dragunov.net home  
  The FAQ     For Sale Videos Scopes Misc Links Gallery

This rear sight leaf has the Russian character "n" for the battle setting. Apparently the Chinese directly copied the Russian rear sight and even adopted their cyrillic symbol for the 300 yard battle setting. There are rumors floating around some internet discussion forums that the Chinese rifles have Russian parts or receivers. The Chinese manufacturer claims their Type-79 rifle is an almost exact copy of the Russian SVD and was "reverse-engineered" from some Russian samples but no Russian parts were ever used. So far there has been no credible proof that any Russian parts are in the Chinese NDM-86's.
The NDM-86 and SVD have a front sight assembly that incorporates the flash hider and bayonet lug. The entire unit is pressed onto the end of the barrel and held in place by two cross pins.
The front sight blade adjust for elevation in the tradition manner of inserting the special tool through the top hole and turning counter or anti-clockwise. If your tool has gone missing an SKS sight adjuster can be used.

The front sight post protrudes through the bottom of the hooded front sight protector. The entire hood assembly is drift-adjustable for windage.

Bayonet lug is standard Soviet AK design.

Do not use a hammer and punch to adjust the windage. The hood is held onto the sight base very tightly and you will damage it if you try to force it with blows from a hammer. Use the proper tool which was included with your kit from the factory.
 


 
There is another rare flash hider variation for the Russian military SVD. This version has a smooth body (above and at left on bottom). It's not known why the design was changed. Special thanks to Frenchy for sending these pics.
Frenchy's SVD

 

 

Interestingly the flash hider for the British L1-A1 FAL rifle is very similar to the SVD sniper flash hider. A crafty person might be able to adapt one to fit an Izhmash Tiger rifle. These can be found for as cheap as a few dollars at Tapco.com and other places.
Gas Block
The gas block on the SVD barrel. Note the threads for the adjustable gas valve. This is not featured on the Dragunov Tiger.
Gas block  
   
gas tubegas tubegas piston The gas piston (left) sits inside this regulator housing (center and right). It too is numbered to the receiver. In the field this regulator is adjusted by putting the base of a cartridge into the slots (shown on the left side of the regulator) and rotating the assembly. For some reason the gas regulator doesn't function on the 7.62 NATO versions.
receiver cover The bottom of the receiver cover shows the recoil spring assembly. It is mounted to the cover on a hinge and is removed by punching out the rear axis pin.
NDM=86 cheek pad NDM-86 cheek pad
The cheek pad is wrapped in soft leather and is detachable. It must be removed for shooting with the iron sights. Newer Russian versions have a black plastic base instead of the laminated wood.
NDM pistol grip cap Bakelite cap on grip. Remove it to get access to the bolt that holds the buttstock to the receiver.
Hand Guardshand guards from the inside The handguards are a very complex design made with carefully shaped laminated wood. This would be an expensive part to manufacture in small quantities.
Bottom of hand guards The handguards have 2 vent holes on the bottom.
Hand Guards retaining plate


Because the handguards are not floating, some shooters feel pressure on them will influence the harmonics of the barrel and interfere with its accuracy.

Retaining plate lever The lever (between the barrel and the wood) releases the flange which holds the handguards in place. If the handguards are loose on the rifle, it may cause accuracy to suffer.
 
Click to return to Internals page Internals Page 1  

Home|Rifles|Internals|Articles|Military Pics|Reloading|Registry|Range Reports |Your Pics|Accessories|Contact
Dragunov dot net is your source for information on the Eastern Bloc sniper rifles including the Russian Dragunov SVD and Tiger, Chinese NDM-86 and Type79, and the Romanian PSL. Serving owners and enthusiasts since 2001. Today is

© Copyright dragunov.net