SVD Dragunov
Soviet semi-automatic designated marksman rifle in 7.62×54R: designed to extend the infantry squad's effective range beyond 600 m with a fast, rugged weapon.
SVD Dragunov
Community
Data trust
- Reliability
- Unverified
- Sources
- Sources pending review
Identity
- Designation
- SVD Dragunov
- Alias
- Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova
- Manufacturer
- Izhmash
- Country
- Russia
- Year
- 1963
- Category
- Sniper rifle
- Status
- In service
Ballistics
- Caliber
- 7.62×54R
- Muzzle velocity
- 830 m/s
- Effective range
- 800 m
- Maximum range
- 1300 m
Dimensions
- Barrel length
- 620 mm
- Overall length
- 1225 mm
- Empty weight
- 4.3 kg
Mechanics
- Operating system
- Gas-operated, short-stroke piston
- Bolt / action
- Rotating bolt
Feed
- System
- Caricatore curvo bifilare staccabile
- Standard capacity
- 10 rounds
Fire modes
Historical profile
Development
In the late 1950s the Soviet General Staff identified the need for a squad-level semi-automatic precision rifle, capable of bridging the range gap between the AKM and the PK machine gun.
The trial involved designers Yevgeny Dragunov (Izhevsk), Sergei Simonov and Aleksandr Konstantinov. Dragunov's design, designated SSV-58, won for reliability and accuracy and was adopted in 1963 as the SVD.
Design
Chambered in 7.62×54R (a cartridge in service since 1891), it uses a short-stroke gas piston system with a manual two-position regulator and a three-lug rotating bolt, different from the AK's.
Skeletonised wooden stock (polymer in recent versions) with a removable cheek piece. The PSO-1 4×24 optic with illuminated reticle and stadiametric rangefinder, mounted on a side dovetail rail, is standard issue.
Operational service
It debuted in combat with Soviet advisors in Vietnam and the Middle East in the late 1960s. It saw massive use in Afghanistan (1979-89), the Chechen conflicts, Iraq, Syria and the war in Ukraine from 2014.
Produced under licence or copied in China (Type 79/85), Iran (Nakhjir 3), Iraq (Al-Kadesih) and Romania (PSL, mechanically an AK with a long barrel). The SVDS variant adopts a folding metal stock and shortened barrel for airborne troops.
Legacy
For over half a century the SVD has defined the Soviet and later Russian concept of the squad designated marksman (DMR), influencing doctrine, training and equipment across the Warsaw Pact and beyond.
In Russia it has gradually been joined by new designs such as the modernised SVDM and the Chukavin SVCh, but it remains in active production at Kalashnikov Concern and an immediate symbol of the post-Soviet marksman in media and video games.
Variants
Main users
Unione Sovietica · Russia · China · Vietnam · Iran · Iraq · Siria · Ukraine
Key components
- ●Stock — Shoulder rest.
- ●Receiver — Weapon body with internal mechanisms.
- ●Grip — Primary grip.
- ●Magazine — Cartridge feed.
- ●Barrel — Guides the projectile.
