Red dot sight.... usable?

[hornetguy]

I put a Tasco pro point red dot sight on my 1895SS Marlin, and was pretty pleased with the result... not too bulky, still easy to see through..

I'm pretty sure I'm wanting to leave it on there, and try hogs with it. I was curious if anybody else uses a red dot type sight in real life hunting, and if so, what are your reactions/thoughts of it, compared to a low power scope....

I've just never used any kind of optical equipment that needs a battery in any kind of hunting scenario.

[Digital Dan]

I dunno how Tascos do for battery consumption, mebbe you need spares, mebbe not. About 7 years back I bought a Ruger 77/44 and mounted a Millett SP-1 on the roof. 3 MOA dot that sometimes manages MOA'ish groups, but that's only at the range. Elsewhere it does minute of deer or minute of hog. I thought that just ducky so I bought another as I'd placed the Millett on my T/C Contender Carbine .22 Short barrel. Add squirrel to the list, along with raccoons, possum, armadillos etc. I have a nasty habit of shooting hogs with the .22 Short Carbine and have thus bagged 18 within the last year using a mixture of shorts and CB Shorts, mostly the latter. Placement being the name of that game, I find the sight expedient and precise but caution the ranges are very close. 10-30' mostly. Long shot on game was a recent deer up in Mississippi at about 70 yards in extremely poor light with the .44. Rainy too. Just the sort of conditions that sight thrives in I think. Cut the top of her heart off clean and that's about where I wanted it. I have found it necessary to replace the battery twice on the old one, the new is still factory powered. Between the two I've killed enough meat my F150 couldn't haul 'em off in one load.

Just occurred, but if someone makes rechargeable batteries for such sights you could rig a solar panel on your camo hat and charge as you go. Al Gore would give you a couple of carbon credits for that idea I suppose.

I do wish we'd had such sights in Nam.

[lovedogs]

I used a Tru-Glo Red Dot sight some last year on a rifle and a Contender. I liked them in good light and at short ranges. In dim light the dot shows up real well but the target can get hard to see. Part of this is lack of magnification and part is that they don't gather light like a scope. For my kind of hunting I went back to a scope. Much hunting is done in less than perfect light and some is at longer distances. True, on the range or for quick shots in decent light within their distance limitations they work well. Our Tru-Glo units seem to not need batteries very often as we are still running on the originals. The T-G's also have a lifetime warranty. And another thing I liked is that they don't "flare out" like the two Bushnell's I used to have. My next Red Dot is going to be a Tru-Glo on a Ruger Mk.II .22 semi-auto for fast and furious fun.

[Lloyd Smale]

I tried them but just never fell in love. two troubles for me is im to absent minded to remember to turn them on and off and they dont gather light. If i was going to do it again id buck up some money for one of the tritium models thats on all the time. Most of my lever guns have peep sights on them. there just as fast and more reliable and just look right on a lever.

[hornetguy]

This is the only red dot I've ever had... but it has different intensities, 1-10 or 12...at the range I used the lowest or second to lowest intensity, and had no problems with centering it on the bull at 100yds... it covered almost the whole bull, but didn't seem clumsy..

I've found that I can pick up the rifle, and sight with both eyes open, and the dot just sorta appears on the target, which would be good for hogs at closer ranges, I would think.

For longer range stuff, a 2X or 4X magnification would be nice, but what the heck.



oh, and Digital Dan.... thanks for your service in Nam.
I was old enough for the last draft, and had a really high number... then Nixon stopped it all. I was glad.

[44man]

Rifles and handguns are two different animals. A good rifle scope gathers light and lets you shoot earlier and later then a red dot. The red dot works fine until the light blinds you but remember that it usually happens after or before legal shooting time anyway.
Now on the handgun, scopes do not gather light with the long eye relief so the red dot is by far the best. With a handgun scope you need to wait well past legal shooting time to see anything.

