A&K Dragunov SVD

[LtPurcy]

So, welcome to this lovely review of the oh so awesome Dragunov SVD.

Talking points:
Exterior
Internals
Performance
Accessories
Scope
Tips
Pictures!

Introduction:
Russian Name: Снайперская винтовка Драгунова- Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova

The A&K SVD was brought into the market around August last year, in two tone green and black furniture if you can find it, the gun now is very hard to obtain with many sites being out of stock and not changing.

The Dragunov SVD in real steel form is a Semi Automatic Sniper rifle firing either the 7.62X54mm cartridge or the specially designed 7N14 round, it uses a rotating bolt design and the barrels twist rate is at 4 right 240mm (1:9.4in) overall length of the gun is around 4 feet long..no kidding.

Exterior:
The A&K SVD is made out of metal for its main body of the weapon and then a nylon fibre type deal for the stock and hand guards, the overall finish of the body is actually rather fantastic, its cold to the touch and doesn't feel cheap, stick a wood kit on their like I have and you will think its real, the rifle features dummy gas block, sights, bayonet lug, sling attachment points and selector switch and top cover removal lever, as well as the scope side mount featured.

Score 5* out 5 excellent overall add a wood kit for even more awesome as well as a PSO-1 or POSP scope.

Internals:
The guns interior design is simple, features a huge chunk of metal for the bolt carrier/charging handle and then a blue hop up unit, blue piston, a huge 450/500 fps spring and spring guide as well as a extra spring on top to allow the charging handle to move forward and offer extra support for the parts, the stock barrel is 540mm long however! you can easily fit a 650mm tight-bore in their and achieve favourable results.

The action of the gun at stock is stiff, i aint going to lie, its hard to cock back and will cause bruises and pain in your hand and shoulders, hit the gym if you want to use this gun at stock fps, other wise like i have downgrade it, it uses AEG springs, hop up parts as well as barrels so upgrading is simple.

The take down of the gun is also very simple, i received this in bits to be put together (glad it was for learning experience) putting the gun together and apart is simple and easy, if you want to change your spring no worries, remove top cover take 2 screws out change spring job done.

Score 4* out of 5, only reason is due to the very stiff cocking of the gun with its stupidly big stock spring!

Performance (Note will update when I skirmish with it)
Currently performance I have seen so far is consistent, accurate and fun to shoot (when you can cock it without crying) with its large spring and barrel it does deliver a punch and will shoot straight beautifully for a large distance, i saw no drop or change in the BB at 20m (garden) and that is with a .2, so I will keep this section short for when I go to skirmish it with a lighter spring and heavier bbs I will give a update but.

Score: To be scored after skirmish.

Accessories:
There are a plethora or accessories available for the SVD, wood kits can be fitted with ease (highly recommend) as well as real steel PSO-1 and POSP scopes, slings can be brought, cheek pads too (one included) overall whatever is ruskie will fit, including night vision scopes, the lot! i currently have a 4x magnification PSO-1 scope fitted on their which is a Chinese copy, looks nice and does the job.

Score 5* out of 5, great to pimp out (not in that M4 silly sense)

Scope: Decided to do a separate section on this.
If you decide to buy this gun and want to be fully Russian scope and all expect to shell out £150 to £200 for a scope, I currently have fitted a Chinese PSO-1 copy scope fitted, overall its quality is decent, the reticle is crisp as is the sight picture, however its let down by its rather poor eye relief, you can not use the rubber eye piece like intended without the scope being blocked in the left and right planes, my recommendation is to buy a real steel PSO-1 or POSP scope from ebay for the same price as a Chinese copy.

Score 3* out of 5, let down by its poor eye relief.

Tips!
Okay tips from me.
1. Downgrade the spring unless you are comfortable with the hard to use action.
2. Take care of the gun, it cant be abused like a real gun can.
3. Buy a wood kit for this gun, it really transforms the look of it ten fold.
4. Buy a Russian Scope, really fits the bill and looks the dogs, and also very functional and light.
5. Clean regularly and lube it up.

Overall this gun is the dogs, I love, no regrets getting this and have no plans in the future to rid of, (unless a real sword comes my way) this is an excellent alternative to other sniper rifles out their and if you do what i did (wood, pso-1) you will certainly look the part, even more so if you get Ruskie gear like a leshij suit, or Russian bdu's and sniper belt, overall this gun is great, performs well and will take to upgrades nicely too.

Overall 4* out of 5
LtPurcy recommends!

Now for the pictures after this long winded review.
ENJOY! and thanks for reading.

[SAS Scott]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

jw did you get the wood kit from ************* as thats the only place i can find if not wear did u get yours also a little tip if you find it hard to pull back lube up every thing eg the sring cach (soz cant spell lol) also take out the little sring on the top inside the gun but rember when cocking push the handle back forward

also again soz should i get that scope as i have a scope on it but i want one wich looks real

[Ominous Slayer]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

Wow, Nice! And great review

[LtPurcy]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

mas i said in the review your best off getting a real steal pso/POSP

Cheers lee.

Also magazines

CA SVD magazines supposedly fit, will be ordering a couple and will tell you the results.

[SAS Scott]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

soz cheers

[LtPurcy]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

No worries.

Update for you all:

As i said in my review its uncomfortable to cock the gun in its stock form, i took mas12555's advice and took out the recoil spring (return spring w/e you wanna call it) and that drastically helped with the actions stiffness to a level of comfort and no pain induced, if you want to the gun to fire at it stock level and you struggle id advise doing the same.
Nice feature also is now that the bolt wont go back on its on potentially crushing bbs in its path and also adds a element of stealth and sub sonic ammunition feeling.

Thanks again mas great idea.

[SAS Scott]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

im glad that helped you

[SAS Scott]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

i also put stealth rap (its tape which sticks to its self so no stickyness i got mine from the local vet its like a black bandech)its made it less painful and more comfortable

[jockjay]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

great review, look forward to the post skirmish update. cheers!!

[Pete Holt]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

Hi Guys

I have a CA svd

Can some one please provide a link for the side mount plate that the vertical mount attaches to?

I do not yet have a POSP or PSO 1 for this but will be getting one.

Also, The CA SVD does not have holes drilled for the side attachment plate pre drilled. Any one else have this problem?

Is it a strip and drill process or is there another way other than that?

Cheers chaps

Pete

[screwdriver]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

i think youll find the mounting for scope mount is already fitted its a moulded part of the gun, have checked ca svd photos and found this to be the case on all of them.

[Pete Holt]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

Ok

I guess then that my problem is that I do not have a genuine SVD it must be a conversion!
Whats the crack if it is an AK body?

Cheers guys

[screwdriver]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

easy post a photo and ill tell you, sounds like a ak 47 conversion

[screwdriver]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

after looking again at the classic army website, im wondering wheather you have a rp7 basically a long barreled ak47 with a chunky stock

[LtPurcy]

Re: A&K Dragunov SVD

SVD's have a built in proprietary mount for russian scopes or mounts of the same system, if it doesnt then its not a SVD, most likely an AK-SVD conversion job.