I actually have one of these SVTs , and honestly , except for the occasional ability to fire semiauto , I ' d rather just have a regular 5 round boltaction Mosin if I had to fight in a war . I ' d also like to add there are multiple theories popular in Russia proven or refuted to different extents , but not generally accepted as the most likely explanation is that Stalin planned to attack himself before the Germans did . Hence the thin lines of defense , Soviet forces concentrated at the border , lack of coordination between units when fighting on the defensive . Heck , even lack of maps of their local areas . None of these were thought to be needed , and Stavka didn ' t plan for a defensive war . I don ' t know the veracity of these ideas , but it does certainly explain some things .