If you have time, can you give me some advice about the SVD please. I think they were a lot cheaper 20 years ago when I was too young to buy guns. Are they worth it now, at current prices? I don't think they are being imported anymore, correct? Is the accuracy as good or better than an M1? And if I were to buy one, what type do you recommend? Thank you in advance.

If you want one get it now.  Prices continue to go up.  In 20 years you'll look back and wonder how you got it so cheap.
Neither is imported now.
Accuracy can vary.
PSL are $1000-1400 now.  
SVDs seem to be $4000 and up depending on which one.

I've owned two SVDs. They aren't worth the current price. Cool guns. But unless you are a die hard collector with really deep pockets, you can get a better gun for the money.  Mine were .308's and both shot great. 1moa was pretty easy with good ammo.

I had a PSL too. The issue with these is that some shoot well while others are turds. The current prices are a lot to pay for a rifle that might suck. Mine shot about 3moa with wolf ammo, so it was a decent one. With good ammo it may have done 1.5-2moa until the barrel heated up.

Are they worth it? That is completely subjective and depends on how cool you think they are

As DSkeet said there are plenty of rifles that will outshoot the SVD all day every day. What you are paying for is rarity, and collectibility - not performance. They are not imported anymore and there are a finite number in the US. That inevitably drives up the price.


There are really four main variants

Chinese NDM86 in 54R
Chinese NDM86 in .308
KBI SVD in 54R
Tiger in 54R

They are all the same rifle just different caliber or barrel length (with certain features and country of manufacture being the main variables), however they have an enormous range in price depending on the rarity of the version you are looking at.

I personally couldn't imagine living without an SVD in my life but that's a collector's viewpoint, not a practical viewpoint.






Z

If you were to get one it'd be because you thought that it was cool, not for any kind of practical use. In that regard "worth" is subjective. As mentioned though they aren't getting any cheaper.

He nailed it, I got one back in the day for $400 good buy at the time.  I gladly sold it when price got to where I doubled my money and then some.  It is what is worth to you, however if your buying for performance look elsewhere.

I assume $400 for a PSL?  If it was a SVD then you got a killer deal!

I had a NDM-86 .308 for a few years.  Since it was .308, not 7.62x54, it bothered me for some reason.  I sold/traded it off last summer.  Then a few months ago I found a California Armory Tiger at a gun show.  It wasn't cheap, (fair price though) but it was exactly what I wanted and I just happened to have the cash for it.  

This one is a keeper.  Still have not been able to get out and shoot it.




I also have a PSL that I got a while ago.  It shoots pretty good, 2MOA on a good day.  It's also a keeper.  I had another one that would string the group vertically as the barrel heated up.  Sold it.

Thank you for the info. What got me thinking about this is when I watched a Russian TV show called "the female battalion" (it's on youtube) and I saw the modern SVDs they have there. Wow I wish I could have one of those. And it looks like the one girl had one that had a built-in side folding stock like the SLR107FR has. I bet the new production ones are more accurate than the ones made in the 80s/90s. 25 years later, there must have been some improvements. I guess they can't be imported anymore though. Too bad. I bet if I had a 2017 model it would be worth a fortune.

I would love to have a SVD, but my pockets aren't deep enough. I did buy a NIB Cugir PSL at a gun show about eighteen months ago and I really like it. Yes, I know they aren't a sniper rifle, but then they were designed to be a DMR and not a sniper.

From what I have been able to piece together, the PSL's that were made by Cugir and imported as complete rifles tend to be better as far as reliability and accuracy. The so-called Romak PSL's were imported as parts kits and assembled by TGI. I have heard several anecdotal stories that the Romak's can be troublesome and the accuracy on some is so-so.

I don't know about the TGI built guns, but mine came with the matching number scope and two mags although neither had numbers that matched the rifle.


I did the gas port mod on mine and now I can shoot any weight bullet and I am getting about 1.5-2 MOA out of it. I don't expect pinpoint accuracy out of mine, I just enjoy it for the cool factor.

Ratty box-new rifle



After I modified the stock with a adjustable cheek riser.

Does it worth it? To me, yes. The SVD is my favorite com-block rifle design. There's just something so elegant and sexy about it.

Like most of the gents have already stated - in the previous replies - if you're looking for just performance, for the same amount of money you can buy an SR25 or have GAP build you an M40A5.

But for what it is, the SVD is very very capable. It's just harder and take more out of me (personally) to shoot it as accurate as I shoot my DMR ARs; mainly because of the SVD's 4x scope.

Here are mines, the one with polymer furnitures is my shooter/first one and was purchased back in 2010 for a whooping $1,800; the NDM86 was purchased this past March after many years of wanting one (thanks Rambo 3 LOL):



Was finally able to take the NDM out last weekend to dial her in; Mk12 in the back is mine as well:



Like I said earlier, the SVD can shoot. This is the best 3-shot group that I got from last week; all my other groups were < 1.5moa:



OP if you want one get it now cause unless Trump lifts the ban/sanction and Russia voluntarily takes the SVD off their non-import list their pricing will just keep on going up. Plus the gun is just damn right sexy!!

In my experience, it's been more than accurate enough. Hell Zen and I shot his out to a 1000 and managed hits. I think the biggest thing holding it back was the 4x scope.

If I had deeper pockets, I'd have one too. OP what you saw and want is the SVDS. It can be done, but it's gonna cost you a lot more than just the SVD price.

Ohh yes a PSL if I would of gotten a SVD at that price you guys would of never stopped hearing about it lol!

Nice!  I'd love to have one of those.  After I sold my last NDM, I really wanted to get a Tiger, but the prices just went insane soon after I sold the NDM.  Once all the SVD variants hit $4k I just wrote off getting another one entirely.  I got out of the collector gun game, so something like that just isn't for me anymore.

As a collector piece - sure.

As a shooter? No, get a gas gun in 6.5/6mm of your choice.

My long-term goal for my .308 NDM-86 is to get it re barreled in 6.5 CM or .260 Rem.

That is the truth. They have gone up in price every year, year after year. My first NDM86 in 54R was $2000 in 2005, now they are going for 6K+

And to think I could have snagged a KBI SVD for $6400 about 2008 haha


@MNRidesHonda
With that amazing collection you need at least one of these:

Also on the subject of the 4x I think it's fine all the way out to 800m or so. Based on the Vorobiev classes Nicra and I took I would not use anything more than a 4x for real world shooting. From the bench for fun sure, I would use something more powerful but not if I had to bug out and defend my life with it. FOV in a dynamic situation is extremely important and you lose more and more of that with higher magnification scopes. And when you understand the PSO reticule pattern and how to read a bit of wind it becomes an extremely fast and effective scope. It's definitely no joke and works very well. They engineered a lot into the design of the PSO and the SVD together.

The 4x seems to me the best all around solution for an optic. You can learn to shoot it both eyes open at any distance and even from a moving vehicle at point blank targets. We did, and it was great training





Z

you can just make out Zens back and knee

Amazing that the Russian army still uses them. It's the only rimmed cartridge still in use.

kinda says something IMO.

If it ain't broken don't fix it.. plus they are too cheap to move to a better cartridge for minimal gains. Same as NATO with 5.56.

Looks like a fun class.

I got my PSL at a steal, sold it for x3 I got it for.  AK scare a couple years ago was good for sales, I kinda regret selling mine though.