AK Sponsor
Posted: 1/20/2014 11:23:44 PM EDT
| Here's my question I have an ultimak rail and bushnell trs-25 on my slr 106 and it works great, however due to the cost of 5.56/.223 I have not done mag dumps to really heat this rail up. I'm wanting to put an ultimak rail and an aimpoint t-1 on my Mak 90 7.62x39. I have a lot of that ammo and can afford to put the rifle/rail through its paces and heat it up. Will the rail heat up past 160 degrees? The aimpoint is rated for 160 and I really would be pissed if the optic was damaged/destroyed from being mounted on the gastube rail. |
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I know a lot of people are happy with their Ultimaks... but to me, it's not the best solution. I've shot an AK until the wooden hand guards caught on fire... a lot of heat comes off of the front end of an AK. I don't want any optic getting exposed to that kind of heat. So, I use the Midwest industries optic specific fore end with a railed lower.
What I don't like about the Midwest fore end is the number of screws...I think I counted 16. When I mounted it, I meticulously cleaned the screws and the holes where they mounted with acetone. As I recall, I torqued them down, shot the piss out of it, then torqued them down again. Then, one at a time, took each screw out, locktighted and re-installed. It was a pain in the ass. But, once it was done, I've had several years of trouble free service, and an awesome co-witnessed optic on my Krink. I've used it for some very spirited shooting, including some 3 gun. What I don't like about the Ultimak is the heat into the optic, but also the heat into your fingers. If you shoot an AK enough, not only does the barrel get hot, the hand guard retainer at the front, and the receiver at the back of the grip get very hot... too hot to hold without a glove. Also, if you use a standard AK lower with the Ultimak, your fingers can go over the top of the lower hand guard, and touch the Ultimak directly...and it gets freakin' hot. I have the Midwest industries forend on a Krink, solely because there is an air gap between the mounted optic and the gas tube. I hear people on gun boards say that the Midwest solution isn't as good, and it that it has zeroing issues. I personally haven't experienced that. With the MI, I have the railed lower, and my rail covers extend forward, over the top of the hand guard retainer, and rearward, over the front of the receiver.... effectively making my handguard bigger, and allowing me to shoot without gloves. This is especially advantageous with the Krink, and it's midget sized hand guard. If my fingers wander up over the top of the rail cover and touch the optic mount, it can be hot, but not usually 'burn your fingerprints off' hot like the Ultimak can get. Take a look at both solutions, and figure out which one you think you like better. There are some folks with some very strong emotional connections to both. I like the Midwest, and if I buy another, it will be another MI with the dedicated optic upper. |
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mag hold will keep your fingers from getting burned, works especially well on a "Krink". Now I know it's not the arm locked out straight new kool-aid hold, but it works. Of course there's the putting your hand in the wrong place if you rifle goes kaboom...Mag hold also has the added feature of quicker mag changes. As for the Ultimak itself, 4 screws and it has never wandered on me. Locks up tight, and is solid. You get excellent co-witness. Yes it gets hot. I won't spend $400 on a micro dot, so I don't know if an AIMPOINT will hold up to it, but my used $75 TRS-25 hasn't flinched in several thousands of rounds. |
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Quoted:
I know a lot of people are happy with their Ultimaks... but to me, it's not the best solution. I've shot an AK until the wooden hand guards caught on fire... a lot of heat comes off of the front end of an AK. I don't want any optic getting exposed to that kind of heat. So, I use the Midwest industries optic specific fore end with a railed lower. What I don't like about the Midwest fore end is the number of screws...I think I counted 16. When I mounted it, I meticulously cleaned the screws and the holes where they mounted with acetone. As I recall, I torqued them down, shot the piss out of it, then torqued them down again. Then, one at a time, took each screw out, locktighted and re-installed. It was a pain in the ass. But, once it was done, I've had several years of trouble free service, and an awesome co-witnessed optic on my Krink. I've used it for some very spirited shooting, including some 3 gun. What I don't like about the Ultimak is the heat into the optic, but also the heat into your fingers. If you shoot an AK enough, not only does the barrel get hot, the hand guard retainer at the front, and the receiver at the back of the grip get very hot... too hot to hold without a glove. Also, if you use a standard AK lower with the Ultimak, your fingers can go over the top of the lower hand guard, and touch the Ultimak directly...and it gets freakin' hot. I have the Midwest industries forend on a Krink, solely because there is an air gap between the mounted optic and the gas tube. I hear people on gun boards say that the Midwest solution isn't as good, and it that it has zeroing issues. I personally haven't experienced that. With the MI, I have the railed lower, and my rail covers extend forward, over the top of the hand guard retainer, and rearward, over the front of the receiver.... effectively making my handguard bigger, and allowing me to shoot without gloves. This is especially advantageous with the Krink, and it's midget sized hand guard. If my fingers wander up over the top of the rail cover and touch the optic mount, it can be hot, but not usually 'burn your fingerprints off' hot like the Ultimak can get. Take a look at both solutions, and figure out which one you think you like better. There are some folks with some very strong emotional connections to both. I like the Midwest, and if I buy another, it will be another MI with the dedicated optic upper. I have found that is you intentionally try to break something, it will in fact break. Now if you have gotten yourself into a situation where you need your optic to survive 10 mag dumps in a row you probably failed somewhere leading up to that point. |
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Quoted:
I have found that is you intentionally try to break something, it will in fact break. Now if you have gotten yourself into a situation where you need your optic to survive 10 mag dumps in a row you probably failed somewhere leading up to that point. These are truly some wise words posted by fatcat4620. In all practicality, I am not sure why someone would want to run so many mag dumps in a row.....I can see running a NSR drill, or even multiple NSRs. I will do this in training and can get things fairly hot.....but a few well placed shots if not one well placed shot will usually solve most tactical problems. I run Aimpoint Micros exclusively....because I have beaten the shit out of them and they keep on going. Not sure about other products, I have had some issues with Eotechs (older models) and have not personally seen one go down because of heat. R |
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Quoted:
Wise words they may be, but they have nothing to do with my post. We interrupt this informative post to go off on an emotional tangent, and try to undermine the credibility of the poster, rather than address the issues discussed. Sorryto derail the thread. OP, the ultimak has develop a solid rep. If you are concerned about cooking your $600 optic you could spend $20-$50 more on a AKARS or TWS and remove heat from the equation. |
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