Romania Doesn't Make the Dragunov: The PSL 

Russia: lest design a completely new sniper rifle Romania: ak on steroids.

A bit of trivia at 0:52 - it says "Made by CN ROMARM SA / Cugir" stamped on the side of the rifle. (Cugir is a small town in Romania) Back in the communist days, before 1989, there used to be a sewing machine factory in the small town in Cugir. My mother had a sewing machine that also had "Made in Cugir" stamped on the side (in Romanian, of course). I remember there were all sorts of legends and jokes that if you disassembled a sewing machine made in Cugir and re-assembled it the wrong way, you would get a machine gun. It seems they weren't that far off.

Russia: "What is better then a Kalashnikov?" . Romania: "A bigger one."

As a romanian its very funny how i learn more about weapons from my own country from someone in america lol

The PSL is what everyone thinks the Dragunov is, a scaled up AK.

I can safely say(as a romanian) that your pronounciantion of pușcă semi-automată cu lunetă was pretty good

As a man that is in the Romanian army, this was heart warming. It really made my day and you have an A for effort on pronouncing the names.

My father was issued a PSL when he was in Romanian army during the late 70s early 80s. He was the marksman of his seven person unit.

Soviets: You no get Dragunov. Romanians: We´ll make Dragula. *Runs away after lame joke*

I was that member of the infantry unit with the PSL ! As a common soldier in the romanian army, i was able to shoot three bullets at 150 meters, right in the circle of ten (the little circle) . I never held a Dragunov, but the PSL was very accurate!

For English speakers, pronouncing Ceaușescu as "Chow-shess-coo" would be pretty close 👌

I really like the colour of the wood

Romania: what do you want America: i want an Ak but accurate Romania: Say no more fam

Cugir is the name of the town these guns were produced. The factory is still up today. The name of the factory is "Romarm" and that is short for "Arme Romanesti" which translates to "Romanian Guns" so the meaning of the first row is "Made by National Company Romarm SA in the town of Cugir, Romania".

6:23 Strongunov

As a Romanian i never thought i'd be this proud of the weaponry of this country!

Very good and accurate material, I was doing mandatory military service in Romania in 1989 and we had one of those issued to every group of 9 infantrymen (and an AG7 RPG). Only one observation, Cugir is pronounced in romanian "Cudjir" with a short "u". Same factory was doing sewing machines and automatic washing machines. A popular joke was that a worker in the factory wanted to steal a sewing machine, he stole every day one part and when he thought he had them all, tried to put them together at home but he got a machine gun instead. He, he.

I kick myself every day for not picking one up when they were $500 bucks around 2010

my father worked at that factory during the 70'. so nice to see this video and remember him

Can't wait to hear Ian try to pronounce Romanian. EDIT: A for effort, made my day.

You make about the best, no bs and most informative firearms videos I've seen so far. You also make them easy to watch w/o the so common I know everything attitude most others have. Thank you!

wow, finally! Actually, the Soviets were always jerks with the Romanians. They never forget that Romanians fought together with the Germans against USSR in WW2. When Ceausescu came to power were already 20 years of cooperation between Romania and USSR where the norm would be that the cost for any technology was severely overpriced and documentation was commonly incomplete with a lot of delays. During the 50's and 60's Romania start to purchase licenses from neutral countries (Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, etc) and they realized that it was actually OK (best models at the time). The first diesel-electric and electric locomotives came like this making the soviets really pissed off. They had their own models and hoped to suck more money and products from Romania. Brezhnev was really angry in his visit in Romania when was presented to him the model of the locomotives asking what is that joke and why Romania is purchasing technology from the capitalist scums. The immediate effect was the delaying of the license for the T55 tanks. The only real T55 in Romanian Army are imported and all of the other tanks are locally made. When Ceausescu came to the power, as the result of the non-participation in the invasion of Czechoslovakia, almost all of the licenses for weapons were stopped for transfer and so this is the reason why the Romanian version of the AK74 (PA Md. 1986) doesn't really follow the AK 74 and the PSL is not really a Dragunov. Also all of the modernizations of the PK machinegun had to be developed locally. So Romania is still producing a PKM very close to its designing roots.

I visited the military museum at Fort Lewis-McChord and they had labelled a Romanian PSL as an SVD Dragunov. I sent an email to the curator to correct this issue but I haven't been back since to find out if they ever did.

I used the PSL while in the Army in 1984-85, with the paratroopers. Good gun.

Legit one of my favorite DMR type rifles ever. Thank you Ian. This made my day.

I would really like to see a video about the WW2 era Romanian Orita M1941 submachine gun. They are extraordinarily rare.

I always enjoy your reviews, especially the historical context of the firearm. Thank you.

Ian. Excellent work yet again. I was always fascinated with this gun and the 7.62 x 54 R round it launches.

Cugir is not the commercial name of the factory, it is the town were this beauties were produced. A typical 8 men Romanian infantry squad was armed with one RPG-7, one RPK, one PSL and 6 AKMs (the RPG operator also had an AKM).

I can't look at PSLs anymore without remembering this one Brazilian gun magazine that had a front cover picture of a Dragunov, which made me interested. They said they researched the story and mechanics and shot it a bunch, so when I went to read the article, the author (and magazine editor, I believe) simply had gone to the US to fire a friend's gun collection and proudly claimed how the Dragunov was a stretched AK, showed pictures of it being disassembled, said how it was the top of the line Russian DMR... The pictures of the gun inside the magazine weren't even from the same gun as the one in the front cover. Depressing.

Oh yah! Finally something from my country! :D Edit: It's also funny to point out how the acronym "PSL" sounds like probably the coolest sounding acronym for a Romanian gun but has the simplest meaning. That being "Puşcă Semiautomată cu Lunetă" basically Semi-Automatic Rifle with a Scope. I wanted to point this out because I find it pretty amusing.

Thanks Ian for the content. I wake up every morning and look for a new video. Absolutely love all the content.

Can't have those persky bayonets on guns firing full size rifle ammo; what if the government want to do a cavalry charge on the citizenry and they can't form a pike line !?

The Cugir Factory is located in Alba Romania was founded in 1799, being one of the most important factories for the manufacture of weapons and ammunition.To 1989.After 1989 everything was overwhelmed, easily taken over by different companies so far ... but unfortunately it went bankrupt by the corrupt state in Romania. I would add a few models that were manufactured at Cugir, the Carpathian pistol from 1974, the MD.1995 pistol, the MD.2000 pistol ... PM MD1963, PA MD.1986, PM MD.1996, are just a few models that are not yet I've ever seen them on You tube ever !!

I love my PSL. Great video Ian!! I especially love it more with a KNS adjustable gas piston on it!

Nice work around Ian!

I find it adorable to hear you try speaking romanian (and btw, you did good) I saw a couple of these in the Military Museum in Bucharest, and knew they were romanian made, but did not know they were completely different from the dragunov.

The cheek-rest is right-handed in part because Romania undertook a concerted effort during the Communist period to eradicate left-handedness. Schoolchildren were forced to write with their right hand, and conscripts had to learn to shoot right-handed.

I find myself really liking this one. Thanks for sharing Ian!

5:50 Apparently the communists hated lefties too.

PSL stands for : pușcă semiautomată cu lunetă that translates to scoped semiautomatic rifle...

I have one of these, I bought it almost 10 years ago. I love it, and it always gets looks at the range!

Thanks Ian. You are my drug almost every day. Your information is knowledge and the knowlegde is power...

Two thumbs up Ian, Gladly would I give greater praise but that I possessed more thumbs. Thank you for remaking videos on on the weapons you have covered before. Each once seems to add more and cover details in ways that are different and with time seem to come across better. Not to mention they whole camera resolution increase over the years. I just hope you have a young adult latched on to you learning everything they can from you for the next several decades, your knowledge wealth is very impressive and most likely drop tid bits of information that someone apprenticing under you would learn and pass on that trivia.

