Alright, I just got a Real Sword SVD, and I know a lot about Russian guns, but I honestly have NO idea about Russian loadouts that would have been in service at the time this came out - can anyone help?

Also, does anyone know if any of the sidearms used during the period that the SVD first became a commonly used sniper rifle are available for airsoft?

Thanks in advance

I would sign up on red-alliance.com and try and strive for a 1980's Soviet-Afghan war loadout, or modern Russian gear if you want. I don't know much about present day Russian gear but I did a Soviet_Afghan war impression so I'll talk about that. Sharpshooters in the Red army at that time did not operate like their counterparts in the Great War, but instead served the role of designated marksman, wearing standard clothes and rolling with an infantry unit to engage targets out of range of the standard soldier. For a uniform, you have several options: #1, an M69 uniform, basically unchanged since WWII, tan uniform, not the most practical. #2, an Afghanka uniform, developed for troops in Afghanistan, tan, Usually pretty pricey too. #3, a KLMK oversuit, common during that era, not to expensive, but I'm not sure where it would ever blend in and camouflage you. #4, a KZS oversuit, designed to be disposable but if you take care of it it will hold up, very nice but you need to wear something under it. I have an M69 and a KZS suit, KZS's are awesome but M69's are fitted a little tightly so not the most practical. On top of that, some Boots, either an Afghanka Cap or a Helmet, and a soviet belt and suspenders with canteen and SVD mag pouches (No Ushanka's unless you plan on fighting in subzero conditions). This shouldn't be to hard to find, but you might end up having to order a uniform from europe, as they are uncommon in the US. As for a sidearm, don't bring one. If you really want to do a REAL Soviet impression, not only are there no airsoft replicas of Russian pistols, but they were never carried by anyone in the field. The saying was, "if you need a pistol, you only need one bullet in it" because if you got in such a bad spot that your AK broke down then you were probably dead or wounded anyways, and it was NEVER advisable to get captured by the Mujahadeen . So that's for a Soviet-Afghan war sniper impression, if you really wanna go modern, check out Red-Alliance.com, just think before you post because if you ask a dumb question on there they will chew you out.

Yep, Red Alliance is the best.

Basically, if you want a SOVIET (not Russian) load out, you don't have much to choose from.
Camo: There were only 3 types of camo in Soviet Army. BUTAN (Aka TTsKO), Sun Bunny (Aka Beryozka), and its variation Silver Oak, which is instead of olive green and yellow, it is green and gray. Thats about it. All other camo were either World War II or past the fall of USSR.
The Sun Bunny and Silver Oak were coveralls, not BDUs.
TTsKO (Butan), was a BDU.
Remember this: Soviet Soldier out of battle wore either pilotka cap (olive green) or visor cap. In battle he wore a steel helmet.
If you are NOT going for Camo, you need a Khe Be outfit (pants, jacket, shirt), or Gorka.
Soviet Soldiers also didn't wear combat boots, they wore almost knee high boots (Kirzachi), under them, the legs were wrapped into a cotton fabric portyanki.
Camo were issued only to special forces, recon units or "need for mission" basics. Exception was BUTAN (TTsKO), which was started to be issued as a BDU style uniform to all troops (first to Guard Divisions, VDV and Special Forces, then to everyone else). At the same time, Sun Bunny and Silver Oak were continued to be used, mostly by Border Guards (MVD troops) and paratroopers. The cluster frag of camo in use today in Russia never was used in USSR. In Russia, currently everyone wears pretty much whatever he wants. Here are some examples:
1. Tiger (aka Reed) - horizontal stripes, with less black and more olive then US Tiger Stipe
2. Reed - Vertical Tiger stripe
3. Kukla - aka British DPM.
4. Partizan (worn by MVD troops) - aka Waffen SS Oakleaf.
5. Les - Somewhat similar to US Woodland
6. Rastr - Vertical Tiger stipe with flecktarn like Spots. Personally tested it. In wooded areas superior to anything I have seen.
7. Flecktar - Version of Flecktarn. Less green and more brownish. Great for autumn and spring.
8. Flecktar -D - Version of Danish Flecktar (very popular). Has less Black then Danish Flecktarn
9. VSR-93 - somewhat similar to Vertical Tiger stripe. Still worn by rear area troops and OMON. Was developed into a much superior RASTR
10, IZLOM - Similar to Flecktarn and Waffen SS Dot 44.
11. SURPAT - Similar to MARPAT but with less brown and more green and grey.
12. New Border guard - Similar to Surpat.
13. Four Color Woodland. Similar to Marpat, but with less brown and more green.
14. Spectr - Similar to Cadpad, but with grey added.
15. Gorod - Similar to US URban
16. SMOG - Blue/Gray DPM
17. Black Tiger - Black/gray/White tigerstripe
18. Black Reed - Black/Gray/White vertical Tiger stripe
19. TTsKO - BUTAN worn by Helicopter pilots. Loved by entire army but for political reasons not being brought back.
20. Birch Tree - very similar to Sun Bunny.
21. Sun Bunny (Original Soviet)
22. Silver Oak (Original Soviet)
23. Flora - 3 color tigerstripe like camo, aka Watermelon.
24. Yeger' (Jaeger) - Similar to Finnish M05. Good luck finding it.
25. Russian Digital (Similar to Flecktar-D but with very small pixels and very little black - hated by Russian soldiers who prefer Flectarn D)
26. Partizan 2 - Waffen SS Oakleaf B
27. CCE - This is a direct copy of French Central European camo.
28. Multicam - mostly worn by volunteers fighting in Chechnya. This is Russian made unlicensed copy, which is a bit darker then US made.
29. Russian Digit (not to mistake for Russian Digital) - a version of Soviet World War II 3 color uniform with leaf patterns all over. Sometimes brown amoeba spots are added. This was in use in Soviet Army until mid 80s, usually by rear echelon troops and in military schools/academies.
30. Marpat - sometimes worn by volounteers, however 4 color digital with less brown and more green and gray is more popular.
31. Flecktarn - german flecktarn, direct copy.

