I finally was able to get out to the range with the Strike Industries AK Rail. It performed great! While sighting it in, I wasn't really understanding the distances from the bullseye that my spotter was calling. I was just happily firing away and he finally says "I don't know what more you want to accomplish, that looks great" followed by "for an AK" (he's a bullpup guy). Throwing out called flyers, I had about a 10 round 3 inch group at 40 yards off not the world's best rest. I'm sure I could tighten things up some with a better rest and smaller strings, but it was evident that the mount was not limiting the accuracy at all. In snap shooting, the Primary Arms Micro Dot was quick and not too high. The mount itself is rock solid. The only way I could see this mount having issues is if the set screws started to work out but that didn't and shouldn't happen with the Locite.
I think the steadiness of this mount compared to the Midwest Industries and even LaRue rear sight mounts is that it has two points of contact on the rear sight block that are on either side of the connection point. This makes more of a bridge effect that reduces the chances of the mount shifting vertically. Both of those other mounts do not have a true point of contact forward of the rear sight pin holes. Like a loose plank flipping up as you walk on one end of it, only having that single point of contact gives a fulcrum point of the rear sight pinholes and the other mounts tend to bounce up under recoil. I now have a Midwest Industries rear sight mount that I hope to directly compare to if Strike Industries do produce one for the Micro Dots as they have eluded. While normally Midwest makes some great stuff, their rear sight mount has undergone one redesign and some people still have issues. If Strike Industries keeps the same basic design of having 2 contact points forwards and aft of the sight pin holes, I believe future optic specific mounts will be winners.
One of the other interesting things this mount features is the backup rear sight channel. It was effective enough for backup use, although it definitely had a limited FOV with the optic on. Still, it would work in a pinch of the red dot going down. I did find that removing the optic changed the point of impact vertically even though the mount did not shift at all. This was due to without the Micro Dot on the rail you can see more of the front sight in the rear channel and you basically end up using two different points of aim.
At $45, it is a great low profile way to mount that won't break the bank. The Strike Industries AK Rail is a perfect fit for my Draco carbine that doesn't have a side rail or a factory Ultimak option, both of which would be more expensive options if available. It's closest competitor price-wise would be a side mount like the BP-02, which requires a side rail, doesn't have the option of still being able to use irons with it, and actually sits at about the same height. If you require the QD feature like a side rail, you can always get a QD base on your optic. The height of the Strike Industries rail is still lower than most side mounts/optics like the MTK-03, Kobra, and the PSO/POSP. To go lower you would need to go for something like an Ultimak gas tube, Midwest Industries railed handguard, or RS Regulate side mount. While all of these are great options, they will set you back more than the Strike Industries'. That's also not mentioning the two other similar competitors of the Scoutscope and Samson mounts that seem overpriced now compared to this new mount. Overall, this is a excellent entry into the AK market for Strike Industries and I look forward to their new product line!
See part one of this review- First Impressions
Disclaimer: This mount was provided free of charge from Strike Industries for this review. I hope to keep working with them to give more information about their new products.
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