This will be an ongoing review for the WE AceVD, from the day it arrived at my door to the day I sell it or it breaks in some spectacular fashion that cannot be fixed. I hate typing AceVD though, so for the rest of the review, it shall be known by it's proper name, the SVD, or the Dragunov. Also, sorry if the images are too large, I know how to resize them in HTML, but not BBcode, so if anybody has any tips on making them smaller (while allowing them to be opened to full size) I'd be happy to implement that.
Rifle historyThe SVD was adopted in 1963 as the USSR's sniper rifle of choice, although the way it is utilized is closer to the Western DMR role. Although related to the Kalashnikov series of rifles it's method of operation is very different, including the use of a short stroke piston system and a different trigger system that is incapable of fully automatic fire. Many countries make or use the SVD including Iraq and China. Many other countries produce rifles that look very similar, but are internally more like the Kalashnikov rifles, like the Romanian PSL.
(source) [th]Real SVD[/th]
[th]WE SVD[/th]
|
Length:1225mm (48 inches)
Weight: 4.31 kg w/ PSO-1, empty mag
Caliber: 7.62x54r
Magazine capacity: 20
Max Range: ~600 yards
| Length: 1212mm (47 3/4 inches)
Weight:TBD
Caliber: 6mm
Magazine capacity: 20
Max range: TBD |
First impressionsAs usual it arrived in a giant brown Evike box via UPS. I'll spare you the details, but it was well packed by Evike in my opinion, so it survived shipping here okay. Upon removing all the pertinent contents from the original box, this is what I was left with:
The rifle itself, the PSO-1 scope offered by Evike, and a single spare magazine. The packing from WE was... Kinda shaky I think. I've ordered several of their products in the past, and I don't think they've ever come in a plastic bag, ziptied to a piece of cardboard, but that's what happened here. Still, it survived the trip from Taiwan to Cali, and then Cali to my doorstep, so I figure there's a good reason.
Although it had to be shipped with a bright red plastic flash hider (lifted off of the WE G36K oddly enough), it also came packaged with the original beautiful black metal SVD muzzle break. My first attempts to remove the G36 flash hider were shaky at best. I finally came to the conclusion that it had a liberal dose of loc-tight on it, and would have to be boiled off. Not a hard task, just rather interesting to watch. Finally, with a pot of hot water and a few strong twists, the orange monstrosity came off, revealing a thread adapter! The threads are actually inside the barrel, so most aftermarket muzzle breaks will not work without an adapter. The thread adapter is loc-tight'ed in too, so after a few more minutes over the stove and some more wrenching, I was able to install the SVD muzzle break. Another great thing to note, although kind of useless to airsoft, is that the front sight comes equipped with a bayonet lug underneath!
Now that I had dealt with the front end, I figured it was time to take a whack at the scope. Some have said in reviews that the airsoft PSO-1 has a bit too tight of a fit. Some reviewers even went as far as to say that you might have to lightly tap it with a hammer to get it on! I had no trouble getting the scope on, although once it's on, it doesn't exactly like to come off. This is good though in my opinion, as this means it's a pretty tight fit. There is no wobble or instability between the rifle and the scope, and that means that as long as the scope holds zero, it should be pretty accurate. Plus, nothing goes better with the SVD than that reticle!
The first thing that struck me once I got the rifle all together was the sheer size of the thing! I'm used to handling my 249, and from time to time an AK or AR, but the SVD just feels so
long! Here's a good comparison between it and a G&G RK-47.
Next, I took a quick inspection of the internals. Things look pretty solid in there. I'm not sure how much WE's tendency to use pot metal on stressed parts will come into play at this point, but everything except the bolt catch looks pretty solid. There's a plastic block in the back that is used to absorb the force of the bolt slamming rearward, which WE was also nice enough to send a spare for.
Looking back a few days when I was putting in the order, I was slightly excited because I am learning about gunsmithing and machining, and I thought this might be an excellent opportunity to try out some of the skills that I've read so much about. A part of me was sorely disappointed when I pulled the trigger for the first time, as I would not be trying those skills on this rifle. The trigger pull is very light. The way the trigger is built, it's a little hard to tell when it's about to break, and there's a tiny amount of over travel, but if you practice a few trigger resets, it becomes very easy to feel out. I'd say it's just a little lighter than my (real) Lee Enfield No.4, but with the same sort of feel to it.
So, that's all I've got for now! Stay tuned, as my lovely GF and I are going out on Sunday for a field test!
Also, one last glamour shot!
