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I am interested in a 'tube-type red dot' for hunting? The standard sights are just too blurry for my 60 year-old eyes. Don't want to go too cheap, can save for a while, if need be? I have looked at the Weigand 'mini' and barrel-clamp style mounts, are there better choices? I wouldn't give up on open sights, but need a better option for deer hunting. THANKS up front for your replies, hc18flyer
I'm a Bullseye shooter so I can only speak from that prospective. I use only UltraDots. I not only have them on my .22's but also mounted on the slide of my 1911 45's. Some of them have been on 45's their whole lives and they have maybe 75,000-100,000 rounds down range. A pretty good reputation with all that banging around a 45 slide goes thru. Not expensive, but not cheap either.
Phil
depends on what you want to spend. If you have 600 bucks an aimpoint is the cadilac of red dots. None better. If your more in the 200 dollar range the vortex sparc and strike fire are great units. they also have a new crossfire that's a 150 bucks that has better battery life then the other two. Ive recently bought two sig sauer romeo 5s. They seem like very good redots and reviews of them tend to be positive. Nice thing about them is you can leave them on all the time and after 2 minutes they shut off and will fire back up with motion. Just touching your finger on one turns it back on. So they claim that battery life is somewhere near 5 years in normal use. That is 600 dollar aimpoint battery life for a 1/3 the cost. If you want the best cheap red dot the bushnell trs25 is hands down the best under a 100 dollar red dot. There good rugged sights. Battery life isn't great though but battery life is more important for a self defense gun then a hunting gun. All of these sights ive mentioned except for the bushnell have a life time warrantee. I think bushnells warrantee on a electronic sight is one year. That said I bought on of those bushnells that looks like a buris fast fire and two years after I bought it it quit holding zero. I sent it in and they said it was no longer covered by warrantee but if I would settle they would send me a trs25 for free. I would guess that they have had a lot of trouble with those sights and know the trs25 is just a better unit.
Ultra Dot is absolutely the best for the money. Lifetime guarantee and great features for a tube style red dot. I've had them on 44mags and 357mags and they have held up without one single glitch. I've hunted deer with a handgun for over forty years and I've shot a ton of them over the years. I've owned several dozen red dot sights, both reflex and tin can. I shot competition for years with them also. If I had to pick one to put on a hunting handgun, it would be an UltraDot without even thinking twice about it.
Max Prasac shoots the .475 Linebaugh and .500 JRH with Ultradots on them. He's had rings break, but said he's never had an Ultradot fail.
I'm going to be putting one on my Blackhawk for hunting as well.
I'm considering putting a redot style sight on my 44mag for hunting too. 44man had always recommended ultradots too. Looking a the Ultra Dot website, I see they have a reflex style sight ( I believe it's refers to as that).Has anyone used that type for hunting on a 44?
I have a few different handguns with reflex sights on them. I personally don't think they work out as well for hunting as the tin can styles do. They're great for competition, but they usually have less brightness selections, are a bit more difficult to find the dot in them until you get used to them, and have a smaller "window". That being said, I've used Burris FastFire2 and 3's, Vortex Venoms, Doctors, and a couple of others I don't recall/have any more. They are smaller, but on a hunting handgun that's not a real advantage. They'll work, they're just a bit less "user friendly" for hunting.Quote:
Originally Posted by ubetcha
The reason was wondering about this type of sight was, I shoot scoped Contenders for silhouette shooting and know they can be difficult to obtain a proper sight picture if not held properly, but in silhouette shooting, there is some time to get that picture before having to fire and time to get a steadier hold. When hunting, one may not have that time or chance to get a good support for the revolver. Field of view is a concern also. The model Ultra dot is an Ultra Dot L/T. I suppose an investment in a low priced Bushnell would help decide.
There is no issue with a tin can red dot in finding the dot. It's not like a scope where the sight "blacks out" when you're not looking through the center of the sight. A tin can red dot is like looking through an empty cardboard tube, no focusing required. You'll see the dot as soon as you look through it and it doesn't even have to be centered to hit the target. There just isn't any focusing involved.
