In this Instructable I will show you how to change out the original long barrel (22") in your A&K SVD for a shorter barrel of your choice. I replaced the original barrel with a 9" barrel left over from a broken shotgun, but any decently sized available barrel should work just fine. My SVD shoots just as accurately, if not more accurately, with the shorter barrel. However, if your rifle doesn't perform quite as admirably, this mod is by no means permanent, and putting the original barrel back into the gun is a fairly easy process. The finished mod will resemble a suppressed sniper rifle as shown in picture 2.

For this project, I used:

- Metric Hex keys

- Dremel tool and/or drill

- Metal file

- Electrical tape

- Nerf dart

- 9" airsoft barrel

- 9" PVC (1 3/8" interior diameter)

-2" PVC (1 1/16" interior diameter)

- Large rubber washer

Please note that I completed this modification and then went back and created this Instructable, so every single picture here is after the mod has been completed.

Step 1: Removing the Handguard

To remove the handguard you will first need to loosen the small set screw as pictured below.
When this has been removed, you must then flip the pin on the right side of the gun forward towards the muzzle of the rifle, then pull it out completely.

Note: If your SVD is an older model, you gun may not have a set screw to remove, so simply remove the pin.

After you have pulled the pin, you can slide the small metal pan forward off of the handguard and separate the guard into 2 pieces, removing it completely from the gun. Your rifle should now resemble the third picture.

Step 2: Removing the Front Iron Sight

Next, flip the front iron sight all the way forward towards the muzzle. This should reveal a small bolt and a piece of spring steel. unscrew the bolt and remove the steel. This will reveal an additional bolt which should also be removed. After removing this bolt, the entire front iron sight will be free from the gun.

At this point, you should probably get a small box to hold on to the pieces of the gun if you wish to reassemble it later. You will not be needing several major pieces of the gun after the build is complete.

Disregard the state of the barrel, I took these after I had completed the mod.

Step 3: Removing the Hop-Up Unit & Barrel

To remove the Hop-up, you must first remove the magazine. If this is not done, the unit will be able to slide out of the gun. After the magazine has been removed, loosen the two set screws located on both sides of the barrel. Do not fully remove any set screws on the gun as they are VERY easy to misplace, and full removal is not necessary.

With the magazine out and the screws loosened, you can now simply pull both the exterior barrel and hop-up unit out of the gun.

Step 4: Disassembling the Hop-Up Unit

To disassemble the hop-up unit, first loosen the set screws in numerical order as pictured below.

The first screw will loosen the hop-up bucking/nubbing

The second will remove the front half of the hop-up. the end of the barrel and rubber bucking will slide out of this piece.

The third screw will allow you to pull the barrel completely out of the hop up, provided you have removed the black C-Clip located on the underside of the unit.

Step 5: Replicating the Original Barrel

Remove the rubber bucking from the barrel by simply pulling it off. You will notice the barrel has a large square cut out of it where the bucking fits through and impacts the BB before it travels through the barrel. Unless you have purchased a new shorter barrel, you will need to replicate this on your replacement barrel. Do this by either dremeling a rectangular hole, or by using a file or saw. The hole you create does not have to be as big as the one on the original barrel, however for the hop-up to work, it must allow the bucking to enter the inner diameter of the barrel when placed in the hop-up unit.

Additionally, on the original barrel, there is a small groove that keeps the bucking and c-clip in place. You can either try to replicate this groove , or you can simply file down the exterior of the barrel as I did.

Step 6: Fitting the New Barrel

After ensuring that the bucking fits onto your barrel, you will need to ensure the barrel stays in a fixed position, not held exclusively by the hop-up unit. To do this, I cut a nerf dart down to size, slid it over the barrel and wrapped it tightly in electrical tape until the diameter of the tape and the inner diameter of the second part of the hop-up were very close. When this is done, insert the end of the barrel with the bucking on it into the hop-up and tighten screw #1, making sure that the grooved side of the barrel is facing down and the bucking is facing up. Reassemble the hop-up, and tighten the screw #2. After the hop-up is assembled, slide the nerf dart into the unit and tighten both screw #3's equally.

I know that using a nerf dart and electrical tape is not very sturdy, however it gets the job done. I will most likely create a more industrial piece later on.

Step 7: Creating the Handguard

For this step you will need a piece of PVC with and interior diameter of 1 3/8". Depending on the length of your barrel, you will need to cut the piece accordingly. For my rifle, I cut the PVC at 9", leaving about an inch between the barrel and the end of the PVC. To fit this piece into place, you will need to file down both sides at an angle so that it will fit into the metal pan, as shown in pictures 1 and 3.

Now you must drill two holes on the top that correspond with the bolt holes where the iron sights used to sit. When doing this, push the PVC over the area where the sights were, all the way back to the metal pan so that it sits squarely. I don't want to provide dimensions for the hole locations, as results may vary. The two bolts that formerly held the iron sights will be going through these holes, so select the appropriate drill bit.

Optional: After this has been completed, you can sand down the PVC with a medium grit sandpaper and apply 2 or 3 coats of the paint of your choice. I obviously chose black.

Step 8: Fitting the Handguard

After your holes have been drilled at the appropriate location, get some washers that will raise the bolt by about 1/8 of an inch. Now simply insert the bolts and tighten them.

To finish the handguard, and to make it look like a suppressed rifle, I got an additional 2 inch piece of PVC with an interior diameter of 1 1/16" and put a small amount of electrical tape so that it would fit snugly into the main handguard. I then found a rubber washer that fit into the PVC and superglued it in place as seen in picture 2.

Step 9: Admire Your Work

Congratulations, you have now created a short-barrel "suppressed" SVD. Fire off a few practice shots, adjust your hop-up accordingly, and have fun with your (hopefully) incredibly accurate shortened SVD.

If at any time you wish to return to your long barrel, simply remove the new shroud, loosen the 2 bolts holding on to the nerf dart, pull the short barrel out, and install the long barrel and iron sights the same way you removed them.