SVD Dragunov: The First Purpose-Built DMR

[@witoldkujawski1717]

I shot this rifle in Polish Army and liked it a lot. As an interesting fact, back in 1990s Poland wanted to upgrade their SVDs and decided to give it a heavier barrel, a bipod and they also changed the scope from PSO-1 (4 times fixed magnification) to an LD-6 scope (6 times fixed magnification 6x42mm). The new rifle was called SWD-M in Poland and was MUCH more accurate with the right ammo. Only 158 of vthem were modernized, though, so they're pretty rare.

[@Autobotmatt428]

Thank for your service from America

[@armholeeio]

Sounds like a unicorn gun Ian needs to track down

[@gilleslandreville6792]

@@armholeeio my money is on fireplace guy having one lol

[@someguy2741]

@@gilleslandreville6792 When fireplace guy dies I hope he makes a deal with a museum to keep his stuff together.... like the 3 months of Borshards. That being said... having a couple of auctions are Morphys or RIA featuring "The Fireplace Guy Collection" would be cool. I hope Ian has a chance to really comb through the collection before that. Especially now since Ian has years and years more knowledge and experience... there might be some one-of-a-kind prototypes nobody knew about.

[@tylerwilliams6022]

​@@someguy2741What a joy it would be to have a piece from his collection. Only for it to turn to sadness when anyone you show it to doesn't know who "Fireplace Guy" is.

[@JohnSmith-x3y8h]

Let’s be honest here, the Dragunov has the coolest name.

[@mturzanski]

And it looks very nice, dunno if it was intended but it looks quite good

[@davido3842]

@JohnSmith-x3y8h Yeah Yevgeny Dragunov’s name is pretty cool.

[@ФилиппИчеткин]

Dr. Gun-ov

[@dennisyoung4631]

“Drag-you-OFF-enuff…” (joke)

[@alkanhel]

Dragoon actualy translates from russian and french as cavalry/mounted infantry. So even Dragunov name was war connected

[@sohrabroozbahani4700]

I was assigned squad leader and given an AKM, but i really wanted to shoot this thing, luckily the marksman in my squad was a dude near the end of his conscription and pretty lazy and reluctant for training back in the time, so every time we were going to the shooting range i would give him the option to let me shoot the gun if i was later cleaning it instead of him before returning it to the company armory 😅 I loved it, it behaves absolutely different from an AK, it pushes directly back, and when you shoot it in the mountain it echoes for few days before it quiets down, it's so easy to handle and when you receive the ammo unlike toy ammo 39, 54R actually feels like you have something that matters in your palm, this gun means business and she carries the archetypal lean mean russian shewolf look to it. They never trained me on it, i just took it and figured out how to disassemble and clean it and put it back together myself, it's a pretty easy gun, much like AK, unlike PKM or that monster DShKM that you can actually damage when trying to clean if you are not careful... And it's also pretty easy to shoot, after like 50 60 rounds i shot over the course of 8 months with it, we had a bunch of brass coming to visit our regiment and being 1st platoon, 1st company, 1st battalion in the regiment the task of showing off the skills we didn't have to the higher ups fell upon us, my new marksman was two weeks green and didn't even know how to elaborate on the parameters of SVD properly yet, my Lt and Cpt and of course our Col were scared shitless they were going to get shwacked for their incompetence in developing their troops combat skills, only few of us conscripts saved the day for them, including me, usually mocked as "The American Marine" in the battalion, i excused my marksman to the regimental infirmary and filled the shoes myself, took the gun to the field and gave it every sniper shenanigans I've had learned from movies over years of interest, SVD delivered me, you point it, you shoot, if you are not clueless, you will hit every mark up to 600, easily, i love this gun, it's a life saviour... and in combination of impressed brass, a generous regiment CP and few saved commander positions i was rewarded 21 days of leave that day... absolute blast...

[@rooknado]

How did you come to own the title of "The American Marine" in your battalion?

[@sohrabroozbahani4700]

​​@@rooknado the rather infamous four letter organisation i was levied into (no not the one with repeating letters, thanks the gods not that one at least) was the disciplinary polar opposite of a Roman legion, so when i was the only one who would dress well, practice well, know my shit and take my tasks seriously, in combination with a rather obvious unwelcomed leaniancy for American military outlook and a rare proper english knowledge... they just called me that, to make fun of me for swimming against the current, and also later interrogated me, for accusations of disloyalty and all that jazz...

[@mnxs]

​@@sohrabroozbahani4700lol! I guess you didn't get the memo that it's illegal to be competent in the Russian army. Good on you, mate. Hope the grief and interrogation BS was, ah, manageable.

[@tioseba7]

@@sohrabroozbahani4700 When your organization is so incompetent it interrogates you for being competent lmao

[@Hortifox_the_gardener]

@@sohrabroozbahani4700 - thanks for the elaboration. Could you perhaps tell a rough year? I can't figure out the historic context 😅

[@M4R4T1N4]

I had this during service. Cheek weld was phenomenal compared to a normal ak74. This cheek pillow looked like a piece of luxury in the military.

[@richardjames1812]

How was selection done for which man in the squad was issued this? Rifle qualification results? Any interesting training or operations things you can share? Like were the guy with the Dragunov supposed to look for officers, machine gunners, etc?

[@frank-mp3bq]

@@richardjames1812 As near as I can tell, the best shot in each squad got the rifle, the biggest got the machine gun.

[@Archangelm127]

@@frank-mp3bq Logical.

