First of all,

FEG made them in the late 70's or so into the early 80's and then deemed it expensive to do as the factory moved into stamped metal setups. It was made for internal domestic use and it was mainly to make parts for it also from the barrel, bolts, gas regulator setups and even the wood.

The SzVD was done in the late term when they were doing the belt fed KGK Korszerü Gorjunov Kolosnyiko or KGK setup and also AK55 and other milled weapons into the 80s and then we went into the PKM.
https://modernfirearms.net/en/machineguns/hungary-machineguns/kgk-eng/
We are starting from scratch from parts we have on hand and sourced domestically in Hungary. It will be assembled by students from a gunsmithing high school who have been trained on it.

FEG went away but it is back and run by engineers and practical gun nerds like myself. We have the warehouse, machinery, tooling, jigs, mandrels, drawings and a warehouse full of parts carefully sealed and put away.

We started with the SA85m which is the semi auto and we have an importer and we made 250 from parts and new receivers. This was a test case to get us back into the US market.

Attached File


We have an importer and once these are done and if it does well, we have the capacity to make more.

The problem is that another company was kipping and pouching our assemblers and students and the HD18 project wasn't supposed to happen until mid summer but now we needed to get this going so we don't lose our factory trained assemblers.



This is the school that is helping us. This is a high school dedicated to gunsmithing and probably the one only one that I know of in the world with high school students going into the vocational trade.

These are amazing students trained and many have left to have careers at beretta, CZ, FN, and many other places. Many stayed in Hungary and are master armorers.

In the end, you can pat your belly, put your boogers onto the wall, and get frothy white foamy stuff on the sides of your mouths all day in believing or not believing.

I'm here trying to make it happen.

Sharing this project just helps us get it going but sharing it sadly has led to incidents which I am NOT HAPPY about to even someone from another board AROCKED me at FEG, called my bosses, talked trash about me, said I'm fake
this is not happening...blah blah blah.

my boss told him to fuck off.

I am here.......I am making it happen.. and FEG will come back into the US market.

things in order.

SA85m
HD18
AMD65 pistol format
HI power made with picatinny rail, suppressor adjustable sites, RMR machined base platform on the rear and a threaded barrel, bringing the famed Hi power into the 21st century.
more SA85m in underfolder format.

PKM in semi auto.

KGP 9mm semi auto as told on forgotten weapons. But we will see...


All is possible once we get our foot in the door.

I'm sorry but the prices are set because of labor and cost and that is beyond our control.

The others chiming in are wrong about the price of the SZVD in Europe.

The price is over 3500 to 4000 in the EU market alone and that is just the TIGR setup without GAS ADJUSTMENT.

These are just prices in the various shops I have been to and seen.

We cannnot do the surplus Soviet runs in Hungary until they are old and we have to check the parts if they are not old as we replaced so much parts on the Hungarian army rifles that they are practically all FEG now other than maybe the receiver but we have to check.

Thank you.

BTW, when I come home and if I come home, I am bringing one with me to clone for a US receiver and and work on a parts kit basis so everyone has a sporting chance.

FEG is a quality manufacturer.

I think Im done buying guns...But I want one.

Biggest regret of my gun life is trading a Tiger Dragunov for a Colt Series 80 back around 1992.

What a fucking retard i was for doing that.

Whats the price on these things ?

I would love to have one, I got to play with a real Dragunov on one of my deployments and have always lusted after one. But life kept getting in the way. Unfortunately life is still in the way, so I can't really afford a an expensive toy at the moment.

This, "HI power made with picatinny rail, suppressor adjustable sites, RMR machined base platform on the rear and a threaded barrel, bringing the famed Hi power into the 21st century.", however, would get me to sell a kidney.

I am working with Tor Tort to make a US receiver and parts kits can come in also once we figure out what is Soviet and not Soviet.

With that, we can get one easily worked out to about 2500 to 3000 depending on various factors.

The hardest part is the barrel.

Last group buy for SzVD barrels was nearly 1500 and they all sold QUICKLY.

those people used the barrels for their TIGR conversions.

I really appreciate your noteworthy and informative contributions to these threads.

Thanks.

The HD18 may be too rich for my blood but the AMD-65 and KGP? Oh hell yes, the AMD is my favorite AK design and I'm a sucker for oddball subguns

It's a low production copy of a high production rifle that was only popular in US collector markets due to Cold War mystique. They should be $2500 rifles tops, but people will pay more because it is a copy of a rifle that sells for over $20k. It is basically the gun version of a modern limited run of Hemi Cudas.

