For the past 4 years I have been using the Real Sword Dragunov SVD airsoft rifle. It has quickly become my favorite and most utilized AEG in my personal collection. In order to actually use this rifle at our local fields, I had to participate in the Spokane Airsoft sniper course. This is an important course primarily designed to teach the safety aspects of using 400+ FPS rifles. Additionally, one is required to perform several sniper specific activities such as long distance shooting and proficiency, proficiency with a pistol, an undetected sniper stalk, and reconnaissance. All in all, it is a good primer for what being an airsoft sniper is all about.
Basic Features
One of the most obvious things you will notice about the Real Sword SVD is the external appearance. This rifle resembles the real steel SVD in a fashion not replicated by any other manufacturer. Dimensionally, materials, and fit and finish wise, it is a 1-to-1 exact match. Even the weight is extremely close:
Real steel SVD weight (without scope): 9.4 lbs.
Real Sword SVD weight (without scope): 9.0 lbs.
That’s a mere 4 ounces of difference! Total approximate weight with a real steel POSP 4x24mm scope (weight 1.55 lbs) is 10.55 lbs. This makes it fairly lightweight in the realm of DMR setups – especially compared to an M14 EBR which can weigh upwards of 15+ lbs. with a scope! Having owned an EBR setup in the past, the M14 feels like an ungainly pig in comparison to the SVD. The other thing that is immediately apparent about the SVD is the length of the rifle. At approximately 48″ total overall length, this is not a short rifle at all and those who work in environments that have restricted movement will find themselves disadvantaged (more on that later.) The outer barrel is approximately 24.4″ long, with an inner barrel length in stock form of 690mm. Latter models of the SVD, such as the current SVU, have featured slightly shorter barrel lengths.
The SVD has an integral mounting rail on the left side of the receiver for the fitment of a huge variety of scopes that have a SVD mounting bracket. In addition to being optics-ready, it also has an tangent style iron sight arrangement that is identical in operation to that found on the AK series rifles, albeit with much larger range gradients. In order to effectively use the iron sights properly, one has to remove the cheek riser, an operation that takes all of a second to complete.
This rifle begs for a real steel scope, so one should install such. I have experience with a few of the replicas out there and can attest to their utter lack of quality and high probability of failure. A real steel POSP or PSO scope will set you back at least $239 from reputable dealers. For airsoft purposes, one does not really need much more magnification beyond 4x, so I have installed the 4x24mm POSP scope on this rifle. This is a very versatile magnification, I feel, and other companies have experienced great success with straight 4x magnification, such as the legendary Trijicon ACOG. The POSP scope also offers a true quick release platform as well, so one could conceivably swap between say, a red dot platform (on this gun, whyyyy?), to a NVG setup, should they sodesire. You can read more information regarding the 4x24mm POSP scope here.
The Real Sword SVD is a semi-automatic only AEG. It can be tripped into full auto, however, with the gearbox unjamming bracket that can be found inside the receiver. This is not something that can be done with a magazine inserted, however, and is only there to facilitate unjamming – a very handy feature as it turns out. Occasionally, as is the case with semi-auto and AEG’s, you will experience a gearbox jam. To fix this, remove the magazine, depress the unjamming bracket while simultaneously pulling the trigger. You will briefly fire on full auto while the gearbox clears the jam. Fortunately, jams are mostly infrequent, but they do occasionally happen. It kind of makes the whole operation of the SVD more MILSIM, I suppose, because you would have to attempt to clear the jam or transition to your sidearm anyway.
Magazine capacity is a generous 96 rounds – more than enough to get the job done. Magazines are built from real SVD mags that have been gutted and fitted to run the 6mm BB platform.
All the metal components of the SVD are built of steel – it is in fact the same steel that is used in the real steel version of the SVD, and many of the components are converted SVD components too. The receiver is a one-piece milled unit, and is an inflexible tank. Overall this rifle is very tight, with no wobbles, creaks, or shifting of construction. It feels solid and designed for abuse.