[@richardjames1812]

@@frank-mp3bq Thank you. So you must have qualified with with the AK, then they upgraded you to the SDV. Any interesting training stuff?

[@azeke8]

@@richardjames1812 The training really varied depending on location, the unit and the time period. In my case they were two static man sized targets at two unknown distances (150-250 and 300-400 m). You had to range the targets using the range finding grid the scope has and land 3 hits on each target within a certain time frame whilst using just one 10 round magazine.

[@andystegall7407]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Simonov and Dragunov were bros who helped each other instead of sabotaging each other?

[@davemccage7918]

True Comrades! Not the blue haired, beanie wearing, wannabe commies that have a panic attack when the barista at Starbucks “misgendered” them. That species is only endemic to the western world for some reason. 🤔

[@facehuggerhug]

that was communist (almost) country, what can you say ))

[@Dmitrisnikioff]

A thing impossible under capitalism and a fine example of why Communism is a superior system in so many ways.

[@andystegall7407]

@@Dmitrisnikioff Well except for all the people who denounced their friends and family out the to government, voluntarily.

[@andystegall7407]

@@facehuggerhug Yes, nobody can be friends under a capitalist society. Makes perfect sense.

[@truthboomertruthbomber5125]

When you first mentioned that Dragunov was a competitive match shooter I knew he would put in a good trigger

[@cobensalazar5492]

I can’t wait for Ian to document the OTs-13 SVU, the PSO scope, and all the variations of prototype SVD projects!

[@gehteuchnixan69]

now you're just listing my DayZ loadout

[@therideneverends1697]

get out of here stalker

[@slav4335]

speaking of the OTs designation group, when does ian magically get an OTs-28

[@Max_Da_G]

If he can be bothered to do so, and if money allows, he is welcome to organize a trip to Russia, look over Russian firearm museums (which have hundreds and thousands of items) and make as many videos as he wants.

[@abbybonilla4511]

@@Max_Da_G Larry Vickers managed to pull that out of his ass...

[@CyborgZeta]

As a fan of the SKS, I would love to see what Simonov's rifle in the competition looked like. That said, I love the Dragunov that won. The SVD has been a dream rifle of mine ever since I played MGS3 as a teenager.

[@Hellunkurest]

I'm still in a dream....SNAKE EATER. (Me too bud. I want one so bad.)

[@Андрюша-з2с]

Links are being removed. Paste into a search engine: Опытная снайперская винтовка Симонова СВС (СССР). On "VPK.name" - a photo. On "DogsWar" - an article with photos of all three rifles.

[@Anino_Makata]

A couple pictures were featured in the interview Ian did with Maxim Popenker on the history of the Dragunov. All three prototype rifles bore striking semblances amongst eachother. Simonov's rifle was really the only outlier in internal design.

[@benmiland5245]

​@@Anino_MakataDo you have a link to the video?

[@seeharvester]

@@Hellunkurest It's for sale right now. Current bid is $9500.

[@MadMosin9130]

7.62x54R life💥

[@Juel92]

Imo the wooden stock SVD is the sexiest rifle of all time.

[@FerdinandFake]

The sleek wood, long barrel and thick magazine really work well together

[@Anino_Makata]

​@@FerdinandFakeHenry Chan made a joke about it once, but he really wasn't kidding when he said SVD stood for "sexy, (but) very deadly."

[@molochi]

2nd for me, #1 being the WA-2000.

[@koenvangeleuken6544]

is it really wood? this one seems to have plastic furniture??

[@Anino_Makata]

@@koenvangeleuken6544 Its wood, just with a thick layer of laquer.

[@gringostarr69]

I was in special forces in finnish army many years ago. We had two dragunovs to play with at range. We shot those only at 300m (330yard) range but you could easily hit it to 300m on first shot without a spotter to 10cm area.

[@KonstantinKonev]

Maximum dispersion (according to official documents) is 8 cm at 100 meters. If it exceeds this, the rifle is withdrawn from service. On average, the dispersion is about 5 cm (2MOA). Thanks for your video!

[@Max_Da_G]

Which sight would that be with? Because if memory serves the requirements are different between using the optic and iron sights.

[@Dominic1962]

2 MOA is not bad at all. Not a hyper accuracy modern sniper rifle or precision shooting rifle but for what it’s intended role was that’s pretty good.

[@BC-wj8fx]

@@Dominic1962 Not bad for what, 3 shots or 100 shots? That test is something like 10 or 20 shots. When you factor this in, that it is a fairly large number of shots and not even one shot can exceed 2 MOA, it needs to be closer to a "1 MOA" rifle - i.e. what regular shooters would call a 1 MOA rifle based on 3-5 shot groups, most of the time. I often got 0.75 to 1.0 MOA with 3-shot groups. Any more shots heated the barrel too much and it began to walk. It would shoot dead on with a cold bore and predictably for the first 3 shots, which is ideal for a marksman.

[@Treblaine]

That makes sense, with CEP dispersion the circle where 99.8% of shots land is 50% wider than the circle where 94% of shots will land. And most of the dispersion will likely be vertical due to velocity variance. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, any range where this dispersion is a problem is such a range where errors other than dispersion will affect accuracy far more like: - range estimation errors - wind deflection - canting of the rifle - not accounting for shooting at an upward or downward angle These can be compensated for but generally you can't do this while advancing under fire as infantry tend to do. But I suppose it's better to have less dispersion which would add to all these problems but it's only going to make a difference up to a point.

