Just picked one up yesterday. It was a spur of the moment deal. But I’m looking forward to trying it out this coming weekend at our camp range. Now if I could only get Templar to sale me one of his AK’s , I’d be in great shape.:jester:
Seriously though, I was planning on taking the Daniels Defense DDXV over to camp this weekend as well. I might sale/trade it with the extra mags and ammo I got. It’s unfired and I’m sure I’ll be able to get a few more ccoins for her that way. And try to get me a Krebs or Arsenal or another good quality one.
I’m hoping I got a good PSL, its brand new except for 2o rounds of Winchester he sent down her. He said its sighted in for a 100 yards and was taking the center of the target out. Will see. I’m going to have to figure the scopes recticle and adjustments out. This thing is a beauty. I guess I’ll have to see how to post pics here. I’m a memeber of several different sites and they all have a little different way of posting them. I do use photobucket, so I’ll have to figure out which Icon to click on.
Whats a good trick or stock option for the PSL? I’m handling her now in the living room and I’m noticing it pulls up nicely and feels good in my hands with the iron sights. But, I don’t like the lack of cheek weld with the scope. :help:
how does yours shoot? I’ve been reading they like the 148 grain and 150 grain wolf ammo. And not to shoot any heavy ball out of them. I’ve also been reading like any other rifle, some shoot better than others. Is there any aftermarket parts for em? And if I run into some problems done the road with mine, are there any good smiths to work on them? Does Hendersons defense take in weapons off of the public and go over them? Or is there anyone else that you’d recommend?
Just sayin when you see someones name highlighted in red, yellow, blue or any other color it might be wise to listen to them when they offer advice What does a PSL offer thats superior to what you could get out of a stock Remington, Savage or SPR?
I have been listening. I saw the other gentlemans post psl=poop, but since he never responded to any other questions and Templar has. I simply asked him for his input. I didn;t know that was considered a crime here. I’ll make sure I walk the line from now on. And your question, I have no idea what thats about or how it’s relevant. I’m sure its in referance of how ignorant my asking of the question towards Templar. Please enlighten me.
Sorry!
From what I gather from how little I’ve been here is thyat Templar knows Ak’s inside and out. And had I had his phone number I would have called him directly before purchasing the PSL. But I was somewhere and I decided to grab the gun. No big deal if it is poop. I like it. Again, I apolgise,I thought this was a discussion forum.
much editing… don’t know what was queried in above post.
PSL, aka Romak, aka long skinny barreled AK in 7.62x54
If you frame of reference is a gnat’s ass accurate western type sniper rifle you will be horrified.
I have only seen combloc issued ones:
-didn’t feed well
-crap optic & offset mount & needed to build a cheekweld (I grouped better with the irons)
-skinny nonfreefloat with all the inherent problems
-a long gas system as opposes to the SVD, inherent accuracy issues
-hard to find match grade ammo & probably of little use in these anyway.
If you can get one that functions, and get cheap surplus ammo, good on you. Go sling some lead.
Novelty? Romanians use it over in Iraq, Iraqi’s use them to great effect on US troops…is that a novel weapon? It’s a combat proven Combloc DMR. We, in Western Armies are spoiled when it comes to sniper weapons. Always remember, “perfection is the enemy of good enough.”
Mine is a good shooter, it does what it’s designed for. There’s video on Youtube of some guy repeatedly nailing a telephone pole 1 click away with his PSL. It’s not a match grade tack driver, it’s a semi auto DMR for engaging individual targets at distance. Do you think the Romanians or Iraqi’s use match grade ammo? The effect is the same when bullet hits flesh. That’s all they are designed to do.
By the way, you will want to use the lightest grain surplus ammo available. Heavier bullets will beat up the reciever. Feed it and clean it properly and it will reward you with good hits.
Dano pretty much covered it…it won’t be and wasn’t intended to be as accurate as a Western sniper system…it’s more on par with a main battle rifle like a FAL or a M14, and ammo/build dependent, might very well not hang with them.
There are a lot of crap Romanian PSL’s out there. The worst ones are the ones built here in the USA on a Romanian parts kit and a bare receiver. The quality of the US kit builds varies dramatically.
The better ones are the factory built rifles that are imported whole from Romania.
The Soviet “sniper grade” ammo is a special light ball load and classed as “7N1”. It’s not easy to come by. You can expect it to shoot better than most over the counter issue ammo.
As Dano stated, it’s more of a big AKM than a dedicated sniper or DMR set up.
Grab some cheap ammo and have fun with it, just don’t have any illusions about it being a hyper accurate rifle, enjoy it for what it is, a large AKM.
If you do shoot surplus, the ammo will be corrosively primed and I recommend a solution of 10% Ballistol to 90% water. The Ballistol emulsifies in the water turning it a milky white. The water will dissolve the salts left by the corrosive primers, the Ballistol will help clean and protect the metal.
M4C is fairly unique in that we have the privilege of having quite a few real deal guys who make their living behind a gun, and who are or have served in a Tier 1 unit OCONUS. These guys are Subject Matter Experts, like Dano, or Industry Professionals. Their names are high lighted like that so people can recognize that these guys are indeed vetted real deal professionals.
Anyway, enjoy your PSL. If you do have issues, there are a number of smiths around the country who are very familiar with the intricacies of the Kalashnikov system and could probably get it running for you.
It’s a fun range gun my friend owns one and I have watched it FTF more times than I can count.
Cons:
-Mags are pretty pricey for surplus, about 40-50$ per unit.
-Accuracy is ‘‘meh’’ it’s still minute of bad guys head out to 300y.
-I don’t find the stock furniture comfortable at all
-You will need to clean each and every inch of it after shooting surplus ammo, or rust will be a problem.
Pros:
-7.62x54r is cheap!
-The PSL is a low cost unit, and low cost optics are to be found on the internet.
-There are PSL parts kits floating around for 200-300 dollars if you ever need to replace something.
The most enticing thing about the PSL is its low cost fun.
I might have recieved an abnormally accurate PSL (MOA) when I ordered one from JG Sales, but I love it to death.
Sure it’s no “sniper” rifle - but it sure is a darn cheap way to shoot full power rifle rounds for “dirt cheap.” When I got my last case of 54R it cost me a shade over $0.07 each, and recently I got a couple more crates from RGUNS that ran me about $0.20 each. They are not as cheap as they used to be.
Templar and the others hit it square on the head. Its an AKM on steroids that is fun to shoot, can be accurate enough and goes bang when you want it to (If built by Romanians). I think of mine as a good Com-Bloc version of an FAL.
They most certainly are hobby guns here in the US - but man are they good looking!
And one of a PSL owned by LMarshall73 over on AKforum.net
I want to buy another and have a gunsmith run over it to make it look like Marshalls. This would involve a good bit of coin though.
But it would make a great platform for my new 30mm scope mount design.
The SVD uses a gas tappet system instead of a long stroke piston system of an AK, which is what the PSL uses.
The SVD does use a rotating bolt with large locking lugs, like an AK.
Here’s a thread I started about a Chinese Type 79 (SVD) that was imported as a NDM-86. I took pics of X as he field stripped the rifle so you can see the differences between a Dragunov and an AK/PSL.
Several east block solders have indicated that the PSL grouped just as well as the SVD. This would make sense as both are roughly equivalent in barrel length and cartridge.
That isn’t so much a plus with the PSL as a generic reference to both being DMR rifles as opposed to the above referenced gnats ass western snipers.
I personally find the dragunov type reticle to be easier for me to rapidly understand. It may not be to everyones liking, but to those used to them they are highly capable tools.
Would I own an SVD or NDM instead of a PSL? In a heartbeat. BUT same/similar performance for $600 instead of $4000+ makes me a much happier camper. For that kind of change is would rock a real accurate semi like an SR25 etc.
A big thank you to everyone for their input. I’m going to sit on the milsurp ammo for awhile. I just ordered a couple hundred rounds of the Wolf 148 grainers. I’ll be testing her out this saturday. Hopefully, I can hit the broadside of a barn.
I didn’t buy this thinking it would compare to western sniper rifles. I got some long range bolt action rifles for those kinds of needs. I bought it for a fun gun. I’m hoping with the muzzlebreak on it my wife will shoot it.
What does a PSL offer thats superior to what you could get out of a stock Remington, Savage or SPR?
