[oldironsights]

Just not avtomats.
I have had these troublesome two for awhile now.
Another range trip & both are getting closer to doing what they are supposed to do.
I have a love/hate relationship with the Romanian PSL.
My first one was a dog. Would not cycle right & the ejector hook on the internal rail wore out after 100 rounds.
Apparently, someone forgot to harden it.
This one is the replacement.
It rocks, & is quite accurate with the irons, but I went thru several side mount scopes in frustration. I never found a scope that would look where the rifle was shooting, so I swapped scope & mount with my Yugoslavian M76. I wanted higher magnification, so I mounted one of those Sportsmansguide $63.00 Pentax 4x12 scopes with the BDC reticle. Now, the rifle shoots where I look, & with 12x, I can see the holes!

I replaced the short laminated buttstock with one that looks sleek, is adjustable & offers much more comfort. That short little buttstock with the ribbed buttplate can be painful This maple buttstock with the adjustable rubber cheekpiece is from Rhineland arms.
Not the best design or the highest quality, but it is very comfortable. It has only one point of attachment, unlike the stock part, which has two very strong points of attatchment. The Rhineland Arms stock is secured only at the rear tang, which leaves the rifle to wobble loose after a few rounds. I had to drill a hole at the bottom rear of the receiver to add a second point.
On another day, I will test it again.

It sure is pretty!

I removed the ugly polyurethane coating, & replaced it with a warm, natural finish. This is amber shellac. Not the most durable, but it glows!

Some folks don't like beech. Beech can be ugly. This cut looks good.

I took along my Yugoslavian M76 also. I had trouble in the past getting the Zrak scope to look where the rounds were hitting. I actuall had to bend the aluminum mount straight. Then I found the 4x Zrak still had little windage adjustment.
The European & former communist bloc military scopes have no mechanical adjustments at the base. The old ones did back before the sixties.
Also, the reticles move within the tube. This can be annoying. I like to center the reticle when I zero it to a certain distance.
I still have some work to do with this scope. It is a 8x42 with adjustable focus from Kalinka optics. Made in Belarus. The reticle is currently zero'd in left of center. I need to seperate the upper mount from the base, hog out the holes & shim the fron leg back to the left so I can re-zero the scope with the reticle in the center.
The original Zrak 4x scope is currently on a 8mm Mauser. It sits on a Luepold base & rings that is adjustable for windage.

This stock set is made of elm.
Shooting this is not as comfortable as the PSL. I had to rest my cheek in my offhand to raise my eye to the scope.
The PSL receiver is 2mil sheet steel, while the M76 is milled from one chunk of steel. It may be from a forging or from a casting. I don't know.

I was shooting 1953 vintage Yugo 8mm. It was all surefire! But, man, is that stuff dirty!
I have a case of M75 sniper ammo that belongs in this, but after pricing it lately, I am reluctant to shoot it!
I still have plenty of ther older stuff to burn through first.
I was shooting Russian & Czech light ball ammo through the PSL.
No issues with either ammo.
I cleaned the internals of both with hot, boiling water & some soap suds to remove the corrosive salts left over from the Berdan primers, then cleaned as usual with Hoppes love potion #9.
When I get these two properly sorted, I will post pictures of the targets. Right now, my shooting is nothing to brag about.

 

[Davis]

Considering the Soviet Union really established the bench mark on sniper rifles, they got to define them. Those rifles are legitimate snipers based on the Eastern Block definition. On the battlefield, both rifles fit the role exactly as designed and designated.

 

[trainsktg]

They look nice. I hope you are able get them to function just as well too.

Keith

 

[bsd]

Man that really makes me want a PSL... Wood looks great! Oh and the M76 is nice too.

 

[AKBLUE]

Nice looking rifles. The replacement stock looks nice.
Your M76 is built on a Wiselite milled receiver vs an ORF.

Intersting experiences on your optics., as I have a few M76 and PSL's and never experienced a zeroing issue with off center reticule or lack of adjustment. You can reset the turrets as you might know. I find the ZRAK to be a bit better and it is bore centered and about perfect cheekweld on the M76.
The M76 seems more comfortable and has proven to be a bit more accurate for me. Maybe the heavier barrel or a bit better ammunition. I use Egyptian 8mm and Yugoslavian M75.
For the PSL I have Czech and Bulgarian light ball.
Either way., the full power cartridges out of the heavier rifles are a lot of fun to shoot.

 

[jrswanson1]

I'd suggest you roll your own ammo if you want better accuracy out of these rifles.

Funny story, I was at an out door range a couple of years ago, and a guy was there shooting his rifle which looked a lot like yours. A few weeks later he's shooting a Remington 700 with a synthetic stock and B&C glass. I started talking to him about it. He was former Soviet Army, and originally was shooting the Russian rifle for long range match shooting. He switched to the Remington after not doing so well with the Russian rifle.

Jim

 

[carol tenge]

I had a yugo like that all original back in the late 1980's. One was good, then I bought two more for the big event... Those other two had barrels with the sights cut in wrong, and were never able to hit anything. I dumped them at gunshows. They were rejects the yugos shipped to the usa. Those rifles were 308 caliber. Kicked beastly. The first ONE though was a good un' and an accurate shooter! Dumped it too, as the mags were very very expensive.