I need help shooting my AK!

[Archibald Tuttle]

I need some advice. I recently joined the dark side and purchased a fairly nice AK but I'm having a hell of a time hitting anything. My groupings are all to the upper left about 11 o' clock, four inches away from where I want them to be. I'm using all the shooting techniques I've used since I was a kid and still no luck, I even used my bore sight but dice. Does anyone out there have some particular technique they use or any advice they could give me?

I feel kind of silly asking you folks this so bear with me here.

 

[Coronach]

Well, how large is the grouping, and at what distance? If the group is small, just off-center, that's an easy fix...

Mike

 

[Frightener 88]

is your front site centered? if not that could cause some issues. simple fix, just need a site vise.

 

[Archibald Tuttle]

Alright, so my grouping are about four inches wide at 50 yards. My front sight is centered, I think its human error.

 

[Frightener 88]

human error? i would consult a customer service rep about that.

 

[DMK]

Alright, so my grouping are about four inches wide at 50 yards. My front sight is centered, I think its human error.

It doesn't take much to be off. You can't see it by eye. Also some AKs have front sght blocks that are canted a little, requiring the front sight post to be off center in order to shoot straight.

If it's consistently up and left when shooting from sandbags or a similar rest, then you need to adjust your front sight post up and left.

Make sure your rear sight is down as far as it will go. All the way back actually raises it up a little.

I like to zero my AK so it shoots centered but about 2" high at 50 yards or 3" high at 100 yards. That gives you zero that is +/- 3" all the way out to 200 yards without messing with the rear sight.


Also keep in mind that a bore sighter is only for getting you on paper so that you can start to zero actual ammo. Bore sighting plots a straight line. Real ammo shoots in a slight rainbow curve.

 

[El Tejon]

Where is your zero and where do you hold for your shot?

 

[alucard0822]

If the group is decent, but off center get this to fine tune it http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=517461&t=11082005

If it is indeed human error, then a case of ammo, and some quality time at the range is in order

 

[benEzra]

Are you shooting from a benchrest or sandbag under the barrel or forend? Be aware that AK's are very sensitive to benchrest technique. Best results are with the sandbag as far back as possible, either right in front of the magwell against the magazine or even behind the magazine under the trigger guard. The reason is that the heavy gas piston, large gas port, and location of the gas block cause large barrel-bending moments as the bullet passes the gas block; moving the bag as far back as possible minimizes the effect of barrel bending and harmonics on the shot.

Because of the short sight radius, forward placement of the rear sight, and tendency to jump off a rest, AK's are easy rifles to shoot badly. They're capable of decent accuracy, though.

I find it hard to use AK iron sights because I wear fairly thick glasses, so I put a Kobra on mine (unmagnified heads-up electronic sight).

 

[ROMAK IV]

Make sure you have some decent ammunition. Wolf isn't always that consistant. I like Barnual, and it's marketed as Monarch at academy surplus in that particular caliber. However, if your groupings are consistant, just off to the side, get a sight vise and adjust accordingly. With a front sight, you will adjust the same diection as the way the grouping is. For example. my WASR-10 was shooting consistantly high at the lowest setting on the rear sight, so I used the socket on the vise to raise the front sight.

 

[Archibald Tuttle]

I was using a standard bench rest under the barrel but I think I'll take your advice and move it back some with a sand bag. So I didn't think Arsenal had the whole canted sight problem but another look at my front sight block says that might not be true. Well, I'm getting a sight tool, a case of Barnual and I'm headed to the range. Thanks for the input!

 

[alucard0822]

The front sight on my Yugo was canted to the right far enough that even with the windage maxed out, the shots were still about 2" right of center at 50yds. I had to hammer out the pins, press off the sight (gear puller and wood block), widen the pin notches in the barell, and press the sight back on straight and reassemble, all in all not that bad to do, now it shoots dead center with the front sight centered, and I have plenty of windage adjustment if need be.

 

[Omnivore]

There should be no expectation at all that a new rifle will be properly zeroed. Any AK owner should have a front sight tool. My instructions for zeroing can be found here (scroll to bottom of page):

http://www.ultimak.com/AKST.htm

Your group size is a separate issue. Unless the front or rear sight is loose and flopping around, you should be getting 2 inches at 50 and more like 4 or 5 at 100. Some AKs can do substantially better than that, approaching 1 MOA.

If you are first starting out on rifle shooting, your stated group size is fairly normal, no matter the particular weapon. Breathing, consistency of hold from shot to shot, trigger control, sight picture, and the big one - flinch avoidance, if all brought together at the moment of release, and all held consistent from shot to shot, will tighten your groups considerably. Also, a hot barrel will shoot to a different point of impact, and with a larger group, than a cold barrel. If you really want to know what you and your rifle can do, shoot with a relatively cool barrel.

You can practice flinch avoidance by dry firing after firing several live rounds. You will be astonished at how much you flinch without ever realizing it. You should not even blink. Practice that. I know guys who record themselves on video so they can see their faces while shooting. Feedback of this kind can be highly instructive.

Rifle marksmanship is often more of a mental process than a physical one.