PSL owners please stop by

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

ccsniper

member
Joined
Jul 5, 2008
Messages
1,621
Location
midwest Arkansas
I just ordered one from Century arms and was wondering just how accurate most are? Yes I have seen a lot of threads saying 1"-2.5" MOA, but I was wanting to know how large do the groups get say to 600 meters? 800? and 1000 meters? I have 12" swingers that I want to know if I can hit past 800 meters and a 24" iron plate I want to setup at 1000 meters. really all I care about is hitting a man sized target out to 1000 meters.

Thanks in advance!!!

p.s.
the reason I got it was because I got rid of an AK awhile back and now I stock 7.62x54r and wanted a HIGH (not medium) powered semi auto and this is the cheapest thing for ammo I already stock.
 
also what would be a good ammo choice? besides czech silver tip, I am thinking about buying alot of the prvi partisan 150 grain fmj (wolf gold), it is supposedly similar to 7n1 russian rounds.
 
Well, I don't have one or know much about them, but I doubt you will hit much at 1000 meters with that rifle consistently. I would say an achievable goal would be man sized hits at 600 meters. In order to hit anything past that on a regular basis, it takes a lot of skill and experience judging wind and drop.
Remember the PSL isn't a sniper rifle but more of a DM rifle. Accurate hits from 100-600 meters, quickly.

HB
 
I don't plan on shooting targets not much farther than 800 meters, but would like to try. I know it is supposed to be more like a designated marksmen rifle than a target rifle. yet even if it shoots 2 MOA that should be about 20" at 1000 meters if I am right? that is hitting some part of a man sized target or only missing it by a few inches, which again would be a suppressive weapon not a long range match grade weapon.
 
DM rifle?
Click to expand...

designated marksmen rifle. a rifle for a designated marksmen; guys who engage enemies out past the regular range of issue rifles. Not snipers because they are only trained in long range accuracy but not regular troop issue weapons either.
 
My PSL

I get approx 2 inches at 100 yds with the light ball and scope. Just remember to clean ALL that rifle inlcuding the gas port, op-rod, etc. Foreign 762x54 is corrosive.

I have yet to clean up the inside of the handguard and see what else may be rubbing. It's a DM rifle for sure, not a true Dragnuov but a lot of fun to shoot.
 
well, if I can get 1" groups I will be happy. That's supposed to be 10" at a thousand yards roughly. I have seen interviews with people who have actually used Dragunov's who say they could get .75 MOA, and these are russian military. I do believe they are capable of decent accuracy, just nothing on par with a M24 or even M21. My hope is to get at least 1.5 MOA since I really am not that great a shot past 700 meters. I have shot out to 1000 meters, but could only pull off 3 hits out of 10 shots(using kentucky windage), though I am working on that. What I am mainly plan on doing is an experiment: see how accurate I can make this gun, and what happens to a 7.62x54R round when entering a 5 gallon bucket full of sand, one full of water, and one full of concrete.
 
the PSL is not a dragunov. the PSL uses a long fixed gas piston like the AK, while the drag uses a floating lightweight piston. the difference in accuracy resultant is significant. you should get 2.5", but i wouldn't expect more. mine is kit built on a coldsteel blank and does not have a scope.

as for corrosive ammo, well, you might have to put the buttplate on the ground and kick the bolt handle to knock the piston loose once in awhile, but it's fine after that. chrome bore and chamber so no worries.
 
Mine- 2 inch to 2.5 inch groups of 5 at 100 meters. With 1 minute between shots to keep the heat down. Some of the PSL's out there don't shoot as well after heating up. Thin barrels can do this sometimes. Others report 2 to 5 inch groups depending on the gun and the shooter. Thats what I've seen on other boards. Seen a guy do handloads to get the groups smaller. Mine likes the russian 7N1 ammo(good luck finding any now), Wolf and the hungarian and czech light ball surplus. I've killed running jack rabbits at 50 to 75 meters with it using wolf ammo. Clean with soap and water to wash corrosive stuff out. Windex works too. Max effective range with good ammo, good shooter, and a good shooting PSL(luck of the draw IMO) is about 600 meters. I have to tweek the heck out of my M14 to get it to be a good thousand yard gun. The PSL might be brought into that realm with alot of tweeks, but it just isn't going to do it well stock. Now if someone was to custom make a barrel for it and have a competent gunsmith agree to install it an try his tricks at accurizing the rifle... maybe... But if your satisfied with a few hits with every magazine at 1000 yards, then cool. Have fun with it, I love shooting mine.
 
as for corrosive ammo, well, you might have to put the buttplate on the ground and kick the bolt handle to knock the piston loose once in awhile, but it's fine after that.
Click to expand...
:uhoh:

Not if you clean the darn thing after you shoot it. ;) Swab out the gas tube and bore with Windex and wipe off the bolt.

I have a bunch or rifles that I shoot corrosive ammo through, with no chrome lining and no rust.
 
or , you could clean the rifle accordingly and never risk damaging the PSL, what the heck man? If you have a new M1A would you NOT CLEAN IT and then kick its bolt open everytime?
 
the PSL is not a dragunov. the PSL uses a long fixed gas piston like the AK, while the drag uses a floating lightweight piston. the difference in accuracy resultant is significant.
Click to expand...

well, from what I have read the psl is supposed to be on par with the dragonuv but what I have read could be wrong.

I know this gun won't shoot any better than 1 MOA, but it would be awesome to get that, I really bought the thing to have some fun with and possibly tweek to get those 1" groups. And I really like the idea of a high powered semi auto that is in a bigger caliber than .223 or 7.62x39. The psl was really the only option for me on that as I really can't afford an AR 10/M1A.
 
Edlaver, what is up with the discoloration of the muzzle brake? these things have that bad a finish?
Click to expand...

That is gun powder residue from firing. It comes off easy, I just focus more on working parts when I clean.
 
Man, ccsniper, take a look over at the akfiles "SVD and Romak III forums. Tons of PSL and SVD owners. Many who seriously know there stuff.

Allot of guys get one of these, dump 200 rounds of surpluss crap down the tube and can't hit ****.

I have a PSL and I like it just fine. So far I have put about 600 rounds down range and I would say 1.5 to 2 MOA is as good as cheap surplus is gonna get Ya. And thats on a bag "trying"!! But...it aint the final word.

Nearly all of the surplus lightball 7.62x54r is low cost high production rpk machine gun ammo. What does this mean? It's not accurate. <--period. Not consistently at any rate. And why? Because it has few consistent components as in, bullet weight, amount of propellant from case to case and so on. To get consistent accuracy it requires consistent ammo even mach grade.

If You search around You will find reports from shooters using the PSL with Russian 7n14 (russin marksman ammo) These reports usually grade the rifle at about 1.5 MOA. Or about the same performance as the SVD. A few shooters hand load ammo and get similar or better results. I have read 1 MOA or 1 inch at 100 yards and 10 inches at 1000 yards. This I won't believe til I see it.

The SVD and PSL are ....SDMRs (semi automatic designated marksman rifle) They both play nearly the same roll. The difference between these rifles are as follows, PSL =stamped steel receiver and an akm style long stroke gas piston action . SVD =milled receiver and a slightly modified shorter gas piston action. Both rifles have a 1 in 12 inch twist. As far as the cost the PSL is widely available in the U.S. and the SVD is no longer imported nor is the sporterized version, the Tigr. This alone is the biggest reason for the huge price difference. And the SVD is super sexy. But many who own both will admit, the SVD performs little or no better!!!! And that's no BS. He who argues is simply defending his pride and a four thousand dollar purchase.

whew, sorry long winded.
 
Last edited:
well, I read a little more, and most people who can get their rifle to do 1 or less MOA are only doing 3 shot groups. almost always a 5 shot group ends up with a flyer that brings the group up to 2" or more. Again, this doesnt bother me it is a rifle for fun.
 
ccsniper, a good friend of mine owns one and we regularly shoot between 300- 800 yards. Up to around 500 yards it's remarkably adept at hitting my torso sized target on the first try using Czech silvertips. Just 100 yards past that point and it's a VERY frustrating proposition. I would say it's a 1.5 MOA rifle out to 500 yards after which it's more like 5-10 MOA. Don't fall for the trap of thinking that any rifle that groups sub-MOA at 100 yards will maintain that MOA throughout it's range. If that was true, there would be tons of folks shooting 3" diameter groups at 1000 yards. Remember that wind doesn't care about theory and a bullets ballistic coefficient is driven in part by velocity. All of which means that going further makes the shots MUCH harder than the math would make it seam.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
Come ups for .308 GMM
Replies
2
Views
426
LRS_Ranger
L
D
  • Locked
M-1000 ART scope on DMR part I
Replies
6
Views
688
holdover
H
L
  • Locked
Romak-3/PSL report + questions
Replies
4
Views
718
wardog
W
Panzerschwein
  • Locked
PTR-91 (H&K G3): Max Effective Range?
Replies
10
Views
4K
gotboostvr
gotboostvr
L
  • Locked
Best long-range bolt-action for gunsmith class?
Replies
8
Views
874
Lucky
L
Back
Top