Like most other AK owners, I tried a number of different optics and mounting solutions and was never really satisfied with any of them. My first optic was the Russian-made PK-AS, which is actually an awesome optic but like all other Russian models, sat off center of the bore axis or way too high. Here is a pic of the PK-AS on my Krebs AK-103k;
What may not be very evident in this photo is that the optic sits directly above the siderail mount, offset to the left of the bore. I could never get used to this arrangement - even using my left eye pulled my cheek off the stock.
The next set up I tried was an EOTech on an Ultimak. This was better than the PK-AS, but still not IMO ideal. The Ultimak mount works very well but gets pretty damned hot after extensive use with the optic absorbing that heat. I also did not care for not being able to remove the gas tube (the Ultimak replaces the standard gas tube) without having to re-zero the optic. Not a big deal, but overall I still contined to look for a better solution.
The next set up I tried was an Aimpoint CompC3 on a BP-02 siderail low mount. The Weaver rail is long enough to accept two scope rings, but since I only needed room for one ring I cut the rail down in length. The result of this is shown below;
This was an improvement over the Ultimak/EOTech set up in terms of the heat problems and gas tube removal/cleaning, and was far easier to use than the PK-AS. But as you can see in the photo above, the rail is not centered over the bore and the optic still sits rather high. Picking up on an idea by another AK owner, I decided to modify the BP-02 mount to (1) center the optic over the bore and (2) get the optic as low as possible.
As you can see from the photos of the BP-02 mount, the rail sits on top of the mount. However, there is a recess between the two shoulders of the mount that the rail mounts to that is essentially wasted space. Since the Aimpoint needs only one ring, the idea is to cut the rail down so that it will fit between the two shoulders. This lowers the optic by about 3/16" and allows the rail to be positioned so that the optic is centered over the bore.
The process is actually quite simple; cut the rail down to fit between the two shoulders of the BP-02 and secure the rail in place. I carefully cut the rail so that it's square and "friction fitted" it between the two shoulders. This allows the actual mount to absorb the recoil instead of the screws that mount the rail. Once I hade the rail positioned perfectly over the bore - and as square as possible - I used two brass machine screws with nuts to secure the rail and secured them with Loctite. Below are some photos of the modified mount;
The screws & nuts were postioned to not interfere with the Aimpoint ring.
This shows how far the rail had to be shifted to get it over the center of the bore. The holes on the top of the shoulders were where the rail was originally mounted.
Once the screws & nuts were secured, I used a file to square-off the round-head screws and provide clearance to the receiver cover (of which there is plenty).
The optic now sits considerably lower than before. If someone made a ring that was about 3/16" lower, co-witness would be possible.
Optic is now centered over the bore.
This is by far the best set up I have tried. It's reasonably low - though not low enought to co-witness - and allows a decent cheek weld. The quick-detach BP-02 mount is sturdy and holds zero very well. All-in-all, until Mark Larue comes out with his mount that will allow co-witness, this is IMO the best set-up for mounting an Aimpoint on an AK.
I hope you find this post useful!
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Originally Posted by Canonshooter
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