As others have said, you can:
1. Use a side mount with a weaver / picatinny rail and your choice of red dot.
2. Use a side mount with a built in red dot.
3. Use the Ultimak rail and your choice of red dot.
There seems to be alot of hear-say and non-factual information being spouted about all those methods by various posters.
Some side mounts sit way left, some sit up high. But some are low and centered. The BP-02 Low mount is quite low. You can modify it by unbolting the rail, shortening the rail to fit between the mounting areas, drilling it for new bolts, and bolting it down about 1/8 lower than before. It sights very slightly to the left.
Some side mount / built in red dot combos sit left, some sit high. Some don't. The newest version of the Kobra that accepts AA batteries is what I have. I do not find it to sit high for my tastes. Comparing online pictures of a mounted Kobra with various mounted mount/sight combos indicate it is one of the lower options available. My optic is very close to centered. If it sits left any, I can't tell. I find it to be very fast and comfortable to shoot. Mine also retains zero when I remove it from the rifle and remount it. Properly tensioning the mounting mechanism has alot to do with this.
Also, those saying that their mount is useless and not true to the bore of their gun probably have a problem with the rail itself - on the side of their receiver - not the scope mount. Rails are sometimes installed not true to the bore when the gun is built, and need to be removed, have new holes drilled in the receiver, and remounted true to the bore in order to be useful. I was lucky and mine is straight and true. If you mount up a scope on the side rail and your scope doesn't have enough adjustment to zero, your receiver rail is probably the culprit.
Finally, the Ultimak. This is about the only option that can get an Aimpoint, Aimpoint clone, or Micro Aimpoint low enough to co-witness your irons through it. With the full size Aimpoints and clones, this means using the lowest mounting ring you can find. Springfield Armory makes one that works, I'm sure there are others, too. Yes, the Ultimak does transfer heat to the sight. Some people report no problems, others have issues. It probably depends on how much and fast you shoot, and the quality of your optic. When using the fullsize Aimpoints and clones the rifle will be muzzle heavy.
I went with the Kobra because it is cost effective, it is centered, and not too high, it takes AA batteries, it has quick detach / attach ability, and it isn't exposed to excess heat, its mounting location also balances nicely.
I thought the Ultimak was a very appealing, but I also knew I wanted to spend around $200 on the whole package. This would have left me with a budget red dot on the Ultimak rail, and I wasn't confident it would stand up to the heat. Sometimes my plastic hand guards smoke and smell burnt when I shoot, so I knew my shooting sessions were generating considerable heat.
Hopefully this will help out the original posters with his search for an AK red dot and anyone else looking for similar information.
