Jack A Sol 2 Posted May 5, 2009 Report Share Posted May 5, 2009 A friend of mine has a nice PSL setup, and we took it out this weekend to test some 762x54 loads I've been wondering about. We tested 9 different loads at 25 yards using a 1P21 scope set on 3x. mild wind to 13mph did not effect impact. Shooting was done supported from a bench. Temperature was around 60 degrees. Loads Tested 7N1 Russian Sniper ammo Price per round: $.32 (currently not available) 1st group: 7/16" Best 4: not measurable, too small 2nd group: 3/4" Best 4: 3/8" Field notes: Barnaul Silver Bear 175gr FMJ Price per round: $. 43 (currently available) 1st group: 7/8" Best 4: 5/8" 2nd group: 3/4" Best 4: 1/2" Field notes: Barnaul Silver Bear 203gr SP Price per round: $.45 (currently available) 1st group: 1 11/16" Best 4: 15/16" 2nd group: 15/16" Best 4: 5/8" Field notes: Second group is a better representation of the capabilities. flyer is to the right in the orange on this group. Sellier and Bellot 173gr sierra match Price per round: $ .90 (not currently available. purchased 10 years ago at this price) 1st group: 7/16" Best 4: 2nd group: 7/16" Best 4: Field notes: one hole groups. did not measure best 4, i figured it was good enough . Wolf 200gr FMJ Price per round: $1.85 (currently available in very small qty's) 1st group: 13/16" Best 4: 1/2" 2nd group: 1 5/8" Best 4: 1" Field notes: Messed up this second group, threw 2 flyers. this has good potential. The box I had was not marked "extra", but was made at the LVE plant. I actually only paid 4.95 for this box 10 years ago Czech silver tip ball surplus Price per round: $.16 (not currently available) 1st group: 2" Best 4: 1 1/2" 2nd group: 3/8" Best 4: 5/16" Field notes: Only had 10 total rounds to test. No warm up shots. Bad hold on first group. THIS LOAD HAS CONSISTENTLY GIVEN ME SIGNS OF OVERPRESSURE!! I have tried several different lots in at least 6 guns and they have always either had to have the bolt kicked open or had excess recoil or both. This load in the PSL was the hardest recoiling round in the test. It seems accurate, but potentially dangerous or hard on the gun. Czech surplus light ball in blue box (NOT silver tip) Price per round: $.21 (currently available) 1st group: 3/4" Best 4: 5/8" 2nd group: 1 1/2" Best 4: 1 1/8" Field notes: First group the upper right hit in green was a sixth shot. I eliminated it from the group. I did a third group on this load as it seemed inconsistent. that group showed these results to be accurate and fell between these two results. This load in the PSL was one of the hardest recoiling round in the test. I beleive that this might be running hotter than standard and it should be watched carefully and shot spareingly. see the silvertip notes as well. Prvi Partisan 150gr SP Price per round: $.64 (currently available) 1st group: 5/8" Best 4: 7/16" 2nd group: 3/4" Best 4: 9/16" Field notes: would make a nice hunting round. soft point makes it less than desireable as a long range match round (over 500 yards) Polish surplus light ball Price per round: $.16 (Not currently available) 1st group: 1 3/4" Best 4: 7/8" 2nd group: 15/16" Best 4: 3/4" Field notes: Had 2 failure to feed with this round during the test, and one more afterwards. the failures were not gun or magazine related IMO as all other rounds fired after had no problems. Shooting Impressions and general observations Shooter error is responsible for some of the larger groups and was noted by each load. 7N1 seems like the natural choice as it works well with the 1P21 scope and many russian rangefinders and BDC's. Due to availability I have to reccomend that you try out the Barnaul offerings and the Privi partisan offerings. I suspect that the wolf 200gr soft point is loaded to the same specs as its "200gr match extra FMJ" load and might make a nice mid range load with some great sectional density for use agains materiel. The 1P21 scope does not provide a decent cheek weld, and thus makes a poor long range scope setup without a cheek piece. I think the Silver bear 175gr FMJ and the PPU 150gr sp load will have a home in the smart mans arsenal who needs ammo for this caliber right now and cant find either the wolf 200gr extra, the sellier and bellot, or 7N1. The price is still reasonable enough to get a respectable quantity for practice and SHTF use. There is something to be said for fresh ammo and primers when you need good reliable gear. I did not notice increased recoil with any of the heavier loads. They all felt very similar and I would not hesitate for a moment to reccomend them for any application, including the PSL or Dragunov. The Czech loads. however I would steer clear of. In fact I sold a case of the silver tip ball off years ago when I had to kick the bolt open using it in several bolt guns. I have used 3 different lots of this stuff in at least 6 guns and they have all exhibited signs of over pressure. Be cautious with this stuff. I'm glad my buddy likes to clean guns, he's gonna have some work to do after this:D. http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1916/img0010iky.jpg http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2687/img0008v.jpg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mstranglr 9 Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 (edited) Great post! PSLs are very ammo picky, and rifle specific. It seems that every PSL likes a different ammo better - I have seen this many times. My PSL shoots the best groups with the Czech Light ball (blue box), but only slightly better than the 7N1 (which I am out of now). My PSL also shoots fantastic with Hungarian. My worst groups come from Bulgarian Light ball, which seems to be very inconsistent, and S&B. My cousin's PSL shoots amazing groups with the Czech silver-tips, but they only shoot so-so in my gun. I highly recommend that you do not shoot heavy ball in a PSL as they are very damaging to rifle (its just a slightly beefed up stamped reciever AK). Many people have had theirs break from shooting heavy ball. The factory recommends loads under 150gr for use with this rifle. And viva corrosive surplus ammo. It outshoots the commercial stuff! Edited May 7, 2009 by desert dog Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yesno 1 Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Realy nice post. You may want to read this: about those heavy bullets The following was provided by an AK expert gunsmith: http://www.dragunov.net/psl_ammo.html and here is a ton of info on 54r ammo http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mstranglr 9 Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Realy nice post. You may want to read this: about those heavy bullets The following was provided by an AK expert gunsmith: http://www.dragunov.net/psl_ammo.html and here is a ton of info on 54r ammo http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinAmmo.htm Great post yesno. I have never seen that second link, but that is the most informative stuff on 54r ammo I have seen to date. It seems to confirm my findings, especially the consistency of the Czech ammo and 7N1, and the inconsistency of the bulgy ammo. Jack A sol, are you sure the Czech ammo you were shooting was not "white tip"? The white tip Czech ammo is short-range practice ammo. It leaves the muzzle hot, but drops quickly at range, and is some of the worst ammo you can get. I have seen crates of it for sale at gun shows being sold as "Czech silver tip" (which is highly sought after by PSL/SVD owners). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jack A Sol 2 Posted May 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 Jack A sol, are you sure the Czech ammo you were shooting was not "white tip"? The white tip Czech ammo is short-range practice ammo. It leaves the muzzle hot, but drops quickly at range, and is some of the worst ammo you can get. I have seen crates of it for sale at gun shows being sold as "Czech silver tip" (which is highly sought after by PSL/SVD owners). positive. I have some of that practice stuff laying around and it is VERY obvious that it's not a standard round Quote Link to post Share on other sites
atakacorp 147 Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) Great post. I took my PSL to the range last weekend. 100 yards . Bench rest . Middle Ygo 147 , the rest CHZ light ball. I would not recommend to shoot with heavier bullets, and let it cool of, if u wont tighter groups' PSL is the fun to shoot and ammo is cheep Edited May 14, 2009 by atakacorp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mstranglr 9 Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Great post.I took my PSL to the range last weekend. 100 yards . Bench rest . Middle Ygo 147 , the rest CHZ light ball. I would not recommend to shoot with heavier bullets, and let it cool of, if u wont tighter groups' PSL is the fun to shoot and ammo is cheep That is a fine looking rifle, and good groups at 100 yds with cheap ammo. Where did you get the furniture? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
atakacorp 147 Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) Great post.I took my PSL to the range last weekend. 100 yards . Bench rest . Middle Ygo 147 , the rest CHZ light ball. I would not recommend to shoot with heavier bullets, and let it cool of, if u wont tighter groups' PSL is the fun to shoot and ammo is cheep That is a fine looking rifle, and good groups at 100 yds with cheap ammo. Where did you get the furniture? Thanks. I'll try 200 and 300 next time Rob Glatz Confederated Arms 661 Fall Creek Rd Alsea, OR 97324 r-glatz@hotmail.com centerfiresystems have them for 180 http://www.centerfiresystems.com/replaceme...partstkdra.aspx ,but I am not sure about the quality , The one I have is expensive,the quality is .I have some problem with the upper hand guard ,bolt carear is tight when its going forward,I need some fitting to do,for now I have original upper and lower hand guard back, and its look gooood Edited May 15, 2009 by atakacorp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.