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View Full Version : Just got my LaRue "Iron Dot" for T&E **UPDATED REVIEW AFTER USE***



Cameron
10-06-08, 11:58
I received my T&E "Iron Dot" from the guys at LaRue and installed it Sunday, I will be attempting to break it this week :D

It fits exceptionally well, and is rock solid on the gun, it is more solid than the factory iron sights!
The AK's top cover can be removed with out removing the sight.
The back up irons are clearly visible through the optic.

I am very impressed so far.

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/AKMIronDot02.jpg

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/AKMIronDot01.jpg

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/AKMIronDot03.jpg


FYI I am not affiliated or beholden to LaRue in any way.

I wonder if it will pass the test I have already subjected the Rifel Dynamics AK to...

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Shooting/th_528ce6f3.jpg (http://s383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Shooting/?action=view&current=528ce6f3.pbr)

Cameron

Cameron
10-06-08, 13:04
Head to Head evaluations with the Ultimak AimPoint

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/FullerAKs02.jpg

Boss Hogg
10-06-08, 14:37
I saw the LaRue AK sight at Modern Day Marine. It's much more impressive in person.

Aimpoint T1 sights are very nice, but they cost nearly double, and I would be worried about heat transfer from that Ultimak tube.

1 Source
10-06-08, 18:49
I saw the LaRue AK sight at Modern Day Marine. It's much more impressive in person.

Aimpoint T1 sights are very nice, but they cost nearly double, and I would be worried about heat transfer from that Ultimak tube.

When I mounted my T-1 on an ultimak a year+ ago I was concerned with heat issues as well.

Today, 9k+ rounds later heating the gun so hot I could not handle it comfortably without gloves many times it hasnt been an issue yet.

Aimpoint micro's are amazingly heat resistant so far.

Cameron
10-08-08, 15:25
Irons are clearly visible through the LaRue

It's hard to get a camera to make all the elements clear...
http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/LaRue.jpg

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/LaRue2.jpg

http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/LaRue3.jpg

Jay Cunningham
10-08-08, 15:35
Irons are clearly visible through the LaRue

How about in bright, direct sunlight?

frbowers
10-08-08, 16:47
Received and installed my LaRue AK Iron Dot on my Arsenal SLR 107F yesterday. Installation was snap thanks to the good directions provided with the optic. The mounting is low profile, solid and provides a good co-witness sight picture. The mount looks like it will do a good job protecting the optic.

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/5755/picture312vh7.th.jpg (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture312vh7.jpg)
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9997/picture310rn9.th.jpg (http://img139.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture310rn9.jpg)

C4IGrant
10-08-08, 17:01
The concept is really good I think, but I am not overly confident with the Burris optic. They have had some issues with them and do not think they are the highest quality.

As someone that owns a Burris, Doc optic, Trijicon reddot, Pride Fowler, JPoint and a no name version of the Doc, I find them somewhat difficult to use on guns becasue the dot can "disapear" if you do not have the weapon in just the right position. This is why I like the Micro for a serious weapon as the dot is much easier to pick up.

I would like to see LT make a mount like they did, but with a rail on it for the Aimpoint Micro.

One last thing about all these little reflex dots. None of them are waterproof and you can lose your dot if just a little debry or water gets into the optic.



C4

LOKNLOD
10-08-08, 17:19
I would like to see LT make a mount like they did, but with a rail on it for the Aimpoint Micro.


Not having access to either one to make a guess for myself...
Do you think there's clearance to mount the Micro low enough for co-witness in that setup?

C4IGrant
10-08-08, 18:38
Not having access to either one to make a guess for myself...
Do you think there's clearance to mount the Micro low enough for co-witness in that setup?


Maybe. You would have to remove the mount that comes with the Micro and screw it DIRECTLY into the mount that is attached to the rear sight.

C4

H2O MAN
10-08-08, 18:44
When I mounted my T-1 on an ultimak a year+ ago I was concerned with heat issues as well.

Today, 9k+ rounds later heating the gun so hot I could not handle it comfortably without gloves many times it hasnt been an issue yet.

Aimpoint micro's are amazingly heat resistant so far.

Yeah, no heat related worries with the Micro optics.

I understand LaRue is considering a new version of the mount that will accept a Micro optic :cool:

buzz_knox
10-16-08, 09:24
Yeah, no heat related worries with the Micro optics.

I understand LaRue is considering a new version of the mount that will accept a Micro optic :cool:

That's great news. My brother-in-law/shooting partner had a Doc sight go down during a course. We both speculated that a Micro version was coming.

It'll be more expensive, but well worth it.

Cameron
11-17-08, 13:29
The LaRue Iron Dot was a snap to set up, and zero.

LaRue gives instructions, saying to zero the new irons first and them adjust the red dot to the irons. So I quickly zeroed the new irons, as the point of impact had moved 6" up and 2" left from the zero with the factory irons zeroed by Jim Fuller of Rifle Dynamics, which was dead on at 25m.

Once I had the irons dialed in I simply set the red dot to sit on top of the irons and then confirmed the the zero was correct. Locked the red dot's adjustment and I was good to go. Then a friend and I shot 180 rounds through the AK with no problems and the sight maintained zero without a problem, when you think that these were made to be mounted on a pistol slide the recoil of an AK is nothing.

