The Modern Fighting AK

One of the biggest challenges of the Kalashnikov is how to integrate modern enablers on the platform. The weapon itself is excellent, and has stood the test of time. Its simplicity of operation under duress coupled with the robustness of the action makes for an attractive package for newer trainees. On top of that, the 7.62×39 is a well proven man killer by anyone who’s been on the two way range.

But that said, modern enablers can be a problem and lead to a compromise. Mounting optics are pretty simple- the Ultimak is a great option, and there’s several handguards on the market these days that solve a great deal of issues. The AK market certainly ain’t what it was a decade ago, thankfully, and we’ve come a long way.

A modern fighting weapon needs three things- an optic, an IR laser, and modularity for mission adaptability. An IR laser is damn near a requirement for a fighting weapon- while you can get away with fighting at night without NODs if you’re accustomed to night movement and the other guys ain’t, but if they are, you’re going to find yourself aiming at muzzle flashes. Traditionally the AK has been solid on mounting at least a red dot, but mounting a laser left much to be desired. You’d either have to mount a laser on the sides of the weapon with a railed handguard (or even super old school, counter-sink a couple of screws into a Romanian wood handguard and mount a PEQ-4) with a pressure switch or mount an optic up high enough to clear your laser.

The second option, mounting an optic high, is really the best option. On my weapon, I’m running a PSA MLOK handguard with a fixed rail at the top. Its been solid as a rock, as has been the railed top cover. I mounted the IR laser, a Steiner DBAL, and the Holosun red dot high enough to clear the laser. Its a bit on the high side, making more of a chin weld than a cheek weld, but in the last Scout Course I took it out to 200m with no issue- which, to be fair, is plenty enough for its role as a rapid response carbine. There is no need for a pressure switch, which loves to break at the worst times, because I can easily index the DBAL’s push button with the thumb of my support hand.

Last, the AK is well known for a pretty impressive fireball at night. This is a very bad thing in a tactical environment for a lot of reasons- it give the enemy a nice big flash to shoot back at along with blinding us. That’s why I run a flash can on the muzzle to nearly completely mask the flash at night.

These upgrades to an already excellent platform take it to combat capability in the 21st century. The ability to fully integrate IR and , remaining effective to average combat distances, makes it a worthy weapon.

By Published On: December 30, 2020Categories: NC Scout, Tactical, Weapons29 Comments on The Modern Fighting AK

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

29 Comments

  1. Anonymous December 30, 2020 at 04:11

    5

  2. SOG December 30, 2020 at 08:31

    Currently running a Primary arms 1xcyclops on a midwest sidemount, not a fan of the cyclops, the etched reticle is entirely too small,like take an acog and shrink it down 5x, i am going to put same Holosun and maybe a holosun laser. For blast forwarding using a SF flash hider and SF training can, which is basically a giant flash forwarder was setting up for CAN but the alignment rods were not true so i wont risk it, SF agreed upon consultation.

    Another modern upgrade is ALG AKT trigger, its like a GieselleSD3G for an AK in comparison. crisp super fast rest,

    I am a fan of the AK now, and if this country is ever tested on the homeland I am confident the OPFOR will be carrying this platform

    not a fan of the US Palm mags, TAPCO,MAGPUL and steel surplus work well on my platform.

    in my area you can still score ammo at around 35C a round so 350ish for 1k –

    • NC Scout December 30, 2020 at 09:07

      At first I really like the Cyclops, but for what it does and how much it weighs, I’ve kinda abandoned it. The holosun runs circles around it.

      • SOG December 30, 2020 at 09:14

        For sure i have one on riser on one AR and one of the small RMR footprint ones on a pistol, I tried the laser at a shop its smaller than a DBAL its robust and legit with a collomated laser IR and VISIBLE for zeroing, which with a Dbal I2 at $700-$900 price range you do not get, you have to zero each separately! so thats on my wish list! totally gonna swap out the cyclops for holosun!

        Holosun has really come out the gate with some cost effective and innovative optics and lasers.

  3. Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 10:04

    Have you ever tested the H&K 30 caliber flash hider.
    https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/muzzle-devices/flash-hiders/ak47-warcomp-762-flash-hider-prod104867.aspx
    Any good? It costs $180, but that’s a lifetime part.