Russian army is very distrustful of digital camo. Their own test show a complete superiority of non digital camo to digital. However, the move to Russian Digital (sometimes called Tetris) is enforced from the top, to show that "Russia is on top of all modern development".

Flecktarn/DPM like patterns seem to be VERY popular. SURPAT will be given to special forces and airborne. SPECTR and NEW BORDERGUARD (aka PC) are being tested now. Many pattern come in two versions: Woodland and Urban. Kukla/Smog, Gorod/Les. Tiger/Black Tiger, Reed/Black Reed.

Note that NPO-SM makes vertical tigerstripe and calls it REED. SPLAV makes a horizontal Tiger stripe and calls it Tiger. ANA.SPB.RU makes a horizontal Tiger stripe, similar to SPLAV and calls it REED. It is a total cluster frag and logistic nightmare.

This clusterfrag is from the top of my mind. This is before we go into desert and special camo. Most units allow soldiers to buy their own camo rather then wear Flora, with Tiger and Forest being the most popular. Rastr, Partizan and Kukla are mostly worn by MVD soldiers. In fact the Rastr that I have already comes from the factory with buttons marked (MVD - Ministery of Internal Affairs). IZLOM is mostly worn by Airborne troops. The irony that Izlom means "Fracture".

So, if you want to get Russian loadout, do not fret. Get yourself a DPM and you are set. If you want Soviet - good luck finding BUTAN uniform. NOBODY has them now. Please, note, that while Ukrainian Dubok (Little oak) has similar pattern, the colors are complitely mutated, to the point of the base being bluish green, rather then light olive. Note that Birch Tree/SUN BUNNY as well as SILVER OAK were NEVER issued as BDU in USSR (they were issued as coveralls and worn OVER normal olive uniform). Currently all of these are available as BDU (From SPLAV, for example) and coveralls.

Visor cap was NEVER worn in battle by a soldier. It was not even worn much during normal routine. Special cap called "pilotka" was worn at all times, except battle. This was a part of working/training uniform when steel helmets were not called for.

BELT was worn at ALL times, so were the knee high boots. (Waffen SS style). There were two styles of pants: normal for indoor study and parades, and Galife which were put into the boots.

Soviet Naval Infantry had completely black uniform with black berets. Camo was issued when needed.

Soviet Airborn and Soviet Naval Infantry also wore a long slieved striped t-shirt known as Tel'nyashka. This was a symbol of total bravado and devil may care attitude.

Soviet Airborne also worn a special helmet, similar to tanker helmet. This was worn during parachute jump.

So be careful what load out you select.