The furniture is the same as the real steel versions, being a nicely lacquered plywood laminate of particular toughness. Overall It has proven very durable and resistant to scratches and dings and the other generalized abuse I have thrown at it. The battery compartment is found within the forearm area, and can neatly house up to an 11.1v stick lipo. I have switched my connections out to Deans on this particular rifle. The removable cheek rest is made of laminate and padded leather. It features a quick release mechanism so one can easily transition from optics to iron sights should this become necessary.
Internally, the gearbox is a proprietary Real Sword design. You will not find any upgrade or aftermarket parts on the open market, save what you can find from Real Sword. Fortunately, this is not a detrimental mark against the SVD, as the internals are all very high quality and the rifle is already built for running high FPS. Real Sword, in fact, now sells an M170 power drop-in spring for these rifles. Many others have already experimented and shown the rifle to fully be able to handle an 170 power spring with no problems. On my example, I am running a Guarder SP-150 spring for 510 FPS with .20g BB’s.
Out of the box, compression was excellent, and the shimming was perfect. All Real Sword AEG’s are test fired before shipping from the factory, and you get a nifty little specification certificate for your particular rifle showing its FPS and Joule ratings at the time of testing. I typically do a complete disassembly and check on this rifle at the end of every year before putting her away for the winter. I have yet to replace a single part or fix compression or shimming, nor have I experienced any notable FPS loss or degradation of performance. Other than the Guarder SP-150 spring, the gearbox internals are stock. The stock barrel and hop up bucking will be satisfactory for most, but in my case I am seeking to gain the highest degree of accuracy possible out of this platform. With this in mind, I have replaced the inner barrel with a Prometheus 690mm 6.03 EG stainless steel tightbore barrel and a Raptors Tactical RTX “Maple Leaf” (update: I have since switched to a custom installed R-Hop, which has massively improved the performance over the RTX) hop up bucking.
The Hop up chamber is a unique design that features micro-click adjustments for fine tuning your hop up. It operates in a counter-clockwise fashion (to increase hop up.) The little nub on the back indexes into the gearbox, preventing the hop up chamber from twisting or turning inside the gun. You can fit pretty much any Marui style hop up bucking into the hop up chamber. Inner barrel to outer barrel fit is very good, and I haven’t had to wrap the inner barrel in tape or the like to decrease vibration or shifting.
Overall this is a very high quality AEG. I would call the appearance svelte – elegant, even – but others may disagree. It balances extremely well in the hand, and is lighter than some similar rifles in its class. There are very few AEG’s that can match the range of this particular rifle (especially with the new installation of the Raptors Tactical RTX Hop Up) in our local area.
Reinvention of Tactics
Operating with the SVD is a unique experience. Being of such a long nature, it requires a slight reinvention of your tactics – even more so if you’re transitioning to the platform from short-barreled-carbines. Initially, I found the long barrel to be problematic – the SVD doesn’t port well when carrying in the low-ready like an SBR does. Over time and use, I found that I came to prefer the long barrel for an important attribute that I had initially overlooked: it allows one to snake it through the brush or other obstructions for a clear shot, while otherwise remaining concealed and/or in cover. There have been many airsoft OP’s where I have stuck that long barrel through a small 3″ hole and taken foes out from afar without revealing my position. The long barrel also forces you to increase your distance from cover or when operating along walls (which is something you should practice anyway as hugging cover too tightly makes you less maneuverable.) It has also proven particularly useful for bracing against trees, branches, etc. as field expedient supports. Knowing what I know now in the employ of the SVD, I wouldn’t trade the long barrel for a short one if the option was given to me.
Disregarding the low-ready carry position for obvious issues, I found carrying the SVD to be best in the high ready position, muzzle up at the eye line, or with the buttstock tucked under the elbow, with the rifle held level. The addition of a Blue Force Gear padded VCAS sling helps greatly for long treks or to cinch the rifle behind my back to free up my hands, or for sidearm transitions. At 10.55 lbs, this is easily the heaviest rifle in my collection but the balance is superb and makes it less noticeable over the long haul.
