PSL rifles are made at the Regia Autonomă de Tehnică Militară (RATMIL) - CUGIR arsenal in Bucharest Romania. Their primary purpose is to be used by a Designated marksman and is used to extend the reach of a typical soldier beyond the capabilities of their issued AKM carbines. The PSL uses an RPK reciever (stamped versus the milled Dragunov receiver) with the AK long stroke piston for the 7.62x54r cartridge, and is similar in appearance to the SVD Dragunov. The weapon is chambered for the venerable M1908/30 7.62 x 54R (rimmed) cartridge, and feeds from a ten-round detachable box magazine. The magazine used on the PSL differs from that of the SVD in that it is stamped with an X shaped pattern on the side, rather than the waffle style stamp found on the Russian magazines. The magazines, though they look similar in shape, are not interchangeable between the SVD and PSL.

The PSL is typically issued with a version of the PSO-1 telescopic weapon sight, this version lacking the battery compartment is illuminated by mildly radioactive Tritium. The tritium is usually removed before export. The optical sight is of 4X magnification and the lens is 24 mm in diameter. It shares the basic design and rangefinder found in the reticle of the original Russian scope. 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 use of the iron sights.

A sporting version of the PSL, intended for export, is offered as the Romak-3, FPK, or SSG-97. This weapon is similar in almost every respect, but typically has had the bayonet lug ground off, as well as several other minor aesthetic modifications to comply with the U.S. import laws regarding assault weapons. The rifle is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "Dragunov". If a person encounters a Romanian PSL with a receiver stamped with "FPK" or "Dragunov" they have found an example which was assembled in the US from a parts kit (and stamped with the wrong name). Workmanship of military issue PSL is generally slightly higher than it's export versions which is relatively crude and unfinished.

A paratrooper version of the PSL is also commercially available in the United States. The rifle features an 18inch chrome lined barrel yet retains all other features of the full sized version.

Most commercial versions come with Russian scopes. However, the military version uses a Romanian variant of the Soviet PSO1 scope which doesn't have the external battery compartment for the illuminator. The scope is designated the LPS 4x6¡Æ TIP2. The scopes are manufactured by IOR and have high quality lenses. The reticle is illuminated by mildly radioactive tritium. Almost all scopes that came with commercial PSL's have dead or expired tritium, thus the reticle is not visible in low light conditions. Additionally, the scopes are generally equipped with a rubber shock absorbing eye piece and a front rubber cover which is held to the scope by a rubber collar around the scope tube.

The Romanian-built commercial version of the PSL is imported by either Century Arms International or InterOrdnance. Century Arms International marked the rifle a ROMAK-3, while InterOrdnance referred to the rifle as the SSG-97. Tennessee Guns rifles are assembled in the US on Romanian receivers which are stamped either DRAGUNOV or FPK.

The Design:

The gas system on the PSL consists of a one piece gas piston and bolt carrier, and is also similar to the AK series rifles. The buttstock is made from laminated wood and features a cheek pad designed into the comb. Some owners feel that the raised cheek pad is still not enough to get a proper cheek weld when using the scope. Internals of this rifle also differ considerably from the Dragunov design. The PSL, has a trigger and hammer very similar to AK-type firearms. The rifle features a 23.4 inch chrome lined barrel with a 1:10 right hand twist and a 2 ¾ muzzle break with twelve vents. The rifle features sights which range from 100-to-1200 meters, with 100 meter increments.

Ammunition:

Commercial versions of the Romanian PSL are available in both 7.62x54R and .308 NATO; however both variants have disadvantages. The .308 version suffers from a magazine feed problem and the 7.62x54r variant suffers from a lack of match quality ammunition. 7N1 a Russian 726x54r sniper round, has recently become available in the United States. Unfortunately, most of the available stock has been hoarded away by collectors, thus causing prices to rise. Based on the range reports available on the net, the Romanian PSL prefers heavier grain bullets. Some individuals report that heavier 7.62x54r loads are more accurate; yet the rifle isn’t designed for the forces generated. Consequently many individuals report damage to their rifles when shooting heavier loads. Click here to read an article concerning this issue.

Important Notice: Century Arms has reciently announced a recall on the latest batch of imported PSL 54-C. The receiver contains sear holes which were improperly welded according to BATF spec. Pictured below is an example:

Range report e-mailed to us:

“At the Range:

The SSG-97 was supplied test fired and the iron sights zeroed. The rifle was provided with a test target shot with open sights at 100 meters. The four shot group measured 2.5 inches. I fired five rounds of LC 66 ball with the iron sights at 100 yards and was rewarded with a very nice 3 inch cluster. I switched over to reloaded ball ammo and found they would not fully chamber. These reloads were full length sized on RCBS equipment after being fired in my M1A Super Match! The SSG has a surprisingly tight chamber on the very lower end of minimum tolerances. One may encounter problems with some surplus and reloaded ammunition.

I switched back to LC ball, and then the magazine gremlin raised its ugly head. The second to the last round in the magazine would jam every time. Upon inspection of the magazine, I found that the bolt would hit the magazine follower when stripping the second to last round. When this happened, the front of the follower would take a nose dive and the last round in the magazine literally imbedded itself into the front of the plastic magazine body. I later determined that the follower is a tad short. Affixing a credit card thick shim to the front of the magazine follower eliminated all feeding problems.

With the 8X42 scope installed, I was able to post some very nice 2.5 inch groups with Indep FNM 86 ball. Hand loaded 165 grain Sierra BTHP’s came in at 1.25 MOA and 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips delivered 0.8 MOA. Fired cases were briskly ejected 15 feet to the user’s right. The thin barrel heated up quickly, and with 94+ degree weather with matching humidity, it wasn’t cooling down. I cut the range session short before trying any factory Match Grade ammo, but I had enough evidence of the rifle’s potential. The two stage trigger was gritty at first but smoothed out after just a few magazines. Trigger pull measured at 6 lbs, but felt more like four.”