AK Scope mount question

HI Guys,

I have a Romanian AK that I need to scope (my eyes just ain't what they used to be).
There are bunches of mounts out there, but most of them seem to be junk. My rifle's receiver does have the side rail on it, so I am looking for a rock solid, high quality side mount that attaches to that rail, and accepts Weaver or Stanag rings. I would prefer steel (experience with other rifles has taught me that aluminum mounts tend to "flex" a bit), but I would consider an aluminum mount that is of ultra high quality.
So, my question is: What would ya'll recommend?

Gary, is it for home defense use ?
IMHO the most important issue with side mounts if profile. I hate the tall ones. Are you gonna mount & dismout the optics?
http://www.tickbitesupply.com/mnt973ak.jpg
These are low profile, inexpensive and work great. They are screwed in to the bases and don't move

http://www.tickbitesupply.com/psoweav.jpg
This you can remove, but the ones I've seen are too tall for my taste.

Or you can go Ultimak Gas Tube replacement and place the optics there while looking all the cool!

http://ultimak.com/gallery/AMD65-TLR-2.jpg

Quote:

---

I am looking for a rock solid, high quality side mount that attaches to that rail, and accepts Weaver or Stanag rings.

---

IMHO you will not find one .

Point one is that it does not matter how rigid your mount is with the typical reciever flex of a stamped ak .

Point two is that to build one like you are wanting it would cost half the cost of the rifle if not more .

Now if you insist on getting one that is just " drop dead " stiff and right you might contact Larue @ http://www.laruetactical.com/ he builds some no comprimise stuff for the ar , and his prices reflect it . He could most likely mill you one , or point you to a direction of someone who would/does build it . To me tho your trying to put " lipstick on a pig " and i would honestly say go with a cheap weaver sidemount system with a red dot or holo sight . Maby more explination of what you expect would help bud , but that is all the options i can come up with .

HI Miggy,
Thanks for the input. In answer to your question, yes - sorta. I live on a mountaintop and my nearest neighbor is a mile away. LEO response time would be the better part of an hour - so "home defense" is part of the intended use. We also have feral dogs, coyotes, bears and the occasional cougar so my potential "attacker" is not necessarily going to be human.

RR,
I certainly understand what you're saying - I'm not looking to make a sniper rig out of an AK. If I can consistantly hit a 4" target (from a bench) at 100 yards, I'll be happy. I just cannot see without optics anymore. Thanks for the input.

Gary imho then miggy fixed you up . ( or has the links to ) and sir i understand exactly what you are saying , but the quality , stiff mount part kinda side tracked me . Sorry . The ak is a fine formfactor , but not imo suitable to real accuracy .

Hi Guys,
Thanks again for the input. I believe I'll go with the first mount that Miggy recommended - QD is not really necessary here and I prefer something that stays put as much as possible.

IMO, I have used side reciever mounts, and gas tube mounts.
But the best mount I have used for both AK and SKS has
been from Scout Scope Mounts.
http://scoutscopes.com/index.html
They will hold Zero unlike the gas tube mounts.
http://scoutscopes.com/gallery/2.jpg

http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/bstmounts.html
This one (the BP-02 - I think the one Miggy pictured is the BP-01) is one of the lowest profile side-mount there are. It's also centered over the dustcover - alot of the side-mounts extend out over the right side of the rifle, putting the scope off-center. It is fully-adjustable at the lock-up so that you can get the mount on there just right - although all of the side-rails are basically the same, there are some minor differences in dimensions.

This is another source for them, stateside:
http://stores.freedomoptics.com/Detail.bok?no=4

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...a_final006.jpg

This is my Romanian AKlon with the fixed side mount. Notice it only has the top rail which was the only thing available at the time of purchase. The optic is a 25 mm TruGlo red dot. My "jungle" is middle of Miami so my shooting distances are short (bad breath distances) and my optic is set for 50 yards. You may want to get a 30 mm or bigger and have it adjusted for.... I am guessing 100 - 150 yards.

Muzz.. I have a friend that has a BP2 and swears you do not lose zero if remove & reinstalled. How true?

I don't have one on my rifle, sorry if that was the impression I gave. It kinda looked like that after I had some sleep. An aquaintance of mine has one - set up with a dot for shorter ranges like you have yours. He hasn't tried it with a scope for REAL accuracy, AFAIK, but I was still able to make good hits out around 50-70 yards with it after it had come off and on a couple of times. I tried one of the junk ones like Gary mentioned at the time I bought my rifle, and got burned on it. It hung so far off the right side that it was very unnatural, like I was aiming 'sidesaddled', and I never could get the thing sighted-in. I just dropped the notion of a dot for the time being, and went with a MOJO non-click peep - my eyesight is excellent, and it works for me. Gary said he wanted something that would let him hit 4" out to 100 from a bench, and that using irons wasn't working for him anymore, so I wasn't too worried about him taking it off and on. I didn't mean to sound like I was giving an acid-test review, I was just really impressed with it compared to mine.:smile:

No Prob Muzz... not the first time I have posted when I should have been sleeping :haha:
I read somewhere that AK are not designed & built with the "straightest" specs and that whatever aftermarket item you buy, to make sure it has enough "play" to adapt to the rifle. I could swear it was discussed here in this board about trying to zero a scope but that it did not have enough adjustment to correct for the AK tolerances. And I grant you that there are aftermarket manufacturers that do a crappy job.
I was lucky with my mount. I originally bought some cheap oriental red dot optic that crapped out on me. Then I got a Tasco refurbished that is still kicking butt and then transitioned to the TruGlo (the tasco goes on my Moss 835 with B-Square mount.) and I am happy so far.

Next year, if finances permit, I'll start another AK project with Ulimak or Leapers aluminun parts...... The ultimate Mall Ninja AK Project!

+1 FOR THE ULTIMACK. i HAVE ONE ON MY YUGO WITH AN AIMPOINT MOUNTED ON IT. lIKE IT very much.

The sidemounts like Miggy pictured work well, if the allen screws aren't overtightened. When they are overtightened, you get to cut the mount off the receiver, and it's loads of fun - and there's little indication of overtightening. After removing two from customer guns, we don't carry them any more.


I've had the best luck with the clamp-style.

Gary, I'm holding out for one of the new Krebs offerings. No idea what retail will be, but system looks to be as rigid as you can get on the AK frame(anchored at front and rear trunions).
http://www.krebscustom.com/CustomParts.html#REARRAIL