For my fellow SVD lovers here ...

[froggy]

The SVD was not only issued to the Soviet Army but also to many Warsaw Pact countries including Ceskoslovakia. Here are couple of recent (internet) pics of the SVD in the hands of Czech troops.
Enjoy !


















Rustic army ... still re-cycling the old poncho ...









What 's wrong with the PSO-1 ?



Sharing the love with a very envious (no doubt) US soldier ...



and in Slovak's hands in Iraq

[tackb]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess the American soldier actually wasn't jealous..........

[ovenpaa]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess the American soldier actually wasn't jealous..........

At the risk of being contentious I am inclined to agree with you Sir

[FredB]

Butt plate not into proper contact with shoulder. Rifles tilted when scope is way above barrel centre. They look like a bunch of beginners posing for the camera.
Fred

[froggy]

Pffff .... Of course he is insanely envious ! Who would not ??
Actually, I bet all sort of thoughts are going through his mind at the time and he was wondering how he could nick it & bring it back to good O'Texas

Interestingly, on two pics, the bipod used is a harris-thingy fitted on the handguard and not the Russian made one designed to go on the receiver. I wonder if it is Czech army or PA purchase ?
I suspect the user on the 3rd pic (the one with that ludicrous telescope) more than a serviceman could well be a civi wearing DMP ?

Here is an other pic in the hands of a Slovak member of the NATO Multinational Military Police Battalion. They seem to have retain their SVD along their newly purchased AW50 and some fancy US bolt rifles.

[snayperskaya]

Thanks for sharing Tovarisch

It is worth noting that the Dragunov SVD is not a true sniper rifle as such but is what is described in Western militaries as a "designated marksmans rifle" but at the time of its introduction into the Soviet military their doctrine defined it as a sniper rifle.It was designed to extend the engagement range of a platoon from the 0-300m effectivecrange of the AKM out to around 800m, targetting such targets as officers, radio operators and machine gun crews etc and very rarely would a Dragunov-equipped marksman engage beyond that unless it was for harassing fire.

The Russian military has established accuracy standards that the SVD and its corresponding sniper grade ammunition have to meet. Manufacturers must perform firing tests to check if the rifles and sniper grade ammunition fulfill these standards. To comply to the standards, the SVD rifle with 7N1 sniper cartridges may 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. When using standard grade 57-N-323S cartridges, the accuracy of the SVD is reduced to 2.21 MOA extreme vertical spread. The extreme vertical spreads for the SVD are established by shooting 5-shot groups at 300 m range. The accuracy requirements demanded of the SVD with sniper grade ammunition are 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).Both of the US weapons were introduced years after the Dragunov and the effective firing range of the 7.62 NATO M24 is also 800m.

So the American could well be quite envious.A few months back a serving member of the Irish Guards was shooting at my local club and said "I see you have a Dragunov......not very accurate are they!.He went on to say he had shot one in Mali and also Afghanistan and wasn't impressed.....so I offered him a go with mine and after firing a couple of mags worth of 54r he was gobsmacked and said, and I quote,"when I go back to Afghan in a couple of weeks I'll have much more respect for the Dragunov now!!!".

Despite the introduction of the SV-98, the Orsis T-5000 and even the AI AW into the Russian military (AI AW used by the MVD, FSB and Spetsnaz GRU) the Dragunov is still widely issued as it is a rugged, reliable and deadly rifle in trained hands even after nearly 45 years of service.

[froggy]

SVD in the 42nd Mechanized Battalion. Looks like the Harris bipod is probably a regular issued and that the furniture have all been sprayed black ?

[snayperskaya]

Photo showing the correct way to hold a Dragunov, with the weak hand cupping the magazine.With the hand in this position the rifle balances perfectly.



The Russian SVD bipod that clamps to the receiver is a commercial design aimed at the civilian market and there is no actual military issue bipod for the SVD in the Russian military.To be honest I have had a couple and they are quite wobbly and not brilliant.

[froggy]

You mean like this ?



I have the Chinese bipod on mine . Dunno how it would fare in the Dombass but for 30 quids, so far, so good ....

BTW, that yank must have spread the word & told his mates that a wonderful rifle the SVD truly is, cos now, more came back to try it for themselves ...

[snayperskaya]

The Yanks love them!!!......In Afghanistan, the Dragunov helped save the day on October 3, 2009, when U.S. Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha picked up a rifle that had been dropped by an Afghan soldier during an attack by some 300 Taliban insurgents in Nuristan Province.

Through a combination of training, courage and the SVD’s high sighting range and rate of fire, Romesha took out an enemy sniper and a machine-gun position and then three more fighters who had infiltrated the U.S. positions. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.

US Marine with a Dragunov on Iraqi rooftop......



Meanwhile Cousin Yuri takes it all in his stride......





Sergeant Vladimir Ilyin, pictured below, a sniper in the Soviet-Afghan conflict held the Soviet record for the longest one-shot kill when he shot a Mujahideen chief commander from a distance of 1350 meters with a single shot from his Dragunov using standard light ball ammunition and standard issue PSO-1 4x24 scope......