twist rate was 320 mm (1:12.6 in), as it had been designed for use with heavier civilian ammunition. In 1975 the twist rate was increased to the standard 240 mm (1:9.4 in), which reduced the precision with the 7N1 sniper cartridge by 19% but allowed for the use of standard "light" ball steel core LPS Gzh (57-N-323S), as well as its variations (incendiary, tracer, armour-piercing) with acceptable precision. The front part of the barrel features the front sight assembly and a bayonet lug. The muzzle is equipped with a permanently affixed long-slotted flash hider.
In order to pass inspections at the factory, these rifles must not produce more than a 0.7 MOA median deviation from the expected point of impact in three 10-shot groups using 7N1 (approximately 3 MOA).
To enable the SVD's desired precision, new 7.62ÃÂ54mmR "sniper" ammunition, designated 7N1, was designed by V. M. Sabelnikov, P. P. Sazonov and V. M. Dvorianinov in 1966 to meet the new standards. 7N1 sniper cartridges should not produce more than 1.24 MOA extreme vertical spread with 240 mm twist rate barrels and no more than 1.04 MOA extreme vertical spread with 320 mm twist rate barrels in a 5-shot group. The precision requirements demanded of the SVD with 7N1 is similar to the American M24 Sniper Weapon System with M118SB cartridges (1.18 MOA extreme vertical spread) and the M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System with M118LR ammunition (1.27 MOA extreme vertical spread).
7N1 differed from the standard LPS Gzh (57-N-323S) cartridge in its use of finely extruded propellant and a modified projectile containing a void inside of the jacket at the tip which improved terminal ballistics and a bimetal lead and mild steel core. With standard 57-N-323S cartridges, the precision of the SVD is reduced to 2.21 MOA extreme vertical spread. This ammunition was later replaced by 7N14 in 1999, which replaced the mild steel penetrator with a hardened steel penetrator in response to the development of infantry body armour.
The rifle features adjustable iron sights with a sliding tangent rear sight, graduated from in increments. The iron sights can be used with or without the standard-issue optical sight in place. This is possible because the scope mount does not block the area between the front and rear sights.
The SVD was originally issued with a detachable PSO-1 optical sight (later upgraded and semi-issued as the PSO-1M2), which mounts to a Warsaw Pact rail on the left side of the receiver. The PSO-1 elevation turret features bullet drop compensation (BDC) in or increments for engaging point and area targets at ranges from up to . At longer distances, the shooter must use the chevrons that would shift the trajectory by per each chevron. The BDC feature must be tuned at the factory for the particular ballistic trajectory of a particular combination of rifle and cartridge at a predefined air density. With increasing range, inevitable BDC-induced errors will occur when the environmental and meteorological circumstances deviate from the predefined circumstances for which the BDC was calibrated. Marksmen can be trained to understand the main forces acting on the projectile and their effect on their particular gun and ammunition, and the effects of external factors at longer ranges to counter these errors. The PSO-1 sight enables area targets to be engaged at ranges upwards of ; effective ranges in combat situations have been stated at between , depending on the nature of the target (point or area target) quality of ammunition and skill of the shooter.
Several military issue alternative telescopic sights with varying levels of magnification and reticles are available for the SVD. Rifles designated SVDN come equipped with a night sight, such as the NSP-3, NSPU, PGN-1, NSPUM or the Polish passive PCS-5. Rifles designated SVDN-1 can use the passive night sight NSPU-3 (1PN51) and rifles designated SVDN2 can use the passive night sight NSPUM (1PN58).
Commercial non military issue mounts that attach to the Warsaw Pact rail mount can allow use of Picatinny rail-mounted optics.
The original SVD had a birch plywood laminate two-piece handguard/gas tube cover and a skeletonized thumbhole stock equipped with a detachable cheek rest; the latter is removed when using iron sights. Beginning in the 80's, wooden parts were replaced with synthetic parts made of a black polymer â the handguard and gas tube cover are more or less identical in appearance, while the thumbhole stock is of a different shape.
A number of accessories are issued with the rifle, including a blade-type bayonet (AKM clipped point or the AK-74 spear point bayonet), four spare magazines, a leather or nylon sling, magazine pouch, cleaning kit and an accessory/maintenance kit for the telescopic sight.
Also included is a cold weather battery case with a "shirt clip", with a permanently attached cord [approximately 24" long] ending with another battery case cap that has an extension to press against the internal contact in lieu of the battery to complete the circuit. Placing the external battery case into the shooters' clothing close to the body keeps it from freezing; using the clip ensures it remains in place.
The clamp-style bipod attaches to machined-out reliefs near the front of the receiver, it literally grabs the two cut out areas and securely mounts with a large round sized head on the clamp bolt able to tightly attach the bipod. The legs are individually adjustable [as opposed to fixed length found on many rifles and LMGs] and can be folded and stowed in a forward position negating the need to remove the bipod before placing the rifle into the canvas carrying case. The two legs are held close together with a J-shaped clamp attached to one leg and swung over the other leg. Original Soviet/Russian SVD bipods fetch a very high price when they rarely appear on the market.
The SVD was used by designated marksmen designated in the Soviet Army as snipers at the basic motorized infantry rifle platoon level. For this purpose, the rifle was designed to be much lighter than more conventional precision rifles, making it better suited for use by infantry, and the rifle is autoloading in order to prioritize volume of fire over precision. It was thought that a relatively small number of marksmen armed with 7.62ÃÂ54mmR fully powered cartridge chambered arms could assist conventional troops armed with 7.62ÃÂ39mm intermediate cartridge chambered arms by suppressing/harassing valuable targets and assets (such as officers, radio operators, vehicle crews, other marksmen, machine gun teams, anti-tank warfare teams, etc.) with greater precision and at much greater ranges.
Once the rifle had been produced in sufficient numbers, every Warsaw Pact infantry platoon included at least one SVD-equipped marksman. In the German Democratic Republic arsenals, there were almost 1,750. The marksmen were often chosen from personnel who displayed exceptional rifle marksmanship while members of DOSAAF. Such marksmen were estimated to have a 50% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at , and an 80% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at . To attain this level of accuracy, the sniper could not engage more than two such targets per minute. For distances not exceeding , the probability was estimated to be well above 90% regardless of the time taken.