Editing SVT-40 (section)

== History ==
In the early 1930s, the Soviet Union requested the development of a semi-automatic rifle to replace the Mosin-Nagant, taking inspiration from the Mexican [[Mondragón rifle]]. The design was left up to two individuals, [[Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov|Sergei Simonov]] and [[Fedor Tokarev]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Pegler|first=Martin|title=Sniping Rifles on the Eastern Front 1939-1945|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2019|pages=28}}</ref> Simonov, who had experience in developing the [[Fedorov Avtomat]], created a prototype for the [[AVS-36]] in 1931. The rifle was used during the [[Winter War]] but was removed from service in 1941 due to design flaws.<ref name=":0" />

=== SVT-38 ===
[[File:SVT-38 - Ryssland - AM.045576.jpg|thumb|left|SVT-38]]

In 1938, Tokarev's rifle was accepted for production, under the designation ''SVT-38'' with hopes that it would become the new standard-issue rifle of the Red Army. Ambitious production plans anticipated two million rifles per year by 1942. Production began at [[Tula Arms Plant|Tula Arsenal]] in July 1939 (production at [[Izhmash]] began in late 1939).<ref name="nuggets">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/svt401.asp |title=The Red Army's Self Loading Rifles: A Brief History Of The Tokarev Rifles Models of 1938 and 1940. By Vic Thomas Of Michigan Historical Collectables |access-date=25 June 2010 |archive-date=30 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130064919/http://www.mosinnagant.net/USSR/svt401.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The SVT-38 is a [[Gas-operated reloading|gas-operated]] rifle with a short-stroke, spring-loaded piston above the barrel and a [[tilting bolt]],<ref name="MF" /> a system that would later be used in the [[FN FAL]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Pegler|first=Martin|title=Sniping Rifles on the Eastern Front 1939-45|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2019|pages=29}}</ref> The SVT-38 was equipped with a [[bayonet]] and a 10-round detachable [[Magazine (firearms)|magazine]]. The receiver was open-top, which enabled reloading of the magazine using five-round Mosin–Nagant [[stripper clip]]s.<ref name=":1" /> The sniper variant had an additional locking notch for a see-through [[scope mount]] and was equipped with a 3.5×21 [[PU scope|PU telescopic sight]].<ref name=":1" />

The SVT-38 saw its combat debut in the 1939–1940 Winter War with Finland. The rifle had many design flaws, as its gas port was prone to fouling, the magazine would sometimes fall out during use, and it was inaccurate, only being effective up to 600m.<ref name=":1" /> Production of the SVT-38 was terminated in April 1940 after some 150,000 examples had been manufactured.

===SVT-40===
[[File:1940 Tula SVT40.jpg|thumb|left|SVT-40]]

With the removal of the SVT-38 from service, an improved design, the SVT-40, entered production. It was a more refined, lighter design incorporating a folding magazine release and lightening cuts. The hand guard was now of one-piece construction and the cleaning rod was housed under the barrel. Other changes were made to simplify manufacturing. Production of the improved version began in July 1940 at Tula and later at factories in Izhevsk and Podolsk. Production of the Mosin–Nagant M1891/30 bolt-action rifle continued, and it remained the standard-issue rifle to Red Army troops, with the SVT-40 more often issued to non-commissioned officers{{Citation needed|reason=Is there documentary evidence that this is the case, or is it an extrapolation from other contemporary armies?|date=December 2021}} and elite units like the naval infantry. Since these factories already had experience manufacturing the SVT-38, output increased quickly and an estimated 70,000 SVT-40s were produced in 1940.

By the time of [[Operation Barbarossa]], the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941, the SVT-40 was already in widespread use by the Red Army. In a Soviet infantry division's [[table of organization and equipment]], one-third of rifles were supposed to be SVTs, though in practice they seldom achieved this ratio. The first months of the war were disastrous for the Soviet Union; they lost hundreds of thousands of SVT-40s. To make up for this, the production of the Mosin–Nagant rifles was reintroduced. In contrast, the SVT was more difficult to manufacture, and troops with only rudimentary training had difficulty maintaining it. [[Submachine gun]]s like the [[PPSh-41]] had proven their value as simple, cheap, and effective weapons to supplement infantry firepower. This led to a gradual decline in SVT production. In 1941, over one million SVTs were produced but in 1942 Izhevsk arsenal was ordered to cease SVT production and switch back to the Mosin–Nagant 91/30. Only 264,000 SVTs were manufactured in 1942 and production continued to diminish until the order to cease production was finally given in January 1945. Total production of the SVT-38/40 was around 1,600,000 rifles, of which 51,710 were the SVT-40 sniper variant.<ref name="MF"/><ref name = "kehaya"/><ref name = "ezell"/>

[[File:1941 Tula SVT-40 Sniper Configuration noBG.png|thumb|A 1941 Tula SVT-40 with [[PU scope|PU 3.5×21 telescopic sight]] in original sniper configuration]]

SVTs frequently suffered from vertical shot dispersion; the army reported that the rifles were of "flimsy construction and there were difficulties experienced in their repair and maintenance".<ref>Small Arms of the World by W. H. B. Smith 9th Edition Revised by Joseph E. Smith 1969 p.&nbsp;583</ref> The stock, made of Arctic Birch, was prone to cracking in the wrist from recoil. This was generally remedied by drilling and inserting one or two large industrial bolts horizontally into the stock just before the wrist meets the receiver. {{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Many rifles were also poorly seated in their stocks, letting the receiver shift on firing. This led to a field modification that selectively [[Rifle bedding|shimmed the stock]] with birch chips, usually around the receiver and in between where the wood stock meets the lower metal handguard.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} For a sniper rifle, this was unacceptable and production of the specialized sniper variant of the SVT was terminated in 1942.<ref name="MF"/> Milling scope rails in the receivers of standard SVT rifles was also discontinued. Other production changes included a new, simpler muzzle brake design with two vents per-side instead of the six on the original.