[@termitreter6545]

No offense, but If I had two cents for every claim about soviet gear "according to official documents", I would be rich. So according to what documents? Dragunovs have been used in a variety of roles and designs, which probably had different design requirements. Its a pretty common understanding that the Drag in the original squad support role was not very accurate, didnt need to be (its not really like a DMR).

[@yanbaihuzxzxzx]

Bought a PSL when I thought the rifle was a SVD. The gun store sold me the rifle saying it was once. From then on I looked at ignorance as a choice and proceed to educate myself on guns from there after back in 2007 learned much from books and going to borders and Barnes and noble buying every book that had a gun on it. Now youtube has taken off and so many videos out there and Ian has been killing it ever since. Love the rifle

[@LD-Orbs]

Glad you got up to speed! The more knowledgable men out there, the better! 👨‍🎓

[@Anino_Makata]

The odds may be slim to none, but I hope you can find an honest to God SVD to take home, one day.

[@donwyoming1936]

You can get a Serbian copy from Zastava, the M91

[@prdubi]

My brother fell for it also but he became obsessed with accurizing it. He got rid of the front site and had a bunch of stuff done to the barrel including adding a harmonic balancer. He got rid of the gas block also and did a 90 degree gas block. Added a KNS piston and he can achieve 5 shots into 1.5 or less pretty well. The PSL is capable with time and money.

[@Anino_Makata]

@@prdubiHas he done anything with the stock's attachment point, though? The KNS piston would mitigate some of the issues, but PSLs are notorious for breaking at the rear trunnion due to poor design (instead of beefing up the rear trunnion to accomodate x54r recoil, the Romanians just riveted a pair of extension plates that would eventually shear off under factory gassing).

[@deaj8450]

Arguably the most beautiful gun of all time, it's just gorgeous.

[@srsmopar3808]

Looks butt-ugly to me.

[@deaj8450]

@srsmopar3808 Fair, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[@mzaite]

The SVD is just such a handsome rifle. It has such great lines and fantastic proportions. I know some of that causes compromises, but man, so pretty. It's easily the best looking soviet designed anything.

[@danielwordsworth1843]

Have a friend in Norway who is now an old man, but is a sport shooter his whole life he speaks very highly of his experience with the Dragunov

[@RobHardin-eu5vl]

During desert storm My brother got a hold of Dragunov Quickly learned how to disassemble it And reassemble it and learn how to shoot it. He said it was fun.

[@SamuelGeist]

I like that friendship and collaboration between Konstantinov and Dragunov, it shows that these designers were both invested in making the very best rifle for the Soviet state, regardless of who won the contract. Edit: If that serial number is in Cyrillic, then what looks like a Latin H is actually an N.

[@user-uq9se1nx9q]

Unlike capitalist world, they did not have to represent different companies and their investors' money. They just worked as designers, the only thing on the line for them was fame.

[@hoilst265]

I know this is far from a forgotten weapon, but jeez, it feels odd you've never done this before.

[@Anino_Makata]

Yeah, kinda like how Ian has yet to have done a dedicated video on the GIGN standard issue model of the Manhurin MR73 revolver. You'd think he'd be all over that, as its a French gun... but the only videos he's done about them are on the sniper variant and shooting the Beretta imports. None dedicated to the classic MR73.

[@hoilst265]

@@Anino_Makata Beretta sent him one. He's shot it on this channel.

[@Anino_Makata]

@@hoilst265 Yeah, but I mean a sit-down discussion on the MR73's mechanics and developmental history.

[@hoilst265]

​@@Anino_Makata OK. Ian has literally: * Toured Chapuis Armes, to see the MR73 being made * Done a fifteen-minute video on the MR73 sniper, which is absolutely mechanically identical to the stock MR73 * Shot a new MR73 * Actually interviewed Christian Prouteau, the founder of GIGN, and discussed the choosing and using the MR73 So...yeah. No idea why you're complaining.

[@Anino_Makata]

@@hoilst265 Yeah... at this point, I don't know either. I'm just being picky now...

[@45johngalt]

I love the design of the SVD!

[@LD-Orbs]

Who doesn't? 🤔

[@Max_Da_G]

@@LD-Orbs A huge amount of people, believe it or not. The typical patriotic and Russia-hating crowds for instance.

[@kixigvak]

In the wars generated by the breakup of Yugolsavia snipers used civilian hunting rifles. It was unusual to see a soldier or paramilitary with a Dragunov. The proximity to Austria meant high quality rifles were available. In Sarajevo snipers were making kills at 1200 mtrs. A Croatian soldier who'd done his service in the Yugoslav Army said "Here's how you select a Dragunov: you go to the armorer and get ten of them. You go to the range and test them. One should shoot close to minute of angle. You return the other nine to the armorer." I assume the Yugos made their own Dragunovs at Kragujevac but I have no actual information on that. In Mostar I saw a Bosnian soldier with a Winchester Mod 70, pre-64, in 30-06. On the stock was a brass plate commemorating the awarding of the rifle to a man with a Serbian name by the Chamber of Commerce of Butte Montana in 1954.

[@BoomerZ.artist]

Yugo didn't make them, they made the M76 which used an 8mm round. Just a scaled up AK.

[@greybone777]

Great story

[@zagrepcanin82]

nope...SVD was not manufactured in Yugoslavia. we had M-76...but i love SVD(special Dragunov`s rifle) that is what it stands for.

[@erichzahn3926]

This is an interesting story . What were you doing there ?

