[RyanE]

Rifle was imported into Canada in the 80s or 90s (my guess is out of Yugoslavia) and wandered into the US sometime later. Parts appear to be original to the gun but stock is sanded, refinished, and renumbered. Some of these have the metal refinished as well, but it is hard to tell from the pics. All of these are 43 dated AVT and most have the original factory metal parts (not all!) and some even have their original stocks though all of them will be renumbered vertically.

Price is absurd. I paid less for my untouched vet bringback.

I thought bolts were originally in the white and the ones that are colored are indeed refurbished post war in nature.

All bolts were blued (most coming out in shades of cherry) after late 1941.

 

[RyanE]

Actually, nobody knows how and when these rifles came into US, there are very few of them in US and it is all factory original. Stocks are original and had serial numbers added vertically probably by whatever country military requirements.

Price is not outrageous - how many of 1943 SVTs in such condition are known to exist in US? A dozen? Maybe two dozens?
Is your untouched bringback a 1943 SVT40?


Lc

The price is outrageous. That is what I expect to pay for an excellent condition, untouched original rifle, not a post-war Eastern European rework which is what this is.

I have seen at least 4-5 of these for sale over the past few years, so they are not that rare or not rare enough to demand 3K in any event.

 

[RyanE]

Ryan, how can you support your claim that it's "post-war Eastern European" rework? I don't think you can.
Fact is we don't know for sure about those rifles. I have one of them all matching and stock on mine has original serial stamp, no vertical re-stamp. Stock was varnished at some time but it's not post-war shellac. So in total some stocks were renumbered, some not. All of them probably were re-varnished on top of original varnish. We don't know when and where it was done. There's at least one evidence it was done in the repair shop (during war or post-war - it's not clear).
BTW there's another thing about those rifle why ppl are willing to pay extra, not everybody knows it and I'm not willing to elaborate publicly.
To sum up - of course the rifle in question was not "all original as it left factory", but it could be "as it was prepared to enter the service" or "as it was prepared for storage after some minor check". And crack in stock is huge minus. But every rifle costs whatever someone ready to pay for it. And it's a good one.

Your stock, unsanded and without the added serial, is the exception, as every one that I have ever seen shows sanding and renumbering. Stocks often do not match, and parts are occasionally ground and renumbered (EP'd) also. Your rifle is also reblued, though not all of them are.

The rifles are obviously and without question post-war, non-Soviet reworks.

 

[RyanE]

Nice rifle, but this is not 1943 made rifle. And without seeing GB rifle I would not claim it is refinished.
There are many experts who claim they know how 1943 rifle should look but nobody has the righteous example

There have been numerous postings of original 43/44 rifles from Ukrainian and Russian collections including the photos Ratnik just reposted. You are simply choosing to live in denial.

 

[RyanE]

There is a thread on 1943 rifles on this Forum which ends with my polite request to anybody to post pictures of what is all original 1943 SVT-Gorilka claimed he had one- still waiting for the pictures for a long time now.
All these Russian and Ukrainian collections are just pictures taken at museums through the display windows, all inconclusive

Molot sells unissued AVT (I think most are 44 dated) commercially in Russia. Some are even butchered with cuts for scope mounts. There are probably zero original condition AVT outside of Russia. They simply didn't that much use and were not captured/reissued in large numbers like their pre-1942 SVT cousins.

In any case, I think we can safely conclude that sanded, refinished, force matched stocks are not "original".

 

[RyanE]

I find this thread interesting as I own what could be called a former 1943 AVT with the vertical serial number. First it is in very good condition including the barrel, all bluing appears original, all Tula parts, ie no mixing of parts, no import stamp, nor a refurb stamp. Bolt is some where between in the white with some platina with a slight red tint. ATV stock appears original, no sanding, has a red color and a very crisp vertical serial number stamp. However there no ghost serial number or cartouches on the stock. There is a single cartouche inside under the fore grip, by memory I think it is a very small circle T.

I bought this in 2010 for $1600, but it did include two magazines, a bayonet and scabbard, and an extra original cleaning rod. At market value for those extras I figured the rifle was $1100-$1200 and a bargain for it's condition. Never thought twice about paying that price.

And I apologize about not having expert photography skills or equipment.

Your pics are fine and show what is needed, Yours is one of the "matching" 43 AVT Canadian imports. Metal parts are original to the gun though it is hard to tell if the metal was refinished. If there are no markings aside from the vertical number, the stock was heavily sanded during rework in Yugoslavia or wherever.

The price you paid was very reasonable for one of these.

 

[RyanE]

Interesting. I've never seen a 1943 with rails before. Looking closer, it appears that the receiver top has been ground/sanded/beveled and re-dated....presumably by the factory one would think, or hope. Also interesting is the blued bolt, and carrier in the white. Though the current thinking is that all bolts and carriers since late 1942 were blued, I am not 100% convinced that later white bolts are necessarily the result of misguided collector shenanigans.

The bolt carrier is obviously heavily cleaned, but isn't original in any case (EP'd).

An interesting receiver to be sure. Can you pull the receiver from the stock and take a picture of the machining under the wood line? I am curious what receiver type it is.

 

[RyanE]

Yes Sir! Might not get a chance until tomorrow but will photograph and post. Thanks.

Ruprecht

Here are pics of a Type 1 (1940/1941) and Type 2 (late 1941/1942) receiver if it helps. Note the differences in machining around the front leg. Yours is probably a Type 1, but it won't hurt to check.

Edit: Right receiver types this time....

 

[RyanE]

Small update - you posted type 1 and type 3.

View attachment 783417

You are absolutely right. What I get for not paying close attention when editing my pics! Corrected above with the right Type 2 receiver...

Any thoughts on the possible removal of old markings? Clearly looks like an old serial number and old factory/year markings were removed.

 

[RyanE]

RyanE: It is clearly a Type 1 and, unless I'm mistaken, I think I see a faint triangle with arrow under the Tula star (ie. Izhevsk). I wish I knew more about the inspection marks, etc on these rifles. Just received my copy of Chumak so hoping to learn a lot there (only 2 weeks from order to mailbox!). I would be surprised if, by '43, Tula wasn't re-using some components from junked rifles. Great info on this forum!

Ruprecht

If this is a salvage, then from the inspections on the bottom, I would guess that it was an Izhevsk receiver.