Tomac
Member
I was looking over the reticle pics I have of the 8x42 Pro & 1P21 aiming at my range's 750m gong. The gong looks significantly larger in the 1P21 pic (set at 750m, supposedly 7.5x magnfication). So, today I took my NDM-86 Dragunov w/the 1P21 to the range along w/an 8x42D Pro and sure enough, when set to 600m the target size in the 1P21 is identical to the target size seen through the 8x42. This would seem to indicate that the 1P21 is actually 4x12 magnification instead of 3x9 (multiply the range x 4/3 to get the magnification so 600m x 4/3 would be 8x, identical to the 8x42). If true then 750m x 4/3 = 10x which would explain why the target appears larger than w/the 8x42. Since mine is a military 1P21 from Tantal perhaps we've been mistaken all this time about the magnification range of the 1P21 and they're all 4x12?
I've never really cared for the SVD bipod in the past as I could never get it to hold steady for a good sight picture. Well, I got another SVD bipod as part of my most recent NDM-86 purchase so decided to give it another try using a technique I remembered from another poster a long time ago (sorry, don't remember his name but he gets the credit!)
Basically, all you do is push forward a little against the bipod while aiming, not much pressure but just enough to steady things up. I tried it at 500m, 600m, 750m and 900m and I have to say it works and I'm now sold on the SVD bipod! Hits at 500m were just as easy as when using a front rest (had to adjust elevation a bit to compensate for the now absent pressure on the bbl). At 900m w/a 500m sight-in range the 1P21 hits dead-on w/168gr match ammo when set to appx 862m (ie: halfway between 850 & 875 in the reticle), if only the 1P21 had a 168gr .308 BDC instead of 7.62x54 (sigh...). If I do my part I can consistently hit the 36" square gong at 900m (1,000yds) from prone using the bipod. I think this is the max effective range for 168gr, I'll try to shoot for group size at that range sometime in the near future.
Tomac
I've never really cared for the SVD bipod in the past as I could never get it to hold steady for a good sight picture. Well, I got another SVD bipod as part of my most recent NDM-86 purchase so decided to give it another try using a technique I remembered from another poster a long time ago (sorry, don't remember his name but he gets the credit!)
Basically, all you do is push forward a little against the bipod while aiming, not much pressure but just enough to steady things up. I tried it at 500m, 600m, 750m and 900m and I have to say it works and I'm now sold on the SVD bipod! Hits at 500m were just as easy as when using a front rest (had to adjust elevation a bit to compensate for the now absent pressure on the bbl). At 900m w/a 500m sight-in range the 1P21 hits dead-on w/168gr match ammo when set to appx 862m (ie: halfway between 850 & 875 in the reticle), if only the 1P21 had a 168gr .308 BDC instead of 7.62x54 (sigh...). If I do my part I can consistently hit the 36" square gong at 900m (1,000yds) from prone using the bipod. I think this is the max effective range for 168gr, I'll try to shoot for group size at that range sometime in the near future.
Tomac