Eventually, I also wound up purchasing a separate load bearing gear setup for my SVD. Originally I made due with my “assault” rig, which was outfitted with HSGI universal magazine pouches. This worked for a time, but was ultimately a hassle as the SVD mags tended to get buried in the HSGI pouches and I was carrying more equipment than I really needed for the role. I wound up starting with some Russian made SPLAV SVD pouches and built upon that with a Tactical Tailor MAV system. The end result was a complete vest setup that weighed in at a lightweight 15 lbs. fully loaded. I think I have this setup pretty well sorted out now for my particular uses. It is designed to get me through long range shooting, limited CQB, and provide enough sustained ammo for suppressive fire. I am planning on adding some trip-wire capability to the Thunder B’s for when I’m holed up in a structure or area as an early-warning / threat deterrent, and if the flow of the event permits it.
The other important consideration to my tactics was the addition of a sidearm. Spokane Airsoft’s rule set for snipers is that no shots be taken under 50′ if you’re shooting over 400 FPS. This absolutely necessitates a back up weapon for close in distances (otherwise, plan on dying a lot.) I have made different attempts for the “pefect” secondary weapon, including short-barreled AK platforms, a Vz. 61 Skorpion, various pistol platforms, or nothing at all if I’m feeling cranky. In the end I have come full circle and stuck with a pistol. Modern GBB pistols are certainly accurate enough to participate in the 0-50′ arena, and are even better suited in some instances to CQB environments. My sidearm has saved my proverbial bacon more than a few times as I’ve transitioned from long range environments to short ranged ones. Some would argue that a airsoft ‘sniper’ need not engage at all in the CQB realm. I disagree with this belief for a few fundamental reasons:
1) I don’t really play the role of a true sniper – nor do most ‘snipers’ in airsoft actually. In fact, I would liken my role as more akin to that of a Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR.) More often than not, I find myself roaming or rotating from squad to squad lending that “extra reach” for the team that simply can not get the range on the enemy. With 96 rounds on tap, the Real Sword SVD can whittle down an opposing fire team in seconds should they fail at basic infantry tactics. The guys who strive for that perfect “one shot, one kill” rule from 1000 yards out are obviously not going to be interested in this.
2) A secondary consideration is the ability for long range suppressive fire. 96 rounds of semi-automatic firepower firing back at ranges most AEG’s (or LMG’s, for that matter) can’t reach is another tactic to be used when you’re assisting your squad in closing in on the enemy. Technically speaking, this means you’ve got some pretty good stand-off distance between you and the enemy. This also reaffirms the use of the DMR methodology in my opinion.
3) I never wear a ghillie suit. I had one once. I wore it once. Then I sold it. I found it hot, heavy, cumbersome, and completely incompatible with any of my load bearing gear. Every little piece of jute managed to tangle and interfere with my fastex buckles or velcro. I collected more dirt, sticks, and leaves than a landfill. It was annoying. If I were to use a ghillie suit, it would be a low profile one based off the Cobra Hood system from Tactical Concealment Systems. Until then, I am content with not wearing a ghillie and have not found the lack of use to impinge my efforts one iota. Rather, I feel I have escaped becoming a heat casualty more than most who wear them.
4) I have operated in a strictly reconnaissance fashion before, but have usually felt this rather ineffective in the larger scheme of things mostly due to the limitations of the radios we airsofters use. There are many times where I am simply so far out there that I can’t receive or transmit a radio call period. Until the airsoft community as whole invests in higher quality long range radios, this will always be a problem.
Some tactics I commonly use with the SVD
1) I find it highly effective some times to roam as a solitary unit at the peripheral of an enemy force and pick a few off to the point where they’re interested in me, then retreat a hundred yards or so to draw them into an ambush from concealment, whereupon I will repeat the procedure until:
a) all enemies are dead or exhausted from chasing me.
b) I have reached the safety of my team mates who can assist in the above.
2) The rest are trade secrets 😀
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