romanian psl sniper rifle

7/21/2019 Romanian PSL Sniper Rifle

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Romanian PSL sniper rifle

7,62 mm PSL SNIPER RIFLE

Cartridge:7.62x54Rmm;

7.62x51mm NATO

Operation: gas

Locking: rotating bolt

Feed:10-round boxmagazine

Muzzle velocity:2723FPS, 830 m/s

Rate of fire: 650rds/min

Firing mode:singleshot semi-auto

Sights: fore, post; rear,U notch; adjustable 0 to1200 m; Scope 4 x 24 6

Weapon length: 45.3",1150 mm

Barrel length:24.4",620 mm

Barrel twist:4 groovesRH, 1:12.5", 320 mm

Weight withoutmagazine: 9 lbs, 4.06 kg

Weight emptymagazine: .5 lbs, 0.21

kg

Weight scope: 1.27 lbs,0.575kg

The Puc Semiautomat cu Lunet(Rifle, Semiautomatic with Scope) was originally manufactured atthe Romanian Cugir arsenal starting in the mid 1970s. When Romania started offering their PSL forexport, it was then manufactured at the Regia Autonoma de Tehnic Militar (RATMIL) factory and hadtheir bayonet lugs removed to meet U.S. import restrictions. After a consolidation of military arsenals

when Romania joined NATO in 2004, production of the PSL moved to theARMS arsenalin Cugir,Romania which was completely re-tooled with all new state-of-the-art modern equipment purchasedfrom Belgium and Croatia. PSLs are exported to the US by C.N. ROMARM S.A. of Bucharest, Romania.

At various times the PSL has been imported into the US by different companies both large and small.
http://www.arms.home.ro/arms/pg/index.htmlhttp://www.arms.home.ro/arms/pg/index.htmlhttp://www.arms.home.ro/arms/pg/index.htmlhttp://www.arms.home.ro/arms/pg/index.html


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This PSL was manufactured in 1997 as a commercial export model with newly manufactured parts andwas imported into the U.S. by Armamentos Inc. of West Palm Beach, Florida. Note the lack of abayonet lug, plus the modern green nylon sling.

When the PSL is manufactured in Romania it is not stamped with a model name or number. Thisallows U.S. import companies freedom to call the rifle whatever they think will appeal to Americanbuyers.

Century Arms International called the rifle a ROMAK-3 (ROManian Avtomat Kalashnikov 3) (earlyimports) and PSL-54C(current imports).

InterOrdnance Inc. called the rifle the SSG-97and offered them in 7.62x54R and 7.62x51 NATO.

The Tennessee Guns International rifles are called the FPKand are either assembled in the US usingmilitary surplus parts kits, or are imported as complete rifles from Romania.

TGI's US-built rifles are assembled on Romanian or US-manufactured receivers. The Romanianreceivers will be stamped with "FPK" or "Dragunov" on the bottom of the receiver in front of themagazine well. The rifles with US-built receivers will be stamped on the right sideof the receiver.Romanian-built rifles (imported as fully assembled rifles) will be stamped "FPK Dragunov" on the leftsideof the receiver.

A new TGI version of the PSL is now being built on a US manufactured Nodak Spud receiver thatallows the use of a standard AK style buttstock and separate pistol grip.


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All these versions are PSL rifles.

"MADE N ROMANA" [sic]

The location of this Tennessee Guns marking indicates this PSL rifle was assembled in the U.S. on aRomanian receiver.


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A military PSL manufactured in Romania in 1976. This is the original arsenal markings and cartoucheof a military rifle.


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Early ROMAK-3 from Century International Arms came with two cut down 5 round magazines, originalRomanian LPS scope and green nylon sling.

History

During the 1960s when Romania transitioned to the 7.62x39 Kalashnikov family of rifles theproduction of 7.92 x57 ammunition, as well as the Mosin Nagant and Zbrojovka Brno 24 Mauser rifles,

were put in reserve.

