Art
05-09-2011, 02:06
I have been thinking about buying a good red dot sight for my AK 47 clone which serves, among other functions, as my SHTF rifle. I figured a Russian model that would fit the side rail would be a good choice and Kalinka Optics has the best selection I could find.
The problem is Kalinka has a checkered reputation for customer service. The big problem for me, besides not having a contact phone number, is that they have the women's underwear return policy - if you've used it they won't take it back. In fact if you open the wrapper they probably won't take it back.
I understand there are variations in all of these com block AK clones and parts do not necessarily interchange. I sent of an e-mail to see if the PK-01V red dot sight would be compatible with the rail on my rifle. They replied that if the rail were tight I might need to use a little persuasion in the form of a rubber mallet!!
Well I ordered the sight, $279.00. Kalinka's shipping is very reasonable, only $10.00 for this item.
After four days the sight arrived. It came in a nylon camo carrying case and a little manual in Russian of course held together with rusty staples, a bag of dessicant tied with a cord, two AAA batteries in a paper wrapper and some lens cleaning tissue. How Russian is that??
The sight itself appeared appropriately robust. It had some unusual touches to "Ivan proof" it. The lens caps are attached to the sight permanently but nest in each other on the side of the sight when not in use. On top of the sight is a fine metal loop about half the size of the eye of a leather needle. Two pieces of monofiliment tied to form a "Y" pass through the loop and attach to similar metal loops on little swiviling plates on top of the caps of the windage and elevation knobs and battery compartment. Not loosing those!
The Manual is in Russian with no translation but the writing on the adjustment knobs is in French with the appropriate arrows????? The elevation knob is marked Haut (high) with an arrow and the deflection knob is marked gauche (left) with an arrow.
The brightness has 8 click adjustments. The dot is 1.5 moa which was a big selling point with me since most red dots I've seen have 3-4 moa dots.
Well I put the sight on the rifle, snapped down the locking lever which seemed to close too easily, but the sight seemed rigid. I took it to the range where sighting it in was a snap. I had it pretty much on in 8 rounds. Took off the sight, snapped it back on and it held zero. Checked it again after verifying zero and sure enough it felt a bit loose. Shot it at 100 yards where the rifle held 3.5" for 5 shots then the mount really loosened up :icon_e_sad:.
Well, what to do:icon_scratch:??? Kalinka isn't taking it back and I like the sight itself. It's either get a new mount or make a shim. Out came the tin snips and an old can and in a half hour I had fabricated the appropriate shim.
Back to the range today, re zeroed and shot the rifle at 100 and 200 yards (that 1.5 mil red dot really shines at 200 yards.) Then I shot some rapid fire. The mount lock up is still solid. I'll slam off some more ammo next week to make sure it's holding. If it does I will assume the problem is solved.
Soooo, the sight is no problem, in fact I love the sight, but as I had been advised before I started this process not all side rails on AK type rifles are created exactly equal!! Be prepared to make some modifications if your's is too tight, or worse, too lose.
The problem is Kalinka has a checkered reputation for customer service. The big problem for me, besides not having a contact phone number, is that they have the women's underwear return policy - if you've used it they won't take it back. In fact if you open the wrapper they probably won't take it back.
I understand there are variations in all of these com block AK clones and parts do not necessarily interchange. I sent of an e-mail to see if the PK-01V red dot sight would be compatible with the rail on my rifle. They replied that if the rail were tight I might need to use a little persuasion in the form of a rubber mallet!!
Well I ordered the sight, $279.00. Kalinka's shipping is very reasonable, only $10.00 for this item.
After four days the sight arrived. It came in a nylon camo carrying case and a little manual in Russian of course held together with rusty staples, a bag of dessicant tied with a cord, two AAA batteries in a paper wrapper and some lens cleaning tissue. How Russian is that??
The sight itself appeared appropriately robust. It had some unusual touches to "Ivan proof" it. The lens caps are attached to the sight permanently but nest in each other on the side of the sight when not in use. On top of the sight is a fine metal loop about half the size of the eye of a leather needle. Two pieces of monofiliment tied to form a "Y" pass through the loop and attach to similar metal loops on little swiviling plates on top of the caps of the windage and elevation knobs and battery compartment. Not loosing those!
The Manual is in Russian with no translation but the writing on the adjustment knobs is in French with the appropriate arrows????? The elevation knob is marked Haut (high) with an arrow and the deflection knob is marked gauche (left) with an arrow.
The brightness has 8 click adjustments. The dot is 1.5 moa which was a big selling point with me since most red dots I've seen have 3-4 moa dots.
Well I put the sight on the rifle, snapped down the locking lever which seemed to close too easily, but the sight seemed rigid. I took it to the range where sighting it in was a snap. I had it pretty much on in 8 rounds. Took off the sight, snapped it back on and it held zero. Checked it again after verifying zero and sure enough it felt a bit loose. Shot it at 100 yards where the rifle held 3.5" for 5 shots then the mount really loosened up :icon_e_sad:.
Well, what to do:icon_scratch:??? Kalinka isn't taking it back and I like the sight itself. It's either get a new mount or make a shim. Out came the tin snips and an old can and in a half hour I had fabricated the appropriate shim.
Back to the range today, re zeroed and shot the rifle at 100 and 200 yards (that 1.5 mil red dot really shines at 200 yards.) Then I shot some rapid fire. The mount lock up is still solid. I'll slam off some more ammo next week to make sure it's holding. If it does I will assume the problem is solved.
Soooo, the sight is no problem, in fact I love the sight, but as I had been advised before I started this process not all side rails on AK type rifles are created exactly equal!! Be prepared to make some modifications if your's is too tight, or worse, too lose.