LPVO/red dot preferences for AK

VDNKstalker

Newbie
Basically what's everyone using for their AK? LPVO's are super popular on AR's but I don't seem to see them as often on AKs. What red dots are popular for AK's lately?
 

0uTkAsT

Amateur
I haven't shot AKs in many years, but when I did the Sabrewerks KOP with an Aimpoint micro was the bees knees. I tried the handguard mounts like the Midwest Industries and Ultimak... side rail mounts like the RS Regulate and Midwest Industries... and rear sight replacement RMR mounts including the Midwest Industries, TWS, and Attero... but the Sabrewerks was the best I ever used overall.

I did try to run an LPVO (and a TA44 ACOG) on my AK SBR for a short while, but it wasn't ideal by any stretch. Issues with eye relief, height over bore and cheek weld are abundant. It was awkward to shoot, terribly un-ergonomic, and I didn't feel like the magnified optics really complimented the platform enough to justify the downsides. I found one old picture for proof of the effort. This was the MI 30mm side rail mount with a Gen 1 Viper PST. Due to the height of the rail and mount, and the size and location of the magnification ring, it couldn't be moved forward even 1mm further without hitting the dust cover, so this setup lasted all of about 3 hours before I scrapped the idea and went back to an RMR in an Attero rear sight mount (on this particular gun).

oldak.JPG

Keep in mind my experience with AKs is 7 or 8 years out of date at this point, so new products may be out now that weren't back then. The photo above, for example, was taken in 2012 I believe, and that was one of my last experiments with the AK platform before switching back to the AR platform 100%.
 

0uTkAsT

Amateur
Well, I just looked up Saberwerks again and they now have an LPVO mount for the KOP platform, which is awesome. If you're willing to put in the work to replace the rear sight tower with the KOP platform, this is hands-down the only way I'd ever attempt to run an LPVO on an AK. This didn't exist when I was in the market for mounting solutions or I would've never dicked around with the side rail at all.

1556228587177.png
 

0uTkAsT

Amateur
What didn’t you like about the RS Regulate?


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I didn't care for any side rail mounted solutions just because they're bulky, 4x heavier than anything else, and generally sit the optic higher.

I don't really care for the handguard mounted solutions either due to optic placement and heat.

Back then at least, the railed dust covers were an 80% solution with loss of zero being a constant factor. I never personally owned any of those... they looked appealing but initial reports on the various ones were not good.

Ruggedness is (or was) an issue with the rear sight leaf replacement mounts, but at least I liked the weight, unobtrusive nature, and co-witness / overall optical placement.

The only mounting system I found that solved all of the issues I had was the KOP, but it's also the biggest pain in the ass to install by leaps and bounds.

Again, all of these factors and many more led me to abandon the platform close to a decade ago so I may be severely behind the times on new products or improved versions of products I already tried before.
 
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