So, I started looking at building a PSL to replace the one I’d lost. Unfortunately, my rifle (Serial Number R5363-03) was stolen right about the time these rifles had become hard to find and expensive here (likely due to the huge demand for them in the Middle East). If I did my part, I was getting MOA accuracy out of it with ammo it liked. I also saw them very commonly used in Iraq and Afghanistan by their respective armies and security forces. I first came into contact with the PSL rifle in 2002 being carried by Romanian troops in Kandahar. However, it was issued with a similar optic to the SVD. The PSL uses a stamped receiver as opposed to the milled receiver used in the SVD, which at the time it was developed was a much less expensive option. I believe a lot of this rifle was designed with economy in mind, as a number of the parts are also used in their RPK rifles(which is quite helpful if you want to build a PSL but can’t find a part kit). But other than being chambered in the same cartridge they’re completely different. At a glance, it looks similar to the SVD-similar enough that they’ve been referred to as “Romanian Dragunovs”. For all intents and purposes, they’re all the same rifle. This rifle goes by several other names in the US FPK, SSG-97, PSL-54, and ROMAK III. Romania was one of these and they produced the PSL chambered in 7.62x54r. However, there were a few nations that designed their own rifles for this purpose. A chunk of the armies of the Warsaw Pact simply purchased SVDs from the Soviets. From my research, it does not appear that SVDs were manufactured by the other Warsaw Pact nations like AKs were. Really, these were more like what we now call a Designated Marksman Rifle in both what they were mechanically and how they were employed. During the Cold War, the Soviet Red Army adopted the SVD as its “Sniper Rifle”.
0 kommentar(er)