Thanks.

The rifle sells for over 3000 to 4000 euros in Europe brand new but being sanctions are in place from Russia right now, the prices are jumping up in prices.

I am now seeing Chinese made drags now but still after 2500 to 3000 still.

They sell pretty well compared to other rifle systems and setups.

I am seeing them in the 3 gun competition for the long range shooting parts that I attended.

I am seeing weird guns like g3's and surplus FN's and also some rare SCAR's but a good mighty number are Drags.

You can buy it as a straight pull manual rifle in the UK but http://www.rusmilitary.com/html/firearms_svd.htm these guys said they don't know the next shipment and the price is going up to 3000 to 3500 euros and then he said..

"Would you like me to put you on the waiting list?"
This is not even semi auto.

In the end..it is a sought after system all over.

Oh man this is exciting..my one firearm regret was trading off my Russian Tigr that was a SVD clone. This would be so awesome.

Bro

The ad says “back in production after 40 years” so I interpreted that as they made them previously.  It sounds like from another poster that they did.  Interesting that I never heard of them before today, but unless it hit the U.S. market at some point then it would make sense.

@Jozsi

Wow, that sounds exciting!

Good luck!  The U.S. gun market is like a sponge and will soak anything it can get.

I paid $595 for my PSL. They are OK. I might bring it out once a year. I would never pay the prices they command now.

Neat, thanks for the update and more detailed description of the project and cost realities.  To do it right, project will have costs, and I see that more clearly now, thank you.  For what it's worth, I expect a $4k price to still be a success, but if you can squeeze it down to something that starts with a "3", I suspect sales will be a step change better!  As to people who are saying things like $1500 or less, that's not your market, so you can just ignore that.

Regardless, I can't wait for more updates and to start seeing these in the wild.  An SVD is legal in semi-auto division of CMP Vintage Military Sniper category, but I've never seen anyone bring one.  I've won that title at the nationals once with an M1D, and man if I had access to one of these, I would totally run that!

I wish you luck, but with the advent of 6.5 Grendel and sub 1500 AR10 platform rifles this gun has a pretty narrow market segment, especially at the price point it will be offered at. The Euro market does not have quite as many product alternatives and many of those market prices are inflated vs US prices anyway. I like cool guns being on the market, so I hope I am mistaken.

Thinking about it.

A few years ago, CMP sold via auction a number of captured Russian drags. Wonder where they ended up

I've owned PSL's & .308 '86's. With surplus ammo, the PSL was surprisingly accurate for the trigger & action type (minute of milk jug at 500m). Biggest drawback to 7.62x54 accuracy is the lack of true lightweight (appx 150gr) match ammo.
The NDM-86 in .308 using 168 match ammo? 3 shots into .24" CTC at 100m, 4 shots into .44" CTC at 100m. My best shot was a first shot hit on a clay bird at 900m. A chrome-lined semi-auto should *not* be that accurate.
Only reason I no longer own any NDM-86's is the total lack of spare parts. Break/lose something you'd better hope you can find a quality gunsmith somewhere who can custom up a replacement for you.

Tomac

Step daughter shooting my NDM-86 w/3-9x 1P21, she could hit a bowling pin at 500m first time out.
Attached File

TX-Zen knows this, but the rest of the interested parties in this thread should know that the Tiger is not a 'clone', but rather a 'version', and that they eliminated the adjustable gas system from its production.  Standard power only, no adverse setting...

Long time no see Tomac

What you said can't be true, everyone knows they are mediocre rifles

@DriftPunch

@TX-Zen can correct me, but the adjustable part can be added back to the Tiger and the parts are available.

Although the one in the OP likely will have that anyway.

I know..I honestly don't know what the hell i was thinking.  I wish I was able to say i was under the influence of drugs because that would at least be a plausible excuse, but I wasn't.

Yes it can, I did it on my Tiger and lots of people have too. It's about a $200 part when you can find it

The adverse setting is closed with no ports, while the standard power setting is with the ports open. Unless they changed the gas port size from the barrel, it's always running in the adverse setting.

So enlighten us then?  I’m genuinely curious now (albeit not curious enough to go do my own research) about the advances an SVD has over a typical AK pattern weapon?  Other than the caliber and a longer barrel, what makes them such a superior weapon?

I'll have to keep my eyes open.

What parts broke?

$ 500? Maybe

$2500?  

$4000....

I'm still "interested", but 4K buys a lot of other options. I just need to figure if my desire for an SVD outweighs my ability to justify it.

