SVT-40 Info Needed....

[nwilliams]

I was at my local gun shop today and I came across a Tokarev SVT-40 and I'm tempted to buy it. The gun is dated 1940 and it appears to be in excellent working condition with all matching numbers and judging by the patina on all the metal parts seems to indicate it was never refinished. The bore is very nice and it comes with one magazine.

However I do have a couple concerns, mainly with the stock. At some point some idiot decided that it would be a good idea to refinish the stock and they did a very sloppy job at it, apparently the person didn't know how to properly apply varnish to wood. The second thing this idiot did was to cut off a few inches from the buttstock and attached a rubber buttplate to it:banghead:

IMO the gun will work just fine with the stock the way it is however I would love to find an original stock at some point. Does anyone know of a source for SVT stocks? I've tried searching but have come up empty so far.

The shop wants $350 for this gun. Is that a fair price for a slightly bubba'd SVT-40?

 

[WardenWolf]

BUY IT. If you don't, tell me where and I will. These things typically go for around $900-$1000.

 

[GunsBeerFreedom]

Not in altered condition they don't. $350 is still a good value though and I would certainly pick it up.

 

[nwilliams]

I ended up going back and picking it up actually and was able to talk them down to $300+tax.

I discovered when I went to pick it up that there was one more issue with the stock that I didn't catch before. It appears that someone had a scope mount attached to the side of the stock as there are two holes drilled into the wood. Also it appears that someone has modified the finger groove on stock, the lower portion of the finger groove has been removed which gives the bottom of the stock more of a "v" shape. It's actually kinda comfy however I do wish however did all this work to the stock had left it alone. All things considered I think for $300 it was a pretty good deal and at least it hasn't been bubba'd to the point that you can't tell what it is. Also the stock refinish could be worse, after bringing it home and examining it more closely it really isn't all that bad, I can probably clean it up easily enough.

 

[WardenWolf]

I can think of lots worse things than slightly chopping the stock for a recoil pad or a bad refinishing job that can be corrected. Frankly, if that's all they did, it's still largely intact and would be a good fun gun.

 

[nwilliams]

As promised here are some pics....

 

[GunsBeerFreedom]

From my amateur opinion it also looks like he slimmed the pistol grip down a bit, but I could wrong.

 

[nwilliams]

From my amateur opinion it also looks like he slimmed the pistol grip down a bit, but I could wrong.

I was kinda thinking the same thing but I'm certainly no expert on these rifles. If it was then I certainly hope they didn't weaken the stock by doing so

 

[Zack]

$350!!?!?! Take it take it! I saw one at a gun show $950!!!!!!!!!!!! and the wood was crap!

woah I just saw the picture, I just ran to post on the price lol how good of a deal it was. That probly the best deal of the month

 

[Hatterasguy]

$350 is dirt cheap, you can make money on it. Buy it!


Replace or refinish the stock like it came from the factory and sell it for $900.

 

[xx7grant7x]

uh...he already bought it.....

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up there
$300

 

[WardenWolf]

Now that's a pretty thing. And he really didn't butcher the stock much. The recoil pad looks like it belongs there. He might have made the grip a little smaller, although I found one on Gunbroker that looks similar. It's still a very nice rifle. You got a steal. I envy you.

 

[nwilliams]

Well as it turns out Bubba didn't just stop at the stock he also went to work on the magazine as well.

It turns out the magazine has been chopped off at the bottom to make it hold only five rounds instead of 10:banghead:

Oh well, I was thinking of buying one more mag for this gun anyone, guess I'll have now.

I took the gun completely apart and it's very clean inside. All the numbers match (bolt, bolt carrier, receiver, trigger guard) and there is no electro-pencil marks anywhere and there is also no import markings.

After much web searching I did find a guy in Poland who makes exact replicas of SVT-40 stocks for about $100, from the pics they look very nice.

 

[WardenWolf]

You still scored. And you now have a 5-round magazine you can use for hunting. Seriously, enjoy it.