A friend of mine has a nice PSL setup, and we took it out this weekend to test some 762x54 loads I've been wondering about. We tested 9 different loads at 25 yards using a 1P21 scope set on 3x. mild wind to 13mph did not effect impact. Shooting was done supported from a bench. Temperature was around 60
degrees.
Loads Tested
7N1 Russian Sniper ammo
Price per round: $.32 (currently not available)
1st group: 7/16"
Best 4: not measurable, too small
2nd group: 3/4"
Best 4: 3/8"
Field notes:
Barnaul Silver Bear 175gr FMJ
Price per round: $. 43 (currently available)
1st group: 7/8"
Best 4: 5/8"
2nd group: 3/4"
Best 4: 1/2"
Field notes:
Barnaul Silver Bear 203gr SP
Price per round: $.45 (currently available)
1st group: 1 11/16"
Best 4: 15/16"
2nd group: 15/16"
Best 4: 5/8"
Field notes: Second group is a better representation of the capabilities. flyer is to the right in the orange on this group.
Sellier and Bellot 173gr sierra match
Price per round: $ .90 (not currently available. purchased 10 years ago at this price)
1st group: 7/16"
Best 4:
2nd group: 7/16"
Best 4:
Field notes: one hole groups. did not measure best 4, i figured it was good enough .
Wolf 200gr FMJ
Price per round: $1.85 (currently available in very small qty's)
1st group: 13/16"
Best 4: 1/2"
2nd group: 1 5/8"
Best 4: 1"
Field notes: Messed up this second group, threw 2 flyers. this has good potential. The box I had was not marked "extra", but was made at the LVE plant. I actually only paid 4.95 for this box 10 years ago
Czech silver tip ball surplus
Price per round: $.16 (not currently available)
1st group: 2"
Best 4: 1 1/2"
2nd group: 3/8"
Best 4: 5/16"
Field notes: Only had 10 total rounds to test. No warm up shots. Bad hold on first group. THIS LOAD HAS CONSISTENTLY GIVEN ME SIGNS OF OVERPRESSURE!! I have tried several different lots in at least 6 guns and they have always either had to have the bolt kicked open or had excess recoil or both. This load in the PSL was the hardest recoiling round in the test. It seems accurate, but potentially dangerous or hard on the gun.
Czech surplus light ball in blue box (NOT silver tip)
Price per round: $.21 (currently available)
1st group: 3/4"
Best 4: 5/8"
2nd group: 1 1/2"
Best 4: 1 1/8"
Field notes: First group the upper right hit in green was a sixth shot. I eliminated it from the group. I did a third group on this load as it seemed inconsistent. that group showed these results to be accurate and fell between these two results. This load in the PSL was one of the hardest recoiling round in the test. I beleive that this might be running hotter than standard and it should be watched carefully and shot spareingly. see the silvertip notes as well.
Prvi Partisan 150gr SP
Price per round: $.64 (currently available)
1st group: 5/8"
Best 4: 7/16"
2nd group: 3/4"
Best 4: 9/16"
Field notes: would make a nice hunting round. soft point makes it less than desireable as a long range
match round (over 500 yards)
Polish surplus light ball
Price per round: $.16 (Not currently available)
1st group: 1 3/4"
Best 4: 7/8"
2nd group: 15/16"
Best 4: 3/4"
Field notes: Had 2 failure to feed with this round during the test, and one more afterwards. the failures were not gun or magazine related IMO as all other rounds fired after had no problems.
Shooting Impressions and general observations
Shooter error is responsible for some of the larger groups and was noted by each load. 7N1 seems like the natural choice as it works well with the 1P21 scope and many russian rangefinders and BDC's.
Due to availability I have to reccomend that you try out the Barnaul offerings and the Privi partisan offerings. I suspect that the wolf 200gr soft point is loaded to the same specs as its "200gr match extra FMJ" load and might make a nice mid range load with some great sectional density for use against materiel.
The 1P21 scope does not provide a decent cheek weld, and thus makes a poor long range scope setup without a cheek piece.
I think the Silver bear 175gr FMJ and the PPU 150gr sp load will have a home in the smart mans arsenal who needs ammo for this caliber right now and cant find either the wolf 200gr extra, the sellier and bellot, or 7N1. The price is still reasonable enough to get a respectable quantity for practice and SHTF use. There is something to be said for fresh ammo and primers when you need good reliable gear.
I did not notice increased recoil with any of the heavier loads. They all felt very similar and I would not hesitate for a moment to reccomend them for any application, including the PSL or Dragunov. The Czech loads. however I would steer clear of. In fact I sold a case of the silver tip ball off years ago when I had to kick the bolt open using it in several bolt guns. I have used 3 different lots of this stuff in at least 6 guns and they have all exhibited signs of over pressure. Be cautious with this stuff.
I'm glad my buddy likes to clean guns, he's gonna have some work to do after this.
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Originally Posted by Todd.K
. I would hesitate to use the surplus 182 gr heavy ball stuff (one of the reasons I did not test it), but the commercial 200gr loads do not have any greater recoil impulse than the 7N1 does. I have yet to see anyone produce proof that these commercial loads cause any damage or even increased wear.
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