Range day after post.

Rifles are cleaned and put up. Magazines reloaded and stored. Hands don't smell like powder or gun oil. Time for the post report.

First up. Romanian PSL

I have some Soft point ammo from when I had the Mosin. I don't want it to go to waste so I figured I would try it (against recommendations) and see how it does.

I was very impressed. Little change in the recoil aspect and WOW are those things tight. The wind was a factor today and while I shouldn't give that as an excuse, if you have ever been in Ohio you know how quickly wind can change direction. I was trying to stay on it with the dials but gave up and started using Kentucky windage. Still, if you look closely at that pattern, you will count 4 holes. Just amazing for cheap ammo.

Next was 5 rounds of the Chech Milsurp that I have. I was spacing these out about 20 minutes apart for the barrel to cool down. I wanted as close to a cold gun as possible, just to see what I can expect out of what ammo. Here is the result of that.(again, the wind sucked or blew I should say.)


The Next 15 rounds were the Chech Milsurp and I wanted to see how bad if at all this barrel strings shots. These were fired about 10 seconds apart in strings of 5. In between strings I waited a full minute.
Sadly that is about what I expected from the way I have seen this barrel whip around in slow motion video. The drop was from the barrel being warm and you can see the way the rounds spread out laterally (and yes there are more holes there but I was flipping the target board over between runs. All were recorded after sessions.)

One thing about this rifle that irks me though it shouldn't is the metric aspect. One click is 10cm at 100m. that boils down to about 3 1/2 inches at 100 yards. I am constantly doing this calculation in my head (and one reason why I gave up trying to adjust the windage). I would really like to get her out to a longer range to see what she can do but that just isn't doable here. (I will stop whining about that now. ) Once I started using Kentucky windage though I started hitting closer to center more consistently. I always have been more of an instinctive shooter (one reason I prefer iron sights.) and with the graduations on the reticle its pretty easy to do on the fly. (one tickmark for 4 inches is much easier than 3.5)

I didn't take any pics of the shooting that I did with the SKS since I was really only shooting her to have fun. Still, a 12" target at 100yards and everything was in the black. She is running a Techsites, rear aperture with a narrow front post. The rear aperture opens the sight picture up 10" from the original sights so in comparison she is quite accurate to other SKS's that I have shot. This is a rifle I would happily take hunting so long as I didn't have to shoot over 100 yards with her. She hits hard enough at that distance to take down a blackbear and recoil is mild enough that follow ups are a breeze. Hollowpoint ammo is pretty easy to acquire for this gun too(I have 500 rounds of it now).

Maybe one day. (need somewhere to store the meat first.)

Back in the Game.

I find it amazing that something so simple as a double shot of vodka mixed with some of my Dad's honey, a super hot shower and a good nights rest and I am back up and running today.

Don't have a clue what hit me but it wasn't good. I didn't have any cold symptoms at all. No sinus drainage, no phlegm in the lungs. Just PAIN.

Seriously, it felt like I had been in a knock down drag out the night before. I haven't felt like that since I was in a bar fight while in the Philippines.

Since I hadn't anything else to do, I took the SKS to the range today. I haven't had her out in several months and felt like having some fun. She is a blast to shoot. It far too easy to put a hundred rounds downrange with that rifle. I did get in some quality practice with my offhand position(standing for those that don't know). I don't care how good you are, that position is NOT easy. I was able to hit paper. That at this point is pretty good in my eyes. I need to get back out and start walking more, get back in some shape that I have slipped on. I may not be overweight but I am not in the greatest shape either. I noticed after a few rounds that my heartbeat was really making a difference in shot placement. My breathing was all off too. The good thing about using the SKS for this, I am familiar enough with her(like an extension of my arm) that I know its not the rifle: Any stray rounds are on me completely.

Well time to clean the old girl, get the smell of gunpowder out of my nose(even though I like that smell) and maybe take a walk. I may call the kid and have her go with too. She needs to get out more. (evil dad grin)

day at home.

Boss is in court today trying to get some nasty people out of one of his apartments. (and by nasty I mean NASTY, bedbug nasty kind of people. Ick!) So we are 'taking the day off'. HA! Like Diogenes ever just sits around.(well sometimes but pretty frikin rare)
Started off the day by putting new shoes on the beastie. Now have a parking brake again. Kinda let that one slide while I was messing with the axles and what not. Was really starting to weigh on my mind though.

