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SVD parts
Click To Enlarge Rear of the reciever where the buttstock attaches. The butt stock is attached to the rear with two bolts, one that passes through the bottom of the pistol grip and one that screws in from the top into a hole in the front of the stock.

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The right and left side of the stripped NDM-86 receiver. Top photo has the scope rail visible. Notice how different it is from the Saiga and Romanian scope rails. The scope on this version is attached by sliding from the rear forward. This is why PSO scopes that came with the Saiga rifle will not fit the Dragunov.
Click to Enlarge The import mark on this .308 NDM-86 is for Briklee Trading Co. in South El Monte, California. They are now out of business. A former customer described it as a very impressive place filled with many curios & relics, more like a museum than a gunshop. Incidentally, BTC imported over 50,000 Chinese Type-56 AK's, mainly MAK-90's and over 100,000 Chinese SKS's. BTC is the sole creator of the "Paratrooper" SKS with the cut-down 16" barrel, the modification of which was performed here in the US.
Click To Enlarge The bottom of the receiver looking through the mag well. The bolt hold catch is visible at the bottom. This spring-loaded part locks the bolt back after the last round has been fired.
Chinese NDM-86 with 7.62x51 mag well cut for box-type magazine. This mag well is a unique shape among Dragunov rifles which means you can only use the proprietary Chinese steel .308 magazines in this receiver.

The military SVD receiver also has internal lightening cuts as well as on the outside. Russian receivers produced after the early 1990's only have the internal cuts.

More info about these cuts can be found here.

These lightening cuts lighten the weight of the milled receiver making the rifle slightly more comfortable to carry for extended periods. In the field every little bit helps! Current production Russian Dragunov receivers are completely flat on the outside which provides extra regidity to allow the use of more powerful calibers.
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Chinese trigger group with the hammer forward in the fired position.

This assembly is removable to facilitate easy cleaning and maintenance.

Click To Enlarge Hammer back in the cocked position.

Russian SVD Trigger Group

Russian military trigger group from captured SVD in Iraq.

Looking from the top you can see the 2-stage trigger assembly. It is quite different from the Kalashnikov design.

Russian SVD Trigger Group

There is a rumor that the safety sear had to be removed on Dragunov Tiger before they could be imported to the US because it was considered a class 3 part.

Though the US government might classify the sear (#6 in the diagram) in the same category as machine gun parts, the Dragunov is not capable of firing full-auto. The sear is actually an added safety device designed to prevent the possibility of the rifle firing a bullet before the bolt is locked into battery.

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In comparing magazines from the Russian 7.62x54R version (on right) with the Chinese .308 version you can see there are several differences.

At right are the front end tabs which hook into the recess cut in the front of the magazine well of the SVDs receiver. Note the Russian tab design is taller.

The rear end tabs also differ slightly in their construction. Russian five round SVD magazine on right.
Front tabs in profile. The Russian magazine has a curved body because that is the only way to feed a rimmed cartridge reliably.

From the bottom you can see the most dramatic design difference. The Russian magazine body has a hexagonal shape which is tapered at the front. The magazine well on the Russian SVD receiver is similarly shaped.

The Chinese .308 NDM-86 magazine is a more traditional box-type design with straight sides and a receiver magazine well to match. These magazines are in no way interchangeable.

The followers are very different as well as the feed lips over the rear of the opening. The Russian magazine must be loaded by inserting the cartridge at the middle of the mag and pushing back.

The Chinese .308 magazine is loaded in the traditional manner of pushing the cartridge straight down into the body of the magazine.

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This is the bolt carrier which is also numbered to the rifle.

This part is very carefully machined from high-strength steel and has almost no side-to-side play when resting on the receiver rails.
bolt carrier tail bolt stop The bolt carrier on this Chinese NDM-86 sniper rifle has a hammer block designed into it. Above shows the bolt locked into battery ready to fire. The hammer has un-obstructed contact with the rear of the bolt and the firing pin.
Hammer stop If the cartridge does not get fully chambered, the bolt carrier does not allow the hammer to contact the firing pin. This safety feature is designed to reduce the possibility of firing the cartridge out of battery, which could result in catastrophic damage to the rifle and possibly the shooter.
Dragunov bolt The bolt for a 7.62x51 NATO NDM-86. The only difference on the 7.62x54R Russian version is the face is machined wider for the rimmed Russian cartridge.
Dragunov bolt The bolt functions in a similar way to the Kalashnikov design, which only has 2 locking lugs, whereas the Dragunov bolt has 3.
Bolt stem

This bolt has been retrofitted with the spring-loaded firing pin.

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Firing pins

The top firing pin is from a Russian Tiger. It is designed to use a spring that is held in place by the little tabs on the rear. It is slightly longer than the Chinese version.

The pin on the bottom is for a Chinese NDM-86 and has been modified by CDNN by drilling a small hole and hooking a spring into it. This is not considered a reliable modification.

Firing pin springs

The top pin shows the Russian spring and retaining sleeve.

The bottom pin is from a .308 NDM-86 and has been modified by CDNN.

The Russian firing pins are slightly longer than the Chinese versions and must be filed (on the rear flat part) very carefully before using or pierced primers may result.

.308 bolt head 7.62x51 NATO Bolt head.
.308 bolt face .308 Bolt face is not as wide of the 7.62x54R version.
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