Romanian PSL range report

[Bossman]

I finally got out to the range with my newly aquired TN Guns FPK/PSL.
I drove myself nuts trying to decide if I should get one of these or not, the reports from others who have this type of rifle have ranged from wonderful to absolutely awful. I set out to find an import gun that was in stock at a gunshow or dealer that I could check out personally but I never could put my hands on one.I walked into my favorite dealer about 3 months ago and there was this TN guns kit built gun on the table, just came of the BBT hadnt even been priced yet.I looked it over and thought that everything looked right so I raided my safe and sold off a couple of milsurps and a Romy G that I had built to fund the PSL.
For the past 3 months I`ve been wondering if that was a good thing to do,if this rifle was capable of no more than 4" or so at 100 yds. I would be really ticked.
I started scrounging surplus ammo where I could find and wound up with a few bundles or boxes each of Polish LPS, Hungarian light ball, Bulgarian light ball, Czech silvertip, Wolf 148 gr. bimetal and of course the obligatory 7N1.I needed to find what shot well in my rifle before I bought any ammo in bulk.
The range was Styx River Shooting Sports in Robertsdale Al. they are good friendly folks and the range has 100 and 200 yard lanes.It was 50 degrees and very windy, I almost didnt go because it was so windy but I had to find out if my new toy was worth the trades I had done.


The only modifications I made to the rifle was to remove a bit of wood in the lower handguard where it touched the barrel, other than that the rifle is bone stock,the scope is the standard Romanian LPS tip2 4X that came with the rifle (yes the same scope I tore apart trying to re-illuminate the tritium reticle-I guess I got it back together O.K.)
Zeroing the rifle was quick and easy, the reticle wound up being in the center of its field of travel once zeroed(which was nice) There were 2 FTF issues with the Polish LPS other than that the rifle functioned fine, very mild recoil-a joy to shoot.
Groups were fired at 100 yds, waiting at least one minute between shots, the bore was cleaned after each ammo type.

The Polish light ball went into about 2-2 1/2 inches I didnt photo the targets from the hungarian and bulgarian light ball but they were in the 3" range.
At this point Im feeling fairly good about the rifle but I was hoping the other ammo types would give better results.

[Bossman]

The Czech silvertip lived up to it`s rep as a fairly accurate load,averaging out to 2" or so, I`m feeling better at this stage.

The wolf 148 bimetal really shined, all groups were under 2" and some came very close to 1" the trigger was causing me grief but I did my best to deal with it and be as steady as I could, the wind wasnt helping much but so far I was quite pleased with the rifles performance.

Ahhhh the 7N1........

The lovely 7N1......I was grinning like a possum eatin` briars at this point.

Really tried to control my breathing and wait for a lull in the wind, same chin weld, same eye position in the reticle....breathe...squeeze.....YES! sub MOA!
That was the best 100 yd group of the day and most others were hovering right around an inch it seems the 7N1 is the ticket for this little lady.
Feeling cocky I went to the 200 yd. lane for my last 5 rounds of 7N1, I clicked the elevation knob to "2" and settled in, breathe, wait for wind to die down, breathe...squeeze.....wait 2 minutes between shots, I was rewarded with this:

Thats about 3" total but 4 shots went into a little itsy bitsy cluster, damn flyer. Actually I was stunned. I`ve got to get me more 7N1 and some more Wolf as well.
Yessir I`m glad I traded! I can get another Mosin Nagant ex-sniper and a K-31 and I`ve already got 2 more G kits and receivers to replace the guns I traded.
I really really really like this rifle. I`m sure I could do a bit better with a 6x or 8X scope and a red-star trigger is definitely on the menu!
Bossman

[BOLTRIPPER]

chrome bore ....right ?

[Bossman]

Yes it`s chrome, now I know the results are not spectacular considering what you are used to shooting but if we take into consideration what the rifle is, how it`s constructed and the limits of the 4x scope.....I`m rather impressed.
In fact I`m ecstatic.

[Hawk45]

The 7N1 is going to be hard to find as only one small lot was imported if I remember right.

I HAVE to get one of the PSL's though as I bought 3 spam cans of the 7N1 when it came in for the son's Mosin sniper rifle. Alot of folks kept thinking the Russian semi auto rifles were no good as they were not as accurate as they thought they should be. The problem was they were NOT being fed the right ammo they were designed for. Feed them right and they WILL hit what they are aimed at.

BTW Bossman, the change to the 8X scope for it makes a world of difference also! 'If' the Red Star trigger does fit there is a great deal you can do with it as well! It can be lightened to almost the same weight as a set trigger.

[BOLTRIPPER]

i have to say.....well......it looks like you are doing something right....and the results show....i'm impressed

[GOODOLDGUY]

Very impressive. Is this similar to the Russian Tiger?? I don't know that much them but I always thought they looked nasty. You are obviously an accomplished marksman. Curious about 7N1 ammo. Is it Romanian 7.62x54?? I bought a truck load of it awhile back to go with my new M44. Came in spam cans two to a crate. Pretty hot but shoots great. Not as good as you, though. Great post. Thanks for the pics!!

[TreverSlyFox]

Excellent results for a rifle that was never intended to be a "Sniper" rifle. Russian doctrine is more along the lines of the "Designated" Marksman. In fact that's where we got the idea from.

[Hawk45]

7N1 ammo is Russian. It was thought to be impossible to get here in the US and was for a long time. When a 'former' communist country did go democratic a small lot was sent to the US for sale. It went quickly as most folks who had heard of it snatched it up as fast as they could as it was here only by a simple mistake and the countries need for some hard cash. The Russians were NOT happy it got out to here. Soldier of Fortune magazine got the first lot of 7N1 about 15-20 years ago and published their tests with it with a real Dragonov that was brought back from Afcrapastan. These test showed for the first time that the Dragonov WAS capable of sniping accuracy beyond 500 yards. These were the same tests that also showed the 'why' for the bayonet on the sniper rifle as it is necessary for shooting beyond 1000 for some reason with any sort of accuracy. Had something to do with barrel harmonics. I remember the article as before these test I had always thought the Dragonov was a POS weapon. I was WRONG!

No it is NOT a Remington M-24, but it WILL work in combat with the right scope and ammo combination.

[ED4]

Originally posted by GOODOLDGUY:
Very impressive. Is this similar to the Russian Tiger?? I don't know that much them but I always thought they looked nasty. You are obviously an accomplished marksman. Curious about 7N1 ammo. Is it Romanian 7.62x54?? I bought a truck load of it awhile back to go with my new M44. Came in spam cans two to a crate. Pretty hot but shoots great. Not as good as you, though. Great post. Thanks for the pics!!

No The Russian Tiger carbine uses the SVD(Dragunov) gas system. Similar to that found on the SKS. The PSL or Romak3 is an over grown AK and uses the AK gas system.