Best way to mount a red dot on AK74...

[jason41987]

dust cover mounts and dog legs arent really the best option... best option is still going to be a side mount.. one of the other benefits of this side mount is you can maintain zero even after taking a sight off.. so if you have additional rails/mounts for the side rail, you can have different optics zeroed, then you can drop a lever, slide one off, slide the other sight on and it keeps its zero.. cant really do this if youre mounting them and unmounting them to a picatinny... so even though the side mount doesnt look as tacticool, i actually like it more

 

[wally]

If you try the MI on another AK let me know. I haven't heard other people reporting that issue, however, there probably aren't a ton of them out there on minis

I've only had it on my Saiga .223 long enough to run a few mags through it after zeroing, but it seems fine here with the light recoil. At least this MI mount was inexpensive as far as these things generally go.

But I'd thought I'd found the perfect setup for my mini-Draco SBR until I started using it . The TWS dogleg railed cover I replaced it with has worked great, doesn't look as neat though.

... best option is still going to be a side mount.. one of the other benefits of this side mount is you can maintain zero even after taking a sight off.. so if you have additional rails/mounts for the side rail, you can have different optics zeroed, then you can drop a lever, slide one off, slide the other sight on and it keeps its zero.. cant really do this if youre mounting them and unmounting them to a picatinny...

I've got a fair number of reasonably priced picatinny QD mounts and rings that hold zero fine on rifles that are generally more accurate and heavier recoiling than an AK. Everything else you say about the side rail mounts I basically agree with, but they make the rifle much fatter in the side and harder to pack into the safe unless I remove the optic -- which is then something else I've got to make room for.

I've used all the readily available AK mounts and for me the Ultimak is the choice for a red dot and the TWS dogleg rail or a PSOP type AK scope are my preference for a magnified optic.

 

[jason41987]

I've only had it on my Saiga .223 long enough to run a few mags through it after zeroing, but it seems fine here with the light recoil. At least this MI mount was inexpensive as far as these things generally go.

But I'd thought I'd found the perfect setup for my mini-Draco SBR until I started using it . The TWS dogleg railed cover I replaced it with has worked great, doesn't look as neat though.




I've got a fair number of reasonably priced picatinny QD mounts and rings that hold zero fine on rifles that are generally more accurate and heavier recoiling than an AK. Everything else you say about the side rail mounts I basically agree with, but they make the rifle much fatter in the side and harder to pack into the safe unless I remove the optic -- which is then something else I've got to make room for.

I've used all the readily available AK mounts and for me the Ultimak is the choice for a red dot and the TWS dogleg rail or a PSOP type AK scope are my preference for a magnified optic.

well to be fair one of the reasons the AK sight is designed to be so easy to remove is its designed to be stored off the rifle.. it was designed to keep your optics seperate from the rifle so that when youre ready to shoot you grab your rifle first, then choose a sight and slide it on.. so id put the sites in one of the smaller shelves or drawers.. keeps them from getting battered or bumped too when youre moving rifles around

 

[aka108]

I run Kobra red dotl sights on my AK variants. Good sights and always return to zero when remounted.

 

[Girodin]

But I'd thought I'd found the perfect setup for my mini-Draco SBR until I started using it . The TWS dogleg railed cover I replaced it with has worked great, doesn't look as neat though.

Inasmuch as this is what I am contemplating, do you think I could trouble you for a pic of the mini with the TWS?

 

[wally]

.. so id put the sites in one of the smaller shelves or drawers..

These are all filled with pistols

 

[Pilot]

Adam123,

I really like that set up. What is the mount, and red dot you are using? I have a Romanian Romak II, I converted to AK-74 configuration, and it has a side mount already installed. That looks perfect for my rifle.

 

[wally]

Inasmuch as this is what I am contemplating, do you think I could trouble you for a pic of the mini with the TWS?

No problem:

This is the GenII with the optional rear aperture sight.

Its a very fun gun to shoot and the "knock-off" Krinkov brake really works very well. For ~$15 I was only expecting something to complete the "look", but when I first shot it off sandbags, as a pistol, the recoil was so straight back I skinned my elbows on the bench. Without it muzzle would jump up about like shooting a 6" .44Mag with full house 240gr loads.

Although it may not look like it from the photo you can shoot it with the stock folded, although there is not a lot of the bolt handle to grab when cocking it with the stock folded. I think the 20-round mags are just right for these, although at the range I usually use 30 rounders so I don't have bring as many

 

[SabbathWolf]

No problem:

This is the GenII with the optional rear aperture sight.

Its a very fun gun to shoot and the "knock-off" Krinkov brake really works very well. For ~$15 I was only expecting something to complete the "look", but when I first shot it off sandbags, as a pistol, the recoil was so straight back I skinned my elbows on the bench. Without it muzzle would jump up about like shooting a 6" .44Mag with full house 240gr loads.

Although it may not look like it from the photo you can shoot it with the stock folded, although there is not a lot of the bolt handle to grab when cocking it with the stock folded. I think the 20-round mags are just right for these, although at the range I usually use 30 rounders so I don't have bring as many

How's that Hogue grip working out for you?
I have the same one and love how super comfortable it is.
I'm just curious because I rarely see anybody else with one on an AK.

With the rear TWS sight not being adjustable for distance with a slider, and the rifle being an SBR anyways, did you zero your irons and red dot to the same distance like 25 meters or something? Again, I'm just curious.

