PSL (rifle)

After Socialist Romania's refusal to join the Invasion of Czechoslovakia, relations with the Soviet Union worsened. To counterbalance its reliance on Soviet military equipment, Romania accelerated the development of its arms industry, mostly relying on Soviet blueprints and licenses. As the Soviets were not eager to share technical information on the SVD Dragunov, a project commenced to develop the PSL. PSL rifles were originally made at the Uzina Mecanică Cugir in Cugir, Romania starting with 1974. It was used by all branches of the Romanian Army, several internal troops and police units and the Gărzi Patriotice. Romania. The PSL rifle was designed to meet all the requirements of the SVD Dragunov. Its primary purpose is to be used by a squad level sniper, to engage targets at ranges beyond the capabilities of the standard issue AKM assault rifles. It is built around a stamped steel receiver similar to that of the RPK light machine gun; having a wider forward section, allowing for a buldged front trunnion. The PSL's operation is the same long stroke piston action of the Kalashnikov family of weapons. Its appearance is similar to the Dragunov sniper rifle, but they only share three components, the ammunition, optics, and bayonets. North Korea Manufactures a gun locally that appears to be based on the PSL. Although some sources claim it is a Zastava M76 clone. ==Design==

The PSL is chambered for the same 7.62×54mmR cartridge as the Dragunov, and feeds from a ten-round detachable box magazine. The magazine used on the PSL differs from that of Dragunov models in that it is stamped with an X-shaped pattern on the side, rather than the waffle style stamp found on the Russian and Chinese magazines. The magazines are not interchangeable between the Dragunov and PSL without heavy modification. The PSL has been in service in Romania since the 1970s and is sold on the world market. Although capable of 1 Minute of angle (approximately 1" at 100 yards) or less, the PSL has had issues with its bolt carriers cracking when used with heavy ball (147 grain or greater) ammo and silencers, in part due to the lack of an adjustable gas system. Aftermarket gas system upgrades (both PSL dedicated and retrofitted standard AK) have been used to solve this problem. The PSL's skeleton stock includes a corrugated and spring-loaded stamped steel buttplate. When the rifle is fired this helps reduce the felt recoil. The cheek riser on the comb of the stock is angled primarily for right-handed shooters. LPS 4×6° TIP2 telescopic sight The PSL's telescopic sight is made by the Romanian Optical Enterprise (IOR) in Bucharest. The PSL was originally issued with the type 1 version of the LPS telescopic sight. This 4×24 scope was more or less identical to the Russian PSO-1 telescopic sight with a battery-powered reticle illumination and an IR detection filter. These scopes stopped being produced around 1974. Shortly afterward the LPS scope was technically revised to simplify the maintenance and construction of the scope. The PSL rifle is typically issued with a 4×24 optical sight called LPS 4×6° TIP2 (Lunetă Puṣcă Semiautomată Tip 2, or "Scope, Semi-Automatic Rifle, Type #2") which is a simplified version of the Russian PSO-1 telescopic weapon sight. This optical sight features 4× magnification, a 6° field of view, and the objective lens is 24mm in diameter. It shares the basic design and stadiametric rangefinder found in the reticle of the original Russian PSO-1 scope. The LPS 4×6° TIP2 elevation turret features bullet drop compensation (BDC) in 50m increments for engaging point and area targets at ranges from 100m up to 1,000m. The BDC feature must be tuned at the factory for the particular ballistic trajectory of a particular combination of rifle and cartridge at a predefined air density. Besides the BDC elevation or vertical adjustment control of the reticle, the windage or horizontal adjustment control of the reticle can also be dialed in by the user without having to remove turret caps, etc. The reticle illumination of the LPS 4×6° TIP2 is provided by tritium. The LPS 4×6° TIP2 is issued with a lens hood that can be attached to the ocular to reduce/eliminate image-quality-impairing stray light and a cover to protect the objective external lens surface against foul weather and damage. Mounting system The LPS telescopic sight propriety mount is adjustable for tension on the PSL's Warsaw Pact side rail, similar in design to the mounting used for Russian SVD rifles and PSO-1 optical sights. The mount positions the telescopic sight axis to the left side of the receiver and bore center axis. The Warsaw Pact mount has a castle nut that screws into the bottom of the locking lever. The spring-loaded portion of the clamp must be pressed down to tighten or loosen the castle nut. The scope can be easily removed from the receiver of the rifle by swinging the locking lever open, then sliding the scope mount to the rear. This allows easy access to the receiver cover which needs to be removed for cleaning. Due to the offset to the left and the relative height of the mounting, the PSL iron sights can be used with the LPS scope mounted. ==Variants==

Sporting version A sporting version of the PSL, intended for export, is offered as the PSL-54C, Romak III, FPK, FPK Dragunov or SSG-97. This weapon is identical in almost every respect to the original military version of the PSL except for modifications to comply with the U.S. import laws regarding sporting rifles. These modifications include removal of the bayonet lug as well as the replacement of the original military receiver, which has three trigger mechanism axis pin holes instead of two. The third hole is for a safety sear that is thought to allow the rifle to be capable of being converted to "full-auto" by the end-user. US import versions are manufactured with a BATFE approved semi-auto Romanian receiver. The so-called "third hole" is not present, thus the trigger mechanism is simplified and omits the "full auto" safety sear. The military spec FPK is not capable of fully automatic fire; however, it includes this safety sear to ensure the rifle's hammer cannot be released before the bolt is fully forward and locked in place in the forward trunnion. Because of this, and the lack of a spring-loaded firing pin, there is some theoretical potential that the US-legal PSL could fire out of battery (before the bolt is fully locked). The US commercial-spec rifles also sometimes omit the bolt hold-open mechanism that is on the military-spec rifles. All sporting versions of the PSL are constructed using original Romanian parts and assembled either in Romania or in the United States, some using American made receivers. Examples of the commercial sporting version were also available (on a very limited production run) chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO (.308 Winchester) cartridge. A purely US-made PSL variant with a 16" barrel was also marketed as the FPK Paratrooper, but no such rifle exists within the Romanian military. These rifles were primarily imported by Century Arms International, InterOrdnance, and Tennessee Gun Importers (TG Knox) ==Users==

• • • • • • • • Anti-Gaddafi forces • ==See also==