This is the first rifle I ever bought, back in 1993. The LGS was a real gun nut, a wealth of knowledge with great stories and anecdotes to boot. He attended a lot of courses in the US, Jeff Cooper, Chuck Taylor and Massad Ayoob et al. He was an instructor too, and Glock hired him to train the Paris Gendarmerie when they bought Glocks.

Anyway, long story short, he mentioned this rifle, stating it was actually better made than the Russian version. Only 10 or so had been imported back then in Switzerland and a customer of his was selling one. So I jumped on it, although it was bloody expensive, $ 2000.-, and I was only 25 and just starting a career.

It was impressive too, as it came in a case with 5 mags, sling, scope, cleaning kit and tools. The bayonet was missing (I think they shipped without) so I added an original Russian Dragunov bayonet I found at a gun show later.

Here is an internet photo of the complete package, not mine, since I immediately stashed the case in the attic.



I shot it a lot, there was a time when one could find cheap crates of tin canned milsurp ammo from China, Russia and Czechoslovakia. Sadly this is no longer the case.

The 7.62 X 54R is ballistically similar to .308 Win I believe. The rifle is very light, so recoil and kick is very noticeable, especially since the butt is small and narrow.

Anyway, pics :





The scope mount / system works actually great, and when I remove the scope in order to clean the rifle, it will not lose zero when reinstalled.





KFS ATLGA was the importer, Keng’s Firearms Specialty, Inc. in Atlanta, Ga.

http://kfsindustries.com/about/company-history/





In Norinco fashion, the serial number or part of it is stamped on various parts, except for the stock which has a different number









Scope is only 4 X magnification, with the Dragunov reticle, which can be illuminated with a switch.

thats a beautiful gun !

Nice rifle! Thats crazy, imported from China into the U.S. then from the U.S. to Switzerland? Are additional import markings required when entering Switzerland? Something like..

- Manufacturers markings (Norinco, serial, country of origin etc.)
- Original import markings, when imported from China into the U.S. (KFS Atlanta, GA)
- Secondary import markings, when imported from U.S. to Switzerland ("Swiss Import Co. Swissville, CHE").

Beautiful for sure!!

No back then Switzerland did not require any marks other than those already on the gun originally.

It is fairly accurate, not like a high precision bolt rifle, but certainly enough for its intended purpose, with the possibility of quick follow up shots. And like said in the original post, it is a very light rifle with a narrow butt, so recoil is substantial for this caliber.

Here are two videos about it, the second one is a 7.62 NATO chambered rifle but I don’t think it’s very different

One of my Grail Guns....thank you for sharing.

Shoots straight, accurate, very reliable. Not sure what else I can say.

Either the NDM-86 or a Dragunov have long been grail guns for me, although I would prefer a NDM-86.

Thanks for posting, and the photos are terrific!  I am jealous.

I remember CDNN selling the 308 version for $900. As time went and they started to sell off I think they ended up at $1400. They were $900 for a couple years before the price went up.

They also had a recall on them because of slam fires. Snd it back and they put a spring on the firing pin.

I almost bought one but declined because I wanted an original 54R. Man was that a poor decision.

This.

Tell me about it. I was into C&R at the time and was buying everything else. But I made up for it by selling all the C&R guns and the ammo that went with them. I made more than 10X the amount I had in the C&R rifles Selling everything a couple years ago. Walked out of just one gun show with a $10K check from one dealer. Spent about $2K originally and made over $15K after selling it all off. Turk 8mm in cases were $47 and 54R from wherever were $45/880rd case. All from CAI.

That's my dream gun

Someday when i'm all squared away with NV/suppressors/etc i hope to pick one of these up

Ah ok. It shoots 1 inch 5 shots groups at 100 meters with good commercial ammo, like Sellier&Bellot. With milsurp ammo 2 inches.

That's pretty good grouping for that platform.  I read they are used in a manner we would consider a designated marksman's rifle, so 1" is more than adequate.

There’s one of. These in about 98% condition on the shelf of my LGS. Beautiful gun.

One of the dealers here had a Russian one for sale at the last fun show. He had the Russian version night vision of the Starlight series. Plus all the shipping containers for the two other scopes that came with it. One was a lit version and the other was not. He also had a bunch of the battery conversions where you use cr123 batteries. That drop into the large Russian style battery.

He wanted $12K for the whole setup.