[JohnKSa]

I've been wanting one of these for my .308 VEPR, but his website has been showing that he's not selling them right now. Problem is, it's said that for MONTHS.

Anyway, has anyone tried this sight? I like aperture sights, and that rifle desperately needs a bit more sight radius so it sounds like a win-win situation. Krebs seems to have a pretty good way with rifles, so I would expect good things. Still, it's nice to get first-hand accounts from customers. ;)

Does the sight require any sort of change to the rifle? It looks like installing it is a simple dustcover swap. I'm assuming that with it installed, you're not going to be able to slide scopes on and off the siderail, so being able to take it on and off easily is reasonably important to me.

[Kestrel]

John,

That sight is definitely worth the price of admission. Mine was installed at Krebs' shop (it's a KTR-03v package on a VEPR), so I haven't retrofitted one. They did tell me, though, that it requires a tight fit. The quality is nice.

I'm thinking about getting another one for a Bulgarian AK.

By the way, Krebs seems to be swamped. It seems his services are in great demand. If you call them and ask for Brian, he can email you when they have them in stock.

I've never liked AK sights, nor the short sight radius, so this hit the spot. I think you will like it.

[JohnKSa]

Kestrel,

Thanks for the information!

Can you tell if they did anything to the dustcover or the rifle when you compare it to a normal rifle?

I'm assuming that the sight is permanently (at least relatively permanently) mounted to the dustcover--is that right?

Thanks,

John

[Coronach]

It's very firmly attached to the dustcover, but I've been less than happy with mine not holding zero when you remove/replace the cover for cleaning.

Don't get me wrong, that puppy won't wander at all during a shooting session. But removing the cover and replacing it will cause zero to shift a few inches at 75 yds, say. Not a terrible thing, really...it is an AK after all, so you could go some time without having to do a full field strip, but still, not exactly ideal.Can you tell if they did anything to the dustcover or the rifle when you compare it to a normal rifle?The KTR uses a very stiff dustcover with a sight/rail combo that is bolted in at least 4 places (I'd have to pull the cover to look) to the dustcover. That cover is then very tightly wedged into place. It does not move at all when attached, and is actually a royal PITA to remove and replace.

As to 'doing something different' to the rifle, yeah. The entire upper half of the KTR is different from your standard AK. The block for the standard AK rear sight and gas piston valve (I'm blanking on the proper terminology) is completely redsigned (non-existant, really), and the gas tube itself is proprietary. Both the dust cover and the gas tube slide into a slot on the receiver and are held against each other by tension created by wedging the dust-cover in place. Remove the dust-cover and you can slide the gas tube aft and off of the rifle. If that sounds like a half-arsed arrangement, it is in some ways...but it sure is simple and it seems to work just fine. Nothing moves when you shoot, and nothing shifts around as long as the cover is installed.

The AR style rear sight added to the existing cover on a non-Krebs rifle might not be nearly as solid, it would depend on how 'floppy' your cover is, I guess.

Mike

[roscoe]

There has got to be a better way to get a decent rear-mounted peep sight on an AK.

[Coronach]

I'm not sure why they don't use a design like a Williams or Lyman peep sight for bolt action rifles. Have it attach to the receiver itself, with juuuuuuust enough clearance to pop the dustcover on and off.

Mike

[Kestrel]

Coronach,

Now that's interesting. I haven't zeroed mine and then re-zeroed it, so I didn't know it would move the POI. That's bothersome. I had wondered about that. (They had assured me when I ordered mine, that it wouldn't happen, but I knew it was still possible.)

Maybe I won't get one on my Bulgarian Arsenal, then.

John - Hope I didn't steer you wrong.

[Bwana John]

While the idea of a A-2 sight on a AK really sound nice, I dont like "dust cover" mounted anything.

Perhaps the dust cover could be made more solid if a clamping system like the FAL dust cover scope mounts was used. These have caused many problems however, from carrier binding to nuts falling off into the action.:scrutiny:

Seeing as we are talking about AK's and not "precision" rifles, this is not a huge thing, and I still think my next AK build should have the A2 rear sight, full lenth gas system, front sight mounted to the gas block, 16 inch barrel with FAL combo device, SAW grip, and ACE folder stock.:cool:

[Coronach]

The other thing that is nice about the FAL design is that you don't really need to remove the dustcover for cleaning. Oh, it's a lot easier, and you can do a better job with the dustcover removed, but if you have a flashlight and a long, thin brush and nimble fingers, I think you can get most everything clean with the dustcover in place...just crack open the rifle and pull the bolt, and you have access to most everything.

I have started cleaning mine that way as an experiment, before I buy a dustcover mount, and it seems to work OK.

Mike