AK Optic

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

I need an optic that doesn't look out of place on a classic wood furniture AK, possibly something square?

[Samurai]

I don't know if svd mount and the AK mount are compatible. If yes, then maybe this: http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=OT-DS-SVD-RG&search=special&rs=Dot%20Sights&catid=&cat=&view_choice=a

[AK47frizzle]

Kobra red dots, elcan spectre

[Monty]

elcan spectre

 

...An optic that doesn't look out of place.

[AK47frizzle]

 

...An optic that doesn't look out of place.

No, i think elcans look pretty decent on AKs

[Monty]

No, i think elcans look pretty decent on AKs

 

Ew no.

[Zak Da Mack]

 

I think it looks pretty good...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... JK, it looks awful.

[team flex]

 

 

 

 

 

... JK, it looks awful.

 

 

 

nearly missed that, thank god I didn't...

 

 

what about something like this?

only like £15 my apologies in size of image btw

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

Looks a bit modern, maybe

[Samurai]

A friend of mine has this on his AK: http://www.dx.com/p/1x-34mm-red-green-dot-gun-sight-1-x-cr1620-113796#.VDE9NBaYi50

with an eye protector like this: http://www.dx.com/p/universal-scope-sight-rubber-cover-eye-protector-black-67064#.VDE9BRaYi50

 

It's a red dot, not a scope works great and looks really good.

[Airsoft-Ed]

No optic looks right on a classic AK, because the lack of any optics is what makes it look "classic" lol.

I think 47s just look wrong with any attachments, unless you're going to clearly modernise it with rails and everything. 74s you can get away with basic stuff added along with classic style, wood furniture, but Russian optics only. Kobras, PK-As, PSOs at a push, perhaps.

[two_zero]

Been running a BSA red dot for a very long time... doesn't look too shabby. thou I tend tot ake it off before pics

I don't know if svd mount and the AK mount are compatible. If yes, then maybe this: http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=OT-DS-SVD-RG&search=special&rs=Dot%20Sights&catid=&cat=&view_choice=a

 

Was just gonna suggest someone should make a PSO red dot.... if that fits AK!! thou the one I have on my rs-svd does not. but it's worth sending them an email asking!!

 

eeeeew!! and I'm not talking about the optic!!

[Chock]

Got one of these on my Dragunov, but I guess it would look okay on an AK:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270951265654?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Ian_Gere]

...and fuck you.

The latest:

...which is one of these on an ICS side mount.

 

Unfortunately Kobra replicas are OOS everywhere at the moment and have been for a long time. You see real steel ones going for as little as £150 sometimes, but £180-200 is more like it - new old stock/refurbished they are about £280.

[SuicidalBarrelRoll]

Slight digression, how would one go about re finishing a CM04 xyz wood? Sand back then...?

[Lozart]

Slight digression, how would one go about re finishing a CM04 xyz wood? Sand back then...?

 

Stain mahogany and finish with tung oil. If there's a branch of Axminster power tools near you they will have everything you need.

[Ian_Gere]

The way I did the one pictured above was by sanding, then painting on a stain made from 'Van Dyk Crystals' which is a traditional wood treatment made from burnt walnut shells. It's not actually that good at penetrating the wood, although perhaps if I'd used something other than the recommended water as a solvent, it may have been better - petrol for eg. Once dry I sprayed it with 3 coats of Humbrol aerosol satin varnish. This proved insufficient for some areas, but tbh I was so worried about causing drips that I suspect my coats were not as thick as they could have been. Anyway, so far I have decided to let the wear stand and just sprayed a few more layers of varnish on top so it doesn't get any worse.

 

I think it looks quite good, but I suspect that using Briwax applied with steel wool on the freshly sanded wood may produce better results. One thing you definitely don't want to do is slap some ordinary stain/varnish on there, because the finish is high gloss, which is not only Wrong compared to the real steel, but looks like plastic in photographs.

[Chock]

Depends on what kind of AK you want it to look like. Much of the time you can get a bit of a hint at where the AK originated from by the furniture colour, but this is only sometimes true, for example, Bulgarian AKs tend to have wood that looks a lot like a nice mahogany sideboard, Romanian tend to look very orange, Czech ones are often a pale brown, Russian ones are kind of reddish plum coloured, Chinese ones (type 56) use Manchurian Catalpa, but they tend to stain it a reddish orange and shellac the living crap out of it. However, the Chicom Type 56 has quite a few visual differences to proper Russian Kalashnikovs, notably a slightly different compensator and front sight.