=== AVT-40 automatic rifle ===
To supplement the Red Army's shortage of [[machine gun]]s, an SVT version capable of full-automatic fire (designated the ''AVT-40'') was ordered into production on 20 May 1942; the first batches reached the troops in July.<ref name="Bolotin1995_111" /> It was externally similar to the SVT, but its modified safety also acted as a fire selector allowing for both semi-automatic and fully automatic fire modes. When fired automatically the rifle had a rate of fire of approximately 750 RPM, faster than the [[DP machine gun]] which fired the same cartridge at 550 RPM. To better resist the stress of automatic fire, the AVT featured a slightly stouter stock made of hardwood usually distinguished with a large “A” engraved in it; surplus AVT stocks were later used on refurbished SVTs. The automatic fire was largely uncontrollable, and the rifles often suffered breakages under the increased strain. Documents discovered after the war indicated that during testing, under continuous automatic fire, an AVT-40's barrel would be "shot out", meaning the rifling in the barrel would be completely worn down, in as little as 200-250 rounds.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} The use of the AVT's automatic fire mode was subsequently prohibited, and production of the rifle was relatively brief; none were made after the summer of 1943.<ref name="Bolotin1995_111">{{cite book|first=David Naumovich |last=Bolotin |others=trans. Igor F. Naftul'eff |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Walter |editor2-first=Heikki |editor2-last=Pohjolainen] |title=Soviet Small-arms and Ammunition |year=1995 |publisher=Finnish Arms Museum Foundation (Suomen asemuseosäätiö) |location=Hyvinkää |isbn=9519718419|page=111}}</ref>

=== SKT-40 ===
A shorter carbine version ''SKT-40'' (СКТ-40) was designed in 1940 and was submitted to a competitive test with a design of Simonov in the same year; neither was accepted for service.<ref name="Bolotin1995_112">{{cite book|first=David Naumovich |last=Bolotin |others=trans. Igor F. Naftul'eff |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Walter |editor2-first=Heikki |editor2-last=Pohjolainen] |title=Soviet Small-arms and Ammunition |year=1995 |publisher=Finnish Arms Museum Foundation (Suomen asemuseosäätiö) |location=Hyvinkää |isbn=9519718419 |page=112}}</ref> Later, a prototype version chambered for the new, shorter, [[7.62×39mm]] round was developed, but was not accepted for production.<ref name="Bolotin1995_111" /> A [[Silencer (firearms)|silenced]] variation was also experimented with, though it  too ended in failure.<ref>[https://survival.com.ua/razvitie-glushiteley-zvuka-vyistrela-ustroystvo-glushitelya-vintovki-svt-40-karabina-mauzer-98/ Развитие глушителей звука выстрела, устройство глушителя винтовки СВТ-40, карабина Маузер-98К и пистолета-пулемета Ингрэм]</ref><ref>[https://www.kalashnikov.ru/medialibrary/1a2/pbs.pdf В продолжение данной темы публикуем материал об]</ref>

=== AT-44 ===
An [[assault rifle]] based on a scaled-down SVT with [[7.62x41mm]] chambering called the AT-44 was also put into development, it came with a [[bipod]] and [[pistol grip]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-18 |title=Автомат Токарева АТ-44: последняя попытка перегнать Калашникова (2020) смотреть онлайн в хорошем качестве |url=https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vtoraja_mirovaja_vojna_sssr_khronika/avtomat_tokareva_at_44_poslednjaja_popytka_peregnat_kalashnikova_2020/22-1-0-7980 |access-date=2024-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918195625/https://voenhronika.ru/publ/vtoraja_mirovaja_vojna_sssr_khronika/avtomat_tokareva_at_44_poslednjaja_popytka_peregnat_kalashnikova_2020/22-1-0-7980 |archive-date=18 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-03 |title=Автомат Токарева АТ-44: последняя попытка - YouTube |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/XetSLXUKRas |access-date=2024-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003095656/https://www.youtube.com/embed/XetSLXUKRas |archive-date=3 October 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Автомат Токарева АТ-44: последняя попытка |url=https://archive.today/20240404214538/https://kalashnikovgroup.ru/media/istoriya/avtomat-tokareva-at-44-poslednyaya-popytka}}</ref> It was competing with the [[AS-44]] design. It failed to be accepted for similar reliability issues as the AVT.<ref>[https://raigap.livejournal.com/359121.html Опытный автомат Токарева АТ-44 (СССР. 1944 год)]</ref>