After 60 years of use the bolt-action sniper rifles in inventory were down to a few hundred scoped ZB-24 and Mosin Nagant M91/30s mostly in use by military units in Romania's mountainous interiorareas. When the need to replace these aging sniper rifles was apparent, Romania considered adoptingthe new Russian Dragunov SVD sniper rifle. They had already been producing a domestic variant ofthe Russian AKM under an agreement with the USSR, as was common among Warsaw Pact nations.

However after the events of 1968 when Romania refused to participate in the Warsaw Pact's invasionof Czechoslovakia, as well its open criticism of the event, the Soviet Union reduced its arms suppliesto Romania and slowed the transfer of technologies. As a result, the Uzina Mecanica Cugir and theDirectia Tehnica a Armatei (Cugir Weapons Factories and the military Engineering Management Group)as a joint venture carried out designs to produce a semi-automatic sniper rifle that would have thesame characteristics of the Russian SVD, but would be based on the Kalashnikov series of weapons,

which would also have controls familiar to a soldier who was trained to use the standard AK-47 andAKM machine gun.

Trials were carried out from 1970 to 1975 and during development of the PSL engineers from Zastavain Yugoslavia were consulted. Yugoslavia was also looking to produce its own version of a semi-automatic sniper rifle, but decided against using the Romanian PSL design due to the large quantitiesof 7.92x57 ammunition on hand already. Zastava's answer to the SVD was the M1976 rifle in 8mmMauser which uses a receiver made from solid machined steel instead of folded sheet metal. The otherEastern Bloc countries still loyal to the USSR adopted the SVD as their primary sniper rifle. SVDs canstill be found in use by the militaries of Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria.


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The PSL receiver is a stamped sheet metal design which has reinforcements below the barrel trunionand at the rear cut-out to prevent cracks due to the strong recoil. The gas system is like an AK serieswith the gas piston being attached to the bolt carrier.

Barrel profile under the hand guards is thin. This reduces overall weight but allows the barrel to flexmore than if it were heavier. Some people believe a shorter barrel would flex less and increaseaccuracy.

The PSL is based on a Kalashnikov design but is not an AK variant in the true sense. The rifle uses amodified Kalashnikov trigger and gas piston system that are specially designed to handle the larger7.62x54R caliber. The PSL's larger caliber meant the receiver had to be longer than an AK's and thesheet metal was reinforced at the rear with plates riveted to the sides. To reduce receiver twist when


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fired, the barrel is pressed into a special trunion that is held in shallow channels on the sides of thereceiver. Even with these strengthening improvements the rifle can not handle the pressure of heavyball ammunition. Ideal cartridge weight will be no heavier than 160 grains (10.3 grams).

The PSL is originally designed to have a safety sear just forward of the hammer. This sear acts as anadditional safety feature that prevents premature detonation of the cartridge as it moves from themagazine to the chamber. Unfortunately this sear is prohibited by the U.S. BATFE because that part isassocated with rifles able to fire in fully automatic mode. The PSL was never designed to be a machinegun ("PSL" literally means semi-automatic rifle with scope) but in order for it to pass importrestrictions, the safety sear had to be deleted. This means the Romanian manufacturer has toassemble the PSL rifles bound for the US on different receivers than PSLs exported to other countries.


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On this PSL rifle that is owned in Italy, you can see the "third" axis pin of the safety sear just belowthe middle of the scope rail. The US approved PSLs must only have two axis pins present on thereceiver.

Even an axis pin hole that is welded up isstill considered illegalby the BATFE.

All recently imported PSL rifles are manufactured in Romania on commercial receivers and assembledwith parts from de-milled military rifles that are refinished. The magazines are marked with thereceiver's serial number and are often hand-fitted to the rifle. The scopes are also hand-fitted to theside rail on the receiver. Many recent imports of PSLs do not have factory fitted scopes or magazines.This results in scopes that either do not fit the rail or are mounted slightly crooked making the scope
http://www.centuryarms.com/Century/psl.htmhttp://www.centuryarms.com/Century/psl.htmhttp://www.centuryarms.com/Century/psl.htmhttp://www.centuryarms.com/Century/psl.htm


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reticle off-center, and magazines that will not lock in place or will not feed reliably. Other commonproblems are canted (crooked) front sights and receivers not drilled for all the butt stock mountingscrews.

