Dragunov sniper rifle

Type	Sniper rifle, designated marksman rifle
Place of origin	Soviet Union
Service history
In service	1963–present
Wars	Vietnam War, Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Soviet war in Afghanistan, Gulf War, Somali Civil War, Operation Restore Hope,Operation Gothic Serpent, War in Afghanistan (2001-present), Iraq War, Yugoslav Wars, First andSecond Chechen Wars,Cambodian–Thai border dispute,2008 South Ossetia War, Kargil War, Libyan civil war, Syrian civil war
Production history
Designer	Yevgeny Dragunov
Designed	1958–1963
Manufacturer	Izhmash, Ordnance Factories Organisation, Norinco
Produced	1963–present
Specifications
Weight	4.30 kg (9.48 lb) (with scope and unloaded magazine) 4.68 kg (10.3 lb) (SVDS) 4.40 kg (9.7 lb) (SVU) 5.02 kg (11.1 lb) (SWD-M)
Length	1,225 mm (48.2 in) (SVD) 1,135 mm (44.7 in) stock extended / 815 mm (32.1 in) stock folded (SVDS) 900 mm (35.4 in) (SVU) 1,125 mm (44.3 in) (SWD-M)
Barrel length	620 mm (24.4 in) (SVD, SWD-M) 565 mm (22.2 in) (SVDS) 600 mm (23.6 in) (SVU)
Cartridge	7.62×54mmR
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Muzzle velocity	830 m/s (2,723 ft/s) (SVD) 810 m/s (2,657.5 ft/s) (SVDS) 800 m/s (2,624.7 ft/s) (SVU)
Effective range	800 m
Maximum range	1,300 m with scope 1,200 m with iron sights
Feed system	10-round detachable boxmagazine
Sights	PSO-1 telescopic sight and iron sights with an adjustable rear notch sight

 

The Dragunov sniper rifle (formally Russian: Снайперская винтовка Драгунова, Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova (SVD), literally "Dragunov's sniper rifle") is a semi-automatic sniper rifle/designated marksman rifle chambered in 7.62×54mmR and developed in the Soviet Union.

The Dragunov was designed as a squad support weapon since, according to Soviet and Soviet-derived military doctrines, the long-range engagement ability was lost to ordinary troops when submachine guns and assault rifles (which are optimized for close-range and medium-range, rapid-fire combat) were adopted. For that reason, it was originally named "Полуавтоматическая винтовка Драгунова" Dragunov's Semi-automatic Rifle.

It was selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing designs: by Sergei Simonov, Aleksandr Konstantinov and Yevgeny Dragunov. Extensive field testing of the rifles conducted in a wide range of environmental conditions resulted in Dragunov’s proposal being accepted into service in 1963. An initial pre-production batch consisting of 200 rifles was assembled for evaluation purposes, and from 1964 serial production was carried out by Izhmash.

Since then, the Dragunov has become the standard squad support weapon of several countries, including those of the former Warsaw Pact. Licensed production of the rifle was established in China (Type 79 and Type 85) and Iran (as a direct copy of the Chinese Type 79).

Operating mechanism

The Dragunov is a semi-automatic gas-operated rifle with a short-stroke gas-piston system. The barrel breech is locked through a rotating bolt (left rotation) and uses three locking lugs to engage corresponding locking recesses in the barrel extension. The rifle has a manual, two-position gas regulator.

After discharging the last cartridge from the magazine, the bolt carrier and bolt are held back on a bolt catch that is released by pulling the cocking handle to the rear. The rifle has a hammer-type striking mechanism and a manual lever safety selector. The firing pin is a "free-floating" type and, as a result, some soft-primered ammunition had the reputation of causing a "slam fire" event. Thus, military grade ammunition with primers confirmed to be properly seated is recommended for the Dragunov and its variants. This appears to have solved the "slam fire" issue. The rifle's receiver is machined to provide additional accuracy and torsional strength. The Dragunov's receiver bears a number of similarities to the AK action, such as the large dust cover, iron sights and lever safety selector, but these similarities are primarily cosmetic in nature.

Barrel

The barrel profile is relatively thin to save weight and is ended with a slotted flash suppressor. The barrel’s bore is chrome-lined for increased corrosion resistance, and features 4 right-hand grooves. It is not rifled over its full length but partly over a length of 547 mm (21.5 in). In the 1960s, the twist rate was 320 mm (1:12.6 in). During the 1970s, the twist rate was tightened to 240 mm (1:9.4 in), which reduced the accuracy of fire with sniper cartridges by 19%. This adaptation was done in order to facilitate the use of tracer and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition, since these bullet types required a shorter twist rate for adequate stabilization.

Ammunition feeding

The weapon is fed from a curved box magazine with a 10-round capacity and the cartridges are double-stacked in a checker pattern.

SIGHTS

The rifle features mechanically adjustable backup iron sights with a sliding tangent rear sight (the sight can be adjusted to a maximum range of 1,200 m). The iron sights can be used with or without the standard issue optical sight in place. This is possible because the scope mount does not block the area between the front and rear sights.

The Dragunov is issued with a quick-detachable PSO-1 optical sight. The PSO-1 sight (at a total length of 375 mm with a lens cover and sun shade, 4x magnification and 6° field of view) mounts to a proprietary side rail mount that does not block the view of the iron sight line. The PSO-1 sight includes a variety of features, such as a bullet drop compensation (BDC) elevation adjustment knob, an illuminated rangefinder grid, a reticle that enables target acquisition in low light conditions as well as an infrared charging screen that is used as a passive detection system. The current version of the sight is the PSO-1M2. This telescopic sight is different from the original PSO-1 only in that it lacks the now obsolete Infra-Red detector. The PSO-1 sight enables targets to be engaged at ranges upwards of 1,300 m; effective ranges in combat situations have been stated at between 600 to 1,300 m, depending on the nature of the target (point or area target) quality of ammunition and skill of the shooter.

Several other models of the PSO sight are available with varying levels of magnification and alternative aiming reticules. Rifles designated SVDN come equipped with a night sight, such as the NSP-3, NSPU, PGN-1, NSPUM or the Polish passive PCS-6.