Anyone have a chance to play with one of these?  The few reviews I have read were fairly favorable, especially considering the price.  Mind you, I am interested mainly for plinking, not any serious life-or-death use.

While I am asking, what is the difference between the Bushnell Holosight and the Eotech 510?  besides about $50-$60 :)

Dawg,

The Kobra is a great deal for the money.  I had a chance to try mine out for the first time the other day and quite liked it.  I like the fact that you can choose from 4 different reticles (the dot-above-chevron is my favourite).  I bougt mine from Tantal, who was really great to deal with.

Scott

I love mine great for the money!!!

With a side mount on an AK they are great.  If you are talking top mount (thunmb screws or throw lever) for an AR they sit a little too high for a flat zero and are kind of big and bulky.  

I have one for my Maadi AK that I like a lot.  I have a throw lever one that sits at home.  

Mine sits on a DPMS flat-top and it works fine for me, but I like my optics mounted high.  It is certainly not as sleek as the EOTech, but it's about half the price.  Just fine for plinking!  :)

I understand that the Kobra sits too high up to co-witness the front sight when mounted directly on a flat top. When looking through the lens of the Kobra in a normal shooting position, can you see the top of the front sight at all? Just wondering if you could still use the front sight as a point of reference to shoot with some accuracy if the Kobra conked out. Thanks for the info.

As you can tell by the pic, the Kobra does sit up fairly high...however, you will be able to see varying amounts of the front sight, depending on your cheek weld.  I tried to take a usable pic, and then get it to my web host, but the only pc that has the friggin' camera drivers loaded decided it doesn't want to be on the network now, since I installed a new router yesterday.  I HATE COMPUTERS!!!  Ok, I feel better now.  [>Q]

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/188491/M4_1.jpg[/img]

I can see the front sight post and the 2 side things (pardon me for not knowing the nomenclature) in the lower portion of the Kobra sight, and the dot sits in the middle.  You could raise your cheek weld, see more of the sight, and then crank the elevation down I suppose.  Sorry I can't get the pic posted, it gives a much better idea of what I'm trying to say.  

Bottom line, though, is that the Kobra works well as long as you're not looking for a flip up rear sight.  I guess I'm SOL if the battery dies on me lol.  I'll eventually replace the Kobra with something a little more practical, which does allow for BUIS, but right now, my budget for any more optics is nonexistent, and this'll have to do.  

I have one for my Krebs AK103K.  For me its good for plinking only.  Ive dont care for the controls and the reticle suffers if I get any back lighting.

If you wanted a cheap dot sight, look at the Ultra-dots.

At least with the throw lever model you can Tear it off in a second or two if you have a BUIS that it is obscuring.  

Well, one thing I CAN say about the Kobra...it can survive a 4 foot fall onto a concrete floor without a scratch or a dent...c'mon...ask me how I know hehehe.  

BTW, I got the other damn computer on the LAN finally...here's the very fuzzy pic I tried to post last night...at least it'll give you some idea of what to expect.  The bottom of the front sight post is just a smidge above the bottom of the circle the way I have it set up...this pic shows it as you would see it if your cheek was higher than how I have it set up now.  Hope this helps...

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/188491/[S[JI-Kobra2.jpg[/img]

I say save your money up to buy an Eotech. You'll be more satisfied in the long run with either an Eotech or an Aimpoint on your AR-15. I have an Eotech 552 AA battery model, and it works great on the flattop of my Bushmaster. It cowitnesses perfectly as well.

The difference between the Eotech and Bushnell is the more rugged housing and better water resistance. It's well worth the extra $$$.

Go with either the Aimpoint or Eotech. You'll be far more happy with one of those over the Kobra.

To be honest I was disappointed with the Eotech/Bushnell- the reticle was very "starbursted" and fuzzy to me.  In fact, I thought the less expensive Hakko BED-35 had a better reticle, and it costs less (although it is less durable).  The place I went had a trijicon reflex with the amber triangle of doom (tm)  and I was very impressed by everything but the price.  The place I was looking did not have aimpoints in stock, otherwise I would have liked to check out the M2 with the 2x zoom.  If anyone happens to know a place in northern Illinois that stocks them please let me know!

