02 03 Airsoft Tech Talk: Midwest Industries AK Scope Mount 04 05 15 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33

Midwest Industries AK Scope Mount

34
Recently I was looking to mount an Aimpoint to one of my AK's. I had several options available to me,
including the well-known Ultimak railed gas block, and the Texas Weapon Systems AK Dogleg. Rather than bolt a bunch of rails onto this particular AK at the expense of increased weight, I decided to utilize something that worked with the built in scope rail. Enter the Midwest Industries AK scope mount.

Midwest Industries makes several versions of this mount that allow you to pick something that best suits your application. I chose the version with the integrated 30mm ring - this would also save me the additional expense of purchasing both a railed mount, and a scope ring to affix the Aimpoint to the mount.

 Quick Specifications
Overall feel and design of this mount is that it is a solid piece and crafted well. There are obvious areas where material has been milled away to create as lightweight a mount as possible. The mount itself does not exhibit any flex or twisting, and I would say is among the beefiest of AK side rail mounts on the market today. This is not to say the mount is overly big - rather the contrary, it is fairly small, and gives you exactly what you need. No more, no less.

The biggest point of contention I have found regarding this mount is with the round holes bored into the riser arm. Some folks do not find them "aesthetically pleasing" to the eye. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, and I do not find them unnerving myself, rather the contrary. I especially like the innovative use of the American Defense Manufacturing (ADM) locking lever, which is a great improvement over the older Combloc style locking interfaces commonly found on AK scope rail mounts. The ADM lever allows for a large margin of tool-less adjustment and should fit just about any size AK rail out there. I tried this mount out on a variety of AK's, real steel and airsoft, and it fit every single one with only minor adjustments needed in some cases. Personally I feel ADM mounts are every bit as good as LaRue Tactical mounts are - if not actually better because they do not require tools for making adjustments, which make them more field friendly than the former.

The ADM locking mount in the open position. Adjustment is attained by compressing the lever and rotating the nut on top clockwise or counterclockwise depending on your needs.
The other really great feature this scope mount brings to the table is how incredibly low it sits over the rifle. As you can see from the photo on the right, there is the barest of gaps between the dust cover and the sight. Obviously this allows for excellent co-witness as well. While co-witness is only an secondary consideration in this day and age, more attention should be paid towards cheek-weld, which this mount lets one accomplish without hassle.

Once mounted, the scope mount is rock solid and does not wiggle at all. The caveat being that you have properly adjusted the mount first, of course. The ring portion of the mount is equally solid too.

Repeatability

A primary concern for most would be whether this mount allows for repeat return-to-zero should it be removed. I can attest that it will - provided you haven't made any adjustments to the locking nut. Obviously one should adjust the mount first, then zero it to their rifle, after which you can mount and un-mount it to your hearts content without fear of losing zero. Of interesting note, I was able to swap the entire assembly from one AK to another without having to adjust the Aimpoint at all. The MI AK scope mount does situate itself perfectly over the center-line of the rifle, so that is most likely is the contributing factor. Within the world of airsoft, the side rails varied wildly in width and tolerance, save for the real steel rails I have personally mounted myself.


Summary

I have been using this mount for the better part of a year now and mounted to a variety of AK's. Overall I am very pleased with it and its performance and quality. I have not developed any criticisms or complaints as of yet, although some would obviously balk at the price, and perhaps the aesthetics might displease others. Price notwithstanding (quality gear ain't cheap), I personally find the aesthetics suiting to the rifle. Many have asked me how the MI mount compares to another well-known AK mount - the RS Regulate series of AK mounts. I would personally posit that the MI mount is superior - but I could be partially biased - even though I have owned both types now. I prefer the cleaner lines, and the ADM locking lever of the Midwest Industries mount myself. I greatly dislike that RS Regulate has chosen to step away from mounts that feature integral rings, for example. Rather, they have modified the design to where you now attach a scope ring or mounting bracket via a few screws to the main body of the mount. This has introduced a formerly unknown failure point, and I have sheared the screws off once already on my RS Regulate mount during a carbine class. Until they return to an integral one-piece design, I can't really recommend them as an option anymore, and would instead recommend folks look strongly at the MI mount if they're considering a side rail mounted option.
35 36 37 38