Great video and presentation. The PSL, the VEPR, and the Dragonov all shoot about the same MOA according to Tim at MAC. Since they all shoot the 54R cartridge, you get the same performance except for the shoot who can do their part to enhance it perhaps. Got love the combloc weapons only that many people don't take the time to learn and understand them to appreciate them.

During my military service in 2003 I used it about four times... despite the fact it is a little bit noisy, it is a reliable rifle, very effective at 400 meters (~ 435 yards)!

awesome video Ian! !

Good pronunciation of Pușcă Semiautomatică Lunetă (psl) Cugir is pronounced "cugeer" (as you would say "g") Thanks for the great video (as usual)

Russia: well actually the SVD is nothing like an AKM, it uses a completely different caliber has much tighter grouped parts,etc. Romania: ye mate it’s just a big fookin ak really innit?

Zastava M76 is designed with the same idea, but in 7.9X57 Mauser. Yugoslavia and Romania cooperated much in 1970's, this well can be example of it.

Thanks for sharing! On the topic of bolt hold open: The first iteration of Yugoslavian AK's included a bolt hold open feature. This was done away with fairly quickly, in favor of bolt stop magazines instead of an internal mechanism.

Very informative! Good job!

I clicked the link to your website and got a 404 error, just a heads up. Nice rifle even if not something that is at the core of my interests, that's what makes forgotten weapons so great.

7:55 sus on the scope got me : D

forgot about the compression springs under the butt plate. the plate doesn't move unless the sling mount is removed and cleaned. it does take a small amount of recoil out of the rifle.

I really love how the grip, magazine and end of the barrel all line up flush with the table in the last shot.

One of the worst decisions I ever made back in 2003 was to sell my example of this rifle. It came with an 8 power version of the PSO. I sold it and kept the new Springfield Scout Rifle I had just gotten, which ended up habitually flinging it’s own extractor every hundred rounds. Incidentally, the Afghan National Army used quite a few of these, though they may now have been replaced by surplused M24s, which the ANA were receiving in numbers by 2011.

Your pronunciation, was not bad, really, except "Ceaușescu" :) Great channel, thank you for your work and greetings from Romania !

Comrade Ian, had no clue who you were til someone screencapped a comment on here, but now im subbed with notifications

Love the videos. There is one interesting feature I didn't see mentioned. The PSL has a spring loaded buttplate. I presume it is to reduce recoil, but in practicality I don't think it does much.

I end up watching alot of your videos a while after they were posted. Could you update them after the auctions with the price they sold for during the auction? That would really make me happy

Gun jesus bless us all for all the info and glory of your holy gun knowledge

Nice looking rifle - thanks Ian!

Nice to see Romak represented in your channel the most interesting sniper variant of the AK is the Iraqui version of the Zastava rifle. Chambered in 7.62x39mm it was basically an AkM with a longer heavier barrel. It was pretty accurate and cheap.

Genuinely would rather own this than a Dragunov. Much cooler, a bit more stout, better talking point!

About the purpose of this kind of gun, I read a book written by ex - mercenary on 90's Balkan wars. He describes how he and his wingman got trapped by sniper or snipers behind a stone that was just large enough to hide them. Eventually they got away by crawling when darkness came. The minutes of angle did not matter much to the pair.

I love my PSL!!! The added touch of the spring-loaded buttstock is super nice. I even have an original IOR Valdada scope made for it in the 70's. Recoil is surprisingly light and follow up shots are close even without a bipod!

I really dig the hand guard on this thing. It’s a really nice cross between a standard AK guard and an SVD guard.

I was at the range and someone a few lanes over had one of these. One of the range masters walked in and asked what he was shooting out of curiosity, the guy tried to pass it off as a real SVD Dragunov despite clearly being a PSL. All I could do was laugh.

