I've owned the 8x and found it was more scope than I wanted for 300yd shooting, for me the 6x probably would have been better but if you are pushing out to 500yds the 8x might be perfect. The adjustable scope I had (not sure if its the one you linked) had a bad case of edge distortion at higher magnification so I returned it and stuck to the fixed power I had.

 

I shoot regularly at 500 yards and more and sure find magnification helps.

I have an 8X POSP and a 4X for my SVD and would prefer the 8X for distance, of course.

That said, the lens quality is the real factor as a good 4X beats a bad 10X any day.

Are these in your link Russian or Chinese made?

I don't have a VEPR but I believe these mount high enough to keep your iron sights usable closer in, a major factor for many Russian arms like the SVD and sniper Mosins. It is often tough to find targets quickly through an 8X scope unless you use the iron sights first.

 

The scopes are made by Belarusian Optical and Mechanical Association (Minsk) I am most concerned about the scope hitting the sights. I thought the POSP 4-10x42 would be be best being adjustable but I didn't know about the edge distortion. Was it a BelOMO scope?

Figured I would ask before buying knowing several here shoot distance.

Gary

 

# 2 enough on to 500 yard deer size targets ...
And even better closer up.
On my 308 sagia 3x9x36 is enough but I have old eyes....
shooting just out to 200 or a little more.

 

Another option, though less Russian, is to buy a sidemount that tops with a Weaver rail, letting you use a Leupold on there. I think Kalinka still sells those. I have one for a Kalashnikov.

 

You can get a Russian rail side mount with a Picatinny rail from Kalinka. These are good quality mounts. The higher mount is also "see through" (barely) for the iron sights
IF ... you don't mind removing the mount and scope to remove the dust cover to clean. Larger scopes make it necessary.
PSL-54C with Kalinka mount and Osprey 10-40X zoom. I find it adequate to see and hit a golf ball at 220m.

What I do find a problem with the PSL, where the Vepr may be better, is the thin sidewall of the receiver and flex in the mount. Difficult to keep the mount rock solid and can make for a bit of wandering zero. You can remove the bottom left screw on the mount, replace with a longer screw and lock nut, and crank it down to put pressure against the rail. A bit more sturdy with less flex in the rail and receiver. Ain't the scope or the mount! Just one of the many quirks and flaws of the PSL-54C.
(note: not the same scope in the pic)

 

Buy mmount and buy nikon and it will be right

 

Buy mmount and buy nikon and it will be right View attachment 1553777

Don't you like the POSP scope?

Gary

 

Have you determined inherent accuracy of the rifle at 500yds? Certainly .308 has the reach but so does 7.62x54R.
The Vepr may be superior to a PSL. Don't know. I almost bought one before prices skyrocketed and selection dwindled and was never able to do a direct comparison.
While the PSL does have some good days, there are inherent flaws in the design that can't be overcome no matter how much tinkering you do.
It is an excellent medium to longer range "stand off" semi-auto that can deliver a sustained volume of fire (with plenty of extra mags) accurate enough to be a "designated marksman" rifle. But, even with a high power scope it is more "minute of man" than "MOA" and not a precision long range "sniper" on the level of a good bolt rifle dedicated to that purpose.
Before investing in expensive glassware, determine the potential and consistency of accuracy at your chosen 500yd distance.
As I said, the Kalinka mount with rail will allow you to try and swap out scopes, from cheap to expensive and varous magnifications until you find the most practical for the gun.
If it fails to perform, don't get caught in the conundrom of "is it the gun, the scope, the mount, or the shooter" and a long and tedious process to weed out the faults. You will spend a lot of time, money and ammo to drive yourself nuts!

 

Sorry for the slow reply and thanks for your input. I have 75, 150, and 250 yard ranges here at the house. I shoot open sights and the Vepr shoots good enough that I want to go out further. But I don't see that happening without a scope. Molot makes a mount for the Vepr (http://www.molot-usa.com/product_info.php/cPath/25/products_id/42) but I have no clue how good it is.

I thought someone here might have used/owned one of three scopes I listed. The prices aren't bad, and I wanted to keep the rifle Russian-ish. The only problem I have heard of with different scope mounts is the scope hits the sights. Till I know for sure it wouldn't I really don't want to spend the money. I will contact East Wave before I buy to make sure the POSP don't hit.

