Today we will take a look at the PTR-32 rifle that belongs to my buddy Liem. Here it is:
This rifle is a copy of the HK91 .308 rifle that has been made recently in 7.62 X 39 caliber. It is made by the PTR Company and is a fine weapon.
It is in 7.62 X 39 caliber, a break with its historic caliber, but an improvement in my opinion. I checked for ammo prices today in January 2011, and found the following prices as a per-round price, and as the cheapest available.
.308 - 32 cents per round
.223 - 18 cents per round
7.62 X 39 - 16 cents per round
As you can see, the 7.62 X 39 is the cheapest available at this time, and will be easy to find, as long as AK rifles are around.
Some of these rifles are reputed to accept AK-47 magazines, but Liem tells me that the Bulgarian mags are the ones that usually work.
But not all AK-47 mags will work in this rifle.
However, he has obtained some very well designed mags for this rifle that work 100% and are only $10 per mag, so that is not a big issue.
The rifle has a 16 inch barrel, and a forward handguard that is machined from military spec hard-anodized aluminum.
It looks very nice and feels great.
The overall length is almost 39 inches, and it weighs 9.8 pounds.
The front sight is a well-protected post.
And the rear sight is an adjustable sight with an open partridge-type sight for close range and aperture sights for longer ranges.
They are clear and easy to access.
I placed one of my AK rifles next to the PTR-32 to show an important difference.
As you can see the forward rear sight location on the AK means that it has a much shorter distance between the front and rear sight, and gives the shooter a shorter sight radius.
The longer sight radius of the PTR-32 was a big help in accurate shooting.
The safety is well located and easy to access with the thumb.
It comes with an H&K style flash suppressor.
The rifle breaks down easily by removing two push pins and then is easy to disassemble.
The charging handle is located near the front of the handguard.
To prepare the rifle for shooting, you can pull the charging handle to the rear and slip it into a notch to hold the action open.
A magazine of cartridges is inserted into the action, and then you can release the bolt by slapping the charging handle with the palm of your hand, loading the rifle for shooting.
Here's Liem on the rifle, shooting a group at 50 yards. We tried some Monarch ammo, which has shot very well for me in other rifles.
Here's the group, which was typical of those we shot today.
Of course, the real fun is to run this rifle standing up and shooting it free hand. Cheap ammo means lots of shooting.
I got on the rifle to try my hand at a 50 yard group.
I was shooting the cheapest Wolf 7.62 X 39 I could find and didn't expect a very good group.
But here's what I got.
Not bad at all for a combat rifle.
One of the things that surprised me today was the light recoil of this rifle.
I shot both my AK-47 and the PTR-32 and I would honestly say that the recoil of the PTR-32 was about one-half as strong as the AK.
Neither is really a punishing "kicker", but the spring system on the PTR-32 made it feel like it had almost no recoil at all.
It was a real pleasure to shoot.
Conclusion:
The PTR-32 ran like a sewing machine today. No problems at all. It is a fine little rifle and will be a fun gun to shoot.
This rifle is a copy of the HK91 .308 rifle that has been made recently in 7.62 X 39 caliber. It is made by the PTR Company and is a fine weapon.
It is in 7.62 X 39 caliber, a break with its historic caliber, but an improvement in my opinion. I checked for ammo prices today in January 2011, and found the following prices as a per-round price, and as the cheapest available.
.308 - 32 cents per round
.223 - 18 cents per round
7.62 X 39 - 16 cents per round
As you can see, the 7.62 X 39 is the cheapest available at this time, and will be easy to find, as long as AK rifles are around.
Some of these rifles are reputed to accept AK-47 magazines, but Liem tells me that the Bulgarian mags are the ones that usually work.
But not all AK-47 mags will work in this rifle.
However, he has obtained some very well designed mags for this rifle that work 100% and are only $10 per mag, so that is not a big issue.
The rifle has a 16 inch barrel, and a forward handguard that is machined from military spec hard-anodized aluminum.
It looks very nice and feels great.
The overall length is almost 39 inches, and it weighs 9.8 pounds.
The front sight is a well-protected post.
And the rear sight is an adjustable sight with an open partridge-type sight for close range and aperture sights for longer ranges.
They are clear and easy to access.
I placed one of my AK rifles next to the PTR-32 to show an important difference.
As you can see the forward rear sight location on the AK means that it has a much shorter distance between the front and rear sight, and gives the shooter a shorter sight radius.
The longer sight radius of the PTR-32 was a big help in accurate shooting.
The safety is well located and easy to access with the thumb.
It comes with an H&K style flash suppressor.
The rifle breaks down easily by removing two push pins and then is easy to disassemble.
The charging handle is located near the front of the handguard.
To prepare the rifle for shooting, you can pull the charging handle to the rear and slip it into a notch to hold the action open.
A magazine of cartridges is inserted into the action, and then you can release the bolt by slapping the charging handle with the palm of your hand, loading the rifle for shooting.
Here's Liem on the rifle, shooting a group at 50 yards. We tried some Monarch ammo, which has shot very well for me in other rifles.
Here's the group, which was typical of those we shot today.
Of course, the real fun is to run this rifle standing up and shooting it free hand. Cheap ammo means lots of shooting.
I got on the rifle to try my hand at a 50 yard group.
I was shooting the cheapest Wolf 7.62 X 39 I could find and didn't expect a very good group.
But here's what I got.
Not bad at all for a combat rifle.
One of the things that surprised me today was the light recoil of this rifle.
I shot both my AK-47 and the PTR-32 and I would honestly say that the recoil of the PTR-32 was about one-half as strong as the AK.
Neither is really a punishing "kicker", but the spring system on the PTR-32 made it feel like it had almost no recoil at all.
It was a real pleasure to shoot.
Conclusion:
The PTR-32 ran like a sewing machine today. No problems at all. It is a fine little rifle and will be a fun gun to shoot.
