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View Full Version : Romak 3 vs Dragunov


telewinz
June 15, 2002, 09:24 PM
Just came back from the range where I wittnessed an informal contest between a Romak 3 (4-months old) and my friends Chinese Dragunov(2 years old). The contest wasn't planned, its just my friend Rick and I shoot informally about once a month at our club's 100 meter range I usually shoot an Armscorp M1A and he shoots the Dragunov. I like both rifles very much but as far as accuracy the M1a wins hands down 4 out of 5 times shooting from the bench (5 shot groups and pretty much 1" to 3/4 ") I've tried to trade him for his rifle but no deal, I know they go for 1500 and up but the workmanship/appearance just isn't there. Today when we arrived at the range their was a shooter there with a Romak 3 rifle. I have been playing with the idea of spending 800 to get one from Aim but have hesitated the past year because the appearance/workmanship of the Romak 3(the ones I have seen for sale at gun shows) is no better than than a typical AK and also would it shoot as well as my M1a (no) or Rick's Dragunov (yes). The workmanship of the Dragunov is slightly better than the Romak but neither compares with the M1A. We all shot surplus ammo and mixed the different brands in each rifle.
Both rifles are factory original and we shot at 75 yards because of the somewhat low powered scopes. In brief, the Romak and Draganov pretty much had the same results, the Romak had slightly less felt recoil but both rifles functioned perfectly. The Drag had a longer butt stock and was a little more comfortable to shoot. My conclusions; Neither rifle is magic when it comes to accuracy, I wouldn't want to be hostage and have a sniper use it to try and take out a hostage taker at any range more than 150 yards. Both rifles were designed to suppress a machine gun bunker at 800 meters, not a man (1 shot kill? not hardly, luck should not be a factor). I think the main appear for both guns is there looks not there performance, thats what I like about them and thats why I am driving 8 hrs Thursday and buying the Romak 3 from AIM($775). If you want performance go with a NM M1A from Springfield or Armscorp, they don't have the Drags charisma but looks are not everything. You have until Thursday to change my mind, I would be grateful for any input.

swatman
June 15, 2002, 10:13 PM
No reason to try and change your mind..The RomakIII's are nice rifles. Of course you wouldnt wanna be a histage in a situation like that, but then again, the Romak's and Drags were not intended to be used that way They will both definately be able to dust your rear at 700 yards in the hands of an experienced Drag shooter. ;)
I would look around though. Some Romaks seem to have a better overall finish then others. I have no problems keeping just slightly over MOA with mine when using the right ammo and taking my time. They are designed for the lighter rounds, not the 200 grain machine gun rounds that you'll often find for sale at shows. Believe it or not, they can be very accurate rifles but you need to shoot decent ammo. Too many people shoot crappy "heavy ball" through these rifles and wonder why they never get better than 3 MOA.
Wolf just came out with a match load in 7.62x54R amd S&B has a match load in that caliber as well, both should give you more than acceptable accuracy out of the Romak.
Also you may wanna check into the Russian "188" headstamped 147 grain and Albanian 147 grain loads, they work quite well and also are brass cased to boot.
Just remember that this stuff is corrosive so take special care to clean your rifle properly ;)

telewinz
June 15, 2002, 10:38 PM
Thank you for your first hand info. I plan to refinish the stocks on my Romak. Maybe AIM will let me "select" which Romak I get.