Recently, I was interviewed by my friend and gun author Robert Kay for his book on how to buy an AK. Bob asked me for a recommendation on an AK optic mount for one of his books chapters. Without hesitation, I said any of the RS Regulate’s AK-300 series of receiver side-rail optic mounts.

RS Regulate mounts come in two halves, the lower with 300x numerical designation and an upper with abbreviated letters. The lower is available for different lengths and various types of side-rails, including the Yugo style, PSL, M10 rail and even for the Czech Vz 58 (not an AK). The uppers come as either flat-top rail or optic specific direct mount bases. The RS Regulate system is fully adjustable for sight centering and eye-relief. All the RS Regulate mounts are machined from aircraft-grade aluminum and use a high-strength titanium alloy center bolt for the QD locking lever.

For the Aimpoint Micro T-1/H-1/T-2 or compatible mini red-dot with the Aimpoint Micro screw pattern (such as the Hi-Lux MicroMax B-Dot), an RS Regulate AKML upper optic base is needed. The Aimpoint Micro T-1 in the photo is mounted on an AKML upper with an AK-301 front-biased lower. This mounted combo will give the T-1 a lower 1/3 co-witness with the AK iron sights.

The AKM upper base is for the 30mm Aimpoint models (and compatible 30mm body red-dot sight) with the AK-301 front-biased lower. According to RS Regulate, this setup offers the best balance on the weapon. The Aimpoint red-dot sight co-witnesses with the stock iron sight on the AK.

This is my preferred way of mounting my aimpoint on an AK. It has the same AKM upper direct-mount optic base with the AK-302 rear-biased lower. By moving the red-dot sight farther back, the field-of-view will be increased as well.

The AKR flat-top upper has the standard Picatinny 1913 rail. It allows secure mounting of a traditional scope on the AK such as this 1-4x Hi-Lux CMR tactical scope. The AK-303 full-length lower half in the image is recommended for users together with the AKR flat-top upper base.

There’s enough clearance under the AKR flat-top upper to allow the removal of the AK receiver cover. The AKR upper is also good for mounting the EOTech and the Meprolight reflex sights on an AK.

The RS Regulate AKOG upper allows the lowest sight height mounting of a Trijicon ACOG or a compatible prism sight on an AK. Besides the majority of Trijicon ACOG models, the AKOG base will also work with the Burris AR-332 (in the picture) and AR-536, the Browe BCO, and the ELCAN OS 3.0.

On many of the Trijicon ACOG models, the Burris, and the ELCAN OS 3.0, there’s a view-through hole under the the actual optic housing. When one of those prism sights mounted on the RS Regulate AKOG upper base, this view-through hole will line up with the AK iron sight.

In my opinion, Trijicon’s Compact ACOG 3x30mm model is the best prism sight for the AK. The adjustability of the RS Regulate mount allows for setting up the correct eye-relief for the Compact ACOG. The TA33 Compact ACOG is available in two 7.62x39mm BDC reticles. The 5.45x39mm caliber is close enough to the 5.56mm ballistics, that any of the 5.56mm BDC reticles would work for the 5.45mm up to 300-400m range.

During the recent Spring 2015 edition of the Big 3 East Media event, RS Regulate brought a prototype of their new one-piece SVD optic mount. We mounted an optic that I brought along for testing, the new German made Minox ZP8 1-8x24mm tactical scope. Please noted that this SVD mount is a preproduction sample and the actual production version may differ.

TFB’s Nick Chen holding the SVD equipped with the Minox ZP8 1-8x optic in the new RS Regulate SVD optic mount. Unlike the original PSO scope with fixed magnification, the modern Minox ZP8 is center mounted with the RS Regulate SVD flat-top mount, and its true 1x at the low magnification works better than trying to look through the iron sight under the stock SVD optic at close range.

So, what if your AK doesn’t have a side rail or you have a Vz. 58? An optic side-rail can be added to both of those by a gunsmith. I would suggest a gunsmith shop that specializes in AK service such as Rifle Dynamics in the West Coast/Mountain region, Krebs Custom in the central part of the US and Definitive Arms on the East Coast.