One of the issues with getting old is that you can't focus iron sights very well. I don't shoot my AK much anymore, so I thought if I put a red dot on it, I might. Problem is, there is nowhere to mount one on the stock rifle. I had researched various picatinny rail options. Using the hand guard or the top cover were rejected due to potential movement and having to constantly adjust the sight. A side mount was too expensive for a casual use gun. That left replacing the rear sight with a rail like the Ohhunt offering.
I looked at the various models available and couldn't really see any difference between the $50, $30 and $15 models. They all looked identical, have the same features and mounting screws. So I picked the cheapest one... the Ohhunt, after all... aluminum is aluminum, right?
It arrived in just a couple of days after ordering from their website and was well packaged. The first thing I noticed was no instructions, but I'm well experienced and can figure things out. The unit itself appears well-made and anodizing is very good. The rear fiber optic inserts are a little larger than I expected, but I actually like the larger size as it is easier to acquire the sight picture if using the irons. Note that it does sit higher, and you will have to make some kind of pad for a cheek rest or learn to shoot bobble head style.
Figuring out how to get the existing sight leaf off was a problem until I saw the drill-press method on YouTube (another 'bubba' tried using vice grips -what a joke-wonder how many scratches he put in his gun). Removing the rear leaf was a breeze. Installing the Ohhunt rail wasn't difficult, but the long horizontal **** will need to be cut off (dremel time).
Also note that the front horizontal **** threads thru the front rail boss - this allows you to sort-of center it... Since the base of the sight is narrower than the sight base, it can be positioned off-center - you need to visually center it when putting the front **** through to hold it in place. Some spacers or O rings would be nice to help center the sight. I also added a thin plastic washer between the outside nut and sight base to protect my finish. You can't use the drill press method to install the rail, so I used a padded squeeze-clamp to compress it and the sight spring in order to get the front **** to align with the threaded hole...
Be sure to check clearance of the top hand guard removal lever on the side- it can hit the rail thru-bolt if you're not paying attention. It appears you can insert the thru-bolt from either direction- I put the hex head on the left and cut the right side-even, so I had to grind the nut thinner to get my lever to clear.
Some reviewers had trouble with the rail flopping around on recoil-they probably didn't use the 3 setscrews properly to lock the rail in position. You can use the rear center **** to level the rail with the barrel, and then use the two front screws to apply pressure to lock the unit in place. It won't move when done right. Before locking them down, I used a bubble level to align the rail' and the barrel. After range testing the setup, I then used blue loctite on each **** individually.
One glaring issue with this type of mount is that the rear of the rail can still move side to side-negating your sight-in.
I tried to minimize this by making a 1/8" thick rubber 'pad' that fits inside the width of the orig sight base and that the rear rail **** goes thru.
Although a good bump can still move the rail, this helps minimize it under normal range use, thus the 3 stars.
I may try some contact cement to keep the rubber from moving.
There needs to be some design thought applied to solving this issue.
This experience is just one more example of why I prefer the AR platform.
