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.