I'm hoping some folks can help establish an average front sight post height on their AK's. I'm curious to see if there is a difference between models and country of origin such as Saiga, Romy, Hungarian, etc..  I'm after that dimension to help set up a red dot combo that will co-witness through the glass.

I measured a Saiga .308 and obtained a dimension of aproximately 2.010 from barrel centerline to top of sight post. My romy is nearly the same as that.

Also, it would be helpful to have some basic dimensions on various red dots. The two principal dimensions needed are the distance from the mounting surface to the lens centerline and the diameter of the lens.

Having that data will allow me to design a front and rear sight combo that will cowitness through the glass. I'm playing with that today on my AK and it looks like a promising project. I'll have to make a front sight that is taller than normal and a rear sight to match. Of the two red dots I have one measures .875" lens centerline and the other measures 1.400" centerline. The taller one is for an AR application and will work with typical AR rear sights.

Bulgarian SSR-85:  2.008" from centerline of barrel to top of sight post according to my Starrett calipers.



ETA: Whoa...post #1000

Thanks for that.

I was working on the front sight project a little bit and came up with an interesting solution. I had found a front sight from an RPD and pressed it onto my AK barrel with an adapter bushing. It has the same height ( about 2") as the regular AK front sight. The big difference is the diameter of the guard wings is quite a bit larger and makes for very easy sighting. Another benefit is the easy windage adjustment with the dovetail feature on that post.

I'm thinking a good solution for cowitnessing through an optic is to make different height post/wing parts that will fit onto a standard sight base. You would simply select a top half that corresponds to your optic. It would even be possible to make the top half fold away when not needed. Add to that a rear peep at the back end of the DogLeg and you have a two foot sight radius that will cowitness through the glass.

I don't have pics right now but I'll put something up tomorrow. Maybe there are some available pics in the RPD threads.

That sounds like a neat idea.  I have added peep sights to AK top covers before and finding the correct height to make the front sight is a real pain.  It takes some trial and error to do it.  Swapping out parts as you described would be much easier than welding the front sight as I have had to do in the past.  Keep up the good work, you are making my life easier.

Here are some pics of the RPD front sight I adapted to my AK. I think it will be a good start to the next phase of sighting development for the platform. As you can see here the top half of the sight is adjustable for elevation at the post, windage at the dovetail, as well as completely removable. By changing to a taller top half  it's possible to get the proper height to cowitness through the glass. I think there is also enough room to incorporate a folding mechanism. A rear folding sight will be much easier to match up. Opinions are greatly appreciated.









Edited the thread title from Front Sight Post Height to Front Sight Post Development. Seemed more appropriate.

if the goal is to co-witness through glass, why not just get an ultimak and an aimpoint?

If you read the Dog Leg Rail thread you will see that he has a new rail out for the AK that will have a peep at the rear. This will give the owner the option of using a red dot over the receiver and even the ability to have a peep sight with longer sight radius than the standard sight AND co-witness.

To me it's all about options. Certainly the combo you suggest is a good one. For my taste, I prefer the weight to be located further back on the rifle and a little closer to the eye. Also, with the set-up I'm working on it will be possible to mount a red dot with a flip over magnifier behind it and still have the cowitness capability. Then there is the increased sight radius measuring about two feet in length. There's no single best way to achieve an optic mount. It's all about options and preference.

Well put!

i'd love to see him develop a flip up sight. ala something like this but his own, and all one piece instead of having to buy an MI or YHM sight.

ETA: this sight does co-witness, or so the builder says.





more like this

HEY CALLICOJACK  


not to hijack the thread... but can you post more pics of that rifle?

I actually did make an aluminum adapter something like the one in the picture but, it was shaped more like the front sight on an AR with a little 1" rail on top. I pressed it onto the end of the barrel and fitted a YHM folding sight to it. Took one look at it in profile and thought "Holy Cow! What a Monstrosity!" I had to laugh at myself for making such a thing. It looked huge, it was heavy, and bulky and no way would I run that thing. The one in the picture above is a lot nicer than that first attempt I made. The problem ended up being that it was too tall and then the folding YHM front sight was way bulky with the big screw knob and all.

That first failed prototype lead me to doing something with the RPD sight as a starting point. Since you can just change the top half within the dovetail it will be a lot trimmer, neater, and lighter than a rail mounted device. Doing away with the rail, clamps, screws, and knobs totally cleans up the whole sight assembly. Within this concept it will also be possible to include a folding feature if desired.

my next build will be very simular, except not using the ultimak upper and using rafaga's DLR on the front. if i can convince rafaga to build a sight like that....
and the stock will be fixed not folding.

Updates??? I could definitely use an RPD type sight for my 308 VEPR. It looks like it is close to the muzzle diameter on the VEPR, and may not even need a bushing. When these are ready to go please make sure you've got a heavy bbl version. Don't need a folding option for a long bbl DMR. For those of us that don't need to cowitness an optic could a stock RPD sight (maybe with the sight post screwed up high) combined with a low profile rear sight zero with the DogLeg?  I'll keep my eyes open for updates .