Gary

 

From my discussions with a number of owners, the long barrel VEPR in either .308 or 7.62X54 can do about 1 1/2 MOA with Match ammo at 100 yards new out of the box and easily stretch to 500 yards. Some are owner set up as SVD style "sniper rifles" as well and look and shoot well as such. In Russia they are well regarded in their various hunting stocks and thumbhole stocks for big game.

This accuracy is nearly comparable to my much more expensive SVD and perhaps better than my new R25 GII in .308. The SVD with top ammo does 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 MOA, maybe a little better on good days, but with top ammo only.

All this depends what you want to do - real superb bench accuracy, rapid fire capabilities, hunting, zombies....

A PSL is a much more questionable item - each is different as one-off put-togethers and you probably don't want to take it deer hunting. Some members do great shooting accuracy with theirs and some don't. Some are very reliable and some are not.

I personally would take the VEPR as a hunting and plinking and SHTF rifle quite happily in either .308 or 7.62X54R, with the Russian round my favorite if I got the longest barrel. I can reload, so anything is possible in ammo.

This is not quite as good accuracy-wise as a quality bolt gun like a heavy barrel Remington 700 or a new Savage at 500 yards or more, but they can't fire 10 rapid repeat shots quite so quickly if you need that.

My rather expensive and time consuming solution has been to own several varied rifles, but the accuracy queen is a long and heavy barrel Remington 700 .308 that I have built up slowly with a Bell & Carlson sniper stock, new bottom metal for 10 round mags, a Harris bipod, a new Timney 1 pound trigger and other such goodies, topped with a Leupold scope. Now that can hit small stuff all day at 500 yards and has been done slowly so my wife hates me less for it. Too heavy to lug around in the woods for long, though.

 

Thanks for your reply, I wanted something a little more than the SKS and this fits the bill. (can't afford a PSL or RPK) The LGS I go to had a Vepr 20" in 7.62x54 (by the way it is a single stack if that maters to anyone) and this 23" 308 (double stack). I like the 308 (also have a MAS 49/56 in 308) and wanted a 23" so it worked out for me. Will it go to 500 I don't know but I'm going to try.

First 5 shots out of the box at 150 yards, open sights, no rest. That white center is the size of a quarter. Has potential and I like a challenge.
View attachment 1556009

If you ever want to step away from the Remington or Savage come on over to the Swiss forum, a little K11 maybe?

Gary

 

That target says the rifle has the potential. If you mount a scope and they spray all over ... it's the scope/mount and not the gun.
You may want to mount it in a sled and do some serious bench testing 100-200 and keep the targets as a reference to compare against. As well, with different ammo to find the best performing. When you start playing with glassware and mounts, you can avoid chasing your tail with "is it the gun, the scope, the mount, or the user"

 

As said, it ain't the gun.

Ammo or sight picture improvement off sandbags can get you down to 2 inches or so at 100 yards with iron sights if you can see a small black dot OK.

I shoot for accuracy tests only at the little black stick-on dots that everybody throws away when they shoot at those huge sticky targets that show hits. I scavenge the range waste cans for 'em.

"Aim small, miss small." Most people shoot at targets that are way too big for real precision, I think.

 

Yes I have 6x36 is absolutety terrible for hunting with PSO retricle, after 200 shoots with SVD it was damaged

here`s a lot of photos of good mount - I can mount everything on it http://www.maksimov.su/in.php?tnum=1&dvar=http://www.maksimov.su/gallery/&var=kron/saiga/saiga.htm

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually I have been to the site you linked to.

In a previous thread I linked to here--> http://www.maksimov.su/in.php?tnum=...php?tnum=1&dvar=http://www.maksimov.su/gallery/&var=narez/sks-snip/sks-snip.htm

Do you know Mr. Maksimov or anything about the SKS Snipers in the link? Anything would be of help.

Gary

 

SKS rifles simply don't have the ballistic capability for long range shooting. Some have been scoped as an expedient in urban war zones, but not for real military use.

I scoped a Yugo with a POS and it is fun but nothing like a real sniper rifle - looks cool and hits gongs to 300 yards, but no sniper by a long shot! Just look at a 7.62X39 bullet drop chart to see why they don't work for that. The bullet drops like a rock.

 

Yes, but I thought I read these are not chambered in 7.62x39, seems to me it was closer to 7.62x51

Gary

 

some times we discussing something with Yuriy. he`s a good photograf

about sniper SKS - it seems to me - hunting variant of 198x

 

If you want a good mount I know who can help