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I have finally nailed down my load for 7.62x54R and am now grouping a little over an inch at 100m with my Nagant 91/30 pu, and ive fallen in love with the calibre so im interested in getting a straight pull Dragunov, i've seen a few, but they are over 2k!!! I saw Pete Moore review one on gun mart that was price at £1195 that is much more reasonable. so im curious if anyone can point me in the right direction to find one of those? and is there a particular one that is better or worse than the others?
i appreciate any help :)
thanks

7.62x54R can be very accurate indeed - with the right barrel and loads. We favour Finnish rifles. Snayperski and Blighty may be along presently to answer all your questions.

You have two choices for a Dragunov over here, both made at KalashnikovConcern (formerly Izhmash) in Izhevsk,Russia and sold under the civilian brand name of Tigr (Russian for Tiger) and are virtually identical to their military counterparts with the exception of a functioning gas system.The two versions, using their military designations, are the SVDS which is the shorter barreled (530mm) folding stock paratrooper version or the SVD with the full length (620mm) barrel.The SVDS barrel is also slightly thicker (by 1mm) and has a slightly thicker receiver.Both are as accurate as each other, providing you take into account what they were designed for.With standard Russian 150gr steel cored milsurp they will shoot around 2moa, with good quality consistent ammo or handholds you will easily see 1moa or less, especially with a good quality scope.To comply to the Russian military 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, if a particular rifle could not meet that criteria it was rejected.It should be noted that the Dragunov is not a true long range sniper rifle but was the worlds first designated marksmans rifle, the Russians just didn't have a term for DMR so called it a sniper rifle.
Whilst they aren't the most ideal thing for paper-punching round after round through the same hole where they are in their element is a field fire range such as F range at Sennybridge, engaging targets at various ranges.I can consistenly drop targets out to 700-800m with both of mine and very satisfying it is too.
If you want one the problem you will have is finding one, Oleg at Rusmilitary is waiting for a batch to arrive and is I believe the only UK importer of them ( I think everyone else gets them from him).I searched for my full length SVD for about a year and a half in vain until a friend invited me to make an offer on his, and out of all my rifles the two Dragunovs are the ones I wouldn't part with.If you do get one try to find an original PSO-1 scope and get to know the rifle inside out, once you do you won't regret owning one but be prepared for people at the range asking a lot of questions and wanting photos with it!!.If you want to know anything else just ask


SVD top, SVDS below


The SVD with Soviet laminated stock and matching handguards

Cold War collectables had this moderated SVD a few weeks ago at only £1095, you can ask him if he moved it on to another dealer as he usually just has deacts.

Thats a steal at that price, is it definitely live fire?.

snayperskaya wrote:Thats a steal at that price, is it definitely live fire?.

YUP, to quote the advert...

rare suppressed 7.62x54r Izhmash Dragunov SVD, UK-spec straight-pull rifle.
Comes with 6x42 POSP scope and mag, £1095. FAC holders only.

To be fair thats underpriced compared to what they usually go for!.......shame I haven't got a spare slot and room in the cabinet!.

snayperskaya wrote:To be fair thats underpriced compared to what they usually go for!.......shame I haven't got a spare slot and room in the cabinet!.

Seems very cheap !

I had one in .308 and had some fun with it for a while before moving it on.

Always wanted one and enjoyed it while I had it. As has been said, not really a sniper rifle but a DM rifle.

breacher wrote:

snayperskaya wrote:To be fair thats underpriced compared to what they usually go for!.......shame I haven't got a spare slot and room in the cabinet!.

Seems very cheap !

I had one in .308 and had some fun with it for a while before moving it on.

Always wanted one and enjoyed it while I had it. As has been said, not really a sniper rifle but a DM rifle.

Just what I thought about the one I used to have.
Any Romak around?

I fancy a bit too; it'd be nice to get close to what Simo scored...