Don't know if your PSL was built from a demilled kit?Click for a discussion about PSL kits

An InterOrdnance Inc. SSG-97 with soft green canvas scope cover and instruction handbook printedby Romarm.
http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?59278-PSL-or-FPK&p=457580http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?59278-PSL-or-FPK&p=457580http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?59278-PSL-or-FPK&p=457580


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These are actual Romanian military PSLs with the Cugir arsenal cartouche stamp (arrow in triangle). Ifyour rifle doesn't have these arsenal markings then it was built for commercial export.


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The Cugir stamp is similar to theRussian Izhevsk cartouchebut lacks the fletching feathers at thebottom of the arrow.

The sniper scope provided with the PSL is the Romanian version of thePSO-1which has no battery compartment. It is designated LPS 4x6 TIP2and was manufactured by IOR(Industry Optic Romania) in Bucharest. The reticle is illuminated bymildly radioactive tritium.Almost

all scopes that came with commercial PSLs havedead or expired tritiumso don't expect to see thereticle in low light. These scopes are normally equipped with a rubber shock absorbing eye piece and afront rubber cover which is held to the scope by a rubber collar around the scope sun shade tube.

Internals of the Romanian PSL rifle differ considerably from the Dragunov design. The PSL, with itsstamped steel receiver, has trigger and hammer components that will be very familliar to AK-typeowners. The Dragunov design, on the otherhand, has a trigger assembly that removes as a unit fromthe receiver.
http://www.dragunov.net/svd/1984r.jpghttp://www.dragunov.net/svd/1984r.jpghttp://www.dragunov.net/svd/1984r.jpghttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_pso1.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_pso1.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_pso1.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritiumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritiumhttp://www.dragunov.net/optics_lps.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optics_lps.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optics_lps.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_lps.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_lps.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/optics_lps.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritiumhttp://www.dragunov.net/optic_pso1.htmlhttp://www.dragunov.net/svd/1984r.jpg


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The gas system on the PSL consists of the gas piston and bolt carrier which is one piece, also similarto the AK series rifles.

The buttstock is made from laminated wood and differs from the SVD by having a cheek pad designedinto the comb. The SVD has a detachable leather cheek pad. Some owners feel that the comb of thebutt stock is not high enough to get a proper cheek weld when using the scope.

The muzzle device is a brake that effectively reduces felt recoil. It is generally screwed on to barrelthreads and locked in place with a spring-loaded pin at the base of the front sight. Some PSL riflesimported have the muzzle brake welded in place instead of pinned. Of those that are welded, somehave no threads at the muzzle and are simply pressed on and welded.

"WillyP" providedthis detailed descriptionwith pictures of his PSL rifle.

Muzzle brake with a cross pin seen at the front of the sight base. The brake consists of three banks of

four slots designed to vent gas to the sides and top of the barrel as the bullet exits. Diverting the gasto the side reduces felt recoil but increases noise. Shooting the PSL sniper rifle in the prone positionmay create a debris cloud from the blast.
http://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansovietcomblocsection/romania/romanianpslsniperriflehttp://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansovietcomblocsection/romania/romanianpslsniperriflehttp://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansovietcomblocsection/romania/romanianpslsniperriflehttp://imageevent.com/willyp/russiansovietcomblocsection/romania/romanianpslsniperrifle


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This muzzle brake is screwed on to a threaded muzzle and locked in place by a spring-loaded pin.

The so-called "Para" PSL. These short-barreled rifles were sold on a very limited basis and wereconverted in the US from Romanian parts.


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The "paratrooper" PSL before being assembled in to a rifle. These were never used in any military butshould be good shooters.

Brown pouch holds oil bottle and cleaning tools.

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romanian psl sniper rifle

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