This Attachment Interaction is Incredibly Interesting

One thing I have always loved about Tarkov’s intrinsically complex weapon modding system, is how sometimes you can discover interesting interactions between certain attachments. Whether it is intentional or not. Many years ago, there was a bug where you could attach both a PSO and a REAP-IR thermal to an AK and have the thermal optic come out of the PSO. Which was interesting, but not very practical because you needed a thermal in order to do this trick. And it was quickly patched out once it was discovered. Earlier this wipe we had bugged M4’s that could attach both the jailbreak attachment as well as a suppressor for disgustingly low recoil. And while the ability to put both attachments on has been removed, there are some of those M4’s floating around in the world of Tarkov, even to this day. So, coming across one is like coming across a little time capsule of something once lost. But recently, by complete accident, I learned a fun little interaction between the PSO scopes for the AKs and the upgradable yellow iron sight attachments in the game. This isn’t going to be a long one, but let’s go over it quickly.

To explain what this is, it’s basically the ability to switch off a PSO scope on an AK and toggle over to the iron sights, which is normally not possible. And while its actual usefulness and effectiveness are not as high as it would to just add a canted red dot onto the weapon, for budget purposes, or even post-wipe purposes, this could be an interesting combination for people doing maybe punisher part one. Or, just have an AK laying around and want some extra flexibility. Now, to preface this early on, while this combo works with almost every AK available, it really only works with the AKMN. And the reason why is none of the 5.45 AKs do a decent job with clearance, and your visibility is even worse than when used on a 7.62 AK. Here’s a comparison of the AKMN and the AK-74N. You can easily see the difference, and I think it boils down to how the dovetail mount on the AKMN is set on the weapon, when compared to the 74N. It’s farther out and potentially a little higher up on the weapon, which makes the PSO rest higher on the AKMN. Meaning, your viewing is much higher.

So again, while most AKs can attach both optics and use this combo, you won’t be able to see anything unless you’re using the AKMN. While this really limits this cool feature to a handful of rifles, it’s still cool and surprisingly effective. Is it the best? Of course not. Is it still interesting? Yeah, totally. Is it still serviceable? Absolutely. PSO scopes kind of get a bad rep in the world of Tarkov, but I personally really enjoy using them. They are a simple, clean 4x scope that doesn’t require any additional attachments. You just have to have an AK with a dovetail and you’re good to go. The scope being pretty much in your face might get you killed once or twice, but the recoil at least on a semi-modded AK isn’t that bad. And you have enough of your screen not obstructed by the PSO to still be lethal against scav and PMC alike. Now, I only tested this on an AK with decent attachments. To take an even worse AK and to attempt this attachment combo, might prove a little more problematic with recoil taking your sights to the moon. But, in single fire with some solid trigger discipline, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be effective even with a base AK. But this combo is simple, it’s cheap, and can be done from level two traders. Sadly, the yellow iron sight attachments are behind Prapor 2, but level 15 isn’t too bad to be using this setup.

I would love to see more weapons and optics switched off to their respective iron sights. The PU Mosin is another example of this. In games like DayZ, you can have a Mosin with a PU scope and switch to using the iron sights, and not only does it work, but you have so much of your screen not obstructed by the optic itself because it rests so high on the weapon. Those kinds of interactions in games just add another layer that is unlike a lot of shooters out there. Now to be fair, some of them are adding those kinds of mechanics for optics, which is greatly appreciated. But the more we can get into Tarkov and having them make sense, the better for everyone. Either way, this is just a fun little video about something that has been in the game for some time if I had to guess, but that I only found out about recently. And since we know the next wipe is in August, this could be something you should consider if you want to run a dovetail 7.62 AK on a budget. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. If you know of any other interesting interactions with attachments in Tarkov and would like to share them, please feel free down in the comments and subscribe for more videos about discovering cool stuff in Tarkov. I hope to see you in future ones.