I think I found the poor mans aimpoint

[raxar]

a while back at cabelas I caught sight of one of these

http://www.truglo.com/images/TG8030GB.jpg

it's a tru glo red dot sight, and I thought "I wonder how that would be on an AK". They are intended to be put on shotguns with turkey loads, so they should be fairly robust, it has both green and red reticles, both of which are a dot in circle arrangement, and best of all it's cheap, around 70-80 bucks. So today I bought one, currently stuck on my kel-tec SU-16 because I don't have a mount for an AK yet. First impressions are pretty positive, it gets pretty bright and it seems well built. Unfortunatly there wasn't time to test it today, so there won't be a range report until next week.

[videodon]

It would work well on an AK.
Do you have a side mount for it?

[matshock]

It would work well on an AK.
Do you have a side mount for it?

Yep, you want the lowest mount as possible. I use the Bushnell TRS-25 on my SAR 3 and it's been perfect.

[raxar]

It would work well on an AK.
Do you have a side mount for it?

no, I'm hoping the sportsmans guide still has the russian made ones, I haven't seen them anywhere else in a while.

[matshock]

no, I'm hoping the sportsmans guide still has the russian made ones, I haven't seen them anywhere else in a while.

Just do a search for the BP-02 mount it looks like there are still a few out there.

[az_paul]

Please post your range report. I might be interested in buying one of those.

[swampdragon]

Just do a search for the BP-02 mount it looks like there are still a few out there.

Yep.
BP-02
That's what I have too.
I modified it some, but it's the one I'd go with too.

[raxar]

got to take it out today, I like it. Since I had it on the kel-tec I couldn't bore sight so the fist two shots were 2 feet low and 2.5 feet to the right. it doesn't say anywhere that I saw how much the click adjustments move it so it took some guess work but I got it about right in 10 rounds with out any issue. the range was full so I only put about 30 rounds through it without hiccup. I was using the built in bipod rather than a proper rest so no real groups to speak of, it did prove minute of man though. I'd say she's something to look into, I'll keep you posted.

[gunslinger]

I've mounted a crappy chinese red dot on my AK. Paid it 50€. I've put several hundred rounds through it, and it still works fine. It's not much, but most of them I shot in a couple hours. It got so hot I had to pour water on it. Still working.

[crapshoot]

no, I'm hoping the sportsmans guide still has the russian made ones, I haven't seen them anywhere else in a while.

If you really wanna go low budget, use some hose clamps.

[skorpion]

I am curious to see how well this holds up over time, as I was looking at TruGlo optics also at one point. I read up on the reviews and it seemed like a lot of folks had trouble keeping a zero after a certain number of rounds. Hopefully this doesn't happen to you, keep us posted. Thanks, raxar!

[BigDumbGerman]

I hope it holds up well for you. My first Poor Man's Aimpoint was a Tasco 30mm red dot from Wal-Mart. It held up well to a point. The problem is that a rifle's recoil is a little different from a shotty, or even a pistol for that matter. That's where I noticed the difference in an optic designed for rimfire/shotgun versus pronlonged use on a centerfire rifle.

This one is probably a lot better. I'm interested to hear more range reports. To me, sticking a "real" Aimpoint on the average AK clone is like putting lipstick on a pig, regardless of the mounting system you use.

BDG