Tokarev SVT40 Rifle

Tokarev SVT40 semi-automatic rifle. Cast and machined steel receiver with a pressed steel top cover plate. Full wood stock that has single finger grooves on each side of the fore grip has been revarnished. The fore end is two piece drilled pressed metal. The safety catch is in the trigger guard. The butt is marked with a five pointed star, 1941 and A67219. This weapon is complete with a cleaning rod and magazine.

The SVT40 rifle was issued in large numbers to the Soviet Army from 1940 onwards, through the duration of the Second World War. An estimated 1.3 million were manufactured between 1940 and 1942, and although records are imprecise, it it thought that the rifle stayed in production until 1945.

Although it was recognised early on in the weapon's production that it had significant performance and reliability issues, including its sensitivity to dirt, the system of regulating gas, and the ease with which the magazine could be lost, war with Germany prevented the Soviet Union from addressing these issues.

This provenance of this weapon is unknown.