Transferring this for a buddy of mine, it’s a Chinese Type 79 Dragunov, imported as a NDM 86.
Basically, an exact copy of the Soviet SVD Dragunov designated marksman rifle, with the exception of the scope.
The Soviets sold several hundred to the Chinese in the late 70’s.
Despite the hype, these things really are more of a DMR type than a true sniper system in the Western tradition.
These would be issued at least one per platoon, sometimes one per squad, to give the Soviet troopers the ability to reach out past the effective range of their AK’s.
They are about as “elegant” a rifle as ever came out of the Eastern Bloc.
Interesting melding of Kalashnikov and Tokarev rifle designs, with a lot of original design work done by Dragunov himself.
The bolt rotates and is dual lugged like an AK, but the adjustable gas system is a tappet design like a Tokarev vs. the long stroke of the Kalashnikov. The magazine system is an almost direct copy of the Tokarev SVT-40.
These are milled steel receiver rifles, very well executed.
Chambered in the original 7.62x54mmR, although the Chinese did export some of these in .308 Win. to the US.
With standard light ball loads, you can expect this to shoot about like a standard M14 or FAL (4"-5" @ 100m), with the special Russian sniper grade ammo, designated 7N1, you can generally halve that.
My pics really don’t do it justice, it’s a handsome rifle, not bad considering it was made in 1985.
How much would one of these go for? I saw a used Russian made model last July that was 850 dollars. Curious about the current price as it is a nice rifle.
Wow! That is really nice. I even like the camo pattern your friend is wearing, do you know what type? I never seen it before. I know not about the rifle, sorry. I wonder what a .308 SVD would be like?
That’s Xcibes wearing the smock. I want to say it’s OMON (Russian Ministry of Internal Security), but it could also be one of the various Russian Army smocks issued to units that fall within the vast “Spetznaz” umbrella.
The .308 NDM-86’s I used to own were surprisingly accurate w/168gr match, far more accurate than a 20yr-old copy of a 50yr-old semi-auto chromed-bore design should be.
Many don’t like the SVD bipod but if you use it properly by applying just enough forward pressure on it to steady your sight picture then followup shots are fast & easy as recoil recovery settles you into the same “pocket”.
Tomac
mine is romainian… love the lil sucker… like to break her out when folks are talking trash with their bolt actions… best distance i have so far is 650yds open sights, 12 inch plate in 2 rnds… only problem i have is the scope staying put… reason i go open sight… any one know of any covers with a rail system on it…? have one on my AK… wondering if there is the same for the dragons…
The scope mount can be adjusted for tension. You should see a castle nut on the bottom of the mount. Depress the spring-loaded rail so it disengages from the castle nut then you should be able to rotate the castle nut to tighten or loosen as needed. HTH…
Tomac
ETA: Are you sliding the mount onto the rifles optic rail from the front or from the rear? It should be from the rear otherwise the mount will slowly work its way forward and off the optic rail.
