Best mount for this rail? (Leaper's 5th Gen doesn't work)

I have this rail like this on my MAK90:
http://milsurpstuff.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TLM47SR

What mount would be best for it? I have a Leaper's 5th Generation mount (MNT-978) which is ok on my WASR-10's rail. But it won't stay on the MAK90's rail no matter tight I get it. It will be on pretty snug but then recoil or smacking the butt into the ground will shift it back a 1/2" or so and if I try hard enough I can actually pull it completely off when "locked."

I want to get a BP-02 for AKs from East Wave or Kalinka but the fact that the Leapers mount will fit the WASR's rail and not the MAK's has me worried about which mount to get for the MAK's rail. Without the extra cut on the bottom of the back part of the rail should I go for an SVD clamp instead or is the Leapers mount just problematic on my rail and go for the AK clamp? Or is the rail itself the problem?

Thanks!

You might want to try another one of the same rail that's on the MAK90 now and see if another one might work better. The BP-02 might have more adjustment than the Leapers but i don't know. I was thinking about trying the Leapers mount on my Saiga for a very small cheap mini red dot sight. The BP-02 mount should be better than the leapers but I don't know how it fits the Leapers screw on rail. I'm not sure how an SVD mount would work.

You might want to try another one of the same rail that's on the MAK90 now and see if another one might work better. The BP-02 might have more adjustment than the Leapers but i don't know. I was thinking about trying the Leapers mount on my Saiga for a very small cheap mini red dot sight. The BP-02 mount should be better than the leapers but I don't know how it fits the Leapers screw on rail. I'm not sure how an SVD mount would work.
The rail isn't screwed on though so it's going to be a pain to remove if it is the problem. I'm concerned about it mostly because it seems most other rails have a cut out on the back like the WASR's rail but the BMP-1 and MTK-01B over at Tantal's have similar shapes to the rail I have. I really think why it works on the WASR is because the mount can flex into the gap in front of and behind the center bottom part of the rail but that's just my theory.

I guess I'll go ahead and order a BP-02 and see how it works. I like its look and reputation a lot better than the Leapers mount, it was just a impluse buy on an order and the only side mount I have on hand since I got the rail installed a couple weeks ago. I got Like I said the Leapers mount does fine so far on my WASR so it you have a similar rail you should be ok for a cheap red dot. Any recommendations on Kalinka vs. East Wave?

My BP-02 got here today from Kalinka. I order an AK clamp. But now when I clmp the mount on my MAK90 rail I the small tab on the QD lever has no place to go so the lever is sprung down slightly. On my WASR's rail it can rest in between in a open spot in the rail base between the receiver and the mount.

Is it possible to get a good lock with this kind of rail? Should I try to exchange it for a SKS/SVD mount? Should I (carefully!) modify the rail to have more clearance?

Thanks!

The mount just before the lever is fully rotated, you can see the base part of the rail that will interfere with the tab.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2464.jpg

The lever is at it's full amount of travel it can move on this rail here. The little vertical tab is causing the lever to be moved downward.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2463.jpg

I'm not sure what it you are describing. The BP-02 should have a lot of adjustment. If it's just one of those cheap Chinese rails you try to make some clearance in it but save it until everything else is tried.

Sorry for not being clear. I'm not talking about adjusting the tension to hold it on the rail, I'm talking about getting the lever to lock down. Right nwo the tension is pretty loose.

The MAK90's Chinese rail causing lever to angle downward since the small vertical tab can't slip between the mount and the receiver due to the base of the rail in the way (also the rail itself isn't as thick as my Romanian rail, the tab has a hard time fitting further back on the rail where it is cut out for the axis pin and the BP-02 isn't top dead center, more slightly right).

http://tickbitesupply.com/akplate.jpg The extra "base" at the front of the rail seems to be most of the problem.

It causes the lever not to be able to lock behind the mount and angled down like this:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2465.jpg

Compared to nice flush and parallel on the on the WASR10:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2467.jpg

MAK90 from the bottom
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2463.jpg

WASR-10 from the bottom:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y36/Snake122/100_2469.jpg

How important is this little tab? The Leaper's mount didn't have a lock like this but I do enjoy the idea of the extra security. BTW, they took back the MNT-978 mount for under warranty but I'm pretty sure when it gets back I'm going to have the same problem.

Okay I think I say what you are talking about. Maybe remove just a bit of material from the Chinese rail on the rifle. I'd make that's where the problem is first though.

Thanks for your continued input Allen!

It's not just the material there, it is part of the problem but I still can't get the tab to lock when I slide it a little back on the rail at the cutout for the hammer pin. The rail isn't thick enough at the base to provide clearance.

I'd like to swap out the rail at this point because I had no clue the Chinese rails would cause this much problems but I'm going to end up making swiss chesse of the receiver since the holes probably won't line up with any other rail.

I'm also ok with this mount being primarily for the MAK90 and if I have to modifying the BP-02 to work exclusively with it. I think I still want the locking effect that the tab provides so I think I'm going to delicately remove part of the rail that is causing some of the problem but then also remove some material from the mount or crush the tab so the the tab can fit between the mount and the receiver.

Before I do all that though, how can I be sure this isn't an SVD style rail made for an AK and I just need to exchange the mount for an SVD clamp BP-02?

Part of what makes me suspect it might be SVD rail is that SVDs lock up top and they also slide on the other way IIRC. The back of my mount is noticeably beveled and I thought that was to make it easier to slide on but as I think about it that would not give a AK mount as much surface area for the mount to stop on (both mounts still stop fine with the beveling though).

If a SVD clamp would work better than I might need to go for the high mount because it looks like they have about 1/4" less clearance.

A new rail should cover up most of the old mounting holes.

Hey is the Leapers mount (not the rail) centered over the rifle better than the BP-02 mount? That's why I was thinking to get the Leapers mount for a cheap mini red dot sight on my Saiga. I have seen people modify the BP-02 to on center with the bore of the rifle but if the leapers is closer anyway that might be enough fo a cheap sight.

Good point on the mounting holes and I bet I can still use the forward one if I play my cards right. I'll just have to undo my Bubba job of getting it on there which won't be easy! I never thought this rail would give me as many headaches as it has! My first rivet attempt didn't work out so I had to screw and epoxy it on. I would really prefer to rivet another rail on if i switch them out, but my first time it was with borrowed tools that I can't really get back. Does Tantal still carry his MTK-01B screw on rails and is there anyway to epoxy/locite them on securely so they don't shoot loose?

Granted I don't have it on hand to check now but I would say that yes the Leapers was more centered on the MAK90's rail. But now I want it back on hand to check again because with the WASR-10 the BP-02 looks more centered (part of what made me realize that the Chinese rail was thinner and limiting clearance). I'll update you when I get it back. I have no problem with it being the mount for my "second string" WASR. The MAK is my go to rifle.

Some of the better screw on rails might stay tight with Loctite. The threads could be soldered but you may not want to put the heat in to the rifle. It's hard to say which rails are really available these days. The websites don't keep up very well.

What I meant about being "centered" was left to right across the rifle. Is the BP-02 offset more than the Leapers mount? I mean the top of the mount where the scope goes.

That's what I meant by centered too, I just realized I may not have been paying as much of attention before.

I got several emails from Kalinka today, great customer service response time. The slot you can see in the first picture was cut in the wrong location for the lever. The tab should go in there. They are going to replace it for me. Lets just hope the new one stays on my rail!

If I get the Leapers back and it fits too I'll be really surprised :rolleyes: