AKS-74 gets MD-06 Red Dot and M.I. Mount -- But will it RUN?

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Sam1911

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Hi guys!

So the old gal got some specs:

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That's Midwest Industries' AK Mini-Dot mount, that they sell packaged with a Primary Arms MD-06 micro-dot for a pretty danged good deal price.

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It does indeed give you a basically adjustable mount and a great sight arrangement.

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So here's how it works ... I think. :) I'm still working with it to see if I'm doing it right and understand how it should work.

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You pull out the original sight leaf and spring. (Oh what joy that task is! :fire: )

Then insert the "t"-shaped front prong ears into the ears of the trunion.

Insert the long dowel pin (A) through below the front prong of the mount, and tighten the set screw (B) that jacks down onto that pin to hold the mount up firmly into the trunion ears.

Here's where it starts to get a little questionable, to me. You then use the rear jack screw (C) to press down into the base of the original sight mount to elevate the rear of the optic mount. That screw will hold it UP, but there doesn't seem to be any real force holding it DOWN. So, it's not real hard to lift the rear of the mount and screw up your elevation setting. :confused:

You screw in the two cap screws (E) at the sides and they sort of grip the outside faces of the rear trunion. But they can't do much more than very minorly secure it, because if you tighten them much the heads slip up and off of the trunion sides and push the mount up out of place. So, it seems they need to be not a whole lot more than finger-tight and held in with locktight. I thought that maybe they were supposed to try and hold the mount down, but any real tension there actually pushes it up out of place. So I'm a little confused by that.

Letter "D" in the picture is a sliding dovetail between the steel front half of the mount and the aluminum rear that actually holds the optic. There is a set screw you can't see in this picture that secures them from sliding. This gives you a simple windage adjustment for the built-in rear sight notch (F), and to roughly center the optic.

The instructions say to use that rear jack screw (C) to roughly set the mount's elevation until the bottom of the mount is parallel with the top of the dust cover. I did so, but what my eyes told me about that was WAY off from where it really needed to sit.

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That's not much of a surprise, I guess, as AK dust covers are not a precision part and aren't held in place with any sort of precision. I'm not worried about that elevation factor, so much as the fact that it seems too easy to bump the whole mount upward and lift the rear of it up enough to shoot way over the heads of the targets.
 

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The sight picture is quite pleasant.

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You can easily use the rudimentary irons with a "1/3 co-witness".

After I finally stopped fooling with the mount and zeroing the optic itself off my less-than-perfect bench-rest, I let my 9 and 12 year old assistants try it out. They had an exceptionally easy time ringing steel at 150 and 200 yds. We only put another 30 rds through it after getting it zeroed, but it seemed to stay well-put.

I've got a class coming up at the end of the month so I'm going to wring it out well and try to research if I'm doing something wrong with the mount itself. (PLEASE, give me some feedback if you've used one of these!)

If I don't love it by then, the irons go back on.
 

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I should point out that M.I.'s web site includes a very good video by our very own member Sturmgewehr of the Military Arms Channel which goes into exactly how to mount the unit (I got it right) and deals with the concerns I had. Sounds like it is working as they intend, and I probably need to work with it enough to get comfortable with it.
 
I tried one on my mini-Draco 7.62x39, recoil was too much for the mount -- as you said nothing really holds it down other than the rear sight leaf spring.

Seems to work fine on my Saiga .223, so I expect it'll be fine on a 5.45x39.

IMHO its nice to have all the adjustments, but there needs to be one more that locks it in place once setup.
 
...as you said nothing really holds it down other than the rear sight leaf spring.
You might have had the "Generation 1" version then. With this one, you remove the leaf spring completely and there is a set screw (I labeled it B in the detail picture) which cranks down on the dowel pin and provides the majority of the elevation rigidity of the setup.

I gather from Stormgewehr's video that there were complaints with the previous version, about just the issue you had.

We'll see how it holds up for me.
 
Looks nice and it should be advantageous for short range rapid fire engagement during daylight hours.
 
You might have had the "Generation 1" version then. With this one, you remove the leaf spring completely and there is a set screw (I labeled it B in the detail picture) which cranks down on the dowel pin and provides the majority of the elevation rigidity of the setup.

I gather from Stormgewehr's video that there were complaints with the previous version, about just the issue you had.

We'll see how it holds up for me.

Please do followup. I could easily drill and tap a set screw to push on the dowel pin if that really is the solution to the issue.
 
Actually, I don't think you'd have to.

Sturmgewehr mentioned this in his video and showed the difference, and I believe M.I. will give you the new style base if you have the old style.
 
Thanks, I'll have to contact them. I did like the setup and would prefer it on a 7.62x39 instead of the 223.
 
If the sides were slightly angled,

The side set screws would then push the mount down when you tighten it.

Oops. Nevermind. I see it uses the head to tighten down.
 
Just curious, what swayed you to that mount over the M.I. low q/d side rail mount? Weight? Price?

Mostly the fact that I don't have a rail on my '74! :) I have one in the parts box but never got around to drilling and riveting it on.

If this doesn't hold up, that's the direction I'll go, though.
 
Is there an option for Veprs with the weird foldy/flippie leaf rear sight arrangement?
I don't think so. This mount isn't even supposed to work with 5.56NATO AKs!
 
I haven't seen that mount before, it looks like a pretty slick solution. I like the MI extended forward rails with the built in micro mount. This is a lot cheaper though!
 
Yessir! A lot cheaper. I'd like the extended rails just because I'd take anything that keeps my delicate fingers off that danged hot bare gas block and such in out-of-position shooting.

But I can afford gloves a lot easier... :)
 
Well, got it back to the range tonight, after a week of rattling around in and out of the car, taking the dust cover and carrier out a few times (kind of hard not to bump the mount a bit), and I'm very happy to say it held zero just fine. Ran a bunch of drills tonight and can report pretty flawless results so far.

We shall see...
 
Does anyone own both the MD-06 and MD-08 and know how they compare. I have the MD-08 and both versions of the Burris TRS-25 (6:00 and 4:30 LED) and am partial to the Burris for it's compactness and being almost an ounce lighter. The MD-06 is almost as light as the Burris and looks about as compact.

Mike
 
Testing continues! Another week of banging around in and out of the car, and another mag or two through it. Still holding zero very nicely. I'm becoming more and more fond.

Now will be a big test, as I plan to actually -- GASP! -- clean the rifle. Several weeks of shooting corrosive 7n6 means I should get around to scrubbing it out, I guess.
 
running into any problems getting ammunition for that thing?
 
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