Oh, and FWIW, I have an "old school" carbine with the integral carry handle, not a flattop.  Even has the "primitive" A1 rear sight [:0]

Dawg180, I'm with you...I find the fuzzy look to the Eotech's reticle a little disconcerting...I just prefer something a bit sharper, more defined.  I've actually been thinking of giving the OKOs a try here...Brownell's has 'em for $150 of you have an FFL or C&R, so they're only a bit more than the Kobras.  Of course, you have to add another $53 bucks to get the hood.  Out of the box, there is no way the OKO is as rugged as the Kobra.  

Alright, I have a few "serious" questions about the Kobra for those of you who have used them as I do not have access to one to try out for myself:

1. How is the clarity of the window?  It looks pretty good in the fuzzy picture...

2.  Ruggedness?  Sounds like it is built a lot touhger than most of the tubeless sights, which is my major concern.

3.  Battery life?  Not a mjor concern, but hopefully at least 10-12 hours!

4.  Mounting on a carry handle:  It looks like a goosneck mount would be the best option so the sight isn't way up high, but would the window still be too high to use iron sights?  I guess this is a moot point if I go the throw lever mount as it would be quick to remove.

 

Fenian, Thanks for the pic's. The Kobra does sit kinda high up, but that looks like a good setup for the $. I'd like to lay my hands on one to check it out. For some reason I never see em at gun shops or shows. I've found that optics can be very subjective. One persons perfect deal may be hated by someone else. In the reflex sights I've looked at EO Tech, Hakko, Trijicon, and ATN ultrasights. I didn't really see that much difference optically between Hakko and ATN, although I know the japanese optics should be better. The Hakko compact was really small, but seemed too fragile for my taste. I agree that EO Tech's outer ring on the standard reticle looked "jagged". I thought it was distracting at first but after a second look I didn't notice it. One thing I think we all would agree on is that any of these gadgets are an awesome improvement over iron sights.

One more thing (sorry about the multiple posting). I didn't think the holosight model and the EO Tech high end models were any different optically. The main thing seemed to be durability with the "roll bar", and some extra features such as the different shut down modes, NV, battery options, etc. Am I missing something here?

Dawg 180, the glass on the Kobra is first rate, very clear at all times.  Battery life is actually pretty good...but there are 2 kinds of Kobras.  The older ones, like on my SAR 2, take AA batteries...the newer ones, like in the pic, take a camera battery that you'll most likely have to go to Radio Shack to get.  I've actually left that damn sight on overnight and still been able to use it the next day...but it never hurts to have spare batteries on hand lol.  

Bear in mind that the Kobra is issued military spec equipment...so it's as heavy duty as you'd expect.  I knocked mine off my workbench on the concrete floor here, and it didn't even scratch it.  

Another cool thing about the is that the dot is only about 1moa...but you have the choice of four reticles: dot, dot over inverted chevron, inverted chevron, wide 4 post reticle with the top post missing.  With only the dot, and the brightness turned down, you can see all of a standard SR1 target black area...which makes it easier to shoot more precisely, imho, than you'd be able to do with a 4moa dot.  

This is a 25 shot group at 100 yards benched, semi rapid fire...basically, I just allowed myself to re-acquire the black and let 'er rip.  These were my last 25 rounds, so I didn't have a chance to nudge the sight a click or 2 left like it needs.  All in all, though, what more do you need out of a red dot sight?  

[img]http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-5/188491/target1.jpg[/img]

I got both of my Kobras from Tantal, who is about as good a guy as you'll ever want to deal with.  

[url]http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/[/url]

I dropped my Kobra from 3 feet onto grass and the power switch broke.  Also inside a year several of the LEDs that power the various reticles died.  The glass is blue tinted and it makes it impossible to make precise shots past 25m in very low light.  It ends up just being an occcluded gun sight as its like wearing sunglasses at night.  Its not water proof.  If it goes under water it will fry.  Its only water resistant.  Battery life is about a week.  Controls are not ergonomic and its a BITCH to sight in and the knobs dont track well.

An OKO with metal shroud or an Eotech is a MUCH better sight.  I would not purchase another Kobra and would only reccomend it to those who have no other choice in optics because of financial reasons.  It IS better than iron sights but if it were at all possible I would choose another optic.