Which can be encapsulated by the standard liberal response:
…even though this whole episode seems to have been triggered by Lockdown Blues.
Just coincidentally, this little advert arrived in my Inbox a couple days back:
Now, leaving aside the wisdom or lack thereof in buying a gun from Century Arms at that price, this merchant of death has a lot to recommend it, i.e.:
- regardless of ammo shortages in other calibers (e.g. 5.56mm, 7.62mm Nato), none of the online suppliers ever seems to run out of 7.62x54mmR
- the PSL (Dragunov clone) has a great deal to recommend it: excellent AK-type reliability and, once you’ve done the necessary trigger work, decent accuracy out to about 500 yards
So let’s ignore CanuckiPM Pantywaist (as always), and consider the merits of the PSL, in Comments.
Utterly beautiful — I’ve wanted a Dragunov for decades, and would be perfectly happy with a PSL. They could sleep with my AKs and eat with my Mosin.
But, like you said, the price. Ugh. I can build up an AR-10 rifle, with optics, for less than $1000 that will outshoot a PSL. And for $2k? MOA and good to 900 meters. Sure, the AR is never going to be as pretty, but I can get over that. And I’d still buy a Drag or PSL if I hit the lottery.
And as we’re talking AK designated marksman or sniper stuff, I’d just like to add that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want a Tabuk (replica, obviously): https://www.tworiversarms.com/Tabuk.htm
BTW, Kim, dunno if you’re ok with links in comments. Please delete if I am not allowed to link.
Nah, link away… as long as you’ve checked the link for annoying shit like auto-start videos etc.
“I can build up an AR-10 rifle, with optics, for less than $1000 that will outshoot a PSL.”
But that’s my whole point. Your <$1,000 accurized AR-10 will be useless if there's a sudden shortage of 7.62mm Nato.
Quite right. I’m fixed for myself and the family in terms of ammo, but you’re right that a spare that achieve the same end (long distance semi-auto engagement) in a different way is never a bad idea. And it’s not like I don’t have a bunch of 7.62x54R sitting around already for my Mosin.
And I hate to admit it, but assuming some sort of end of the world scenario, I’d almost certainly (if I had to pick one gun) go with an AR or AK. And because I’m stateside now, as much as I’d prefer the AK, I’d probably suck it up and go AR just because I can’t walk 10 feet in the US without tripping over a box of 556. And saying that makes me feel very unclean…
So spend the 899 dollar difference on a couple cases of .308 in addition to the couple cases of .308 that you would normally have purchased.
That Dragunov is a pretty rifle, and I’d not mind having one, but the ammo you can find is almost all milsurp–which means it’s fine for shooting zombies, but may be less than optimal for other purposes.
The problem with the Dragunov is that it’s *only* a long range rifle. A AR-10 style rifle with similar performance characteristics would be usable from CQB out to 500 yards.
“The problem with the Dragunov is that it’s *only* a long range rifle.”
You say that like it’s a Bad Thing.
I’m assuming, of course, that one would already have the closer-quarters thing covered.
Canada. Sigh. Jeez I hate it here for politics.
Oh well, me and mine and my evil gun owning friends already have our PVC and ABS tubes cut to fit, one end capped, other cap and glue ready, desiccants in hand and storage sites carefully picked.
Anyway, as usual the politicos are useless, pig ignorant fools. The murderer has been banned from owning a gun since 2002. Gun bans don’t work, so they’re going to double plus ban them.
Would Nitrogen be necessary as well?
Couldn’t hurt, although once sealed, a good dessicant should suffice.
Not a completely true statement. A possible problem would be if there are any o-rings or other rubber type items contained inside the tube. IIRC, Buna-N rubber (most common rubber seal material) will turn to dust in a dry nitrogen atmosphere. Literally. You would need to use Viton, or one of the other synthetic rubbers. Check an o-ring material manual for best data, my memory is a bit vague on the details after 25 years since working with the combo.