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10 comments

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  • armilite
    The mount is okay but the scope is another story. Barska is not what you'd call a quality scope. And number two is that it is to much scope for an AK. Stick with a quality scope from Nikon, Pentax, Redfield or scopes in that price range and stick with a scope with no more than a 3x9 magnification. The 7.62 x39 at 200 meters is at the end of its accuracy potential any way and it's not that accurate to begin with.
    AK's and long range accuracy are never mentioned in the same sentence.
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  • Mobuck
    I don't care for the mounts that tower over the receiver because they prevent getting a decent cheekweld on a regular AK stock. I also don't buy into the either/or iron sight/scope idea. I added a mount made in Israel to my AK74 which seems to work well enough. It is adjustable for height and windage allowing me to set it right on top of the receiver cover. I don't remove the top cover often-just pull a BoreSnake through the barrel occasionally.
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  • beantownshootah
    If your gun has the side mounting area, the side mount will work.

    As mentioned, problem with it is that it does raise the scope up pretty high, and it can be uncomfortable to shoot that way.

    6-24x scope is frankly ridiculous on an AK.

    A scope like that is meant for long distance (ie >300 yards) target or varmint shooting, and the AK platform really isn't accurate enough for that.

    The 6x magnification is too high for shooting under 100 yards (which is where more of the shooting will probably take place) let alone the 24x which means you won't even be able to recognize your target at 50 yards or hold the reticle still!

    For a combat-type gun out to 200 yards, I'd stick to something with either NO magnification (ie a red dot or holographic type sight), or a LOW magnification, like maybe a 3x.

    Fixed magnification, IMO is better than variable on a combat gun (less cost, more reliable, one less knob to worry about in a life-or-death emergency).

    If you MUST get a variable scope, I'd suggest something low powered, like a 1.5-6x or maybe 2-7x as ideal for an AK. 3-9x is probably about as high as you really want to go.
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  • 7.62x39Lover
    quote:Originally posted by beantownshootah
    If your gun has the side mounting area, the side mount will work.

    As mentioned, problem with it is that it does raise the scope up pretty high, and it can be uncomfortable to shoot that way.

    6-24x scope is frankly ridiculous on an AK.

    A scope like that is meant for long distance (ie >300 yards) target or varmint shooting, and the AK platform really isn't accurate enough for that.

    The 6x magnification is too high for shooting under 100 yards (which is where more of the shooting will probably take place) let alone the 24x which means you won't even be able to recognize your target at 50 yards or hold the reticle still!

    For a combat-type gun out to 200 yards, I'd stick to something with either NO magnification (ie a red dot or holographic type sight), or a LOW magnification, like maybe a 3x.

    Fixed magnification, IMO is better than variable on a combat gun (less cost, more reliable, one less knob to worry about in a life-or-death emergency).

    If you MUST get a variable scope, I'd suggest something low powered, like a 1.5-6x or maybe 2-7x as ideal for an AK. 3-9x is probably about as high as you really want to go.






    So I guess the extra magnification will only serve to show me my 5 inch groups? LOL
    Will a 3-9x improve my accuracy between 100 and 200 meters at all? I was under the impression that a scope would improve accuracy over iron sights.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by 7.62x39Lover
    So I guess the extra magnification will only serve to show me my 5 inch groups? LOL

    Will a 3-9x improve my accuracy between 100 and 200 meters at all? I was under the impression that a scope would improve accuracy over iron sights.

    There are several problems in general with using really high power magnification.

    The biggest one is that the higher the power, the narrower your field of view. The more magnification you have, the harder it is going to be to FIND your target and get your reticle in place. Then once you have your target inside the scope, that's all you're going to see! (IE you won't see anything AROUND the target, and that's potentially problematic).

    Its one thing to be shooting at paper targets on a safe range that have high contrast and don't move. If you want to take your time and place your sights on target with your scope then you can do that. . .they're not shooting back at you! So in THIS situation, having really high magnification isn't necessarily bad.

    But assuming you potentially want to use this gun for combat (which is sort of the point of AKs), then you can't count on your target sitting still or being able to see all of it. Being able to get rounds on target QUICKLY is vastly more important than putting them onto target with match-like precision (which your AK won't deliver anyway).

    The higher the magnfication the more the natural "wobble" of your sight picture is magnified, which paradoxically can make it HARDER to shoot accurately (especially from a non-rested position).

    Again, most combat occurs at distances of 100 yards or less, and that's where AKs really shine. At that sort of distance you really shouldn't need ANY magnification to put rounds onto human sized targets.

    If you (for example) look at guns that American soldiers are actually bringing into firefights, the optics they use are either NO magnification holgraphic/dot type sights, or low magnification optics. The high magnification stuff is strictly for LONG range benchrest type shooting (which might include real sniping).

    Now, to answer your question, yes, for the vast majority of shooters, having some magnification WILL increase your ability to make hits at 100-200 yards. No question about that.

    The question is, how much of the time are you actually going to be shooting at that distance, and how much are you going to be shooting at shorter distances? 6x magnification (or even a little more) is perfectly fine at 150-200 yards, but if that's the lowest power you've got, what are you going to do for targets at 40 yards?
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  • 7.62x39Lover
    quote:Originally posted by beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by 7.62x39Lover
    So I guess the extra magnification will only serve to show me my 5 inch groups? LOL

    Will a 3-9x improve my accuracy between 100 and 200 meters at all? I was under the impression that a scope would improve accuracy over iron sights.