    • NC Scout December 30, 2020 at 10:30

      I have not.

    • SOG December 30, 2020 at 12:06

      JP i have this unit,

      https://www.omahaoutdoors.com/surefire-socom-flash-hider-suppressor-adapter-7-62×39-m14x1-lh-ak-47-sf3p-762-m14x1-lh-084871319201/

      got on sale online for $115,works great, it lowers rise, lateral concussion is moot, and flash, my intent was to use this to mount a 30cal Can but the gunsmith said he wouldnt risk it,(alignment rod slightly canted) i checked with my SF contact and he concurred. so, i used one of these:

      https://www.surefire.com/products/suppressors-division/training-devices/suppressor-trainer/

      disregard these MSRP prices you can find much cheaper online

      the training can is used as sort of huge blast-forwarder and it worked great on the range, threw to sound forward by a lot.

      https://www.infiniteproductsolutions.com/adapters/the-ultimate-ak-47-muzzle-redirect-kit/

      these brakes and redirect kits are on sale,i have never tried, was going to but then was attempting to keep all my stuff surefire for simplicity.

      the AK is a legit platform, I was indifferent until i saw the price, the ammo prices and the slew of aftermarket upgrades. while i dont have the arsenal or rifled Dynamics budget, Mine is def a force multiplier, and i believe wholly in diversity of calibers to even out your collection especially in events like now,

      “the weight is a sign of its reliability, and if it does’nt work, you can always hit him with it” boris the bullet dodger..

      • Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 13:55

        The American AK market has changed radically. 2020 is the year of the AKM for sure.
        I bought a WASR10 about ten years ago. It was a jam-o-matic piece of junk. Clearly out of spec. I sold it to a friend who was convinced he could fix it.
        I am still on the market for an AK clone. I will likely purchase one of PSA’s flagship AKM rifles sometime in the near future.
        But, I also like the AK-15. Or the AR-47. Whatever the name is. It uses base AK mags. And judging by the groups I saw online, it shoots 2-3 MOA out of the box with mil-spec ammo. Which is perfectly suitable. And I think Trijicon makes a 7.62×39 ACOG.
        PSA clearly makes the best AKM clone on the market. No doubt.
        https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/barreled-upper-assemblies.html?caliber_multi=7.62x39mm
        These uppers produce amazing groups.

        Scout forgot to link to his AK course on this post.
        https://brushbeater.org/training-calendar/

      • Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 14:21

        https://www.surefire.com/products/suppressors-division/training-devices/suppressor-trainer/
        Will this fit onto a Vortex G3 Flashhider? It does right? And Birdcage too right?
        BTW, you are a genius. I am in love with this idea.
        This is similar in concept to the Salient Arms blast cage. Except that is limited to Law Enforcement/ Military only.
        I am reading the specs now. I feel like I am missing something.

        • SOG December 30, 2020 at 21:25

          i think surefire quick detach locking ring is proprietary i am not sure if it can index and lock on other manufacturers muzzle devices.

  4. Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 11:15

    Good stuff.
    I was in D.C for the Veterans Storm D.C. event and helped to carry barricades.
    I am mysteriously cropped out of every single photo of the event.

    We beat the crap out of several lardass police officers.
    An embedded Sargent Major in our ranks said “Good work, but please don’t do that again”.
    Two Marines from Colorado lead the charge on that.
    Hilarious. Those cops got picked apart by two studs. They turned tail and walked back to their squad.
    We formed up and started asking for round two. Priceless.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCdI7YDI-Gk
    The two studs at 1:05. Those are some sexy bros!! I wonder who they could be!!!
    I lost my hemp hoodie that day. Still have the pink shirt.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD5KMm-pCZA
    I start talking trash around 3 seconds in.
    I literally never shut up.
    I got the “SHAME ON YOU” chant started.
    Look at their faces…
    I got singled out and an officer pointed a Pepper cannon at my face. I told him “Spray us and see what happens”.

    I had dozens of Intel officers and Sargent Majors embedded in the group asking me to chill out.
    Didn’t work.

    The bikers totally surrounded and took over the mall. Basically every square inch had a Harley and a biker bro chilling out.
    We outnumbered the police 10-1.

    • Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 13:37

      Wrong post. This belongs in “The Next Question” post.
      I must be dumb.

  5. Freedom2020 December 30, 2020 at 11:34

    Ok I apologize for my stupidity, but Do you need to have Night Vision to benefit from an IR Laser? Would low cost IR based night vsion be sufficient to get the benefits? I can’t afford mil grade night vision at this point. I do have IR based vision devices tho.

  6. StormN December 30, 2020 at 11:38

    NC Scout I think I’ve read you right on this and on your Kalash thread that you have not mentioned attaching a rail to the side mount to attach optics too. This is my setup; you write about optics on the handguard, Ultimak, etc. What are your thoughts on using the sidemount?

  7. Berglander December 30, 2020 at 12:56

    First off-I’m not meaning to be a smartass by asking this question. If you are able to buy a Steiner DBAL, why are you buying Holosun red dots? Do you find them to be better than the Trijicon MRO or the Aimpoint family?
    It would be supreme irony to shoot at PLA guys using a Holosun, I must admit!

    • NC Scout December 30, 2020 at 13:46

      They’re nice, and built on par with Aimpoint as best as I can tell.

      • SOG December 30, 2020 at 14:11

        I second that, for the price of a DBAL I2 i can have a nice Holosun red or green dot, and a Holosun paired IR/Visible laser and still have some money left over.

        Aimpoint is a 600-900 optic, the DBALi2 is around 800-900 now. prices have gone up, you can equip more of your rifles with holosun, vortex etc..

    • Johnny Paratrooper December 30, 2020 at 13:58

      Wait till the Norinco-Bros show up with their SKS rifles and black pajamas.
      Welcome to the Tobacco fields!

  8. Odysseus Jones December 30, 2020 at 18:13

    I am a fan of the ultimak and a red dot on an AK, but if you want to put a laser and a red dot, then get a MERC handguard from Occam Defense. The owner, Brian is a fellow Patriot to boot.

    Their ODS-1775 is a dream to shoot, BTW. They aren’t cheap but when an old Norinco or Polytech runs $3000+ and NIB Arsenals SLR-107s are now running $1600, then the $1900 for the Occam seems like a steal.

    Currently, the best value AK is the PSA. They are really nice for the money.

    • NC Scout December 30, 2020 at 18:29

      Occam is freaking awesome.

  9. svarog al bar December 30, 2020 at 18:59

    i use this one ,its light on weight, look the video its in russsian,but you will see and the flush and bang….https://4shooters.com/product/akademia-tma-flash-suppressor-141lh.html good store for ak parts or vepr parts

  10. Mas Casa December 30, 2020 at 20:28

    I just picked up an Ultimak gas tube for a PSA GF3 AK and looking forward to mounting an RDS on it. As I’m ntegrated Skills Group said (and I paraphrase), The AK doesn’t do any one thing well, but it does most things well enough.

  11. vyt1az December 31, 2020 at 20:32

    The Manticore Eclipse flash hider – a Smith Vortex clone – also does really well at night and is readily available unlike the Vortex.

    For folks considering various NVG setups:

    Besides clearing the DBAL, the other benefit of that high mount is being able to look right through the red dot with a PVS-14 over your dominant eye. AKA a “passive” NVG setup. It’s high enough to avoid bumping the rear trunion with the PVS-14.

    FYI, not all red dots models have the right coatings to do this, even within the same brand name, even with some claiming to have “night vision” modes.

    This is my favorite setup because you can have exactly ONE chin/cheek-weld and ONE zero to train with for both day and night usage. The IR illuminator becomes an optional secondary system only used in certain lighting conditions and the laser pointer is rarely used.

  12. the Bruce January 1, 2021 at 17:34

    I have experience with AK-47 and AK-47S rifles. The only things I experienced that were in need: A better ventilated and insulated handguard for prolonged fire; A ‘hold open chamber’ notch on the safety/operating lever; more length of pull when not wearing armor.

  13. SOG January 2, 2021 at 12:19

    https://www.gunskins.com/

    for those that are apprehensive about rattle can paint jobs on high dollar rifles go ahead check out wraps

    • BePrepared January 8, 2021 at 10:46

      RE: Gunskins… excellent product, but it is tricky to get perfect. I have had good experience with the magskins and two of the rifle sets. If you don’t like it, it is easy to remove with no lasting residue on your firearm.

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