I go on vacation and things go sideways... I do understand this thread's concerns are due to the other thread being removed. That said, let me try to clarify a few things.

First off. With regard to sponsors and industry folks. In 20+ years of doing this, we have never taken anything for free nor tied ourselves to any vendor. Companies under the crosshairs here have been suspended from the site as have others. Our goal is to always try to hold folks accountable. Now this doesn't mean we are perfect and it doesn't mean all the staff and mods view things similarly. We are all prone to mistakes and our views vary from person to person. While I wasn't personally involved in the nuking of the thread, I was well aware of it and the concerns from staff.

ARFCOM has always tried to be a place that welcomes conversation. It's not always pretty, but neither is life. Emotions, attachment, personal opinions, etc all guide what we say and how we say it. BUT, it's that passion that is at the core of why we are here. If we don't defend our freedoms, who will? So when we look at discussions, regardless of tech or general, we have to weight several factors and at the center is intent. In short, does the author have good intentions or not. In tech threads we also concern ourselves with folks who covertly push sales. (ie Shilling) As well as things like if folks are bashing? Are they trying to put pressure on a company for their own purposes? Understand that if someone is here promoting an outside businesses, it does not help the companies who are here actively supporting this place. In these situations we act to protect our company partners. Often times we try to solve issues and end up making mistakes and other times we leave the issues to resolve themselves. It depends on the specifics of the conversation.

So how is this "crisis" of NV gear handled and where do we fit in? Well, I have always been a proponent of avoiding legal issues. Allowing the promotion of companies making knockoff gear is not going to happen. Allowing discussions of that general gear I think has value. The line is always how often and how deep can discussions go without becoming commercials or sales pitches. (I will state clearly that I am against the copycat stuff when IP is violated.) But how can we have good discussions on gear with only generalization? I'm not sure we can and this is where the site fails some of you. Again, if I read a thread and feel it's too "promotional" then it gets locked. If someone else reads it and feels it's a violation of our legal clause (IP violation/illegal), they may lock or nuke a thread. In theory both are fine, but the issue becomes clarity to all of you on what is acceptable and what isn't. We always work to improve on being more transparent and balanced.

Finally we come to the point of education. Learning about these Chinese knock-offs is good for everyone with interest. Sharing knowledge is WHY we are here. Finding good affordable gear is too. If American companies fail to fill in gaps in gear that folks want, then someone else will step in. I'm not sure this is right from a moral stance, but "life finds a way." Knowledge is critical to educating each other as both shoppers and gear-heads. We want to learn, better ourselves, and gear up. My greatest hope is that a company will see this need and fill the vacuum. So these discussions should be a boon to see what users want and are willing to pay. If we have an option to the China stuff, most of us will lean to American made.


I don't know what I can say about the future other than we are very open to input/solutions. We want to protect speech, but also do what's right. If these companies could avoid infringing on IP, I think this situation doesn't exist. I can tell you that I personally don't enjoy dealing with lawyers and receiving C&D letters, which I'm sure most of you would agree with. All I ask is that we are patient with one another and work together to find solutions to problems like this, without just assuming the worst.

I really want to try one of the somogear's on my ak. I joined the waiting list a while back but I have not gotten a response.

I am really tempted by the price point of the Somogear but I just don't like the hit-and-miss reviews. I would be mounting it on an AK, which is not the most accurate thing with factory ammo but I don't want to be chasing a wondering zero between the platform and the laser.

Let's see some pics.

Pics worked. Thanks

Do you guys think a Somogear that is plotted would hold up on a 7.62 ak?