Looking for a 3x magnification "budget" Red Dot for my AK 74

Status
Not open for further replies.

FIVETWOSEVEN

Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
5,146
I'm looking to get a Red Dot scope for my AK 74 that has 3x magnification. My rifle doesn't have the side rail so it would be something that can be mounted on a picatinny rail. I'm looking to spend within $200. This optic will be for serious use and must be able to survive and retain it's zero from short falls.
 
I don't know of any red dot scopes that have magnification themselves, but there are plenty of budget magnifiers and some decent red-dots out there within your price range.

I'd look at a Millet SP-1 for around $60 and you can get a 3x magnifier for under $100 from Firefield, Mako, UTG or Sun Optics (and probably others as well).
 
The Burris 332 may be the right answer, although the pricing may be $10-20 more than your budget. I'm using it on my 3 gun rifle and like it quite a lot.
 
As others have said, red dot sights are non-magnified optics. If you want magnification with them, you need to get a separate magnifier to mount behind it. Sorry, but this is just not going to happen within your budget of $200... and even without the magnifier, you certainly aren't going to be getting something that is suitable for "serious use" within that budget. There are really only two RDS' that I would recommend for "serious use"... the Aimpoint and the EOTECH. You might find a used one for not too much more than your budget, if you shop around.

You will also need some sort of mount to put all this on. Red dot magnifiers typically have short eye relief, and therefore must be mounted close to the shooter's eye, so that rules out a scout mount like the Ultimak. The red dot and the magnifier must be on the same plane, so what you really need is something like the TWS Dog-leg mount.

Now the usual method of mounting a magnifier behind a red dot sight is to have the magnifier on a swing mount, so it can be swung out of the way for close quarters shooting. The only swing mounts are designed for the AR, rather than the AK. Because the AK has a lower comb than the AR, this means that such a setup would sit too high for a proper shooting position on an AK. You would have to get some sort of raised cheek pad to make it work.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way your original post sounded, it sounds like you are wanting a sight with fixed magnification. If that is the case, you don't really want a red dot. The whole benefit of a red dot is in the fact that there are no parallax or eye relief issues with them, since they aren't magnified and don't use lenses. This makes them great for fast, up-close shooting. Putting a magnifier behind one is really kind of a jerry-rigged way of getting a little more effective range out of one, while still being able to use it in its primary role as an unmagnified CQB optic.

If you want the red dot to be magnified all the time, it really defeats the purpose of a red dot in the first place, because you will now have eye relief/parallax issues since you are basically putting a scope behind your red dot. A permanently-magnified red dot is basically just an extra bulky and clumsy way of having a scope with an illuminated reticle... and not a very useful reticle, at that.

If all you want is a magnified optic with an illuminated aiming point, you need to be looking at scopes, not red dots.

A little clarification from you on what you are really wanting might help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top