Shooting heavy bullets through the Dragunov?

I was wondering how the exact mechanics of my Dragunov recoil system worked.  What exactly was the Dragunov design for stopping the bolt as it completes its travel rearward after a shot?  What makes this question particularly relevant to me is that I shoot nothing but heavy ammunition through my Dragunov which some people advise to steer clear of.

I’ve put upwards of 800 rounds of heavy ammunition through my Tigr since buying it new in 2008.  This ammo constituted mostly 203gr Barnaul SP, some180gr Highland AX and 183gr Hungarian heavy ball.  I’ve found that no commercially available 7.62x54r under 180gr exists in NZ unless you reload cartridges yourself. 

As to manufacturer information on shooting heavy ammunition, the Russian Dragunov manufacturer Izhmash specifically lists the 7.62x54r bullet weight for the Tigr as 13.2 grams (203.7 grain) which just so happens to be the only Russian hunting cartridge I’ve ever seen and profusely shot in NZ (203gr Barnaul SP).  No real surprise since they market their Tigrs as "self-loading hunting rifles. http://www.izhmash.ru/eng/product/tigr.shtml

Another interesting note is that the Dragunov Tigr (Tigr 9) is also chambered for the far more potent 9.3x64mm round which would indicate the Tigr receiver is easily strong enough to handle the comparatively insignificant 54r heavy ball.  The Tigr 9 weighs essentially the same weight the standard Tigr so any receiver strengthening must be fairly unobtrusive. 

So anyway while I was cleaning my Tigr after a shoot I decided I’d see what exactly goes on.

If you own a Dragunov and wondered if the rivets, shown in the picture below, bear any weight as the bolt recoils you can be sure that if they did, they and their thin receiver cover holes would be rattling and probably a little mangled after a only few shots.  Rest assured the Russians aren't into designing fragile small arms and the only strain those rivets endure is the light weight of retaining the recoil spring assembly when you remove the receiver cover.

There are 3 parts of the rifle that take the weight of halting the bolt carrier.   There is this goodly chunk of metal rotating in the receiver cover; I guess you would call it the bolt buffer.  The buffer makes direct contact with the rear of the retreating bolt carrier. 

Then there is the chunky takedown lever pin which sits in the back of the receiver and lastly the back of the receiver itself. 

You will notice from earlier pictures that the buffer (if that’s the correct term) is wedge shaped.  Also notice that the rear of the receiver is sloped forward to accommodate that wedge.  As can be seen below, the scuffs on the rear buffer show a fairly good fit with the back of the receiver.

 

The back of the buffer slides down against the sloped receiver rear and is tightly crushed hard up against the back of the receiver when the takedown lever is rotated shut.  From the earlier pics you can see that the buffer has a groove in its front to accommodate the takedown lever pin.   A person could separate the recoil spring and buffer assembly from the dust cover (this would mean breaking the rivets of course so ya don't want to do it) and the Dragunov would operate just the same without it once the take down lever is clamped shut on the assembly.

Below pictures show the bolt fully retracted against the buffer.  I had to remove the forward most recoil spring to make is easier to retract.  As you can see the bolt handle comes up very precisely just short of the receiver cover.  The recoil spring setup itself compresses to about 85% of its ability before the bolt is stopped by the buffer.  

 So all in all a rock solid setup.  My riveted receiver cover pin has no play or slop (neither should it, there is no stress on it), and neither does my take down lever in over 800 shots fired.  Short of some pretty hefty metal deciding to give way this setup will be good to go indefinitely.

To further cement the situation I emailed Izhmash back in 2009, shown below. (Also asking a manufacturing question regarding the Tigr and SVD).

Sent to Izhmash on the 29th July, 2009.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a 7.62x54r Dragunov Tigr owner (serial # -------) in New Zealand and would greatly appreciate if you could answer some questions regarding my rifle.

My Tigr has the 620mm barrel with 1:320 twist.

1. Is it fine to shoot heavy ammunition such as 203gr Barnaul SP from my Tigr without damage it? I notice on your Izhmash website that it lists bullet weight for the Tigr as 13.2grams which equals 203.7 grain. I thought I would email to make sure.

2. I was informed that the Dragunov SVD barrel is cryogenically strengthened and electromagnetically polished while the Tigr's is not? Is this true (I'm not worried about it, just wonder if it is correct)?

Thank you very much for your time.

Kind Regards,
***********
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and on the 18th of September 2009 I received this reply from Izhmash.




Dear Sir,

Thank you for your interest in our products.

In reply to your request please be informed


1. 7.62x54 cartridge with bullet mass 13.2 g can be applied for Tigr
hunting carbine shooting

2. The barrels of either SVD and Tigr are produced according to the same
technology and differs in thread pitch only. Cryogenically
strengthening and electromagnetic polishing are not applied in
tecnological process.

Sincerely yours,

B.B. Mikhalchuk
director on commerce
"CONCERN "IZHMASH" OJSC

Fax: 7-3412-78-36-35
Phone: 7-3412-495-491; 7-3412-495-073
www.izhmash.ru
mailto:arms-export@izhmash.ru
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