[@anonimus370]

@@zagrepcanin82 SVD stands for Sniper (V)Rifle (of) Dragunov. You're probably confusingly adding the special from VSS which is (V)Rifle Sniper special

[@vig237]

As a Russian gun enthusiast I like this guy's videos on Soviet/Russian weapons. They are quite accurate and professional. I can add that modern sniper ammo produced in Russia can get you to less than MOA with SVD). Actually I can easily get 1,5 MOA with Klimovsk standard ammo from my AK... 104)

[@serhatyalcin3595]

No matter what anyone says This is the most beautiful weapon in the world. If there was a beauty contest, Dragunov would be the winner.

[@tiagobelo4965]

in strong competition with the likes of the sig 550

[@Neotrunks1]

It's like the AK's hot, tall sister.

[@rohesilmnelohe]

I'd say PSG-1 beats it... but only just. They're both gorgeous

[@Mistah_Boombastic_BiggieCheese]

@@rohesilmneloheI say they’re both tied.

[@csl110]

It's wierd how everyone agrees or at least understands. I wonder why that is.

[@bubbabrown6917]

Beautiful freaking rifle

[@Goc4ever]

Finding a real military-grade Dragunov on the US market is no easy task, it was very kind of Morphy's to give you access to that one so that you could show it to us. This history of the Dragunov is very engaging and i really liked especially your summarization of the US' decision-making for standard ammunition.

[@verschollen1533]

They are definitely out there on the market, whether or not you have 30K+ for it is a different story. civilian tiger svd is around 18ish last i saw

[@LeeRenthlei]

Brandon Herrera said a Barrett 50 calibre rifle would be cheaper to buy than Dragunov. It might not always be true but it says alot about how expensive they are.

[@wilsonj4705]

Before the import ban held one in my hands at a gunshow that included a full crate of accessorizes for around $500. Still kicking myself in the arse for not buying it.

[@Kyle-si8yw]

Damn you could have a chunk of money if you had it now. Or you could be the envy of all the boys. I want a zastava m91. Its almost an svd. Probably better really.

[@AsbestosCigar]

500 bucks + box of attachments damn dude thats crazy. some times we all make stupid decisions we regret

[@wilsonj4705]

@@Kyle-si8yw Before the import of Vepr rifles was banned I picked up a long barrel version in an Ironwood SVD stock (which is no longer made because the guy making them died) and it's probably better in most ways than a real Drag except in weight due to it's heavier barrel. Paid around $1,300 which include the stock which was ~$400-$500 by itself at the time.

[@TheMrblackops1234567]

​@wilsonj4705 Vepr's are nice but I can guarantee you it's not as close performance wise to a dragunov as you might think. I have a saiga tigr and a Vepr 12 and I'm almost certain no vepr comes with a trigger as light and smooth as an SVD. Plus you're comparing a purpose built marksman rifle to a civilian mass produced "standard" ak style rifle.

[@wilsonj4705]

@@TheMrblackops1234567 Several video of people testing them and as far as accuracy they're pretty much the same.

[@DtWolfwood]

5:26 the man with the svd has a longer spear than his compatriots. Lucky guy.

[@JMFP01]

True, but if you have to do a bayonet charge with your Dragunov, things probably aren't going too well.

[@alnotz]

@@JMFP01 Fairly good in close combat like it's grandpa the SVT, during WW2. Once, i had to use semi auto iron sights... Well it was indeed a harsh situation. Good thing that overheat and accuracy was not an issue in that situation. Ammo was, however I had only two mags to fill

[@Azukaae]

About time Ian finally covered this beauty in its full glory

[@3starperfectdeer233]

Full glory? I didnt see him shoot it

[@coldwarrior78]

Thanks for this video and talking about the two different rifling rates. I shot an SVD extensively in the late 70s, a Vietnam bring back. Best groups I could get were about 5-5 1/2 inches for (I think) five shot groups. It was likely the first rifling rate. I have had arguments in the last several years with owners of civilian Dragunovs because apparently their rifles shoot better than my old military one. Anyway, thanks for clearing this up.

[@avionics21]

Hame an M44 mosin. Never had what I would call stellar accuracy. Bought 2 Spam cans of 7N1. I couldn't stop grinning!!! It had the tightest groups!!!

[@Chyrosran22]

This must be the first SVD I've seen on KZbin that's actually an SVD and not a Tigr or whatever xD . Great video, thanks!

[@bruhsecutor]

That gun is pretty enough to be called art.

[@RobHardin-eu5vl]

During desert storm, my brother had the ability to disassemble and reassemble and fire the Dragunov He said it was pretty fun to shoot.

[@la-zrider2749]

USSR: "Is the action a long stroke or a short stroke gas piston?" Dragunov: "It's a long short stroke gas piston." Edit: guys I know what is the difference between a long and a short stroke gas piston. It was just a joke to point out how long the system was, since the barrel is 24 inches long.

[@allthingsconsidered3211]

almost all "short" stoke gas pistons are like this

[@Anino_Makata]

​​​@@allthingsconsidered3211 Yeah, the "short" in short-stroke gas piston doesn't reference the length of the piston itself, but the length of travel that the piston moves to unlock the bolt assembly.

[@howardmaryon]

Alternative reply “yes”...

[@fragdude]

Short stroke pistons just give the bolt carrier a ‘bump’ to get them to cycle. They don’t travel the entire/same distance as the bolt carrier. I guess the other option would be something like having a gas tube from the gas block to where the piston is, but that would probably just be an extra part that would get hot and need cleaning + be hard to clean (less reciprocating mass if that is what you really want to reduce, I guess. Where the gas block is and the mass of the piston all factor into how the gun cycles).

