New toy! customized PSL

[Erik Jensen]

just picked this up from my coworker. it's a 1998 Romak-3 (AKA PSL) in 7.62X54R. he refinished the wood, and replaced the original buttstock with a thumbhole stock he made himself. came with the Russian 1P21 3-9X42 scope, and also a spare side-mount weaver base, which has been cut down to sit as close as possible to the top cover of the reciever. I'll have to get some sort of standard style scope for the weaver mount, as the 1P21 is only really useful for shooting two-legged quarry over 300 meters away. not so useful for shooting paper at 100 yards. anyway, pics, of dubious quality:

 

[karlsgunbunker]

Nice!

I just bought the FPK Paratrooper with the 18" barrel.
Can't wait to shoot it.

 

[DMK]

That's one big honkin' scope!

Pretty cool wood. I'll bet that handgrip is pretty comfortable. Looks like it still needs a cheekpiece though.

 

[f4t9r]

Very nice , I like the stock

 

[Erik Jensen]

That's one big honkin' scope!

Pretty cool wood. I'll bet that handgrip is pretty comfortable. Looks like it still needs a cheekpiece though.

yeah, that scope is big enough that it doesn't center over the rifle, but rather sits a bit to the left. the military stocks somewhat account for this, especially the current polymer stockset, but George's custom buttstock really doesn't. super comfy for irons, and it seems that a standard style scope on the spare weaver sidemount will work pretty well, if I get super low rings.

 

[Erik Jensen]

so, I took her out to "the pit" yesterday. not a true range, just a piece of state land north of Lapeer, MI with berms on three sides.

A: I apparently have no idea how to use the reticle on the scope. I mainly just used the irons. I'll be picking up a standard crosshair type scope soonish to go on the weaver mount.

B: trigger slap city!! yowch! my first instinct is to throw in an RSA trigger, but I've been seeing a lot of people mentioning the Tapco G2 trigger. anyone have any experience with the G2? Tapcos site says it yields about a 4# pull, and RSA says a minimum of 3.5#, set from the factory at 4#. 'bout the same, seems to me. I just want a nice, reliable two-stage pull, of somewhat reasonable smoothness. I'm not expecting it to break like a well tuned 700P or something.
is the RSA significantly better to justify the price over the G2?

 

[Cosmoline]

What kind of ammo were you using? Those PSL's do NOT like heavy ball or the heavy Wolf 200 grainers. Their gas systems are designed to shoot standard light ball.

 

[Erik Jensen]

the previous owner included a couple boxes of 148gr. Wolf, and some East German surplus Match ammo of which I'm unsure of the bullet weight. I only shot the Wolf yesterday. I plan on handloading for it in the future, once I slug the barrel.

 

[SpookyPistolero]

If money isn't an issue, then I would go ahead and spend the extra money for the RSA. It's adjustable, and on a rifle that you might start to care about long range accuracy it could become important. I'd also think about tweeking your ammo choices, as stated, before getting rid of that scope. If after trying to educate yourself on the methods of the reticle you still can't hit with it, then I might think the guy who chopped your mount down didn't do precision work. That would be easy to mess up, for sure.

 

[Erik Jensen]

oh! no no... the scope that's on it is bone stock. the chopped down mount is a separate one, not included in the picture. I'm still poking around online trying to find ~150gr. FMJ bullets. seems to be lots of SP and heavy ball out there, not too much light ball to be had. *shrug* I'll keep looking.

 

[Cosmoline]

Try loading AK-47 123 grainers or the lighter 125 grain .311"'s out there over 45 grains of 3031. That's a great light load in my Mosins and seems to be a tack driver across the board from my old M-91 to my Tikka and M-39's. It's very light recoiling.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

B: trigger slap city!! yowch! my first instinct is to throw in an RSA trigger, but I've been seeing a lot of people mentioning the Tapco G2 trigger. anyone have any experience with the G2? Tapcos site says it yields about a 4# pull, and RSA says a minimum of 3.5#, set from the factory at 4#. 'bout the same, seems to me. I just want a nice, reliable two-stage pull, of somewhat reasonable smoothness. I'm not expecting it to break like a well tuned 700P or something.
is the RSA significantly better to justify the price over the G2?

I put a Tapco G2 single hook FCG into a converted Saiga after the original parts started peening. The G2 FCG works very well, the rifle is 100% (or nearly so) reliable, and the trigger pull is light with no slap. I can highly recommend it.

 

[jobu07]

The tapco trigger is superb! Almost too nice of a trigger for your stereotypical AK. I couldn't believe the difference it made on my 74.