Newsgroups: sci.military.moderated
From: Wiley Richmond Beevers <beeve@linknet.net>
Subject: Re: [?] Hand Signals
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 16:29:14 GMT

The bolt action Remington M40 sniper rifle retains its accuracy
extremely well, despite the rough handling in armored vehicles which you
allude to.  USMC snipers jump out of aircraft with them and ride around
in LVTP-7 series vhicles with them all the time.  I have never know one
to lose its zero or fail to function, despite all the abuse an armored
vehicle (like a BMP or of LVTP-7) can heap on one.

One of the most serious causes of ballistic innacuracies in the SVD
system is the telescope mount.  It is a removable side rail mount,
similar in concept, but not in execution to the Western Griffin & Howe
rail mount.  This mounting system places the telescope vertically over
the bore by mounting it on cantilever arms attached to the rail on the
side of the receiver.  This always a certain amount of play/flexion in a
long arm mount whcih contributes to ballistic innacuracy.  According to
my measurements, these arms are a little over three inches long.

In comparison, the Remington M40 bolt action sniper rifle uses a
commercial Redfield-brand mount with solid bridge rail across the top of
the receiver.  This produces a rigid mounting of the telescope directly
above the bore centerline with a lever arm length of approximately 3/4
of an inch.  The solid bridge rail maintains a rigid alignment between
the two mounting rings.

while I have yet to dismantle the SVD telescope, the American M40
telescope is nitrogen filled and all internal contacts are spring
mounted with roller detents to return the internal components to their
original alignment after a shock.  In testing, I have actually dropped
all four rifles (SVD, M40, M21, amd Commercial Remington M700
bolt-action rifle in .308 Winchester [7.62 NATO]) from a height of 5
feet onto my shooting mat on the flooor of the range.  The SVD lost its
zero on the first drop.  None of the others did.

Interestingly, the technology which you deride, the Remington deer
rifle, is the basis of the M40.  The action, barrel, telescope, and
scope mounting system, are all commercial developments created to meet
the needs of the American sportsman.  They have proved rugged and
reliable in military service as well.

My commercial Remington M700 bolt-gun with with 3 - 9 power Redfield
telescope and plain old wooden stock outperformed my test SVD in all
areas.

I maintain that the greatest fault in the SVD is probably not so much
the rifle as the ammunition.  I have pulled over 100 projectiles from a
lot of Hungarian light sniper ball and weighed them.  The variation in
powder charges and bullet weights was surprisingly high.  It was much
greater than in ordinary commerical ammunition available in America.
This factor alone would create very high MOA measurements in any rifle.

Wiley