[@Max_Da_G]

@@fragdude Interestingly enough, if you look at AKs, even their long-stroke pistons vent all of the gas after only a few centimeters of travel. After than the piston is nothing more than mass, adding to energy carried by the bolt carrier. Originally AK-46 prototype was a classic short-stroke design. But that failed reliability trials, and Kalashnikov with his team, to add mass without increasing the number of parts, simply combined the piston and bolt carrier into one on the AK-47 prototype.

[@Falckodotcom]

In 2001 I was in Hungary on a military exercise with the Dutch army and we met a Hungarian infantry squad with a Dragunov. We exchanged rifles (for a few minutes) and I got to say the rifle is really really cool!

[@solothurns]

Absolute dream gun. Its my number 1 want out of any other gun out there. So a beautiful gun and piece of history.

[@Dhaghologh]

Even without a scope, this rifle is probably the one that EVERY layman would recognize and say "Yeah, isn't that that sniper rifle?".

[@otsoollikainen3738]

13:01 If you look at the gas system adjuste, you can see the two teeth on the body of the adjuster. Those are meant to be used in conjunction with a 7.62x53R cartridge casing, making it easier to turn while hot or with your gloves on. Simply slide the rimmed end between the lugs and twist.

[@ДокторЯдо]

> Forgotten weapon > Dragunov Dad's weapon of choice in Afghanistan during the 80s. And a masterpiece of weaponcraft in general.

[@ecrogue4496]

Beautiful piece

[@mrdr9534]

Regardless of what YT's "rules" might have done to Your abilities to make Your videos the way "You really want to", I still appreciate the videos You release here tremendously. Best regards

[@alexisdufour9672]

Good evening Monsieur, I was surprised that you didn't mention the bipods that could be attached to it. In any case, keep up your videos, it’s pure pleasure!

[@nikitajukov4915]

Bipod was a fairly late born attachment, around middle 80s.

[@jeffreyoldham55]

Prekrasno! Fascinating weapon. Great video, Ian. Can't wait for part 2. Spacibo, tovarishch!

[@petesheppard1709]

It's always amusing when the actual accuracy of legendary military rifles gets discussed, compared with many peoples' assumptions--burst bubbles, anyone?? Your discussion of the Red Army's thinking regarding a DMR of heavier caliber than the standard weapons back in the '50s immediately made me think of the current US Army M7 rifle.

[@0Asterite0]

i get a little over 2 moa using 174gr smk in my svd. acceptance standards with russian ammo doesn't tell all, just like the 4 moa m4 acceptance standards would be bad by civilian standards

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

It's always interesting to hear the tales of what people claim they were able to do. My father claimed he used to shoot inch size groups at 200 yards using a mauser with iron sights. Yea, right. I've shoot those and getting a two inch size at 100 yards is very doable. One inch groups at 200 yards using military ball ammo? No not possible. Sure you might make one such group by luck but not consistently. Now there are people who just doesn't follow the common human standards for sight and stability. I remember seeing an article about sight and how about one woman in a million has markedly better sight than normal. This was tested by the reporter as they had a woman reading a newpaper at over a hundred yards. A normal human can't see the headlines, she read the articles. But even though some shooters might have that kind of eye sight it doesn't help when the rile isn't accurate enough to reliably do groups of less than half a mill. Add some wind and things get worse than that. Also the article mentioned that this particular impressive eyesight were only occurring among women, apparently depending on the chromosomes, so my father didn't have that ability. No he was pulling my leg, but as a kid I really wanted to match him and tried my best to shoot as well as he claimed to have done. And predictably I failed, even though my results were good enough to make others notice. I later learned I had been one of the best that year in the military, but I didn't even know they were taking numbers at that time. I just shot for fun and trying to match what my father had claimed. Haven't touchs a real gun after military service though.

[@BoomerZ.artist]

@@blahorgaslisk7763 The amount of people I have shot with that swear they are 1 moa shooters (or very specific like 1.25 moa shooter which I always found strange) then go to the range and they shoot 3 moa and are having "bad day" is funny.

[@0Asterite0]

@@blahorgaslisk7763 You know scopes exist right?

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

@@0Asterite0 Sure, but as a child you want to believe your dad when he says he could print inch size groups at 200 yards and unly using iron sights. Then you want to do the same or he beat you. So when I was 14 I really tried and apparently shoot real good. Good enough that one of the kids more into the competition started sending people to check me out. I didn't care as I couldn't beat what my father claimed he had ben able to do. It's just when you grow up you realize that what he claimed was impossible. Even with a gun on rails that would be close to impossible. But as a kid I really tried to do what was impossible and every time I failed was another thing that made me believe I was worse than my dad. I stopped shooting before they competition was finalized but I was told I had been in the top few while I still was shooting. Previously I had done something similar in school when I apparently had been in the lead shooting air rifle as a complementary activity. Then I got bored and stopped going there. Today I bet I would suck. My eyesight is bad and I tend to shake a lot when trying to hold still. But as good as I was I still won't claim one inch groups at 200 yards using iron sights. I was never that good, and I would love to be proven wrong when I say it's impossible to shoot consistent groups that size at open air shooting ranges.

[@lucholaz4656]

Coolest rifle ever, with the coolest name, and legendary specs

[@legionSR2]

I'm the happy owner of a Tigr which is the civilian version of the SVD with a different barrel twist rate that is optimized for hunting ammunition. After many trials I found that 180gr SP ammo is the sweet spot. It's crazy how ammunition can influence precision. I was getting 4" groups at 100m with 148gr FMJ surplus ammo, now down to 2,5" with the proper ammo.