So I ended up doing some sitting in front of the PC and messing with VLC and my clips from the range. Using slow motion I was able to diagnose an issue that I wasn't aware of while shooting the 'Dragunov'. A flinch. Nothing to be ashamed of, I know. It is something that I want to correct though. Now I think this one is because I am adjusting to having 1) A scope and 2) that funky eye relief cover on the scope. I have read that others have had issues adjusting to this style of scope and while watching in the slow motion you can see me flinch right as the eye cover hits my face. Its not like this piece can do any harm but getting anything right in the eye socket will make people flinch. I may have to video myself more if only to record my shooting so that I can fix little issues like this. Another tool to use to better myself. (guess I am gonna have to get over being camera shy eh?) It was interesting to note how little the rifle actually rises in recoil though. Much faster recoveries are possible with recoil that manageable. Way cool.

Rifle report. Romanian PSL-54C

This is not a C&R rifle like the other that I have or have had. This rifle has been called incorrectly a Dragunov which was a Russian rifle based upon the SVT-40 from WWII. This Rifle is based upon the Kalashnikov rifle using the same round as the SVT, Mosin-Nagant, and the Dragunov. Some state that this is a sniper rifle. Not so, this is more of a designated marksmen rifle by U.S. Military standards. More accurate than the Main Battle Rifles (the AK) and harder hitting out to further distances but not really sniper quality. Still for what it is, this should be a fine competition rifle or a long range hunter.

Ballistically speaking this round is something of a cross between the .308 and the .30-06. Good long range, hard hitting and rather adaptable by varying loads and bullet weight. This particular rifle is very happy with a lighter bullet. The heavier bullets that I was shooting in the Mosin tend to tear apart the action due to excessive recoil in the gas tube. Luckily the rounds it does like are readily available and fairly inexpensive. I can pick up a case of 880 rounds for about $150. Try that with the AR platform.

First perceptions from when I picked it up.

HEAVY. even with the light barrel this thing weighs in at 10 pounds unloaded.
SIMPLE. Being based upon the AK platform, the operations of this rifle are simple. The Safety is the standard setup, takedown can be done without any tools, parts fit together 'just tight enough'.
NICE. Somehow the layout seems better thought out than that of the AK-47's that I have handled in the past. Maybe its the fact that this one is not a refurb but a new receiver. I don't have enough AK experience to say one way or the other, this is just a feeling I get from it.


I really like the layout for the Scope. This is a Romanian version of the Russian SVD scope. Here is what the Reticle looks like.Click to embiggen and read my notes. It looks busy but once you know the layout rapid range finding should be a breeze. The scope itself is calibrated to the military loads for this rifle and dialing is very easy once range is known.

Here is the 'kit' it comes with.
There is quite a bit of stuff here. (and no, the ammo is what I already had.) Everything functions the way it should and none of this is of 'issued' surplus. Everything is tight and clean (well once I cleaned all of the cosmoline off of it. lol) Even the leather on the armsbag had to be oiled and worked in since it has never been used.

RANGE TRIP! Will post more on that when I return tomorrow.

Range trip report.

Back from the range and all the boomsticks are cleaned and restacked. I did something a little different today and took the Beeman R-1 with me to verify it was still zeroed in: it was and even at 50 yards it gives a pretty solid wack to the paper. Fun to shoot and cheap to feed. Always a good combination.

Mosin Nagant 91/59 (Trisha): Went to verify that the scope was holding zero and only shot 10 rounds through her. When I arrived at the range I shot 2 rounds through the scope. I was on paper but not at all happy with the results. I am thinking that I need to reconsider my design for the scope mount. (or get a more expensive scope which is NOT in the cards right now.) SO the next 8 shots were over iron sights. I guess I am just an intuitive shooter. When using Iron I hold a better group than I ever do with a scope. Thats not to say that I can shoot clover patterns but I figure that an 4" group at 100 yards with Iron, beats a 6" group at 100 yards with a scope. I went ahead and pulled the scope mount off while at the range. I won't need it for any hunting that I intend to do around here: maybe if I make it out west or to Texas, lol.

