SVT-40 or Mosin M39?

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Hey guys,
I'd like to get a new rifle in x54r (Have a 91/30 that has failed to impress me) now that my dad is teaching me reloading. This rifle ideally could be a hunting rifle as well for game appropriate to the round. I have found an SVT-40 for around 400 dollars. It is a German arsenal refurb. I could also get a nice M39 for around the same price or less.

I know a lot about these rifles, but most of it is just history. Which do you guys think is a better rifle for hunting/bench shooting? I am aware of the great accuracy of the M39s, but how much worse is the SVT?

Any feedback would be great, thanks!
 
$400 is way less than I've seen a decent SVT-40 go for for years. It's also way more than any Mosin-Nagant is worth, unless it killed Hitler or used by Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev and Simo Häyhä when they were hunting Martians together.

BSW
 
Depends on the shape of the SVT. $800 is still looking like a pretty good price for a SVT. They seem to be running over $1k on gunbroker.com

BSW
 
I'm looking at it more from a practical standpoint than a "Deal" standpoint. The SVT might be a great deal, but I don't really want to spend the money on it if the M39 can do what I want it to do better.
 
The SVD is a decent design. It is heavier and more complex than the standard NM. OTOH, I've seen many MNs that didn't work all that well either: rim lock and sticky bolts seem to be pretty common among the ones I've seen.

BSW
 
Depends what you want out of it. The SVT-40 is the Soviet cousin to the M1 Garand (and there were actually more SVT-40's produced then M1 Garands, FWIW), gives you 10 rounds of powerful x54 on tap, with about battle-field accuracy. The M39 is a good $75 shooter that can be tightened down to almost 1 MOA with some elbow-grease and creativity. Both shoot cheap x54 ammo. The bolt-gun will always be more reliable then a semi-auto by virtue of fewer moving parts.
 
:Facepalm: That is a 91/30, there a HUGE differences in the models. An M39 is generally regarded as having a better barrel and more consistent accuracy from specimen to specimen.
 
If you want accuracy, and reliability, Go with the M-39.
If you want semi aotu fun, with pretty good reliability, go for the SVT-40
I have both, I hunt with my M-39, as inthe arctic, theweather is a big factor and the SVT-40 cant do it with any form of reliability.

The Russians found this out too, and actually stopped production of the SVT-40 and reinsatated M91/30 production (Makes a '41 Tula 91/30 very rare)

If your Mosin has 'Sticky Bolt" the chamber is dirty.
Clean it and see, the mosin will tell you when its dirty. During extraction, the shell case is stuck against the chamber wall, be it dirt, cosmo, laquer of a peice of bologna, its not gonna want to rotate the case in the chamber (primary extraction) and the extractor will have to drag across the rim to the unlocking point, and then be pulled rearward.
THAT is a dirty chamber.....so, no matter the rifle, clean it and keep it clean, like every army in the world teaches, like the rifle it is.

Good Luck.
 
I've only shot one SVT-40 but it had a dark, pitted bore. With S&B Match ammo, it could do no better than 4 MOA. $800 for a good SVT-40 is a good price, but my guess is the M39 will shoot better, and for half the price. I own two M39's and have shot half a dozen more - they all shot well, 2 MOA or better.
 
Either rifle would work for hunting. However, you do not want to shoot heavy bullets out of the SVT 40. The common softpoint Russian hunting ammo is 203 grain and is too heavy for the SVT 40. The M39 would be my choice because of its accuracy and it can handle any ammo you put into it. The prices you stated are about right. I have both rifles (I have 6 M39's all of which are 1.5 MOA or better rifles).
 
Even if you're not interested in the 40, you can easily at least double your money on it if it's in halfway decent condition. Rare to find one under a grand these days.
 
Hey Cal-gun, have you looked into something like a PSL, or are you wanting a more historical weapon? PSLs are running around 600-700 bucks where I live, and from what I hear are great shooters.
 
I have looked into a PSL before, yes. They do seem very nice, but if I got one I would want to get the kit to make it accept SVD furniture...then I would want SVD furniture...and then it would be around a $1200 dollar rifle :D

There seems to be some misinformation in this thread as others have noted-the M39 is definitely not a standard Mosin Nagant and it is devoid of such problems. I have a standard M91/30 as I stated. Its...alright, but it cannot hold a torch to an M39.
 
Particularly for hand loading and hunting, the M39 will be the better choice.

The deal for the SVT-40 sounds way too good to be true. It should be at least $800.
 
Yeah, but SVT-40 parts are expensive enough that it shouldn't matter what shape it's in- if it sucks it's worth it for parts. I vote SVT.
 
AFAIK, Pat Burns is pretty much the only consistent source of M39s anymore.

My cash flow isn't in great shape right now, but snagging an M39 is a top priority when it is. I don't think they're going to be around for much longer, and the stuff Pat is putting up these days is already way more expensive (or in way crappier shape) than a year ago.

I'd probably take the SVT, myself, just because it's liable to appreciate more and faster than an M39 would. The logical addendum to that, of course, would be "save up and buy both." That is a pretty good deal on an SVT and I wouldn't be happy to let it get away if I had the cash.
 
I sold off all my Mosins but the Finn rebuilt M39 was not even a challenge to shoot well. Probably one of the most consistent shooting milsurps I have ever owned. I use a 3"x3" black square on a piece of computer paper as a 100 yd target. That M39 would plunk that cheap old suplus ammon right in the square 90% of the time. Like it got boring.
 
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