(Poll)

You can shape the spirit to be young, but not the eyes.   I use a Vortex red top mounted on a MI mount.

I have red dots on both of my AK's.

I put both because it depends on the rifle. Some of them have scopes, others have red dots, and others have just irons.

I have a 4X posp on my 308 non converted Saiga.

I have tried red dots on mine.........twice. They work ok, just not for me, they felt awkward. I ended up going back to stock form on both of them. I never tried to mount scopes on mine, didn't feel they had the range for scopes.

I have a couple optics that seem to work ok




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Irons on two, red dot on one.  Have another I'm building that will have a red dot.  Unfortunately it has some kind of Bulgarian gypsy curse on it, so the build has taken a while

Depends on the rifle.  Some of my AKs have optics, some do not.

understatement of the century!



I use red dots, but that's it.



 

ARFCOM GET BOTH

Irons

I have not been in the AK game very long but it seems like the AK is like the M1A/M14 in that I prefer them with irons. I know they can both have optics mounted but I definitely prefer the M1A with Irons only.

Not sure on my 104 yet. I will try a T-1 or some sort of micro dot soon.

Lol

Most have just the irons but I did put a RDS on two of 'em. So I voted both.

Some with, some without, some with red dots, others with 1-6 or 1-8 scopes, one vepr 308 with a 1.5-10x. Pretty much depends on what I was building the gun for. I love standard sights but in my area if you drive 10 seconds out of town you are in such wide areas that a magnified optic is pretty much a must have. I run everything with quick qd mounts so if shit gets bad I can always fall back to old reliable....

Both. Depends on the gun. Try them out and see what you like OP.

 
This.

Red dots and 1-4X scopes on QR mounts so I can go to irons.

Micro-red-dots on everything, can't be beat out to 200 yards.

Red dots

I have vortex 1-4 scopes on some, red dots and and one Obzor on others.  PKM still needs one,  but I haven't decided what yet or how to mount it.  Optics for everything in my inventory I can.  I actually have more optics now than rifles.  


My 9mm AR pistol actually has a PK-01 v on a 30mm ring.  I don't discriminate based on ethnicity, I mix them all together.  I should get some kind of diversity award or something.


 

Edit:  All my irons are dialed in tight before the optics go on,  I just don't see the point when I have better options.

OP, in all seriousness I use a ton of optics on my AKs and have collected a number over the years. In particular modern Russian military optics are excellent and it has become very easy to adapt Western optics as well thanks to new American made mounts. (There are really great options made in Russia by NPZ for example, but they are hard to find here)

http://russianoptics.net

As I listed on my website, my favorite optics are:

Magnified:
1P78 Kashtan
ACOG TA31GH
PO4x24P2

Collimator:
1P63 Obzor
1P76 Rakurz

Red Dot:
PK01-VS
PK-A Venezuela
Aimpoint T1 / H1
Kobra

Side Rail for Western Optics:
NPZ and Alpha
RS Regulate
Midwest Industries
ZenitCo B13

I have a POSP 8x on my PSL and a Obzor on my Krink. I really want to get a magnified optic for one of my other AK's but i havnt decided which one

I think you left off the most popular choice, red dot.

One of mine has a red dot on a quad rail, the other is just irons.

I started with a QD side mount & a compact scope but over time I used the scope less & less.

Bushnell TRS25 red dot.

I have a primary arms 3x on an AKARS but it sits kinda high. Im thinking about selling it all and getting some tech sights which kinda sucks because I really like the set up but I don't like the almost chin weld

I have one with a red dot on a side rail mount, and I am not super fond of it simply because it seems a little too high to me.  I put a micro red dot on a Texas Weapons Systems DogLeg rail, and it works better, but it sucks that I had to modify the rifle to get it to feel right with optics.  I don't see how anybody comfortably shoots with a side-rail-mounted optic.  They are mostly too high over the receiver and make you have a chin weld at best.  Nobody seems to be able to get an optic to where it is at iron sight level.

I use only iron sights right now.  That'll change, but my priority is to get a healthy supply of ammo before grabbing a dot.  I can always get a dot.  Ammo, not so much.

A man with his priorities straight. Ammo is the best accessory you can get for a gun.

And the results at 300 yards shooting 10 rounds of Walmart Tula:

The "fuller sight mod" to the rear sight makes a big difference, imo.  You round off the top corners and widen the notch....

Irons: sar1, wum1, sa85
PA rds/ultimak: sam7
1-4/mi mount: vepr 7.62x54

My Draco has been through several setups.

For its purpose in my collection it's irons only at this point.

Just as fast inside 100 as a rds - but I don't shoot groups with it.

Oddly enough, I think mine is the reverse of how most people would have it.

AK has a 4x POSP 400m, A1 carbine has a MRD, and the Mutant (whenever Buds gets their hand off their dick and ships it) will have an Aimpoint PRO on it. I'd have liked one of those 7.62x39mm ACOGs, but Trijicon is dumb and only offered them in the one model, instead of just making it an option for any version. Plus those cost almost as much as the rifle did.

I find the trouble with accuracy on an AK to be mostly contributed to two parts: The sights, and the ammo. The rifle as designed (and properly cared for) is more than accurate enough for anybody other than dedicated paper-punchers.

Clapped out Trashcanistani pickups not withstanding.

Iron sights

I use irons on my m70.

I recently bought a Vortex Diamondback 3-9x40 scope for my Vepr 308.

The glass has a nice clear image.  I liked it better than a Nikon and some other brands in the $200 price range.  If I were shooting a bolt action at 200+ yards, I'd rather have a scope with greater magnification.



I have the Vortex mounted on a Midwest Industries AK mount with Weaver Grand Slam rings.  I tried several different rings and these particular ones get the scope down low enough so I can get my cheek comfortably on the stock.  I am using the extra-high weaver rings that have a height of .570".  You could probably go slightly lower and get the Weaver Grand Slam Top-Mount rings that have a height of .560".

I really like the Vortex BDC reticle.  It makes it quick to get on target.
(Not my image.)


While sighting in the scope and just having fun, I noticed I got decent groups when I let the barrel cool down.  When I fired several rounds, my groups opened up and raised up about an inch or two.  I fired 60 rounds of 7.62 ZQI 147gr and 20 rounds of .308 Federal Fusion 150gr

Here are the groups I was getting at 100 yards when I let the barrel cool down. (I jerked the rifle to the left on one shot.)  I'm not the best shot so I'm sure the group could be better.



Here is what happens after firing many rounds and getting the barrel real hot. This is at 100 yards also.  I fired these shots pretty quickly.



Overall, I really like this setup.  I can get my cheek on the stock and do quick shots.  For precision shooting, it would be better to get a scope with more magnification.  But I like the 3-9 for a battle rifle.  I think it would be harder to make follow up shots when zoomed out even further.  The Midwest Industries scope mount gets the scope nice and low.  I like it better than the BP-02 scope mount I had previously.

I can barely see irons at low light.