1954 SKS (Gloria): What can I say about Gloria? She is that girl next door that is always there ready to go when you need her. The new firing pin spring did the trick and it seemed she was faster on the recovery than normal. Not one light strike and she cycled through 100 rounds like it was just another day in the park. At 100 yards she is holding that 4" pattern to the point that after about 50 rounds there was this ragged hole in the target that you could see light through. I shifted over to the back up and did the same thing there. Old but reliable. To bad her range is limited to 300 yards. After that the rounds about fall out of the sky. Still using iron sights for her and I have NO INTENTIONS of changing that set up since it works so damned well.

Newbie gun. Phoenix HP22A Compact handgun. Shooting .22LR: Now this little Saturday night special impressed the hell out of me. 25 yard range, cycled about 100 rounds through her and every single round was in the black Rapid fire with this little gun is about as much fun as you can have with your pants on. Again cheap to feed and reliable. This is gonna be the 'fun gun' since 100 rounds of .22LR is running about $7 a box right now. Not much to look at but fits pretty nicely in the hand(even my big hands though the pinky is kinda waving in the wind)well balanced and the sights just fall on the target when pointing down range. This is the way I like my handguns to be. Glocks just don't do what this little gun did right out of the box. The only other guns that Have felt like this are the M&P.40, Colt 1911A1, and pretty much every HighPoint that I have shot. (the exception to the HP's was the .380 and I would imagine that it just wasn't set up right since it is based on the 9mm frame.)


All in all a good day. I do so like shooting the SKS though. Very manageable recoil, reliable when properly maintained, Rugged as hell and VERY cheap to feed in comparison to some of the 'popular' guns that show up at the range.

Marksmanship

The Hermit has a post on a book that I haven't read since 1990 when I was on float to Kuwait. Excellent read for those that did and those that didn't/haven't served.

One of the points in the book talks about time on the rifle range. This is a key point to being a Marine. They don't fail you for not shooting expert but they strongly encourage it. The one thing that was noted then (in the book) and was noted in 88 while I was in BootCamp was that the southerners and the 'hillbillies' were more often than not(by a large margin) the ones that took expert.
Why? I think its more that we are more comfortable around firearms than most. We grew up with them and for many of us our first big gift was a firearm of some sort. My first 'gun' was a daisy BB gun and it only grew from there.

Even today I keep either a pump pellet gun or break barrel pellet gun around. They are my 'trainers' for helping teach the basics to new shooters and they reinforce proper habits on veteran shooters. Some may prefer the .22 for this but not me. The pellet 'hangs' in the barrel longer on an air rifle and forces you to hold position steadier for your follow up.

For those that would like a refresher on the basics HERE are some links to an old Army training film. They cover the basics of position, site picture, windage and elevation adjustments, proper shooting technique, calling your shot, and Proper sling usage. (I go back and forth on the sling but tend to use a 'hasty sling' since it does help, especially in the higher powered rifles.) One other advantage of using air rifles for training is in locations. Most cities will frown upon firearms usage in the city limits. With an air rifle you can set up a decent backstop and shoot out to 25 yards and not get looked at funny(well not by the police anyway). 25 yards is fine for getting the basics down and learning to get 'zeroed'. The real training comes in play at the 300 and 500 lines but if you don't learn enough at the 25 you are wasting time and ammo on the others.

An excellent Air rifle for Plinking and Critter control is this one. You can sometimes find them at Wallie world for the same price. Dual caliber .177 and .22 so practice can be cheap and still have the ability to use this on critter control. I use the .177 for target practice as the bullet travel is comparable to a regular rifle and the .177 is dirt cheap. The .22 is powerful enough to take larger game in hunting if you use the right pellets. I haven't personally tried it but one person claims to have killed beaver with this pellet. Pictures say a lot and his are no exception. Cheap practice is still good practice so long as you practice the right things. THE BASICS. This is a great way to stay on top of good shooting and with the right purchases you can get some High quality shooting in for under $200. (side note: For those, Like me, that prefer Iron sights; there is a peep sight for this rifle available that is similar to that on an M1)

One thing I found 'funny' today about that post is that I was looking at a new (well new to me) Long range rifle today. I have been bouncing around on some and keep looking at some of the Communist bloc rifles. (only because of budget not desire) I am looking at this and this. Now I am partial to Semi-automatic and always have been. Both rifles use the same ammo and it is comparable to the .30-06 in range and power(and has the benefit of being available AND relatively cheap) All of this is going to have to wait till I am working again but I can plan now.

Disclaimer. I do not have any affiliation with any of the links posted other than knowing quality products on a budget. I do heartily reccomend them through experiance though.