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For this month’s 2-Gun Action Challenge Match, I decided to try using my Yugoslav M76, in 8x57mm. The M76 is one of the triad of eastern marksmen’s rifles – the PSL, the SVD, and the M76. Like the PSL, the M76 is mechanically just a scaled-up AK – but made to a much higher standard of fit and finish than the PSL. It is also chambered for the 8mm Mauser cartridge, as that was a standard cartridge in the Yugoslav army.
The M76 is obviously better suited for long range slow fire, and this month’s match was all up close and personal – so it gave me a good opportunity to try out the M76 under non-optimal conditions. The M76 did pretty well for me, with no malfunctions of any kind. At long range, I have been able to make hits on 12″ plates out to 400 yards with it, which is pretty well at the limit of my own shooting ability, so I can’t complain there. In this match, I found the scope to be a handicap, because the targets were all within 50 yards – after the first stage I shot almost everything using the iron sights, which are visible through the scope mount.
At Forgotten Weapons I think the most interesting guns out there are the most obscure ones. I try to search out experimental and prototype weapons and show you how they work, in addition to more conventional guns that you may not have heard of before. You’re much more likely to find a video on the Cei Rigotti or Webley-Fosbery here than an AR or Glock. So, do you want to learn about something new today? Then stick around!
