PSO - 1 The Soviet PSO - 1 ( " Pritsel Snaipersky Optichesky " , " Optical Sniper Sight " ) telescopic sight was at the time of its introduction ( around 1964 ) , the most technically advanced telescopic sight ever designed for a mass - production designated marksman or sniper rifle . The PSO - 1 telescopic sight is manufactured in Russia by the Novosibirsk instrument - making factory ( NPZ Optics State Plant ) and is issued with the Russian military Dragunov sniper rifle . Design details . The PSO - 1 was specifically designed for the SVD as a telescopic sight for military designated marksman activities . The current version of the sight is the PSO - 1M2 . This telescopic sight is different from the original PSO - 1 only in that it lacks the now obsolete Infra - Red detector . The metal body of the PSO - 1 is made from a magnesium alloy . The PSO - 1 features a battery powered red illuminated reticle with light provided by a simple diode bulb . It features professionally ground , fully multi - coated optical elements , a baked enamel finish for scratch protection , and an attached , quick - deployable , extendable sunshade . The scope body is sealed and filled with nitrogen , which prevents fogging of optics and was designed to function within a - 50 °C to 50 °C temperature range . For zeroing the telescopic sight the reticle can be adjusted by manipulating the elevation and windage turrets in 5 cm at 100 meters ( 0 . 5 mil or 1 . 72 MOA ) increments . Considered the higher end of Soviet military side mount telescopic sights , the quality of the PSO - 1 is higher than most other PSO - style telescopic sights . The PSO - 1 has neither a focus adjustment nor a parallax compensation control . Most modern military tactical scopes with lower power fixed magnification such as the ACOG , C79 optical sight or SUSAT ( intended for rapid close - intermediate range shots rather than long - range sniping ) lack such features as well . Modern fixed magnification military high end grade sniper telescopic sights scopes intended for long - range shooting usually offer one or both of these features . The positioning of the scope ’ s body to the left of the bore ’ s center line may not be comfortable to all shooters . Bullet Drop Compensation elevation turret . The PSO - 1 elevation turret features bullet drop compensation ( BDC ) in 50 m or 100 m increments for engaging point and area targets at ranges from 100 m up to 1 , 000 m . At longer distances the shooter must use the chevrons that would shift the trajectory by 100 m per each chevron . The BDC feature must be tuned at the factory for the particular ballistic trajectory of a particular combination of rifle and cartridge at a predefined air density . Inevitable BDC induced errors will occur if the environmental and meteorological circumstances deviate from the circumstances the BDC was calibrated for . Marksmen can be trained to compensate for these errors . Besides the BDC elevation or vertical adjustment control of the reticle , the windage or horizontal adjustment control of the reticle can also be easily dialed in by the user without having to remove turret caps etc . PSO - 1 reticle . The PSO - 1 features a reticle with " floating " elements designed for use in range estimation and bullet drop and drift compensation ( see external ballistics ) . The top center " chevron " ( ^ ) is used as the main aiming mark . The horizontal hash marks are for windage and lead corrections and can be used for ranging purposes as well . The picture to the left is a stadiametric rangefinder that can be used to determine the distance from a tall object / person from 200 m ( 2 ) to 1000 m ( 10 ) . For this the lowest part of the target is lined up on the bottom horizontal line . Where the top of the target touches the top curved line the distance can be determined . This reticle lay out is also used in several other telescopic sights produced and used by other former Warsaw Pact member states . The three lower chevrons in the center are used as hold over points for engaging area targets beyond 1 , 000 meters ( the maximum BDC range setting on the elevation drum ) . The user has to set the elevation turret to 1 , 000 meters and then apply the chevrons for 1 , 100 , 1 , 200 or 1 , 300 meters respectively . The 10 reticle hashmarks in the horizontal plane can be used to compensate for wind or moving targets and can also be used for additional stadiametric rangefinding purposes , since they are spaced at 1 milliradian intervals , meaning if an object is 5 m wide it will appear 10 hashmarks wide at 500 m . The reticule can be illuminated by a small battery - powered lamp . Mounting system . The telescopic sight propriety mount is adjustable for tension on the SVD rifle ' s side rail . This side rail is a Warsaw Pact mounting dovetail . The side rail mount is an offset mounting that positions the PSO - 1 telescopic sight axis to the left side in relation to the receiver center axis . The mount has a castle nut that screws into the bottom of the locking lever . The spring - loaded portion of the clamp has to be pressed down to tighten or loosen the castle nut as needed . The telescopic sight is factory matched to the rifle by engraving the scope ' s serial number on to the butt stock of the SVD rifle . Commercial Russian Tigr rifles ( based on the SVD military rifle ) have the serial number of the rifle engraved in to the PSO - 1M2 scope ' s side mount . Optical specifications and dimensions . Accessories . The PSO - 1 is issued with a lens hood that can be attached to the ocular to reduce / eliminate image quality impairing stray light and a carrying case to protect the sight during transport and storage .