That's an awesome pic. "Yeah, Scro...500m. I'm a bad ass!"

You can add me to the list. Don't want to register at the other site just for one post

Different piston system, better trigger, and other minor tweaks. Still an "AK pattern" gun but folding stock piston ARs are still "AR-15s" so take it with a grain of salt.

Yevgenny Dragunov was an Olympic marksman who had designed other rifles that the USSR used to take gold medals with. He had a solid history of designing some exceptional rifles

Based on the needs of the Soviet Union at the time the SVD was designed from the ground up to be a reliable and accurate DMR rifle, not a close combat assault rifle like the AK. The entire premise for the SVDs existance was different than the AK and the SVD has very little in common with it. Accuracy was far more of a priority for the SVD because of it's role but it still had to be exceptionally reliable

It may seem easy now but 50 years ago that was a tall order for any rifle to achieve. You also have to keep in mind that it was never designed to be a sniper rifle the way we use them. The Soviets had snipers sure, but they found that in urban combat there was little need to hit people at 1000m. In urban combat things changed too fast and they learned this during WW2 the hard way.

What they needed was a high rate of fire, reasonably accurate weapon that could put rounds on target from 600 to 800m rapidly.

They got it

Most people don't pay attention to the design philosophy, they haven't ever shot one or actually used it as designed out to 600m and seen what it can really do. They just see that it's a 50 year rifle that isn't sub MOA and that's pretty much where they stop

eta: I'll add that the part that has not aged well with the SVD is the magazine capacity. It does suffer from the 10 round limitation compared to modern semi's like the AR10 platform that make it easy to have 20+ rounds

It's also not terribly easy to suppress, but it can be done without breaking the bank or radically bubba'ing the rifle. A few owners in the US have done it, myself included, and of course there are plenty of Russians and a few Europeans that have done it

It's not an AK pattern rifle. It really is a completely different gun, not minor tweaks like a better trigger

Check out an exploded parts diagram and point out the same parts it shares with an AK

This thread is confusing me.  I don't know if I really like mine now or need to sell it asap

Overall form is very close, bolt is very close but with an extra lug, safety is the same more or less, trigger pack is better, general barrel profile is similar, iron sight setup is the same, the way the rifle comes apart with the top dust cover is almost the same, mags are roughly the same, and the optics mounting setup is the same. The foreend design is different. Like I said, if a folding stock piston "AR" is an AR then the SVD is in the AK family.

Good post. The SVD was not intended to compete against a bolt action rifle for accuracy. It was meant to be a mass produced DMR that a highly mobile unit could use to extend the reach of their Squad. Dragunov could have made an extremely accurate rifle for the Soviets. But then it would not have met the intentions of the Soviet Army.

People arguing the M16/M4 is a better long range weapon....... Yeah sorta, with your civilian bought Match grade ammo. But not for the US Military. M193 and M855 is at best 3MOA, and is usually a 4MOA round. Where as the Soviets mass issued specific ammo for the Drag that was 2MOA or sometimes less. Also AR Match ammo is going to have insanely more wind drift at 600-800 meters than SVD issued 7.62x54R ammunition.p

Think of it this way

The bolt is different
The bolt carrier is different
The barrel is different
The receiver is different
The top cover is different
The trigger pack is different
The recoil spring is different
The gas block is different
The operating rod is different
The optic rail solution is actually different, the SVD and AK do not share the same mounting system

Same iron sites though...so yeah, that makes it an AK pattern weapon. I see that now

Love to have one....... sadly, I must be poor somewhere else

The same could be said for a side charging piston AR with a folding stick. We are arguing semantics.

Respectfully, you are the one talking semantics. The analogy of the piston side charging AR is not a valid comparison of the AK and the SVD

It is legit if you are talking about a PSL or VEPR 54R vs an AK but the SVD is a completely different animal

Another way to look at it...what is the basic thing that makes a rifle belong to whatever family it's in? The receiver is the biggest thing -  I think you'd agree

The SVD and the AK have completely different receivers...and everything else too

. Thank you for sharing!

I seriously hope you'll succeed man.

Awesome news! Thanks for your work on the project and hopefully everything pans out. I’d love to see another source for high quality factory built AKs and other combloc type guns on the US market.

I paid $4500 for my semi auto PKM. Now its worth $10,000-$12,000. What a sucker I am.

$4K? Yeah I'd buy one, I've been itching for a SVD for many years. I'll rarely shoot it but who cares? Thing is a beauty and an icon.

You could get them to share the same sling.

Hahahahahaha