Decided to switch my ORF/Bulgie from

Kobra



to

Ultimak/Aimpoint Combo




Why?

1: Optics: The Aimpoint lens quality and reticle quality far surpass that of the Kobra. (As it damned well should for the price differential) A fairly BFD when your eyes are as old as mine. You young guys would probably never notice the difference at AK ranges.

2: Ergonomics: The further forward the scope is (within reason) the easier it is to pick up the dot in a hurry and the less the scope body interferes with your field of view. The Aimpoint on the Ultimak also sits much lower on the gun than the Kobra; You can actually use a regular cheek weld with the former. This might not seem like such a big deal until you try to go weak side around a barrier or go prone under a car. Then it becomes a significant issue. Additionally, less vertical offset is required for close-in shots.

This comparison shot shows the large vertical difference in sight planes:



3: Alignment; With the Kobra, if I zero the windage at 25 yards, I will be 4” left at 100 yards. This is no knock on the Kobra; just the reality of trying to maintain perfect alignment between the left side of the receiver and the barrel / the scope rail and the receiver / the rail and the mounting bracket / the mounting bracket and the scope centerline. All M1/M14 side mounted scope systems have the same problem and are a real bitch to keep zeroed. (Give me a second while I put on my Nomex coveralls for the incoming flames.)

The Ultimak, on the other hand aligns directly on top of the barrel. If it’s windage zeroed at 25 yards, it’s windage zeroed at 200 yards.

4. Weight: The Ultimak/Aimpoint combo adds a net 8 ounces (after removing the original steel gas tube and upper handguard). The Kobra, even the lighter EKP-01 model, adds 17 ounces. True the weight with the former setup is further forward on an already-nose heavy gun but, it seems to me a reasonable trade off.

5. Finally: With the new setup, unlike with the Kobra, I don’t have to remove the scope to wedge the rifle into the gun safe with its brethren.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not knocking the Kobra. It’s a damned good piece of gear; especially at a cost of 39% of the American setup. It’s intelligently designed and sturdy as an anvil. It’s just that, at my age, I need to come up with every possible way to cheat in order to stay up with the young guys who can still see and still have reflexes not measured with a sun dial.

And I understand that the guys who value historical accuracy will see all this high-speed low-drag Gringo shit bolted on an AK as doing violence to authenticity. I have no argument with those folks. In fact, I commend them, as civilization is impossible without accurate history. However, my own interests are confined to putting holes where I want them as fast as I can put them there.

Thanks for looking.

SD

Is that the Comp ML2?  That is the one I have been looking at putting on my Ultimak.  Also what rings did you use?  Any problems with co-witnessing?  I've been thinking of that combo for a while, but its hard to find people with the Ultimak around here.

Is that the Comp ML2? That is the one I have been looking at putting on my Ultimak. Also what rings did you use? Any problems with co-witnessing?

It's actually an older Comp M XD. Same basic envelope.

Co-witness: You can still use the iron sights through the bottom of the scope picture.

You can use the Aimpoint low/wide ring or the Monoring. Just make sure it's LOW.

You didn't ask but; the supposed scope overheating problem with the Ulti,ak is non-esitant.

Luck,

SD

Have decided to abandon the Kobra set up on my AK too, having had a EKP-8-2 2nd gen Kobra on the weapon. The sight itself works fine, even though I found myself positioning my head behind the sight instead of placing weapon and sight between eyes en target.

Decided to go with the Ultimak/Aimpoint combo, sold of the Kobra locally and bought back a ML2.

I agree on the trade of between nose heavy and the lighter weight of the aimpoint. Try shooting your AK with Kobra with a 75rnd drum loaded, that's one heavy setup.

p.s. Sailordude, with the Surefire light attached isn't your weapon gonna be extremely nose heavy with the aimpoint added? I used to have the same setup on my M4 with a RIS and it made the lightest of weapons noseheavy.

Thanks for another fair and balanced report SD! While I have not had the windage move at other yardages like your Kobra has, I have shot with Aimpoints on ARS and FALs. Moving the dot farther away also helps reduce the effective moa of the dot size for a little more precision. I am building a .45 FAL this winter and plan my first forward dot mount for it.

Very, very nice!

p.s. Sailordude, with the Surefire light attached isn't your weapon gonna be extremely nose heavy with the aimpoint added? I used to have the same setup on my M4 with a RIS and it made the lightest of weapons noseheavy

Oh yesh. It seems like we keep bolting nifty stuff on these light weight carbines until we need a gun-bearer to haul it around for us.

In any event, I've gone with the Surefire barrel brackets on all my carbines. This means on/off the gun in about nine seconds. Normally, I leave the light off the weapon unless it has been assigned night duty beside my bedstand. This arrangement also permits me to share one expensive light between a whole bunch of carbines.

SD