The red dot is a huge improvement over the standard iron sights and is fast and bright enough even to use in the bright sunlight. The only issue we had was that when shooting into the sun the lens/screen can show refracted light which can be distracting and obscure the target even though the red dot is still visible.

Here is the view showing a co-witness with the irons and a 25M zero:
http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/LaRueIronDotZEROED4.jpg

Note that when using the red dot, as it is essentially parallax free to about 50M, so you no longer need to align the irons and the view can look more like this:
http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo277/camz_pics/Guns/17%20inch/LaRueIronDotZEROED3.jpg

I think the only thing that could be done to improve this sight would be some sort of sun shade or hood extended forward, to reduce the glare effect of shooting into bright sunlight, the red dot was still visible, it was just the glare that obscured the target.

Overall it is an excellent sight and well worth it.

Cameron

M4arc
11-17-08, 13:40
Interesting.

Jay Cunningham
11-17-08, 14:08
I am waiting for the foul weather report.

Thanks Cameron for your write-up.

subzero
11-17-08, 16:00
I feel it's my duty to bring up that I'd love to see this idea executed with an Aimpoint Micro. Having said that...

Am I wrong, or are you now forced to make ALL adjustments to the irons via moving the front sight post? I'm not a fan of that. I'm one of those wierdos that wants to center the front sight post in between the ears and do all of my adjustments on the rear. If we're building a new rear sight, why not build windage and elevation adjustments into it?

I find myself wondering if a Micro would give a good co-witness in a similar position. Getting the optic low is the key, and I'm thinking the mount for the Micro would have to be built in to the setup, not simply a rail the Micro can sit upon.

SoDak
11-17-08, 16:34
I feel it's my duty to bring up that I'd love to see this idea executed with an Aimpoint Micro. Having said that...

Am I wrong, or are you now forced to make ALL adjustments to the irons via moving the front sight post? I'm not a fan of that. I'm one of those wierdos that wants to center the front sight post in between the ears and do all of my adjustments on the rear. If we're building a new rear sight, why not build windage and elevation adjustments into it?

I find myself wondering if a Micro would give a good co-witness in a similar position. Getting the optic low is the key, and I'm thinking the mount for the Micro would have to be built in to the setup, not simply a rail the Micro can sit upon.

With a regular ak you make all your adjustments with the front sight. The elevation at the rear just has to do with the needed elevation for various ranges. At least that's they way I understood it.

TOrrock
11-17-08, 16:38
With a regular ak you make all your adjustments with the front sight. The elevation at the rear just has to do with the needed elevation for various ranges. At least that's they way I understood it.


Nope, you nailed it. :cool:

frbowers
11-17-08, 16:43
Overall it is an excellent sight and well worth it.


That has been my experience as well. I finally got out to the range yesterday and zeroed the iron dot. I found the LaRue replacement rear sight to shoot high also. So far I'm happy with Iron Dot and really like the speed accuracy at 50 yards and less. I've only got about 150 rounds down range with mine and need to do more testing.

rob_s
11-17-08, 17:12
I think I'm going to pick one of these up for the carbine class I'm taking next month. I think it would be nice to have experienced irons, the Aimpoint Micro, and the Iron Dot by the time my AK experiment is over with.

subzero
11-17-08, 18:45
With a regular ak you make all your adjustments with the front sight. The elevation at the rear just has to do with the needed elevation for various ranges. At least that's they way I understood it.

Right, and I'm saying that's a less than ideal setup. I like the front being centered between the ears as I feel it makes sight pickup easier and faster.

AK nuts already have this option available to them if they can find an RPK rear leaf. They're damn hard to get though, I haven't gotten one in 2 years of looking.

I'm not claiming to know a lot about guns in general or AKs in particular, but I know what enhancements I want to have in an AK. A windage adjustable rear sight, regardless of optic setup, is one of them. Blending a Bo-Mar style rear blade to this setup seems like an ideal solution to me. Hopefully, for folks like me, the next iteration of this sight will have a built-in Micro mount AND an adjustable blade.

f.2
11-18-08, 20:01
They pop up every now and then.

Windage Adjustable Rear Iron Sight for AK47s and RPKs (http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=7&f=123&t=606819), SOLD $55 with FREE shipping to the mainland USA

M4arc
11-24-08, 12:01
Cameron, can you get a top down picture for me?

I'm thinking about picking one of these up for my SLR-105 but I want to see how it mounts and I'm curious about how it will hold up in foul whether.

frbowers
11-24-08, 12:49
Cameron, can you get a top down picture for me?

I'm thinking about picking one of these up for my SLR-105 but I want to see how it mounts and I'm curious about how it will hold up in foul whether.

The Iron Dot base replaces the factory rear sight. Simply remove the old rear sight and install the new Iron Dot base. There are a couple of magnets on the iron dot base that help hold it down on the top cover. The new rear sight blade that comes with the iron dot helps in this regard also. The Burris sight itself mounts to the Iron Dot base with a couple of screws and pins.

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/5755/picture312vh7.th.jpg (http://img76.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture312vh7.jpg)

M4arc
11-24-08, 13:03
Thanks frbowers.