Red dots

[Whiterabbit]

admittedly it was the matchdot with the changeable reticles. I do believe that reticle filter was a possible source of the wandering zero.

[RobsTV]

Another unhappy Ultra-Dot owner here. Just the basic lowest cost version, 1" x 4 MOA. One of the worst warranty services in the business. Not worth the hassles. Maybe prior builds were better and maybe prior service centers actually performed some sort of service?

Will probably try Vortex SPARC for my next red dot.

[Whiterabbit]

See, I'm rethinking ultradot design.

I liked it for the most part, I just did not like customer support/service. That makes me wonder if I buy from another company that makes an identical product (therefore likely coming off the same production line) but nown for better customer service, am I more likely to get the same product but that actually has a team that will stand behind it?

[Old Caster]

When an Ultradot works they work well but too many in the Bullseye group are griping obout failures and then no and crabby customer service. Mostly it is not holding zero and this might happen on a 22 and maybe not on a 45 slide mounted. Mine failed on a frame mount 45.

The Bushnell model is a : Bushnell #: 730131 . I just ordered one today to find out if my friend was just lucky or if they are all good. I bought it at Midway for a total cost of about $73. Look on line and you might find it a few dollars cheaper.

[Old Caster]

The Bushnell model is a : Bushnell #: 730131 . I just ordered one today to find out if my friend was just lucky or if they are all good. I bought it at Midway for a total cost of about $73. Look on line and you might find it a few dollars cheaper.[/QUOTE]

I just got this scope and my first impression is that it will be fine. Since everyone claims their dot is so many minutes wide and they are all different, it is confusing what they really are. I would call the dot fine and I think it is sharp looking but I have to turn it fairly high for it to be bright enough and the first few settings are unusable. I put in their supplied battery and it might not be up to the task but by the time the dial is turned to about 8-9 it is OK for bright outside viewing My right eye gives me two dots that are sharp and my left eye is single but a bit fuzzy. I know people often complain that a dot in a scope is not round but if you twist the dot in a circle and it doesn't change, it is your eye and not the scope. It is best to ask a young kid how it looks to really know but I don't have one handy. The only thing I did with it, and I consider this significant, is to check for parallax at 50 yards and it is just about non existant. From here on it will take time to know whether it will hold zero or not fail. For the money so far I think it is excellent.

[W.R.Buchanan]

My Bushnell TRS-25 #731303 has been working so well I just bought another one for another gun.

After my Front Sight Class with my Kel-Tec I noticed that the front lense in my site was in at an angle.

I called Bushnell and got to talk to a pretty knowledgeable guy who didin't hesitate with the answer when I told him the front lense was cockeyed.

They are installed that way so they reflect "head on" light away, insted of thru the site.

My new one came yesterday. It is exactly the same as the first one. So don't be alarmed if the front lense looks catywhompus.

A little tidbit of Bushnell knowledge for you.

Randy

[Whiterabbit]

hey, woudl you put that TRS-25 on a big bore handgun? think it can hack it?

[Old Caster]

Friend has it on a Rock River 45 mounted on the slide which might be worse for it than a big bore. I'm sure the slide comes back faster that a pistol frame could.

[LC Press]

I have been having great luck with my TRS-25's. This one was on my 12 gauge Saga until the Burris that was on my yote rifle died. Transfered it over since it is yote killing time again.

[W.R.Buchanan]

White Rabbit. Not an auto loader but on a revolver I'd try it. If it fails you just send it back where it came from and they either give you a new one or your money back. If they tell you to go fish, then you're out $90 which isn't the end of the world. (even though no one from a big MO outfit would do that, since they value customer loyalty above a Return for Refund which costs them essentially nothing.)

On another note you can clearly see in LC Presses' second photo the front lens is cockeyed. Yes, it's supposed to be that way. Nice looking gun LC!

Did I mention that site weighs 4 oz?

I bought the second one to install onto the top of my Kel-Tec Sub 2000. Unfortunately I must manufacture some kind of a swing mount so I can retain the folding feature of the rifle, which is one of the best features of that gun.

That mount must place the site above the barrel when open and will attach to the forened just in front of the lower rear screw. Then swing out far enough so the gun can close. Shouldn't be that hard to do? HUH?

I will post pics of that when it comes to fruition.

Randy

[imashooter2]

I have a Millet 30mm adjustable dot that has held up well on my 629. It replaced a cheap BSA 40mm tube that shook apart in just a few shots.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I'm finding there is various quality levels of Chinese manufacture.

The Bushnells are good Chinese and so are the Millets. The less expensive <$250 Weaver scopes are chinese as well adn there are many others. It is hard to compete with the labor rate there,,,unfortunately!

The BSA's are inexpensive Chinese manufacture.

This is reflected in the price, but it is also controlled by the company with it's name on the product. I think some companies tend to insist that their products are made a certain way and then stand there and watch to make sure it happens.

Others,,, not so much.

Randy

[fecmech]

I bought a Millet 1" sight maybe 10-12 years ago and put it on my K-38. I shoot a standard "service" load (158@900 fps) for Hunters pistol silhouette. That's not a lot of recoil for a sight but it got hit about 8-10K times before it failed. I called Millett and they told me to send it in, had a new one free in about 2 weeks. It's been going just fine for the past 3 years.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I just installed another Bushnell TRS-25 on my Mini 14 last night. It changed the personallity of the gun dramatically. I have to tell you all,,, I love these sights. They are 3.2 oz and don't distract from the way the gun handles at all. Took a full pound off this gun which had a 1-4X Leapers scope mounted to it since day one.

For the expected usage of this gun IE: Competition at less than 300 yards the red dot is the fastest way to pick up a target there is. Entirely adequate on a mansized target at 300 yards. Not a Varmint Rifle type sight but you wouldn't have any problems hitting a Coyote sized target at 200 yds with one.

At $89.95 They are good quality and covered by Bushnells Guarantee. Easily comparable to much more expensive sights of similar size and weight. Pretty good bang for the buck. The one on my Kel-Tec SU-16 has close to 1000 rounds thru it and hasn't budged.

I bought this sight to install on My KT Sub2000 but since I need to fabricate a hinged mount for it I went ahead and mounted it to the Mini.

I also just bought a Bushmaster Carbon 15 lightweight recently which actually comes with an optic mounted. It is much bigger and is probably going to be removed in favor of one of these sights. I want that gun as light as possible, and it should be right at 5 lbs with this sight installed.

I need two more now to have one on everything.

I wouldn't hesitate to mount one on a Marlin Guide Gun for use in dark places. It would increase your hunting time easily by 30 minutes in the morning and evening.

Randy

[Garyshome]

Got a true glo from midway for $50.00 a while back just to see if i could use it or liked it. It works well for me.

[Char-Gar]

I shoot in a weekly falling plate pistol match where everybody uses red dot or holo sights of some kind. Many of them give troubles from time to time.

I have a Burris and other than changing the battery from time to time, it has given me zero problems over it's six years of use. I have never had to resight it in all those six years. That little red dot is still where I put it six years ago.

[Sasquatch-1]

I have a Burris and other than changing the battery from time to time, it has given me zero problems over it's six years of use. I have never had to resight it in all those six years. That little red dot is still where I put it six years ago.

What do you have it mounted on?

[RobsTV]

Another unhappy Ultra-Dot owner here. Just the basic lowest cost version, 1" x 4 MOA. One of the worst warranty services in the business. Not worth the hassles. Maybe prior builds were better and maybe prior service centers actually performed some sort of service?

Will probably try Vortex SPARC for my next red dot.

Updating old thread, but took this long to figure stuff out.

Started with UltraDot on S&W 500. Could never get groups. Was worse than iron sights. Tested on 40 S&W carbine with similar results. Even when installed on Ruger 22/45 it was worse than iron sights. Tried to make it work for maybe 6 months, then sent it back for repair. After fighting with warranty center for a month, they finally admitted they never tested it yet, as they do not have an in-house range, so they would just sent me a new replacement. The replacement did the exact same thing, which lead me to believe it could not be this highly rated red dot, and must be my loads, eyes, or weapons. Felt bad for putting up a stink. So went and tried many more loads and changes, and still could not get grouping. Just bad guns I guessed. Lately, have been using the UltraDot on a Ruger Blackhawk 30 carbine revolver, but no luck in getting any sort of grouping.

Slapped a 4x fixed scope on 40 Carbine, and it shot to point of aim. Bought a Bushnell TRS-25 for the Ruger 22/45 and WOW, that thing is GREAT. Much better than iron sights. Which all got me thinking again that it might not be me after all. Couple months ago, picked up a used Leupold M8-2X Extended E.R., as I also wanted to try a scout scope on M1 Carbine and Mauser. First test with the S&W 500 and done. Perfect (for me) expected group, repeatable every time. A tad tougher to get crosshairs to steady on target, but shoots close to POA at least. Without any adjustments, same results as a scout scope on M1 Carbine, only 3" high. Perfect. Best $125 I spent, while the Ultradot was the worst $150 I spent. Also highly recommend the Bushnell TRS-25, as it performs as it should too, and with frequent sale pricing of $50, a steal.

[Whiterabbit]

That's my experience exactly. Exactly. Sad in my case, it took about 1000 rounds of 460S&W trying to load develop to figure out the real problem. I just couldn't figure it out. No load would group. Didn't have this issue with rifles. Couldn't go to iron sights for load development for other reasons. Couldn't afford a magnified optic. Why couldn't I find a load with the accuracy I wanted? Why was range-time so variable? Some days grea,t and some days just awful? Why do I lack total consistency?

Nope, not the gun, not me.

And the same wonderful experience with customer service. I saved the "test targets" they used to "prove" my ultradot wa good. I've posted them before, I should do so again. They are an embarassment.

100% ditto on the TRS-25, and for me the magnified optic ended up being a bushnel 2-6 variable. Still working with it.

Will not go back. If I go back to a red dot, it will be the TRS-25, period.

[Dave C.]

The ultra dot on the slide of my 45 has apx 45,000 rounds on it and still works fine.