Copied this over from my blog.
So this happened about 6 weeks ago, but I've been busy so I'm just now getting down to it. As you'll recall, I posted back in April that the PK-23 was an excellent "bargain" red dot scope. Well, it looks like I'm going to have to take that back. After 1800 rounds, it failed me.
I was running a dynamic shooting course using my WASR equipped with the PK-23 to really shake it up and see what it could take. As part of this course, targets were engaged at a max range of 100 meters, up to "CQB" (spitting distance). There were also several transitions from long arm to pistol and back again, reloads performed under cover, and shooting at targets behind cover.
At first, the PK-23 did quite well. The blinking dot really helped it stand out in the bright light and the smaller dot made hits on smaller targets quite easy. After going prone fast and taking several shots at a target 15m away, I noticed that the dot jumped position. Seeing this, I immediately used the front sight and scope body as a giant "ghost ring" type sight and completed the shooting course. Thankfully, this "caveman Eotech" worked well enough and I was able to make body hits on the 3 remaining targets.
Afterward, my brother and I spent about an hour diagnosing the problem and seeing if we could fix the scope. First, we checked to make sure that the screws on the turrets were tightened, they were. We then loosened them, re-zeroed it with a laser bore sighter, and then shot it at a new target. Immediately the dot moved and the scope lost zero. To check that this wasn't an issue with the scope, but the mount, we pulled it off of it's mount and used a pair of 30mm rings I had on hand. The scope was then mounted on my Ultimak equipped SLR-107FR after we removed the Aimpoint Comp ML3. Again, the dot moved after each shot and zero was impossible to hold. After that, we can to the conclusion that the scope had indeed bit the dust, so it's now sitting in a dump somewhere, an object lesson to me.
While I understand that others have PK-23s that have functioned for years without issue, I can personally no longer recommend it as a viable option for a weapon that you might have to trust your life to one day.
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