SGL-21 Rifle Test

I got my Arsenal SGL-21 rifle out to shoot for the first time today. I still have to test fire my other AK. I needed to bust out early to beat the wind and any other shooters that might turn out on Saturday so I decided not to take the shooting bench with me. I went with just minimal equipment and thought I’d just check the zero rather than change it. I also wanted to function check some of my magazines. I was using Winchester white box ammo and using the iron sights.

The first three rounds were from the sitting position at 25 meters with a Bulgarian circle 10 magazine. I set the rear sight for the battle sight zero of 300 meters. With a Kalashnikov, a 300 meter zero should be on at 25 meters. The first group was centered and about 2 ¾ inches across.

I backed up to 50 meters and intended to set the rear sight for 200 meters but forgot. I used a Tapco 20 round magazine for this group and fired unsupported prone. This group was centered and 4 inches across. It should have been a bit high with the 300 meter setting.

My final group was with a Bulgarian 5 round magazine at 100 meters. The laser rangefinder is awfully nice for quickly and precisely measuring range. My 100 foot tape measure would have been less handy. I fired from unsupported prone in the middle of a bunch of prickly dry desert foliage but my position was steady. My aim, however, was not so steady. I could see the wobble and the wind was starting to shove me around but I still got a pretty good group. The group hit about three inches right of center and 6 inches low. A little bit of the horizontal displacement was wind but I’m pretty sure I was breaking the shots just a bit right and low. The group measured 7 ¼ inches so I’m confident the rifle is capable of much less; I would guess around 2 MOA off the bench with optics. Because both the 50 and 100 meter groups were lower than they should have been, I’m going to bring the front sight down a turn.

Next time I’ll take the bench and really buckle down for a good zero. I have a number of rifles and a couple of pistols that need to be properly zeroed. As it is, I’m well pleased with the SGL-21. Accuracy is more than acceptable for an AK and reliability with the various magazines was flawless as expected. It didn’t even chew the brass up too badly and seems to eject it very consistently.