Dragunov SVU

The Dragunov SVU is a slow-firing high damage Marksman Rifle in Phantom Forces. The OTs-03 SVU (Snayperskaya Vintovka Ukorochennaya in Russian) is essentially a bullpup SVD. The basic design for the action harkens back to the days of the Kalashnikov design, with the sized up action for the SVD being designed in the 1960's. The gun uses the 7.62x54mmR cartridge, a cartridge about 100 years up to that point. The SVU is essentially everything you would think of in early cold war Soviet Russia internals-wise, but in a modern body.

The Dragunov SVU is unlocked at level 38, and is a strong gun for its unlock. The gun can one-hit headshot, and even chest shot for several studs, but it quickly becomes useless once the range is long enough.

Effective Range
Semi: 1,000+ studs

The SVU, despite being a Marksman Rifle, is just as effective at sniping as its bolt action cousins in the Sniper class. It also holds its own in CQC, too if you can watch your trigger finger.

Offensive

 * Aim for the head! This cannot be stressed enough with the SVU, as it can OHKO at any ranges so long as the user aims for the head.
 * That being said, do not use a Suppressor with the SVU whatsoever unless you aren't going to bother with long distance shots, because this will remove its OHKO ability and instead leave you with a three-shot KO rate at range (not including headshots).
 * If you do decide that you want to use a Suppressor, you should use the regular Suppressor because it'll mask your shot the most.
 * Attatch a Muzzle Brake or Compensator onto your SVU. The recoil recovery for each shot can be long enough that your target may spot and fire at you; reducing the major viewkick is essential for killing your victims fast enough.
 * If you get met with resistance in CQC, and don't have time to switch to your sidearm, strafe while firing your SVU to decrease the odds that bullets will hit you.
 * If possible, attempt to "shrink" the crosshairs by repeatedly clicking, holding, then releasing the RMB. This will increase your odds of hitting your target.
 * For the most part, the SVU should be used at mid-long range shots. The Effective Range should be long enough for a Recon to be actually useful to his or her team.

Defensive

 * The SVU is not as good at long-range shots as its Bolt-Action siblings, so try to take shots at far ranges if possible with an Intervention or the Remington 700.
 * Attempt to kill the Sniper in one shot; otherwise s/he may turn around and fire back at you as you work the bolt.
 * Use an automatic weapon (such as PDWs) in close quarters against the SVU. The SVU may be stronger than its fellow Sniper Rifles, but it still is no match for even the UMP-45 when it comes to CQC.
 * If all else fails, and you're at range with an automatic weapon, burn your ammo firing at the Sniper. The suppression, along with the heavy recoil, will hopefully prevent any shots from accurately hitting you.

Loadout 1: All-Around

 * Optic: None/ VCog 6x- If you're going to use a low to mid-powered optic, you'd be better off using the Mk. 11 for the same purpose. I usually use the default optic, because it's (usually) the best for scoping your target.
 * Underbarrel: Vertical Grip- The Vertical Grip lowers hipfire spread and reduces the time it takes for the scope to drop back down to its target. It's a win-win of sorts.
 * Barrel: Compensator/ Muzzle Brake- You can stick with a Flash Hider, if you want, but for the loadout's purpose I'm recommending the Compensator or Muzzle Brake. Personally, I'd go with the Brake, but the Compensator will (apparently) affect your Aimed and Hipfire accuracy in a better way.
 * Other: Laser- Both lasers will do well. As usual, I'll steer clear of Canted Sights, especially with Sniper Rifles due to having a really low ADS time when equipping a low-powered scope. Feel free to change this, though.

Loadout 2: Negative Hipfire Accuracy (AKA Maximum ADS Accuracy)

 * Optic: None- I'm working for the purpose of having a Sniper Rifle that can stay on target; this is why I'm sticking to the default, as usual.
 * Underbarrel: Stubby Grip- Yes, yes, I know- the Angled Grip negatively effects the Hipfire accuracy less, but for Pete's sake, the Stubby Grip is overall better than both the Angled and Folding in terms of removing all recoil.
 * Barrel: Flash Hider- That's right. A Flash Hider. IMO the Recoil Control attatchments aren't too useful to me due to the Stubby Grip doing its job well enough; however, you can use a Muzzle Brake if you wish.
 * Other: Green Laser- To increase that "Accuracy" of the SVU, I slapped a greenie on. Go ahead and change this if you want to, but I'm sticking to my opinion of the Green Laser being better on the SVU.

Loadout 1: Battle Rifle
Like the stock SVU, just optimized for close-quarters combat.
 * Optic: Reflex Sight- Same as last time. Trust me when I say it's pretty much the best RDS in the game, and is worth the 285 kills.
 * Underbarrel: None- The RoF is a perfect balance between spammy and doesn't affect recoil too bad.
 * Barrel: None- Don't need a Suppressor, Don't need to reduce recoil, is there any reason?
 * Other: None- See above.

In Conclusion
The SVU is just as powerful at long range as its bolt-action brethren, but has its downsides as well, including more bullet drop, and inability to one-hit kill at long range. However, it also has a very quick reload and has a high rate of fire for a sniper AND, due to it being semi auto, can help focus more on the target rather than focusing on the downtime you have, which would otherwise often cost your life. However, when compared to the SCAR SSR, the SVU just doesn't stack up.

Trivia

 * The SVU first dealt 60-49.5 damage with a 2.0x headshot multiplier, then buffed to 60-52, then nerfed again to have a 1.9x headshot multiplier (when ironically the other snipers were buffed), and due to popular demand, was ninja patched to do 60-50 damage with a 2.0x headshot multiplier, and a 1.4x chest multiplier, at the cost of more recoil. However, since the SCAR update, the Dragunov has been dealing 60-49 damage, with a 1.7x chest multiplier to make up for losses.
 * It is the only sniper rifle unable to earn an assist counts as kill bonus at long range, provided it hits anywhere but the head or chest.
 * It shares the same firing sound as the Barrett M82A1 from Battlefield 4.
 * The second chevron in the crosshair is for aiming at targets 700 studs away and beyond. Since most maps do not reach beyond 500 studs in average, there is no need to use the second chevron, with the exception of cross-mapping players on Crane Site Revamped.
 * The Stadiametric Rangefinder is in studs, instead of meters. A nice touch, and more functional, thanks to it being in studs, this game's measuring unit, instead of meters.
 * Proof? Try using the rangefinder on a person 800 studs away.
 * Proof? Try using the rangefinder on a person 800 studs away.