And thus give Soviets access to a more resilient flamer riflemen with a tech cost...
We can always make them cost 360mp like they originally were, but even Pgrens are cheaper now, so give them the same price and boom!, both armies have units that are good at all ranges, except Pgrens still kick Penals ass in close quaters, but Penals can crew a MG 42, and they become a unflankable machine gun team
(As for the Penals changes, Relic would have to hire the voice actor again to perfom other voices for the penals, and i dont think that its worth it to change Penals and Conscripts around, but if you make SVT´s to be good at long range, it will also be a indirect buff to Assault Guards)