Several comments on the PSL:
1. The best time to buy a PSL was when they were flooding into the US. I paid $400 for a Romanian PSL mine with the standard LPS 4x6° TIP2 scope, which is a copy of the Soviet PSO-1. This particular scope used tritium to illuminate the reticle and the reality is that these scoops are old enough that you won't get any noticeable glow from the tritium, given the 12 year half life of the tritium source.
I replaced the scope with a surplus PSOP 8x42, which uses a battery to illuminate the reticle, and it was a much nicer scope overall. I paid $180 for it and original PSOP 8x42s are selling for around $600 now.
I also bought a pouch with 4 magazines and a cleaning kit in it for $100. These now sell for upwards of $275. A single spare magazine will cost you $50 at today's prices, up from about $20 when the PSLs were still coming in.
2. The PSL is actually based on the RPK receiver and as such is a scaled up AK. It doesn't share the same design as the SVD, they just happen to look a lot alike as they were both designed for similar roles, suing similar approaches and a Warsaw pact rail for the scope.
3. The SVD was not a sniper weapon in the sense that the US has designed sniper weapons. It is more accurate to describe it as a designated marksman rifle, which is how the Soviets employed the SVD. It just seems to have a more mythical status in the west than it ever deserved. Once you eliminate that little mis understanding, the PSL compares pretty well to the SVD.
4. The PSL is also a capable DMR. With good quality ammo, like Soviet 7N1 and 7N14 a good PSL is capable of 1 MOA accuracy and on average they'll still achieve 2 MOA accuracy. That compares 1.0 - 1.5 MOA for the average SVD, with the exceptional examples dipping into the just sub MOA range. 2 MOA is still easily minute of man at 500-600 meter, and deadly at the typical 400 meter engagement ranges they were designed for.
5. The PSL was designed for use with 150-152 gr "light ball" ammo - specifically the 7N1 and later 7N14 com block sniper rounds. You should not use the yellow tipped 182 gr "heavy ball" ammo in a PSL - save that for your Mosin.
6. If you want maximum accuracy, you're going to have to hand load for it, given that 7N1 and 7N14 ammo is n ow pretty rarely encountered. Some PSLs will shoot .308 bullets well, others will need .311 bullets. Again, stay with lighter bullets and watch the loads and gas port pressures to keep from beating up the rifle.
7. Price wise a $1000 is a good price now for a PSL in excellent condition, since they are not being imported anymore. I've seen a couple at gun shows for $1,200-1,300, and they have disappeared so they seem to be selling for that, or something close to it. They'll continue to go up on value and in a few years $1300 won't be a bad price either. If you want one, get one now as they won't get any cheaper if you wait