Ok is an "optimak" actually a product or are you just calling an ultimak by the wrong name?
Best is what works best for me.
Fair enough what RDS have you used on AKs and how did you evaluate their performance vis a vis iron sights?
As far as performance and practicality, what's more practical is the lightest weight possible (IE no dot or scope)
Yes the 3 oz that an aimpoint micro adds is indeed burdensome.
there's no scope offset to deal with, no added weight or balance issues
An aimpoint on an ultimak is not offset. The weight is 3 oz. If one is super concerned they could remove the front sight post and run a bolton gas block/front sight that would probably come real close to offsetting any shift in balance. That said, most people don't find the very light aimpoint on the ultimak to be any real issue in terms of balance or weight. Particularly when considered against the serious advantages an aimpoint offers. In fact I've never known anyone who has run it offer that critique.
Red dots may be more effective for certain situations, and scopes may be more effective for certain situations, but (and I reiterate) IN MY OPINION... the best optical solution for an AK (adding this next bit) when used as a home defense/self defense truck gun or similar use, the iron sights are your best bet.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I do not think it inappropriate, however, to ask one offering their opinion to explain what informs it or to probe into the basis of that opinion.
What RDS have you used on an AK?
Have you ever shot a weapon with an ultimak and a micro or are you just theorizing as to how handling will be affected?
Why do you think an iron sight weapon is best for your new limited set of situations, to wit HD shooting and what I suppose is a very malleable task, truck gun duty?
An RDS is indeed more effective for certain types of situations including the very type of shooting seen in HD. The RDS offers major advantages over the stock irons. It is faster plain and simple. I challenge anyone who doubts this to go out with a shot timer and test it for yourself. It is much easier to use in the low light. Its easier to use while shooting and moving and from improvised/awkward positions. There is a reason that RDS have become overwhelmingly common on guns for this type of shooting and are ven starting to show up on defensive/ccw pistols. In sum, they are faster and easier to use, no two weighs about it.
If you were local to me I'd invite you come shoot various weapons with and without a RDS on the clock and in various scenarios. I think you might just come away with a different opinion.
Irons only have two advantages.
1) they are cheaper
2) they be are negligibly lighter
If I have to use it in HD I want the equipment that gives me the best chance of survival not what is the cheapest. My life is worth more than $600 YMMV.
I'm not the hulk but still I don't find a 3 oz sight to be so heavy as to outweigh all its distinct advantages. If I did I could trim the weight somewhere else so again it is really just a matter of cost.
Now there are some things others will say are advantages to irons such as:
No battery to go dead: The battery life of aimpoint is measured in years. So if you replaced it once every 2 years even it would never die. If however, it craps out at just the moment you need it then what. Look through it and use your irons and you are no worse off than without it.
The optic is too fragile for a rugged weapon like an AK: Aimpoint sights are very rugged. They allow for a co witness if somehow one did manage to make their aimpoint give up the ghost. If they are good enough for use in war your HD probably isn't too much for it to handle though.
