The SVD (СВД; Russian: снайперская винтовка Драгунова, romanized: snayperskaya vintovka Dragunova, lit.

The SVD was designed to serve in a squad support role to provide precise long-range engagement capabilities to ordinary troops following the Warsaw Pact adoption of the 7.62×39mm intermediate cartridge and assault rifles as standard infantry weapon systems.

[4] The SVD was developed through 1958–1963 and selected as the winner of a contest that included three competing groups of designers, led by Sergei Simonov (prototype rejected in April 1960), Aleksandr Konstantinov, and Yevgeny Dragunov.

Extensive field testing of the rifles conducted in a wide range of environmental conditions (Konstantinov's competing 2B-W-10 prototype was simpler and cheaper but tested less accurate, durable and reliable) resulted in Dragunov's proposal chambered for the 7.62×54mmR fully powered cartridge being accepted into service in July 1963.

[5] An initial pre-production batch consisting of 200 rifles was assembled for evaluation purposes, and from 1964 serial production was carried out by Izhmash, later called Kalashnikov Concern.

China produced a copy of the SVD through reverse-engineered samples captured during the Sino-Vietnamese War as the Type 79 and 85.

[11][12] The domestically produced UAR-10 sniper rifle is also replacing the SVD in Ukrainian military and law enforcement units.

[13] According to McNab, the SVD remains in service with Ukrainian forces in the designated marksman rifle role.

In addition to the trigger disconnect, the fire control mechanism has a second disconnector which does not allow the hammer to fall until the bolt has been closed, similar to a sear in a select-fire weapon.

The rifle is fed from a detachable curved box magazine with a 10-round capacity and the cartridges are double-stacked in a staggered zigzag pattern.

7N1 differed from the standard LPS Gzh (57-N-323S) cartridge in its use of finely extruded propellant and a modified projectile containing a void inside of the jacket at the tip which improved terminal ballistics and a bimetal lead and mild steel core.

The SVD was originally issued with a detachable PSO-1 optical sight (now PSO-1M2) which mounts to a Warsaw Pact rail on the left side of the receiver.

The BDC feature must be tuned at the factory for the particular ballistic trajectory of a particular combination of rifle and cartridge at a predefined air density.

[17][18] Several military issue alternative telescopic sights with varying levels of magnification and reticles are available for the SVD.

[21] The original SVD had a birch plywood laminate two-piece handguard/gas tube cover and a skeletonized thumbhole stock equipped with a detachable cheek rest; the latter is removed when using iron sights.

A number of accessories are issued with the rifle, including a blade-type bayonet (AKM clipped point or the AK-74 spear point bayonet), four spare magazines, a leather or nylon sling, magazine pouch, cleaning kit and an accessory/maintenance kit for the telescopic sight.

SVDS (6V3) – Attempts to reduce the length of the rifle for use by marines, mechanised infantry, and paratroopers began in 1978 by adding a folding buttstock and a separate pistol grip.

[22] The final design was chosen out of a variety of prototypes and adopted in 1995, which had a metal stock which folded to the right as to not be interfered by the optic mount and also had a shortened barrel.

The barrel was also given a heavier profile, the receiver housing was strengthened, the gas cylinder block was improved and a ported, and a shorter conical flash suppressor was adopted.

[25] Compared to its predecessor, the SVDM was notably designed with a thicker (and 550 mm long) barrel, new furniture, and a picatinny rail mount on the new, hinged, dust cover.

The rifle was also equipped with an improved muzzle brake as well as a rear aperture sight, much like the original SVD prototype.

The design lacked the fixed flash hider and bayonet lug which was added to the rifle prior to adoption.

Serial production for began in 1992[27] For export into the United States, the sear which prevented out-of-battery discharge had to be removed to comply with the National Firearms Act.

SWD-M – A modernised Polish variant of the SVD adopted in 1998 which uses a heavy barrel, bipod (mounted to the forearm) and LD-6 (6×42) telescopic sight.

Although the design is nearly identical to the original SVD, some parts are not interchangeable, as the dimensions are slightly different from Soviet production rifles.

[31] Once the rifle had been produced in sufficient numbers, every infantry platoon of Warsaw Pact troops included at least one SVD-equipped marksman.