[@scruffy2629]

Mine seems to love ppu 180 grn sp, I use it for hunting :)

[@greybone777]

They were designed for the 180 gr. This is very similar in ballistics to the 7.62x51 175 gr match HP used in the remington 700 by our military.

[@BC-wj8fx]

If you can, try Barnual 203gr. The twist is actually optimised for 200gr. I had nothing shoot anywhere as good as 203. I was getting 3 shots often at 1"and sometimes 0.75". Once had five touching.

[@scruffy2629]

@@BC-wj8fx IV got a bit of Barnaul 203gr, it loved it but it's become impossible to get here (NZ) since the sanctions, so I'm rationing it lol

[@vodnikdubs1724]

The fact it took Ian almost a decade to get around to the SVD is crazy, although I guess it makes sense seeing as these are the polar opposite of forgotten.

[@Verdha603]

It’s less forgotten and more difficult to find; not many legitimate SVD’s made it into the US before import bans squashed further imports. More Chinese NDM-86’s and Russian imported Tigr rifles exist in the US compared to legitimate SVD’s.

[@Mistah_Boombastic_BiggieCheese]

@@Verdha603I guess the Romanian PSL is more common because Romania is a NATO ally?

[@geodkyt]

Looking at this disassembly video and close ups, it *really* makes the PSL, M76, and M91 look like "the SDM we got from Wish or Temu".

[@jayshaft3179]

I interviewed a commander of a military sniper unit serving in Afghanistan from 2008-11 with 4 separate deployments. He showed me pictures of a cache of over 2000 of them in Helmand. He claims at one point they had captured or taken at least 10,000 in a year long deployment. He had a captured SVD from the original Soviet Afghan invasion. Still had a date and name gouged into the buttstock. Seems like there are a LOT of SVDs in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[@JeffBobb-yu5hd]

17:55 Honestly 30rds in 3.5in feels like a more substantive standard than a sub MOA 3rd 'group'. That doesn't make it more accurate, but those testing conditions require a lot more consistency on the part of the shooter, and involves a lot more thermal drift than a 3-4rd group. Also, the original 4x scope is fighting uphill compared to almost any modern rifle scope.

[@RiksGamingChannel]

"Dutch I know what I want for Christmas." - Revy from Black Lagoon

[@toothpickmuncher]

Ah I see, you are too a man of culture

[@RiksGamingChannel]

@toothpickmuncher yeah I'm rewatching it with my friends 2 episodes per Monday and that quote came to mind since we saw that episode last week lmao

[@renzo_kookin4208]

Such an amazing show

[@RiksGamingChannel]

@@renzo_kookin4208 ikr it slaps

[@ximthedespot4673]

​@toothpickmuncher Wish the Manga would get a new chapter.

[@someguy2741]

These and SVT-40 were common in Canada and were missed by the ban. Ironically they wanted to ban the SKS. This thing is dangerouser

[@rictusmetallicus]

Dangerous Dangerouser Dangerousest Is this how canadian english works?

[@someguy2741]

@@rictusmetallicus lol. Its a spectrum... like most people who try to ban them are on "the spectrum"

[@Max_Da_G]

I never understood how Canada classified different rifles to ban them.

[@mikenorthrop5815]

These are specifically banned as an "AK47 variant" and have been for decades, which is incredibly dumb. The svt40s have escaped unharmed (minus having their mags pinned to 5)

[@mikenorthrop5815]

@Max_Da_G basically what's "scary looking" or "evil", which I'm pretty sure is why they banned the AK rifles

[@crazycucumis]

I would be so hyped for another video with Max, about later versions.

[@FeatheredDino]

Ian! At 1:07, I want to annotate that they initially tried this with the SVT-38, the predecessor to the SVT-40.

[@DawidKov]

SVT-40 was not really so much a "predecessor" as an earlier model of the rifle - mechanically they're more or less the same. In Soviet nomenclature they weren't considered as separate entities, it was "Self-loading rifle of Tokarev, model of 1938 and 1940". And the SVT was preceded by the AVS, another creation of Simonov's, which wasn't very successful.

[@vaninec]

​@DawidKov Sure, it's SVD actually replaced SVT

[@iberiksoderblom]

In the 90's these where all over the former Yugoslavia, on all sides. Used it a handfull of times and it shoots really well.

[@albusplaustrum06]

I miss my NDM-86 from CDNN. Sold about 20 years ago and kicking myself with how much they are worth now. Had the bolt corrected with a Russia firing pin, proper length, spring loaded, 6 mags, X4 scope, and added the black polymer furniture. Wrapped the wood furniture in some plastic.

[@littleurnofarabia6458]

I worked with the Afghan National Army during one of my deployments over there. Had to train with their weapons before I left. AKs, PKMs, and a few other small arms. I hated all of them. Then my instructors brought out the Dragunov. After one shot I was in love. Smooth action. Almost no recoil. Lightweight. Man I miss that gun.

[@executivedirector7467]

I am curious why you didn't like the PKM?

[@littleurnofarabia6458]

@executivedirector7467 it always jammed after I loaded new rounds, no matter how I did it. It also felt kind of "flimsy" to me. When I fired it I felt like the whole thing was going to fall apart after a few seconds. This was a training weapon, though, so it saw a lot of use, which could've led to the problems I had.

[@executivedirector7467]

@@littleurnofarabia6458 Thanks. So you used a single example? I only fired one once, seemed great to me, but I also felt vaguely like "how can this be so slight?"