I used to have one of these but it was stolen from me. It was a fun rifle to shoot and it caught everyone's eye at the range.

A little bit of correction. ROMARM was the society that was making the guns (or the factory, as you named it). Cugir was the location. Other than that, great video, big up :D

Fired this thing as a military, pretty good at 400 meters, miss those times. Also, we had PA md. 86 or AIMS-74 as the export name, those with the wired lateral folding stock, cal 5.45x39mm and the best part is that you could interrupt a 3 round burst after 1st or 2nd and reset from that point for the next burst.

>PSL >Loved it for years >Best Romanian Freedom-Inducer™

actual military psls I've seen in Afghanistan rock the 3rd pin

Your Romanian is pretty good. And your review Romanian weapons and ammo made me subscribed. Much love.....

Well done Ian - as allways very informativ and very entertaining. I came across these rifles in Austria were they were sold as "Geradzugrepetierer" (straight pull repeater). The Gasports had not been drilled in the factory by request of the importer to enable target shooters to buy them under strikt European gun laws more easy than a semi automatic rifle. I shot several of them and i found them precise but discomfortable to repeat for the spent cartridge was hard to remove. So basically stay with the semi auto version or get a bigger charging handle. The scope mount on the side is the standard russian one so putting on another scope is easy.

At one time in the early 2000s you could get one for $500, I should have bought 2.

I love my PSL. I'll never get rid of it, no matter what life throws my way

Very good description. Greetings from Romania.

I inherited one of these in .308. Thanks for posting this, nice to learn more about it.

Anyone else remember when these used to be cheap?

This scope is so simple. Just dial in the distance. Using other scopes is so difficult with those moa and milrad. Still haven't understood how to use a moa scope

Bought my PSL about a year ago, 79 Romarm/Cugir receiver, at a local gun shop, only surplus rifle in a batch of new AR/AK black rifles. Went back that next day and got it, Larry Vickers was there training a local police squad at the time I purchased it, took it home, at figured out my scope is ser. number 38, 1973 produced scope. Got remnants of infrared mounting points, but not existent on my example anymore. All since long gone, painted black, and is a first gen LPS scope. On a commercial rifle. Kind of the story of mine.

Nice review. Greetings from Romania

I've only heard about Dragunovs. I've never heard of the PSL's until now.

I hate it when u take apart a dirty gun at an auction. If I had one being sold at auction it would be cleaner than the day it was built

Hey finally a gun I own! I LOVE this rifle! With the right ammo it shoots dead on. Has some feed issues, but I think that’s due to my miss matched mags. It’s super fun to shoot. I want to get a 3-9x scope to replace the 4x I have.

Love those LPS scopes. I have one on my AK I got for like $100 way back when. The offset is kind of a pain in the ass, but then you've got thirty rounds on tap so you just observe your fall of shot and hold left however much you need to.

It must drive "real" Dragunov owners nuts that this thing exists....

As a Romanian, I am proud of my country’s weapons

I bought one in a pub carpark in Australia, the bloke also had a SKS D. The SKS-D was a pleasure to fire and was the only SKS that had no problem's using a external magazine. Love both rifles!

I need one of these in my collection for sure 👌🏽

I love my PSL rifles

Plz make video on difference between'DMR&SNIPER rifle' topic thanks...

Fantastic video!!!!

this ones on my wishlist

this one was my gun in the army , i was the platoon sniper

Fun fact: there is a weapon in the game Max Payne 2 called "Dragunov" that is actually a near-perfect replica of the PSL.

At 8:00 you said it right the first time. When you add distance to that knob, the reticle drops, so you can adjust by raising the whole gun higher to aim, basic it make you aim higher so the bullet can drop on target.

Standard rifle: kalashnikov Squad support weapon: kalashnikov with bigger magazine Marksman’s rifle: long kalashnikov