I was pleased enough with the performance yesterday of my new-to-me 1941 Tokarev SVT-40 that I figured I'd write a brief range report for those interested in this particular weapon.
I shot what I believe is probably Czech surplus ammo, the paper-wrapped stuff with the reddish copper appearance that costs about $5 per 20 rounds, so it was pretty cheap stuff. At 100 yards I had about a 1.5 to 2 inch dispersion on the horizontal plane with a 10-round group. I had much harder time vertically, partly because the top of the front sight post has a slightly rounded appearance. I ended up basically "lolly-popping" the bull on top of the post and ended up with significantly more vertical dispersion, which I think is primarily due to my unfamiliarity with the weapon.
What really amazed me was that I managed to "ding" a deer-sized metal silhouette at 570 yards with my second shot, and then hit it consistently after that with the same sight picture. The rear sight elevation increments seemed to be right on.
I did have one failure-to-feed in 40 rounds, wherein the spent case was ejected and rather than pick up the next round the bolt locked to the rear as if the magazine was empty. It then chambered the next round when pulled and released the charging handle. I'm not sure what might have caused that.
All in all, I'm pretty darned pleased with that rifle.
I shot what I believe is probably Czech surplus ammo, the paper-wrapped stuff with the reddish copper appearance that costs about $5 per 20 rounds, so it was pretty cheap stuff. At 100 yards I had about a 1.5 to 2 inch dispersion on the horizontal plane with a 10-round group. I had much harder time vertically, partly because the top of the front sight post has a slightly rounded appearance. I ended up basically "lolly-popping" the bull on top of the post and ended up with significantly more vertical dispersion, which I think is primarily due to my unfamiliarity with the weapon.
What really amazed me was that I managed to "ding" a deer-sized metal silhouette at 570 yards with my second shot, and then hit it consistently after that with the same sight picture. The rear sight elevation increments seemed to be right on.
I did have one failure-to-feed in 40 rounds, wherein the spent case was ejected and rather than pick up the next round the bolt locked to the rear as if the magazine was empty. It then chambered the next round when pulled and released the charging handle. I'm not sure what might have caused that.
All in all, I'm pretty darned pleased with that rifle.
