English: A PSO-1 telescopic sight mounted on a Dragunov SVD rifle.
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.
In the bottom-left corner is a stadiametric rangefinder that can be used to determine the distance from a 1.7-meter (5 ft 6.9 in) 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.
The three lower chevrons in the center are used as hold over points for engaging area targets beyond 1,000 meters (the maximum Bullet Drop Compensator (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.
This reticle lay out is also used in several other telescopic sights produced and used by other former Warsaw Pact member states.
The PSO-1 reticule can be illuminated by a small battery-powered lamp.