[@littleurnofarabia6458]

@@executivedirector7467 Yea, it's kind of cheating using only one example. And I do agree with you regarding recoil. It was way easier to control than the 240B and even the SAW.

[@seabob337]

@@littleurnofarabia6458 I was on a Mobile Training Team with the Iraqis in 2005 and yeah, their PKMs were generally pretty raggedy/plain not working.

[@a4channoob]

It's a rifle that a lot of people want despite its performance. Kinda like the M14, doesn't exactly perform as good as they should but alot of people still love

[@izoiva]

Fun fact. Soviets invented DMR as weapon class, but Russian and Soviet army never had marksman as role and Russian language don't have "marksman" as word. Russians calling marksmans army snipers.

[@humansvd3269]

The Russians consider it a sniper rifle. It's modeled after their experiences in ww2. It's just the west imposing their terms on Russia again.

[@humansvd3269]

And my comment is shadow banned.

[@MJA5]

In Spanish there exists the word for sharpshooter “francotirador” but sniper has been co-opted from English because modern culture.

[@mladenmatosevic4591]

I guess in draft army best shooters in squad would get Dragunov at end of basic training.

[@Timsturbs]

as one word no. pehotniy snaiper

[@nicklasveva]

DMRs have always been my favourite. High accuracy and high caliber in a versatile and sometimes compact package. SOCOM 16 and G3 for example.

[@pvtbadtouch6540]

The Soviet model of cooperative competition for gun design seems pretty good

[@mnk9073]

Turns out Communism produced some of the greatest products and procedures through cooperative competition.

[@James_Bee]

Well, there was "cooperation", but who's to say Dragunov didn't give good barrel info to his "friend" and that's why he ended up winning with the more "accurate" rifle! Anyway, tinfoil hat aside, communism didn't produce anything except hungry, overworked people and a lot of propaganda. Men with a passion for engineering and shooting made the Red Army good weapons. I mean, after all, the alternative was not ideal..

[@browncoat697]

Say what you will about how their weapons were ultimately manufactured, but the design process was clearly effective and produced plenty of weapons that were entirely capable against Western systems.

[@CRL_One]

Oh, don't be mistaken, Soviet military industries had their own share of political infighting and string puling as well.

[@gunzablazin01]

​@mnk9073 and also many of the worst, but hey, a broken clock is right twice a day.

[@Journeyman.71]

I remember the first time I heard of this rifle. Some time in the 80s, as a (pre?)teen, I was reading a comic book and someone (bad guy?) was depicted and described as using a Dragunov to significant effect. From then on, the "Dragunov sniper rifle" was embedded in my mind as the ultimate tool of super cool/scary snipers/assassins!

[@sodog44]

Somewhere out there, Brandon Herrera is drooling over this rifle.

[@brettclark8020]

Doesn't he have one already?

[@availxe8639]

@@brettclark8020 Its not a proper SVD, he put SVD original parts on a PSL rifle.

[@Pasimportantdutout]

@@brettclark8020I believe the one he owns is a copy from china

[@45johngalt]

​@@Pasimportantdutout It's still a VERY nice Chinese model though.

[@hoilst265]

Ah, Ol' Spitzer Nips himself.

[@Cedar77]

I will never forget the SVD. It's my favourite soviet rifle. Especially with the wooden furniture.

[@CyberChrist]

I love the ergonomics of the SVU bullpup version ^^

[@laboratoryrack6488]

Great video. Can't wait for the OTs-03 SVU one...😁

[@rustyshackleford9017]

I shot svd's in the Army a few times. we screwed the pso on and got hits at 800m without sighting it in. I love this combloc gun ❤

[@LEXxTALIONS]

Awesome video like always (looks like a cliché) but is true. I love your videos and the explanation you ( Dr. Ian) give it's amazing. And this video it's even better because I own a SVD👌👍

[@kilroywuzhere1]

Ian absolutely killing it recently with the videos.

[@gabrielchavarria22]

I'd love to see you cover the Molot Vepr also chambered in 762x54r. It came out in the nineties and I feel like it's definitely forgotten.

[@Nicholas-t3d]

By far, my favorite rifle. It may not be super powerful like a .50 or super high tech like many of the long-range target rifles, but it's just so raw and interactive. The sound of an SVD gives me goosebumps.

[@KurtCHose-uw2ux]

13:25 the cyrillic „H“ is actually an latin „N“

[@rossdiggle]

Was about to say the same

[@cinaralin]

Possibly the coolest weapon ever made IMO. I know it mostly from ARMA where it was probably realistically inaccurate but still great to use.

[@mc4277]

I've been wanting one of these for a very long time.

[@humansvd3269]

I had the chinese version. It was a good rifle. I loved it but had to sell because I got a kid and needed money. I sold it for 5k. What a mistake!

[@serhatyalcin3595]

Me too ❤

[@jasontheranga9769]

Has to be one of the best looking rifles ever made

[@austinredenius2724]

Wowza, Breakfast AND SVD?!

[@Mistah_Boombastic_BiggieCheese]

What did you eat for breakfast?

[@eric180db]

One of the most beautiful designs ever!

[@loquat4440]

For about the same wt if they had shortened to barrel a bit and made it thicker, accuracy would have been better assuming that the ammunition was consistent. But the longer barrel better burns the powder and makes less of a flash with soviet propellants. Soviet powders can have quite a flash to them and a designated marksmen does not want to have his positioned pinpointed. I suspect the lower accuracy was more a problem of the ammo. A one in 12.5 twist rate is fine for 145-150 grain 7.62 caliber bullets. I am guessing that the 1-9.5 twist was needed because of poor consistency of the projectiles rather than the wt of the bullets. But that is a guess on my part.

