Anyone ever use a Russian Red Dot (Kobra). I'm looking for a sight for my VZ58 (I'm getting a side rail made for it). It looks similar to an AK, so I was considering getting a sight that would fit the gun, but from what everyone says, its hard to beat the Vortex Strikefire.

My biggest thing is that the Kobra has a 1 MOA dot vs the Strikefire's 4 MOA dot. Thats is worth a little extra coin so long as the Kobra is on par with the Strikefire quality wise.

What is everyone else's opinion?

I have one of the older Kobra sights that I use on my Arsenal AK. The older model used the CR type watch batteries, the newer versions use "AA" batteries. That is about the only difference I am aware of between the older and newer models.

Reading through the manual for the Strikefire I have come up with several differences between them.


Kobra Strikefire
Red dot and that's it. Sixteen levels of intensity. Red or green dot. Ten levels of intensity.
Dot, chevron, chevron dot, open "T" reticles. Dot and that's it
CR or "AA" battery CR2 3v Lithium battery
1.8 MOA dot 4 MOA dot
Magnification 1x Magnification 1x (2x with doubler)
Eye relief unlimited Eye relief unlimited
NV setting none NV setting yes

That's about it for the common things. The CR2 battery is not a gas station / bait shop item the "AA" battery is. The Kobra is very robust and locks onto the rifle very firmly when the clamp is adjusted correctly. I don't know if I care for the single screw mount of the Strikefire.

The manual for the Strikefire did cover how to zero the settings but, the drums are not marked for reference. If you zero it and then move them to compensate for distance or windage, you would have to count clicks to return to your zero. The turrets on the Kobra can be set to zero after zero is obtained by zeroing the turrets. Loosen 1 screw, pull up on the dial and turn it to 0. Then tighten the screw again. You can then compensate for distance and wind and return to your 100m zero.

Manuals
http://www.vortexoptics.com/resources/web_..._strikefire.pdf
http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/Manuals/KOKobraAK.pdf

Hope that helps!

This post has been edited by andy2205: July 19th 2009 7:19 PM

Thanks for the reply!

How does the dot look to you on the Kobra? Can you tell its pulsating 8 times a second or whatever it is?

I have never noticed any pulsing. We usually adjust the intensity to get the best viewable dot for the lighting conditions.

I have tried using the chevron, dot chevron and open "T" and have always gone back to the dot. The dot is good enough that we can shoot a 1 foot square steel plate at 300 yds.

Being able to zero the turrets on the Kobra is a nice feature. Dial in corrections and then dial back to your original zero.

Here is something I learned about eye dominance. I shot a high power match a 200 yds shooting with both eyes open. My groups were all off to the left. I am right eye dominant and zeroed the Kobra shooting with my left eye closed. I shot a test target at 25m after the match. Here are the results.



1,2,3 fired with both eyes open. 4,5,6 fired with right eye only. Notice the shift to the left with both eyes. The + is the center of the 3 shot group with right eye only. Just something for you to think about.

Looks good. I'm going to have to put some more thought into this one =) I think the only think about the Strikefire that I dislike is the size of the dot. 4 MOA is pretty big. Then again, its probably less of an error margin then I myself would add =)

If you haven't searched for them yet there are some accessories out there for the VZ.
http://www.fab-defense.com/en/weapon-sa-vz-58.html

I added a VZ58 to our (my youngest son is my partner in crime) collection a couple of months ago. We usually leave the military style rifles alone. That went to shat when I found the source for Russian optics. The AK's needed an edge. The only other scoped rifle is our M1A, we put it on when we shoot over 200 yds.

Yep, i've already gone pretty tacticool with mine. got an adapter that makes the stock straight instead of angled, and put on a flip to side (folds lefT) to Ar adapter. I put a CAA Stock on it. now i just need to get the side rail installed.

oh, i also put synthetic foreend stuff and a vertical foregrip =0

Is this the sight you are looking at? http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/detail.aspx?ID=539

If it is it is not the same as the Kobra: http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/Manuals/KOKobraAK.pdf

The Kobra sights are still around but, I've never heard of them to have a pulsing dot. The PK-23-01 has that listed in it's write up. Looks to be something different then the Kobra.

This is pretty niffty, found it earlier while looking at the VZ stuff. http://www.oktarget.cz/mpegs/1.mpg

The site shows a VZ58 front hand guard mount for the sights.

Is this the sight you are looking at? http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/detail.aspx?ID=539

If it is it is not the same as the Kobra: http://www.kalinkaoptics.com/Manuals/KOKobraAK.pdf

The Kobra sights are still around but, I've never heard of them to have a pulsing dot. The PK-23-01 has that listed in it's write up. Looks to be something different then the Kobra.

This is pretty niffty, found it earlier while looking at the VZ stuff. http://www.oktarget.cz/mpegs/1.mpg

The site shows a VZ58 front hand guard mount for the sights.

Ah, yea. That is the one I had read about the pulsating dot on.

I've seen the front hand guard sights, but I'm nervous about those because of how hot it gets and having to take the handguard off in order to clean (return to zero, etc).

Plus, I figured if I can get a side rail rigged up, I can use all the AK stuff that uses side rails and I know it will return to zero just fine.

Thanks for the links =) Good stuff.