Dragunov rifle - how the legend was created (Topic)

SVD appeared in 1963. The authorship of the design belongs to the famous gunsmith E.F. Dragunov.

The world championship of the rifle lies in the fact that it was specially created as the first project of a self-loading sniper device in the history of weapons, that is, the SVD does not belong to the representatives of the class of weapons, standardly converted from an infantry rifle.

Self-loading rifle

In the late 50s, Soviet designers participating in the competition to create a new self-loading rifle (by the way, among them was the famous Kalashnikov - the "father" of the assault rifle of the same name), were assigned strategic tasks that may cause misunderstanding among ordinary people.

The new weapon required the ability to hit a target at a rather small distance compared to modern sniper technology - 600 meters. Of course, the SVD is not suitable for snipers working at distances of 1.5 km or more, although they are not armed with such rifles. But in general, the Dragunov rifle copes with the tasks set for it optimally. And the ease of maintenance, general unpretentiousness and a streamlined release add extra points to it.

So, what in fact is the development of Dragunov's authorship. This is a self-loading sample, the automatic mechanism of which operates on the use of the energy of powder gases. The latter are diverted from the barrel bore to the gas piston and the subsequent locking of the bore after the bolt is turned. This principle of operation has a certain similarity with the operation of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, only in the absence of the ability to conduct automatic queues. For the VSD, basic rifle cartridges (7.62x54 mm) are used, a detachable magazine holds 10 of them. The total length of the weapon is 1.22 m, the barrel length is 62 cm. Weight is 3.8 kg.

Design Features

Despite a certain similarity with the AK mechanism, the Dragunov rifle has specific features:

- the gas piston is not rigidly connected to the valve. The result of this is that at the immediate moment of the shots, the total mass of the moving parts of the VSD decreases.

- the trigger design is located in one body.

- the fuse is directed by a rather massive lever on the right. In the “off” position, the safety lock completely limits the trigger and prevents the shutter from moving back. All this provides additional protection from external influences and pollution.

The SVD stock was previously produced in a wooden version, now it is made of plastic material. The stock has a fixed stop for the shooter's convenience. The rifle design provides seats for external sighting devices. In addition to the standard optical sight, which increases the hitting distance to 1.3 km, all kinds of night sights can be installed on the body (which automatically convert the SVD and the modernized SVDN).

If the additionally used optical sight fails, the shooter has the opportunity to continue using the rifle using the existing open sighting parts. These include an adjustable rear sight and front sight.

Role in the modern world

Dragunov's sniper development is still armed with special units in almost three dozen countries. The weapon has been used since the mid-60s, and so far they do not want to completely abandon their use. On the one hand, SVD is already of considerable age, but it still copes with its tasks.

The Topic of Article: Dragunov rifle - how the legend was created.
Author: Jake Pinkman