    There are several problems in general with using really high power magnification.

    The biggest one is that the higher the power, the narrower your field of view. The more magnification you have, the harder it is going to be to FIND your target and get your reticle in place. Then once you have your target inside the scope, that's all you're going to see! (IE you won't see anything AROUND the target, and that's potentially problematic).

    Its one thing to be shooting at paper targets on a safe range that have high contrast and don't move. If you want to take your time and place your sights on target with your scope then you can do that. . .they're not shooting back at you! So in THIS situation, having really high magnification isn't necessarily bad.

    But assuming you potentially want to use this gun for combat (which is sort of the point of AKs), then you can't count on your target sitting still or being able to see all of it. Being able to get rounds on target QUICKLY is vastly more important than putting them onto target with match-like precision (which your AK won't deliver anyway).

    The higher the magnfication the more the natural "wobble" of your sight picture is magnified, which paradoxically can make it HARDER to shoot accurately (especially from a non-rested position).

    Again, most combat occurs at distances of 100 yards or less, and that's where AKs really shine. At that sort of distance you really shouldn't need ANY magnification to put rounds onto human sized targets.

    If you (for example) look at guns that American soldiers are actually bringing into firefights, the optics they use are either NO magnification holgraphic/dot type sights, or low magnification optics. The high magnification stuff is strictly for LONG range benchrest type shooting (which might include real sniping).

    Now, to answer your question, yes, for the vast majority of shooters, having some magnification WILL increase your ability to make hits at 100-200 yards. No question about that.

    The question is, how much of the time are you actually going to be shooting at that distance, and how much are you going to be shooting at shorter distances? 6x magnification (or even a little more) is perfectly fine at 150-200 yards, but if that's the lowest power you've got, what are you going to do for targets at 40 yards?




    Thanks for the insight guys. I appreciate it. I was thinking I'd use iron sights for 40 yards and under. On a 3-9x, what ranges would a 3 be good for?
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  • 7.62x39Lover
    3-9x40 Does that mean that you can set the scope to any magnification between 3x and 9x?
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  • 7.62x39Lover
    How's this?
    http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/99_193/products_id/22533
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by 7.62x39Lover
    3-9x40 Does that mean that you can set the scope to any magnification between 3x and 9x?

    Yes, that's exactly what it means.

    3-9x40 means the magnification can be adjusted anywhere from 3x to 9x and the 40 means the objective lens (ie the one closer to the target) is 40mm in diameter. The bigger the objective lens, the more light gets through and (up to a point) the brighter the image. Also, the bigger the objective lens, the more expensive the scope and the harder it is to mount it on your rifle close to the bore line, where you want it.

    3-9x40 scopes are very popular for general hunting since they work really well on deer sized targets from say 50-300 yards where 95% of the action is.

    What's 3x good for? That depends a lot on the shooter and what you're trying to hit. But you can certainly do quite well with that power out to 100(+) yards on bigger targets. At close range, high magnification is really helpful when you want to make precise hits on SMALL targets (eg like a squirrels head).

    You know, it might be helpful to get out there and actually try (or at least look through) some scoped rifles to see how they work for you, before you start dropping money and equipment onto yours.

    On the BSA scope, the low end Chinese scopes like the one you linked to are inexpensive for a reason. They deliver relatively poor image quality (image isn't bright, may not be sharp), and can have problems retaining zero under recoil.

    Something like that is OK for a "plinker" where if the scope goes out you're not going to get killed or have an expensive hunt ruined. But for a "serious" gun, I'd go for something better.

    Even if you never really intend to use the scope for anything more serious than "plinking" setting up and zeroing a scope takes up your time and ammo. The worst thing is finally finding time to get to the range, spending 20-30 minutes setting up your targets, ammo, zeroing your scope perfectly, then coming back the next time to find that the zero has moved and you have to replace the scope and/or rezero it again. Unfortunately, good optics are expensive (in fact potentially more expensive than the entire rifle!), but the extra money is generally well worth it. Do it once. . .do it right!

    If you're not flush with cash, but must put a conventional variable power scope on your AK (and again, I'd suggest either a dot or a low power fixed scope at 2x-4x as perfectly fine for an AK too), you might take a look at something like this:

    http://www.opticsplanet.net/nikon-1-4x20-matte-point-blank-riflescope.html

    For a more conventional riflescope, something like this could work too at a good bit less money:
    http://www.opticsplanet.net/burris-2x-7x-35mm-fullfield-ii-scopes.html


    Responding to below:
    Yes, any scope from Burris, Nikon, or Leupold should hold a zero, and if they don't the company will repair or replace the scope for a lifetime at no cost to you.

    Note that 7.62x39 isn't a particularly hard shooting round, and the low-end BSA (NCstar, etc) *may* hold a zero. You may well get a good one. Its just that these low end scopes more likely to fail, have problems with adjustment, poor image, etc.

    If you just want to get a cheapie scope just to see what its like, it may be worth buying one as a "disposable" scope to decide what you like before you sink bigger money into a better optic.
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  • 7.62x39Lover
    So I guess a $150 or $170 dollar scope from a well known brand ought to at least hold zero?
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