$100 or less scopes for AKs
 

I was wondering if there are any cheap scopes that can handle the hard cycling ak. I asked on the saiga 12 forum and got a whole lot of 300-1000 dollar answers which are useless to me. Does anyone out there have a cheap scope on their ak that they would reccomend?

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The AK is sightly heavy in recoil when compared to other modern Military rifles, such as the AR-15, but very mild in comparison to other rifles in which many of some of the sub $100 scopes (Burris and Bushnell come to mind) are intended for.

If folks are gonna sell a scope that can't stand up to a 30-06, they'll hear about it really quickly. Your talking closer to double the recoil, depending on the gun. Go to optics planet or my favorite Quality optics and accessories from Leupold, Bushnell, Burris, Nikon and more! and look around. If you cough up another $40-$50 you can get a great deal.

I've had the most scope success with fixed power on AKs. Stopping to adjust your magnification doesn't make much sense with the intended use of the AK-47. Now in an RPK-74 set up that may not be true, but in most cases. . .

CDNN has really cheap scopes but no review system so I dont really know the quality.

Tell you what, i have a scope that came with a SKS and was marked for use with 7.62x39, its 4x25 and brand new condition. feels very heavy and solid built. If you want it PM me with your contact info and all i ask is you pay shipping and its yours no charge.

primaryarms.com usually carries some for AK's and SKS.

Check out classicarms.us also

Some folks say they are S#!T, but I use BSA scopes on some of my AKs.
I have not had one go bad yet.
This one I have on my WASR 10 has been there working fine for over 10yrs. it was about $80 to $90 back then.
http://i26.tinypic.com/4uj2ad.jpg
I get a lot of looks on the 300yd range, until I start banging the gongs at the end of the range.

the problem with scopes on an AK is the rattling back and forth. I had a Bushnell Banner's turret back out on me when I had it on my AK. Some features to look for in a scope for an AK-47 are 1. etched glass reticle (withstands shock better than typical wire crosshairs) 2. fixed power (no springs and less parts equals less to move and break).
A sturdy scope mount is a must, you can get one from K-VAR aka Arsenal in their optimized side rail mount. I'm going with the Krebs rail just because I want a longer iron sight radius just in case I do end up breaking another scope.
There are lots of 3-9x scopes that can hold their own ontop of an AK that wont break the bank.

All I can say is; You get what you pay for.

You are correct, there is no substitute for quality, and you have to pay more for anything high quality. Although, there are always decent products made to fill the gap between cheap and expensive. My rifle has cost me around $530 all together with conversion and all, I cant justify using a scope that costs half what my rifle does. I know I anyone find something that works well, for alot less than a nikon, ziess, or leopold. Even though us poor folk would love to be able to own one of those.