I had an ultradot fail. Took me hundreds of rounds to figure it out, too, because it was a new gun, I just thought the loads were poor. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
I tried a bushnell TRS-25 and and have never had it fail. Bulletproof. On a 460 S&W BFR, so your blackhawk will be fine for sure.
That said, the SA guys talk up the UD so much, I did buy another one for my next BFR and I will try it again. That said, I don't have it yet because they haven't released the 500L model yet. But ill try the UD again on a 500L and see how she does.
To be fair, my UD was a matchdot, wiht the 4 different dots. I am confident the source of failure was the dot aperture. None of the SA guys run that red dot, and when I bought my new one, I bought the plain jane UD30. I do expect reliability to be better.
Really? I know many who do, myself included, who have had no trouble with them. I also had two of the Bushnell TRS-25 sights that had a ton of parallax (I've seen some newer ones that didn't also) and I got rid of both of them. The TRS-25 is a cheap sight that I've recently seen being sold for just over forty bucks and that's about what they're worth in my opinion. Yes, they work but they just aren't a great sight. You're way better off buying a better quality sight to start off with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Whiterabbit
I will be interested in which sight and mount you use on your BH? hc18flyerQuote:
Originally Posted by Arkansas Paul
NSB- I like it! Of course it would look better on my 7 1/2" 45 Colt New Model!
hc18flyer
I'm thinking the Weigand mount.Quote:
Originally Posted by hc18flyer
https://www.jackweigand.com/Ruger-Su...ope-Mount.html
Along with an Ultradot 30.
That could change, but if I were purchasing today, that would be it.
Whiterabbit, please give us an update when you put yours through its paces. I'd be interested to hear your take on it.
sorry but those ultra dots look like sewer pipes. Way to big for a single action. Kind of like a 4x15x50 scope on a 16 inch carbine. An aimpoint micro or vortex sparc would look much better. Especially on a gun like a FA. Maybe I wouldn't care much what my 400 dollar ruger looked like but my 1500 dollar FA is a different thing. Personaly I detest any optic on a single action. There a traditional looking gun and I think should be left that way. Put your optics on a super redhawk or a tc contender. But that's just my opinon and you know what that's worth!!
I'm a strong advocate for the Weigand mounts as they don't interfere with the barrel unnecessarily. If you want a tube, then slide an Aimpoint Micro (if you can't find a secondhand R1, there's the PA Micro. If you're just looking for a red dot, the Burris Fastfire III is a good little unit that doesn't sit as high over the bore.Quote:
Originally Posted by hc18flyer
I agree that they look terrible on a single action. No doubt about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale
That's one reason I personally am going with a no drill mount. That way, after deer season is over it will come off and the rear sight will go back on.
I want to do more handgun hunting, and can't spring for a new revolver at the moment. I have to make do with what I have for now.
My plan is to hunt with the Ultradot 30 this upcoming deer season, and have a different handgun like a Bisley Hunter or a Super Redhawk by the next season.
Then the Ultradot will go on my AR and a traditional handgun scope will go on the new gun.
That's the plan. But we know how plans go.
I have the new model Blackhawk in 45 Colt with 7.5" barrel. I too plan to hunt whitetail this coming Fall, then the Ultra Dot will come off my Ruger. Shooting steel is different than deer, especially in low light. hc18flyerQuote:
Originally Posted by Arkansas Paul
Another one here for the Burris FastFire. Have one on my Ruger 41 Magnum Bisly and love it. Will be getting a couple more, one for my 44 Magnum BHFT and one for my OM Vaquero 44-40.
Larry, I have been leaning toward the Fast Fire for my Ruger BH. Missed out on a one day optics sale at Midway, guess I will keep trying? Read some complaints about the battery compartment threads on the FF 3? Any thoughts? Thanks, Tom