[@howardmaryon]

Your comment about Soviet powders: I took part in a skeet competition near Budapest, Hungary many years ago. Regulations allowed me to import my own gun, from England, but no ammo. I had a few hours in the morning to practice before the actual competition began and bought the same no9 shot cartridges that the locals were using. Every few shots, one would emit a firework-like spray of sparks that were bright enough to leave spots in my eyes. I was told that Russian propellants were used.

[@HERRESHOFFGSD]

Another great video from Ian and team. Thanks again and please keep the good work :)

[@vunguyenxuanhoang7422]

The only thing I don’t understand about the Dragunov is why the PSO-1 only stop at 4x? This level of zoom was enough for WW2 but they surely had better scope technology in late 1950

[@dirkl9689]

Looking really forward to the scope-video! Keep up the splendid work 🎉

[@Darth_Boons]

Thank you for all of your videos you are the best 💜

[@Leander_]

Really cool overview of a beautiful rifle, thanks Ian!

[@Team-lr6ty]

SVD- cool sniper rifle in the game: Resident Evil 5(2009, 2015)! From Russia- with love(from: Far East, Khabarovsk)!

[@mikey2864]

Fascinating. Brilliant delivery as always.

[@whitewolfO1]

I know those accuracy standards are what the Russian gentleman you had interviewed a while back said, but as a shooter they don't really make sense. A tighter twist rate should be better for stabilizing a heavier bullet, but worse for stabilizing lighter bullets. It doesn't make sense that a 1:12 twist would be better for a 200gr projectile while a 1:9.5 worked better for 147gr ball or other ammunition. It also doesn't make sense that the rifle would be designed with a light twistrate for 200gr bullets when the ammunition made for it specifically to be more accurate was 152gr 7n1. I think there's something mixed up or lost in translation here. Even Dragunov shooters in the US can corroborate that. The Hungarian and Chinese SVDs with the 1:11 and 1:12 twist shoot lighter bullets around the 150-174gr range better and the Tigrs with the 1:9.5 shoot heavier bullets in the 180-200gr range better. Furthermore it is widely stated in other sources that the heavier twistrate decreased accuracy with the light 7n1 which tracks to what we would expect.

[@Lucas12v]

I thought the same thing. I'm guessing the info regarding two twist rates got switched.

[@BC-wj8fx]

Yep definitely the fast twist rate loves 203gr and hates anything lighter.

[@arnaudn.5675]

That has been puzzling me as well. I have nothing to prove what I'll say but it would make sense to go with the slower twist rate because Mr Dragunov knew that the rifle was expected to use the standard LPS as the standard cartridge. By modern acceptance, 1:12.5 is too slow for stabilizing a 200gr bullet but maybe that Xtra match ammo was still shooting better than 1950 spamcan LPS ammo and this is what Dragunov kept shooting during the development process of the rifle to refine his design choices.

[@stephencarran7650]

Was thinking this too. It must be the other way around. 1:9.5" perfect for 200gn 1:12" perfect for 147gn.

[@noodltrash]

The trigger feels so light and good on this weapon. If you know how to properly position yourself so that you're basically the extension of the rifle you're guaranteed tk hit your target no matter what

[@TheASSedoTV]

Here in Odessa Ukraine until recently you could buy an SVD “hunting” version in most weapon stores.

[@Razor-gx2dq]

I bet you can find a real one in the field now

[@TheASSedoTV]

@@Razor-gx2dq not that I'm willing to search for it lol

[@worldoftancraft]

@@Razor-gx2dq you «bet»? Now have you search for it, in the field you've talked about.

[@rnt__]

I find this weapon quite fascinating. Thank for you sharing.

[@dreminh1-dg5yh]

Yes Ivan , the longer the Ak the further it shoots

[@feintxdd]

great vid, looking forward to hear about the PSO-1 scope !!

[@sergycallie]

finally early to a video, keep up the good work Ian.

[@franklinclinton4539]

Got to shoot this rifle a grand total of 2 rounds in the Finnish army, and fell in love with it immediately. Really accurate and just a really good looking rifle.

[@davidthomspson9771]

I bought one back in 1996...had to sell it when I fell upon bad times😢

[@Murgoh]

I have a civilian version (no IR detector) of the PSO 1 scope I got in the 90's for my Norinco 56S which is a semi auto only version of the Chinese version of AK47. It's a light and rugged scope and works well but like all older Soviet scopes the reticle moves in the field of view when adjusting the sight which takes some getting used to as the reticle is not in the center of the sight picture.

[@gekud4812]

Н in Cyrillic is actually an "N" sound, so the serial number should be read as N-183.

[@BC-wj8fx]

"Put it in H" !!

[@williamhart4896]

Thanks Ian and Morphys for this upload

[@bumrbk3246]

It's worth mentioning that you can see some Arabic writing on the right side of the wooden hand guard. It says "Abu Ghadeer" or father of Ghadeer, presumably his daughter. This thing definitely saw some battle.

[@festurzflug_404]

Reminds me of early and before the Winter War Some Soviet infantry squads had precision shooters equipped with AVS and AVT/SVT rifles.

[@AlexP-hl4wn]

This is one of those “Ian has FORGOTTEN more about these WEAPONS than you’ll ever know” type videos!