KOBRA Collimator Sight from Kalashnikov USA

The AK series are simply wonderful rifles.  Indeed, anyone who's read CRUFFLER.COM for a while is aware of the bias we hold in favor of the AK.  It is simply our favorite TEOTWAWKI* rifle.  AK's are extraordinarily reliable, robust rifles.  Ammunition is cheap, averaging less than $100.00 per 1,000 rounds, and high capacity magazines average about $10 each.  The only downside to the AK series is the sights.  The sights on an AK rifle consist of a windage and elevation adjustable front post and an elevation adjustable u-notch tangent sight mounted above the chamber.  While robust and easy to use, the

Image Credit:  http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/kobra1.html

Kobra?  What's a Kobra?
The Kobra, as mentioned above, is an optical collimator sight.  Our first question was "what does that mean?"  The short answer is that an optical collimator sight is a "red dot" sight.

 The longer, technophile answer is that a collimator is device for changing the diverging light or other radiation from a point source to a parallel beam.  An optical collimator is a tube containing a convex lens at one end and an adjustable slit at the other, the slit being in the focal plane of the lens.  Radiation entering the slit leaves the collimator as a parallel beam, so that the image can be  viewed without parallax.  The collimator may be a telescope with a slit at the principal focal length of the lens.  Light from the luminous source is focused on this slit by a lens of similar focal length,  and the slit then serves as the luminous object of the optical system."

That's really a fancy way of saying that an optical collimator sight projects a reticle that can be viewed without parallax; i.e. the reticle will remain on the same spot independent of the position of the shooter's eyes.  In other words, pull the gun up to the shoulder, put the dot or reticle on the target, and pull the trigger.  It's like having a laser sight where only the shooter can see the dot.

Physical Characteristics
The Kobra's body is made from aluminum alloy and is attractively finished in  matte black with the commercial logo painted on the side. It is manufactured integral to the steel mount (which is standard Russian military clamp mount), which is designed to work with the permanent rails on the latest generation of AK rifles and clones.   The reticle selector is a push-button located on the bottom of the sight body at the left rear.  The reticle brightness selector is a rocker switch located on the bottom of the sight body at the left front.  The power switch is a rotary knob on the left side of the body; when vertical the power is off, when horizontal, the power is on.  At the front of the sight is the gold-iridium coated lens where the reticle is projected.  The rear holds the laser projector as well as the elevation and azimuth adjusting knobs.  The knobs are protected from inadvertent movement by hinged covers.  According to the manufacturer's literature, the Kobra is sealed against moisture, to include rain, dew, frost and 95% humidity on a 95 degree Fahrenheit day.

There are two types of Kobra sights, the only difference being that one uses 3.6v lithium batteries and has three reticle types, and the other uses AA batteries and has four reticle types.  The reticle types are portrayed below:
 

Lithium Battery Kobra Reticles

AA Battery Kobra Reticles

The dot reticle subtends approximately 1.8 minutes of angle, while the distance between the horizontal bars of the "t" reticle will be approximately two feet at 100 yards. The Kobra has sixteen brightness settings.  Each click of the brightness rocker switch either increases or decreases the level of brightness by a factor of two.

Accessories
The sights come packaged with a rubber hood, a ballistic nylon carrying pouch, which is made of ballistic nylon in woodland camouflage pattern. Items in in
the pouch include the special wrench for adjusting the sight, cleaning cloth, certificate of inspection, warranty card, and two lithium batteries.

Field Test
We took the Kobra and an AK-103 to the range to test it.

Installation
Installing the Kobra onto the rifle is simplicity itself.  If it took more than three seconds, that was a lot.  To put the sight onto the rifle, turn the gun so that the

Image Credit:  http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/kobra1.html

left side is facing up and the rail exposed.  Then pull the locking lever on the mount to the rear, away from the end with the lens.  Slide the mount over the rail from rear to front such that the mating portions of each dovetail.  When the mount is fully forward on the rail, rotate the locking clamp fully forward.  When it is fully forward press the

locking stud down and behind the retaining bar.  Fit was left side is facing up and the rail exposed.  Then pull the locking lever on the mount to the rear, away from the end with the lens.  Slide the mount over the rail from rear to front such that the mating portions of each dovetail.  When the mount is fully forward on the rail, rotate the locking clamp fully forward.  When it is fully forward press the locking stud down and behind the retaining bar.  Fit was solid and secure, with no indication of movement in any plane.  Sight was nicely centered over the bore's centerline.

Reticle Selection
After cycling through the three reticles on the lithium battery Kobra, and the four on the AA, all of the CRUFFLER.COM staffers agreed that the reticle we found most useful and most usable was the dot.  As a caveat, we were shooting at a standard black on white target.  The other reticles may prove more useful in serious social situations.  We also found it very useful to turn the reticle brightness down to a bare minimum.  This reduced the perceived size of the reticle, and made it easier precisely position it.

Zeroing
After setting the windage and elevation knobs on mechanical zero, we rolled a target out to 25 feet and fired a three shot group.  Impact was very much low and left.  Undaunted, we adjusted the sight and fired again.  Again, impact was low and left.  Two adjustments and two shot groups later, and with the adjustment knobs turned all the way, our groups were still striking low and left.

While this was somewhat daunting, it was not especially surprising.  Given the infinite manufacturing tolerance variations possible between the scope rail and the mounts, the likelihood of the factory settings needing some coarse adjustment to bring them into alignment with the sight's actual position on the rifle is actually rather high.  Fortunately, the Kobra is almost infinitely adjustable.  Coarse adjustment for windage is accomplished by loosening an adjustment lock screw on the windage knob, allowing the knob to be turned past the initial stop settings.  Once the sight is set for windage, the lock screw is tightened again.  Coarse adjustment for elevation is accomplished by loosening the central nut that holds the adjustment knob in place, and then gently raising the knob in its housing so that it disengages from the internal adjustment stud.  Once out of engagement, the knob can be rotated back and forth to adjust the elevation.  When the proper elevation has been set, the nut can be tightened again.

With coarse elevation set, it was a simple matter to adjust the impacts onto the center of the target.  Once zeroed at 25 feet, we wheeled the target out to 50 yards.  Only minor elevation adjustment was necessary to account for the difference in range.

Removal and Re-zero
One of the biggest problems with quickly detachable sights is their tendency to lose their zero when dismounted and remounted.  This was not the case with the Kobra.  We removed the sight, reinstalled it, and fired a group four separate times.  Each time the impact group indicated no shift in zero.

Durability
The 7.62x39mm and the 5.45x39mm cartridges that the AK rifles fire are not  violently recoiling cartridges - .458 Winchester Magnum they're not.  Nevertheless, recoil is still a factor to consider when electronics are in the picture.  We fired several hundred rounds with the Kobra attached to several different AK's, and when remounted on our original test gun, there was no difference in zero or system performance.

Conclusion
We were very pleased with the Kobra's ease of use, performance and design.  At approximately $150.00 retail, we also think that it's one of the best values on the market, offering similar performance to sights costing significantly more.  If we have one criticism about the Kobra, it's the sight's lack of versatility.  If you have an AK with a side rail, you're in business.  On the other hand, we'd like to be able to use the Kobra on AR-15's, FAL's, G3's, and a host of other self loading rifles.  We hope to see future integral mounting systems that will allow the Kobra's employment on these and other rifles.  However, this should not tarnish the Kobra's otherwise sterling performance - the addition of a Kobra sight obviates any shortcomings of the issue iron sights and puts the AK series rifle on an accuracy par with any general issue military rifle.  We recommend it highly.
 

And now, our Buy-O-Meter rating for the Kobra Optical Collimator Sight:
 

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