Anyone have any personal experience with the russian Kobra reddot sights sold by Tantal or Freedomoptics? Would be a cost-effective alternative to an EO or Aimpoint, but not sure about russian stuff on my AR. Any opinions welcome!

Mine has worked well on my AK, built like a tank, and I like the multiple reticles. It feels more rugged than my OKO sight, but the OKO has a much brighter/sharper dot. The Kobra can be hard to see in full daylight; but then maybe my batteries are getting weak.

Tacpoint is a far better optic.  I wont buy another Kobra not even for an AK.

Quoted: Tacpoint is a far better optic.  I wont buy another Kobra not even for an AK.

Details?

have a Kobra for my AK

side rail clamp, lithium coin batteries. EKP8os I think it is.

Sucked. Put several mags through it at several rnage trips, and it suddenly went dead.

It is built like a tank, however. Took me two weeks of pyring and picking to get the electronics cover off. There was a short in the wiring, had to solder the thing back in place to the TINY solid state panel (good thing I do electrical work on the side). Reattatched it to the mount, wouldn't hold zero (know I probably messed up the mount of the sight to the side rail when I removed it: it looks like it wasn't meant to be removed.)

Took it off, and left it off. It was nice to use, but heavy. 2 pounds or something along those lines, it was really noticable on my SAR2.

I was in a lose-lose situation. I had to ruin the mount to save the sight. Maybe I'll weld a picatinny rail to the bottom some day.

It's a second-world optic. YMMV

Dropped on a small bush from less than 2 feet.  Power switch dies.  Some LEDs that make up reticles went out after a few range trips.  Blocks BUIS for AR15.  Not waterproofed.  Large and bulky.  Etc, etc.

Wow, I didn't know they were not waterproof. That sucks.

I have one...put thousands of rounds through the SAR 2 and SAR 3 it's alternated  on with no problems whatsoever.  Battery life is okay if you don't leave it on for a month.  

It's bright enough to be seen from shade looking into bright light, which my Accupoint isn't capable of.  I've knocked it off my workbench onto the concrete floor twice so far, a height of about 3', with nary a scratch on the unit.  I like the choice of reticles...very nice.  

I'm quite happy with mine, and was actually gonna buy another one until the price went up 35% somewhere along the way. I think I paid $130 for the one I have, but now they're pushing $200, iirc.  

I had one of the weaver rail ones, but sold it...there are better sights out there for an AR, which is what I was gonna use it on.  

I suppose I got lucky, but based on my *own* experience, it's the perfect optic for an AK style rifle.  

Both of mine came from Tantal, who is a good guy to do business with.  

For a cheap (~$150) optic, I prefer the PK-01v series. Brighter dot, uses AAA batteries, and waterproof.

Sounds like these things may not be as tough as they say they are. Tantal has a very good reputation however, and they have a new sight PK-AS-W for $219 that seems interesting. If these aren't too solid, what do you guys recommend? Eotech? Aimpoint? I really can't afford much more than an Eotech, preferably a used on maybe here on the EE. Keep the advice and personal recommendations coming!

An EOtech is 10X better than a Kobra IMO.

Quoted: Sounds like these things may not be as tough as they say they are. Tantal has a very good reputation however, and they have a new sight PK-AS-W for $219 that seems interesting. If these aren't too solid, what do you guys recommend? Eotech? Aimpoint? I really can't afford much more than an Eotech, preferably a used on maybe here on the EE. Keep the advice and personal recommendations coming!

I recommend what I wrote above. A member here runs one on his AR.

I have had 2 Kobra (epk-8?) scopes on a sar-2. I bought from Tantal, easy to deal with, knows these things pretty well.
First one went dead after 6-7 months, i emailed tantal, double checked the battery cover and a couple other fixes he said to try, nothing, still dead.  he had me send it back and he replaced it with the newer version at no cost after the prices had jumped.
new one has worked out fine, not one issue over the last couple of years.  i like reticle /brightness adjustments and it holds exact zero on/off side rail every time.
if you buy from tantal you are in good shape, whther a kobra or one of the other types he carries. he will take care of you if you happen to get a lemon.
for an AK- kobra again without hesitation as long as Tantal is selling them
for my ARs- no way, just doesn't seem kosher to put on a ruskie scope
bh

I had 3 of them (EKP-1S-03M), all bought new from freedomoptics.
They were lightly used (less than 3 trips to the range on each) over a period of about 9 months.
I decided to sell them and as I was testing the last one before shipping it out, I discovered it no longer displayed all 4 reticles.
These things were safe queens.
Yuri at freedomoptics.com offered a credit for the full purchase price on anything else he had (as there were no more EKP-1S-03Ms in the country at the time).
He even offered to transfer that deal to the guy that bought the Kobra in question for another 3 months (until the period of 1 year had passed).
Good dealer, but I think a 33% failure rate on a basically brand new combat optic is too poor to even consider.
Read the other posts here. There are enough first hand reports of failures that to I wouldn't even consider it if it were me.
If you need a cheap red dot, get something Japanese. They know how to make a freakin circuit board.

I got to use my brother's AK74 with a Kobra this past week... I have an Eotech on a Stag15.

IMO the Kobra was OK, but there is no comparison to the Eotech- in design or use.

The Kobra- expensive for a simple red dot, HUGE, heavy, all controls labelled in Russian.  The neatest part was the multiple reticles, but almost all of the reticles zeroed to a diff point...

The Eotech- smaller, lighter, better controls, brighter reticle, works with a smashed lens.

Save up the money and get an eotech or an Aimpoint. Try out an Eotech first, though. Some people don't like the "grainy" reticle that the laser creates.