 

To make a proper 'cliche AK' furniture colour, what you wanna do is sand it down, stain the wood a mahogany colour, let that dry and then overpaint that with either Tamiya X-26 clear orange acrylic (for an Romanian type look), or Tamiya X-27 clear red acrylic (for a more reddish, typical Russkie/Chicom look). This will give it the horrendous varnish effect that most real AKs have, believe it or not, that even works on plastic stocks, although it does take the wood stain ages to dry. Here's my old completely plastic CYMA springer AK47 front grip painted up using that exact technique, finished with X-26 acrylic:

 

[team flex]

Ian, I'm not going to lie, that first sight has definitely grown on me. Contradicting my first post, I actually quite like it

[Ian_Gere]

Ian, I'm not going to lie, that first sight has definitely grown on me. Contradicting my first post, I actually quite like it

I was in the process of building a 'post apocalyptic' AK, from a real steel wooden (lol) stock, G&P ali receiver and CYMA alloy RIS handguards, which I intend the Elcan SpecterOS replica to go on - but the bloke who was drilling the stock for me, so it will accept the lug from the receiver, has disappeared so I dunno what to do now. It's definitely not right for my franken-AK build, as it is a 3.4X scope, not a red dot. I like it on Morena my '74, but she's also the gun to go with my original period Soviet-Afghan War uniform and gear and i dislike taking off/putting on sights all the time, because it loses whatever zero you have.

 

IMO the C-More style red dot on a side mount isn't a million miles away from a Kobra so it is staying for the time being, but if the replicas do not come back in stock for a while, I may change the side mount to a skeleton one I have and dress the whole thing up more Kobra-esque with some plastic and Fimo.

 

Another gun I've decided I want to build is a tactical RPK with a D-Boys X47 full body RAS, locked off to semi as a DMR and I think the Elcan would go well with that, or perhaps [heresy alert] put rails on Agnes my L1A1 and use the Elcan on her...

[Zak Da Mack]

Ian, I'm not going to lie, that first sight has definitely grown on me. Contradicting my first post, I actually quite like it

 

Then you must be as mad as Ian. It looks horrible as it doesn't fit in with the curves of the gun and make it silly. But personally, I don't think you can have an optic on an AK (apart from maybe a PKA-S if you're lucky) Sorry, for offending (the rest of) your sexy looking AK Ian I don't know why, but in recent months, I've found myself appealing more to the Russian stuff than the western stuff now. It's just so much more cooler

[Chock]

I don't think you can have an optic on an AK (apart from maybe a PKA-S if you're lucky)

 

In airsoft there is a reason to have an optic on an AK, since the externals are largely cosmetic, thus with similar internals to other weapons, an airsoft AK47 can be as accurate as any other rifle, but in terms of a realistic - or even aesthetically pleasing - look, I completely agree that an AK looks preposterous with an optical sight on it, it's just not what the AK47 is about. It looks about as right as putting a telescopic sight on a shotgun would.

 

The AK47 is an assault rifle - it was never intended to be a super-accurate weapon, it's designed to be operated by troops with limited training, specifically for peppering fire at the bad guys to keep their heads down whilst your comrades move up into grenade tossing range, - i.e. it is a rifle for making an assault with. In fact, in Soviet doctrine, the AK is pretty much regarded as a disposable weapon if need be, which is hardly the thing you'd do if it had, and could make use of, an expensive optical sight. Even the SVD, which was designed to use an optic, was never regarded as something which would always make one shot kills, that's why the Soviets made the SVD a semi-automatic weapon. At the time the SVD was considered unusual by Western analysts for what they regarded as a 'sniper rifle', when in fact it is - and always was - a squad marksman's rifle rather than a sniper weapon, intended to be deployed in fairly large numbers at section level. The Soviets have always been pragmatic realists when it comes to their military, well aware that intricate plans almost always go awry the moment the shooting starts, thus their doctrine is about fielding large numbers, ease of use, ease of production, and weight of fire. It's rarely, if ever, been about pinpoint accuracy.

 

Putting an optical sight on an AK is like putting a set of spoilers on a milk float.

[Sitting Duck]

well as my loadout is simply jeans n trainers I am trying to chuck together a few ideas/options for a scope

of any sort on my AK & SVD I bought

 

yup not very authentic maybe with the scopes I may use but I don't care, end of the day it is the owners

gun and their decision/right to fit anything they like on there - sure it may not be the real deal but this airsoft

I don't worry too much - I'm here to have a bit of fun and hopefully shoot a few peeps before I get owned.....

 

maybe I will get a more authentic looking scope in the end but for now will just use anything I got lying around

and see how these AK's & me get on - longer barrel bigger mags than M4's - gotta have some respect for the AK

(can see why these cheapo ugly old choice of terrorists weapons often give the M4's a run for the airsoft money)

[Chock]

True enough. Eye of the beholder and all that, and of course anyone can put anything they like on their gun, because it is their gun

[Zak Da Mack]

Never serious they can't. Just giving my opinion on optics on AKs. Ain't gonna stop them (though I wish I could)