 

[wally]

Its not obvious from the photos, but I had to raise the front sight enough that I found it distractingly near the top of the protection ring, so I cut it off to make "ears" more like on a normal AK front sight. Windage was fine out of the box. Note this is a Cugir Romania Century import, not made by Century so its made to a higher functional standard, although it looks pretty much as rough as anything Century throws together

I zeroed the red dot at 50 yards and then adjusted the irons to match the dot, and verified with a few shots with the dot off. My old eyeballs have a tough time focusing on the front sight unless its 3-4 feet out in front of me, so these days irons are only for emergency use where I just center the blur and hope for the best

Love the Hogue grip, every time I find one at a gun show for a good price I buy another, I expect all my AKs (and ARs for that matter) will eventually end up with them.

Mostly I shoot steel plates at 75-100 yards (un-measured distances in a field across a pond into its earthen "dam" so the distance varies with the water level), this setup works very nicely.

 

[Girodin]

Very nice Wally! Thanks. You must have exceptional taste, that is very similar to what I am thinking about doing: Tanker mags, cut sight hood, Ace stock on folder hing.

I'm thinking of a different hand guard, grip and muzzle device though.

It seems like the TWS rail may be the most viable way to put a T1 on a mini.

Did you refinish your hand guard or does yours just look much better than mine?

 

[SabbathWolf]

Its not obvious from the photos, but I had to raise the front sight enough that I found it distractingly near the top of the protection ring, so I cut it off to make "ears" more like on a normal AK front sight. Windage was fine out of the box. Note this is a Cugir Romania Century import, not made by Century so its made to a higher functional standard, although it looks pretty much as rough as anything Century throws together

I zeroed the red dot at 50 yards and then adjusted the irons to match the dot, and verified with a few shots with the dot off. My old eyeballs have a tough time focusing on the front sight unless its 3-4 feet out in front of me, so these days irons are only for emergency use where I just center the blur and hope for the best

Love the Hogue grip, every time I find one at a gun show for a good price I buy another, I expect all my AKs (and ARs for that matter) will eventually end up with them.

Mostly I shoot steel plates at 75-100 yards (un-measured distances in a field across a pond into its earthen "dam" so the distance varies with the water level), this setup works very nicely.

That "is" a cool looking set up.

Looking back at the pic now after you mentioned it, now I can see how the protective "wings" on the front sight are shorter than normal.
I would have never noticed that probably if you had not mentioned it.
You appear to have done a really nice job on that because it's real easy to completely miss that modification. I sure did anyways.....lol

Yep. I love the Hogue grips too. A big PLUS +1 on that. I can't even tell you how many other grips I tried first. So many I lost count. The Hogue looks great, fits great and feels great too. Once I installed it, I knew my search was over.

I was going to suggest maybe switching to a high visible front sight post or painting it orange or yellow or something.
But if it's a personal farsightedness problem, then that probably won't help. You'd just see blurry orange instead of blurry black.

 

[wally]

But if it's a personal farsightedness problem, then that probably won't help. You'd just see blurry orange instead of blurry black.

Yup!, but its presbyopia, not farsightedness technically, everybody who is not myopic ends up with it eventually if they live long enough (on average people start to feel its effects mid forties). The the lens looses its ability to "bend" to focus on near objects. Its why every drug store has a display of "reading" glasses, no prescription required

Did you refinish your hand guard or does yours just look much better than mine?

No I didn't do anything but put a bit of my wife's furniture polish on it. The Romanian wood quality is all over the map, I looked at half a dozed Draco's to find one with decent wood, but got lucky on the first mini I found.

 

[SabbathWolf]

Ah. I see.
No pun intended.....lol

 

[jason41987]

interesting.. this topic made me decide to revisit some of the other top mount options such as the TWS, and what i learned makes me even happier to just stick with a side mount.. these mounts that hinge, they seem to hold close to zero, but never spot on or never as well as the side mounts.. and it turns out AK dust covers tend to be higher in the rear than in the back which would give any sort of dust cover type rail a downward angle which is apparently something the russians knew about when they went with a side mount.. and that the hinge mechanisms themselves offer a very, very small contact point that can be tweaked and damaged fairly easily

 

[Girodin]

and that the hinge mechanisms themselves offer a very, very small contact point that can be tweaked and damaged fairly easily

I guess it depends on what you mean by fairly easily. My estimation is that it would probably take some doing to be honest.

 

[briansmithwins]

Finally got the time to do pics:









BSW

 

[jason41987]

i dont think TWS addressed the fact that the dust cover on the AK is a downward angle, not parallel with the bore, and the other mount similar to that does take this into account, but i hear a lot of reports of both of them likely to lose zero, from people who have used these... so im just not so sure theyve made a hinged top rail that holds a real zero

how about this idea.... a top rail that is pinned in place of the rear sight, but is just a few millimeters off the top of the dust cover, enough to remove the dust cover without moving the top rail.. and to support this in the rear, have a leg come down the left side of the rifle and screw into the side of the rear trunnion... this rail would work... and you can make it even slower with a slight modification as to how the top cover is actually attached.. so instead of lifting the dust cover up, what if you designed a dust cover that pulled off straight back?

 

[Girodin]

BrianSmithwins, I really like how low that puts your aimpoint. I