Introduced in 1964, the SVD was designed around the Soviet doctrine of the infantry sniper; as more and more infantrymen were equipped with sub-machine guns and assault rifles to meet the demands of close-quarters urban fighting, the loss in overall range was mitigated by issuing full-powered rifles to skilled marksmen permanently attached to infantry squads, who would engage threats outside the reach of the rest of the unit, in addition to thinning out targets of opportunity like officers, NCOs, radiomen, and the like. While NATO forces did not have a parallel marksman unit through the Cold War, the Designated Marksman concept did come into its own during the War on Terror, with repurposed M14s, AR-10/M4 derivatives and similar rifles filling the niche. Hooded pin front and tangent rear sights, with the "arrow in triangle" arsenal mark over "1972" and the serial number on the underside of the receiver, with matching bolt, receiver cover and trigger housing. Milled receiver, with integral scope rail on the left side. Smooth stock, with vented hand guard and a thumbhole buttstock with cupped buttplate. Included with the rifle is a "P SP" brand commercial rifle scope with a flip-up lens cap and a rubber eyepiece.

Excellent, with 90% of the original blue finish, showing some bright wear on the receiver from contact with the scope base and mild handling marks and spotting overall. The stock is very fine, with a number of dings and dents. Optics are crisp, but the illuminator is untested and no battery is included. Mechanically excellent.