The Venezuelans bought them all.

Like Citadel said the Venezuelans bought a ton of them, but in general there doesn't seem to be a market for 7.62 optics on the scale that BelOMO and NPZ deal in.

My take on it is they need runs of thousands and thousands to even bother producing those variants and they don't keep them laying around waiting for customers. I know it's entirely possible to get them made but it would be something like a half million dollar order to start getting NPZ in production from what I am told. Not sure what it would be for BelOMO and they do seem to make a lot of prototypes to court military contracts, but then again they don't produce optics like Kashtan or 1P29.






Z

I'm a relative newbie to the AKs...I have the PO3.5x and was curious if there is a way to tighten the mount.  I get side to side play and I was hoping to get it tight, so there is no shift from shot to shot.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I owned Zen's 1P29 before I sold it to him.  I also own the Zeiss ZFK 4x25 optic which is also calibrated for the AK74.  I wanted a true AK74 optic but somehow ended up with two - yes, two of the most sought after and rare AK74 optics because they were military (not hunting) versions of optics no longer in production.  These are sought by people who want an authentic and legitimate mate to their beloved AK74.  I liked the Zeiss style better so I kept that one, and knowing TX-Zen's desire to dominate the authentic AK74 marketplace - I teased him into buying the 1P29.  He was the right person for it, and I gave it to him for what it cost me.  It was the perfect match, and the 1P29 had found it's proper home.





I had acquired both manuals for the optics - therefore I had the information necessary to adjust the clamp pressure to assure optimal fit to the AK's scope rail.  Having those manuals mated with the scope kits make the entire package as complete as possible.  If you're going to spend the money and get something made in Russia or East Germany, then you should have the manual(s) to fully appreciate and properly use.





I don't know for sure about your PO3.5x - but in my limited experience of owning two military grade AK-74 optics, there was an engineered way to adjust the clamp pressure - and with a properly adjusted clamp the optic will perform as desired (won't move from it's mount).





The trick is to find out the correct method before bending or breaking the mount.  Russian engineering can be odd, and with the information you can make the adjustment successfully - but frankly, without the information (manual) it can be very difficult to figure it out.





So, to make a long story short - be careful and find out how these clamps are designed to adjust pressure.  It's worth doing right, and too easy to damage a unit by doing it wrong.





The exploded diagram is often enough - but realize the manuals may be written in Russian or another language.  There are some versions out there that are translated - some well, some pretty raw.





Hopefully the adjustment you need is in the clamp, and not the mount itself.  As far as I know, there is no adjustment for the mount - it's either properly riveted or not.  On my SGL31-94, the mount is well attached and not moving even a little.




 

And I can say that I'm as happy with the 1P29 now as the day I bought it, probably even more so now that I've used it and gotten familiar with it. Like I say all the time it's my favorite Russian magnified optic even if it's not as easy to use as more modern ones like Kashtan or PO 3.5x21P


I owe you a beer



Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWm_QupOauw

Nice youtube video showing how it's done



Z

Would it be out of the ordinary for my PO 3.5x21P to fit perfectly on my Krebs AK74 right out of the box without any adjustments needed?

If you're referring to clamp tension, it would just be luck.  It doesn't mean anything, good or bad.



You could very well end up adjusting it anyway, they can loosen up from the initial tension setting after shooting the rifle a bit and require adjustment.





 

Bump

I've got both a 1P78 Kashtan and a PO 3.5x on the way, so as soon as I get those I'll make sure to take pictures and go out to the range with them!