red dot sights

[wgr]

any of you guys yse theses and witch ones do you use. do to eye problem i need to try something else to hunt with

[NSB]

What do you plan to put it on, handgun or rifle? I've been using them for over twenty-five years and owned a lot of them during that time. Your needs and equipment may dictate which one you use as well as how much you're willing to spend.

[Lloyd Smale]

use them a lot. Not a whole lot on hunting guns though. I did shoot a deer last year with my Beowulf with an aimpoint comp 2 on it. Did fine at 50 yards. Problem with them is they don't work real well in low light. Its not that they don't work. If you can see the deer you can put the dot on it but they don't amplify light like a traditional scope does.

[gnostic]

Try one before you buy, they (red dot sights) look like a bunch of grapes to me...

[winelover]

Red dot sights for work best at close to medium ranges. I use them on bows, shotguns, handguns and carbines, mostly for hunting out of treestands. For longer ranges, the dot covers up too much of the target for extreme accuracy. A smaller dot size translates to better accuracy. I prefer either the 1 or 2 minute dot, over the 4 or larger.

There is a multitude of choices, on the market. I started using Armson / Trijicon OEG's......and they spoiled me from all others. Fully automatic (light adjusting) and no batteries to fail or no switches to fiddle with. They were powered with a tritium lamp that had a shelf life of 10 years or more. Sadly, Trijicon doesn't support / re-lamp them any more.

Consequently, I had to look for alternative replacements. I tried a whole host of them including Ultra-dots, Bushnell's and Vortex. If I had to choose one, it would be the Vortex SPARC. Most of the illuminated dots are too bright for extreme low light shooting even on the lowest rheostat setting. With the Ultra-dot, I take a double thickness of a black nylon stocking and hold it in place with a flip-open objective cover to subdue the brightness. I then use the sight as I would use the Armson without looking through the tube........one eye picks up the target and the other super imposes it on the target. The Vortex SPARC has a night vision mode and I am able to pick the dot in very low light, if need be. The Bushnell TRS-25 is a decent enough red dot sight for the money and has the smaller dot, I prefer, as is their Trophy Dot with 4 optional reticles in red or green.

Winelover

[wgr]

im going to put it on a 45 colt rifle will shoot out to 100yard

[ole 5 hole group]

I highly recommend red-dots for all firearms, although I haven't used one on shotguns.

There are trade-offs - as mentioned, the dot sight covers up a lot of real-estate at longer ranges. You can solve some of the problems with MONEY.

I use the 2" dot with the aimpoint micro on my AR - using a 30X benchrest scope I can consistently group right at 0.6" at 100 for 5-shots and at 200 yards I'm well under 2 inches, so I know my rifle is accurate with my chosen loads. Now with that 2 minute dot using the Aimpoint T-1, I can keep 5-shots within 4 inches at 200 yards most of the time using a 6 o-clock hold on the 8" bull, on rare occasion, I might get that 2" group when I wiggle & wobble just right. The cost is a bit on the high side as you need a raiser when using a micro or heads up display (reflex sights) on a rifle but I choose the Aimpoint due to its reputation for durability and the fact that the battery will last for 50,000 hours - that's over 5 years if left on continuously. I've left mine on for a couple months at a time and I'm still on my 1st battery going on 3-years. The price was almost unbearable when I purchased it but now it's just a memory and I'm over the sticker shock.

An option to covering real-estate at longer ranges is to consider a Leupold Deltapoint with the 7.5 moa Delta - That is a huge "delta/dot" but you want to just use the tip of the delta, which would be about like an 1/8 minute dot or less. It's extremely accurate when used in that manner but again, it's expensive. I have that sight mounted on my 1911 with a milled slide. Nothing usually survives that puppy out to 75 yards when shot from a good rest - although I have missed a few prairie dog heads at longer ranges out past 50 yards but my excuse is I couldn't really see my intended target very well to begin with and I put the bullet where I thought his head was (I'm sticking to that excuse too!) - if I would have had a magnifier in the dot (so far no magnifier is available as a stand-alone red dot reflex sight) - it probably would have been a different story. Now, for those dogs within 50 yards - some were dead, they just didn't know it - and the excuse I always use when they take off and make it down their mound hole - just a miracle, plain and simple - miracle.

wrg - I think you would do just fine with one of the less expensive models such as the Burris AR-F3 - that model includes the raiser/mount and probably can be purchased from Amazon for $265 or less. The Fast Fire III alone is around the $240 mark shipped but some people prefer a better raiser/mount for the Burris red dot, so the price goes up. Several years ago, a lot of the less expensive red dots were going down due to heavy recoil - I believe most, if not all, current red dots on the market no longer have this problem.

My SIL has a $60 red dot mounted on his AR and it has performed as well as my Aimpoint up to now and it very well might hold up for many more years - uses batteries like ladies using toilet paper but for the initial price paid, he can afford a lot of batteries over the years.

[Lloyd Smale]

I like my aimpoints but other then battery life the vortexs seem to be a much better buy. Heres one id really like to try http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/v...1x_prism_scope It has an etched reticle that can be used even with the light turned off or if your battery went dead.

[ole 5 hole group]

I like my aimpoints but other then battery life the vortexs seem to be a much better buy. Heres one id really like to try http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/v...1x_prism_scope It has an etched reticle that can be used even with the light turned off or if your battery went dead.

Totally agree with you on the Vortex - most are priced very well for the quality of the product and their warranty is second to none. A friend put a 1X6 razor on his AR - just a great piece of glass but its price was right up there with the other high-end scope prices. That scope really assists a person in the accuracy department but for the added weight it's just not worth it for me on my AR at my age.

With my set-up I can use my irons without removing the Aimpoint and I have the irons zero'd at 200 yards.

[randyrat]

I see this is an older thread, so I thought I would refresh it a bit..

Natchezss has a good assortment of pistol optics/ Red dots and some are on sale.

click on optics - pistol scopes - Reflex & holographic

https://www.natchezss.com/optics/handgun-scopes.html

[NSB]

They will work very, very well on your rifle out to a hundred yards. Here's a couple of groups I shot at 114yds with my 45-70. They are typical of what the gun will do with a red dot at that distance. They're also five shot groups, not three. These were shot with a Burris FastFire3 out of a Win 1886 lever gun.


Attachment 177104Attachment 177105

[GhostHawk]

Recently found a Truglo Red Dot with 2x optical built in. Smaller than a standard scope, shorter, still gets on target quick. It has a 2.5 moa dot that seems very small on lower intensity but looks normal sized when you turn it up a bit.

I have not really wrung it out yet, but I will be buying more of these as finances allow.
Got mine at Amazon for 60$

https://www.amazon.com/Truglo-Red-Do...t+2X42mm+Black

[randyrat]

Have you tried a Red Dot in the day light with snow on the ground, can you still see the dot? I wouldn't mind one for the 30-30 deer rifle.
I use the 30-30 for closer range deer hunting with a heavy cast, but have been hesitant to put a Red dot due to bright white snow and possibly not being able to see the Red Dot.

[NSB]

Have you tried a Red Dot in the day light with snow on the ground, can you still see the dot? I wouldn't mind one for the 30-30 deer rifle.
I use the 30-30 for closer range deer hunting with a heavy cast, but have been hesitant to put a Red dot due to bright white snow and possibly not being able to see the Red Dot.

I've been using red dots for twenty-five years in all conditions. I hunt in NY and PA in the gun season and snow is very common. It's never been a problem seeing the red dot under any lighting conditions. The dot intensity is adjustable on most and you simply turn it up to a brighter setting when it's very bright out. Snow is not a problem at all.

[PoisonIvyMagnet]

I put a red dot sight on my 10/22 for rabbit hunting in snowy Michigan weather. No problem seeing the dot, actually made hitting bunnies on the run much easier. Unfortunately that sight finally died after 18 years of use, so I just bought a new one that will give either a red or green dot. Have not tried it hunting yet, but the green does look neat after only having red for so long.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

[imashooter2]

I have tried a few myself, and more on other folks guns. Overall, I prefer a reflex / holographic sight for the increased field of view. The ones I have currently are a C-MORE Railway 4moa on a 15-22, an EOTECH 512 on a LAR-9 and a Burris FastFire III 8moa that has been on a few handguns, but isn't on anything right now.

I have a pretty severe astigmatism, and find that higher end devices have dots that still appear round where cheaper ones are globs. Handing those same cheap sights to my daughter, she says the dots are round and sharp. I don't know why the C-MORE and Burris sights don't blur like the cheap ones, but that is my experience.