Please note, that even when AK-74 was adopted, many units continued to use AKMs, why? Because they were readily available. Naval Infantry prefered AKMs to AK-74, actually even now, most Russian troops will choose AKM over AK-74 due to better penetration capabilities of AKM. Even now, most combat occurs within 300m, AKM is sufficient for that goal. AK-74, much like M16 lacks penetration against targets behind heavy cover or concealment. Normal 7.62x39mm bullet will go through a train rail at range of 100m. This is NOT achievable with normal 5.45 or 5.56 bullets.

Please note that not only AKM and AK74 were in service at the same time. Sidefolder and Underfolder models were also used at the same time. With huge army, re-arming takes a while.

So, Soviet loadout may be VERY easy (Black uniform + black beret + Birch tree coverall) or VERY HARD (BUTAN BDU) to make.

Weapons are always easy. AK-74 of any version or AKM of any version always fits. 1984 Soviet Soldier was as likely to carry AKM as he was AK-74. Airborne and Marines were as likely to carry sidefolders as they were to carry underfolders. It all depended on what the unit was equipped with and, in Afghanistan and other areas, what soldier would scrounge. In Soviet Army Scrounging is an art form. This tradition goes back to World War 1 and World War 2. You pick up whatever is underhand. If your Mosin ran out of bullets, but right in front of you there is a dead Nazi with Mauser 98K with ammo you pick that thing up. Heck, in World War 2 entire Tank battalions were armed with Trophy Pz III and Pz IV tanks, what is more captured Pz III tanks were turned into an SPGs:-).

^that's probably the most informative post I've seen in my entire life

Yeah, holy cow. I second that. Really makes me want to do a USSR loadout now. Very informative post!

im also going for a 90s ish load out for that svu im making thank you so much

I heard that someone here on the forum was making an SVU... well, I guess that's you.
Why did you decide to make the base gun an ak instead of an SVD? Just curious

because I wanted it to be an aeg and instead of spending 600 for a svd and for $75i could buy a full metal dboys instead

theres a lot of cool stuff on that red aliance site thanks

Hi from Ukraine airsoft!

See samples of uniforms Russian sniper:
Union like 1979-1989



Modern Russia army



Modern Ukraine

Battle Pack Russian sniper

In Afganistans war important camo was desert costume nicknamed afganka

[email="http://uaprom-image.s3.amazonaws.com/707703_w640_h640_0694.jpg"]cap[/email] with the same set of

well, and Panama

Discharge Vest


Most popular was KZS
and this camo

See, the first 2 photos that sargon posted depict the Afghanka uniform I mentioned. It's very comfortable and useful with lots of pockets and such, but if you want one you will have to pay at least $100. The third photo depicts the KZS oversuits I mentioned. Will run you about $50 for a shirt and pants, very light, but needs something to be worn under it. For hat's you've got an Afghanka hat, equivalent to a US "patrol cap", you've got the boonie caps in the second picture, and you've got the Soviet helmets in the first picture. Sargon was also kind enough to post up a nice picture of an SVD with the previously mentioned pouches, in addition to some other items a Soviet sniper might carry (yes, SVD's have bayonet lugs). Also in the second pic you can see they are wearing Telnyashka's under their uniforms, the color of the stripes is dependent on what branch and unit you are in. I can't remember all of them, but I do remember light blue stripes were worn by airborne forces.

EDIT:
You know what we should do? We should have sticky threads with info like this on specific loadouts and impressions, like a sticky for Soviet loadouts and a Sticky for US WWII or US Vietnam loadouts. It would be very helpful as all the info in this thread will eventually get buried.

This post has been edited by mountainsniper: Feb 24 2011, 12:19 PM

Thanx for proving my point. The Cluster Frag in Russian army now is just distasteful. Check out 4th, 5th, 6th photo.
On 4th photo we have Waffen SS Oakleaf (Partizan), next to Two DPMs (Kukla) , next to Finnish M05 (Yeger') with old Flora in the background.
On 5th and 6th photo we have Waffen SS Oakleaf.

Just get Waffen SS Oakleaf, dude. Then same camo can be used for Russian Loadout, and, with STG44, for Waffen SS loadout.:-)

D

I completely agree with that...
There are going to be plenty of threads after this one asking about specific loadouts, when all they need to do is come to a thread like this one for all the info they would ever need.