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romanian PSO-1 adjustment

113 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Karhumies  
#1 ·
So I managed to get my hands on a cheap romanian PSO-1 type scope. Immaculate condition, glass looks almost german in quality, love the reticle.

Mounting it on my gun however i notice that it points off to the left and the whole scope sits off the left side of the gun...

Now this gun has the receiver intended for this scope so this appears to be "normal"

Anyone have experience with this kind of setup? seems like for a marksman setup wich this absolutely is intended to be, it would be near impossible to accurately engage at various distances?

So if anyone has a scope like this for instance on a dragunov or a PSL (like my setup) is there some way to adjust the mount? It has a bunch of screws on it for instance at the mounting clamp.

And how does one use this offset scope design? it has marking out to 400m but if zeroed at 100 for instance i imagine bullets will fly pretty far to the left at extended range.
 
#2 ·
I'm not too familiar with that setup but it should be similar to a side mount on a Winchester lever action, and I have been around those.

Sight-in should be at your longest intended use, shots closer in will be off POA but should be acceptable. Tho the size of the intended target can matter. Sighting in too close then shooting at longer distances will have POI's to the left and farther to the left as distances increase.

Line-of-sight is a given, a dead straight line from your eye to the target. When you "adjust" your scope or "adjust" your sights what you are really doing is adjusting where your firearm points.
 
#3 ·
its a military weapon so targets are intended to be human size. The weapon was made for precision shooting out to 500m based on the reticle markings and intended combat role. I guess the commies figured it was good enough. Would seem a trifle to put the scope in line with the bore tho if you ask me.

I do have a modern setup for it with an lpvo ofcourse but iam trying to figure out how the original weapon would have functioned in its combat role.

Here is an original example. Mine is built on a Vepr 308 but the receiver is almost identical, almost like Molot copied it for their hunting rifle.

ballistics wise the cartridge should work out fine, the scope is for 7.62x54r with 150gr bullets. 308 should be able to match the velocity.

but yea, like on originals the scope sits pretty far offset to the left.

Image
 
#5 ·
Well in my case it sits too low to use irons.

I tried zeroing today. surprisingly it was mostly on target out of the box despite looking crooked as Hades. The controls take some getting used to but seem like they work wonders once i figure it out and handload a cartridge that matches.

So it seems i shouldnt be using the turrets to zero at all. The turrets jump The reticle down and left gor every click, clicks are marked 1 2 3 4 5 wich i assume translates to 100m 200m etc. For every click of elevation it makes a pretty big jump. Gor every windagw click it makes a tiny jump. Took me a while to figure out why i ran out of adjustment so fast... Well turns out i havw to loosen the turret then move the center screw in the middle of the turret to set zero, then tighten down and use the actual turrets for distance. Seems like a very hunter friendly setup actually.

Now to research what velocity a 150gr romanian military round had (7.62x54r) and get 308 to match it.
 
#6 ·
Japanese sniper rifles were also like this. I believe it was zeroed for 300 yards and the shift in windage would still hit in the body of a soldier at different ranges. Like the M-1 C&D it is not great but workable.
 
#7 ·
I mean, if i think about it, the offset is only a few centimeters. Thats far more precise than the rifle can be expected to be at such ranges and at close range on a human target those few centimers wont make a difference. Id say the same goes for a deer.

I genuinely like the scope otherwise. absolutely no tunneling, something i cant say for german optics.

Glass is tinted but extremely clear. Bit of a yellow tint. Doubt it will be good in lower light conditions but the beauty of these russian optics is that they are as close to return to zero as it gets for such a mass produced item. Havent noticed more than a centimeter or 2 at 100m difference when switching scopes.
 
#8 ·
Yup, this is typical of the PSO line as they were almost solely manufactured for the AKM variants (some were seen on everything to include anti-tank weapons). When I picked up my first PSL years ago, I realized they are also very difficult to shoot left handed/off handed due to this offset.
 
#9 ·
The left-side offset is intentional in the PSO-1 design. Zero it using the internal windage and elevation dials, not the mount. Once properly zeroed at your desired distance, the reticle's holdovers will be accurate.
 
#10 ·
the dials only have a few clicks of adjustment and do very big increments. But if i loosen the little screws i can adjust the reticle with the big center screw.

Perhaps these romanian ones work a little different than russian ones. Seems the dial moves at set range increments both in windage and elevation. Both are marked 0-10