[Digital Dan]

I've found that I can pick up the rifle, and sight with both eyes open, and the dot just sorta appears on the target, which would be good for hogs at closer ranges, I would think.

That would be the way they were intended to be used. Is why they work in poor light for me, usually set on a very low power setting, like #1 or 2. It works at longer ranges just like that too, but maybe you need a bit of practice.

BTW, you're welcome and you didn't miss much aside from cheap entertainment and hot beer.

[lovedogs]

44Man... I don't understand your statment about pistol scopes not gathering light. I've got scopes on eight different pistols, mostly Leupolds and Burris, from 2X to 2.5X8 to 3X9's and they all gather light quite well. I can see better in dim light than with my naked eye just like in rifle scopes and binoculars. Not so with the Red Dots. I use the Red Dots now just for fun shooting. But I use scopes for all big game hunting. I wish I could use the excellent aperture sights I have for hunting on my levers and single-shots but I can't use them in dim light so I have to scope my hunting rifles and pistols.

[Lloyd Smale]

i think you and 44man are both right. A cheap pistol scope will pick up very little light. A top end one will pick up some light but not as much as even a cheap rifle scope will. A redot will not only not pick up light but imo will actually take away from the light that is available. Nice thing is though at close range you can about use them by looking around them and just implanting the dot on an animal like you would with a holograhic sight. Which in my opinion is a better sight then a reddot.
44Man... I don't understand your statment about pistol scopes not gathering light. I've got scopes on eight different pistols, mostly Leupolds and Burris, from 2X to 2.5X8 to 3X9's and they all gather light quite well. I can see better in dim light than with my naked eye just like in rifle scopes and binoculars. Not so with the Red Dots. I use the Red Dots now just for fun shooting. But I use scopes for all big game hunting. I wish I could use the excellent aperture sights I have for hunting on my levers and single-shots but I can't use them in dim light so I have to scope my hunting rifles and pistols.

[lovedogs]

That sounds reasonable, Lloyd. Today the Wiegand scope base arrived and I installed it on the Ruger MkII pistol. Their service is fantastic! I phoned the order in on Monday and the base arrived today, Wednesday. Wow! Talk about fast! It is a very easy install. Only took about fifteen minutes and I wasn't hurrying at all. It really looks good, too. It was too windy to try it out today but I can't wait to see how it works. I think the Tru-Glo on this semi-auto is gonna be lots of fun.

[GSPKurt]

Weigand bases are the best. Far better quality than B-Square junk.

[VTDW]

Most Red Dot sights will have some glare when looked thru in the darkness. Most claim no parallex but most do have it. This has been my experience after having owned many different brands of red dot sights so be careful in what you purchase.

Dave

[lovedogs]

One thing I like about the Tru-Glo over the Bushnell's I've tried is that on the lower levels it doesn't flare out as badly. In fact, they won't flare unless it's almost totally dark, too dark to shoot anyway. This makes them more useful in poor light.

I'm still waiting to try the Red Dot with the Weigand base. At first it was too windy, now it's too cold. Been in single digits and below zero for a week or so.

[northmn]

I shot two deer and my daughter shot her first five deer with a cheap Tasco Red Dot sight. Never had any battery problems, and while they may have certain faults, they are inexpensive and work quite well in the field. The one I used was on a Turkish Mauser mounted in front of the straight bolt. I still tell my daughter that I am proud of the one deer I shot with it as I didn't think I could hit a deer that small that far away. (It was a SMALL deer).
My preferences for hunting are with peep sights and my lever guns or my muzzle-loaders as I am kind of rebelling against all the high tech stuff and appreciate the extra challenges after 40+ years of deer hunting. Very personal thing not neccessarily for anyone else.

Northmn

[Junior1942]

See my opening message in the "Sights for Mosin-Nagants" in the "Military Rifle" section. My Simmons red dot is useless in low light conditions.

[lovedogs]

I still haven't had good enough weather to shoot the Ruger .22 pistol with the Tru-Glo aboard and it doesn't look like it'll get done any time soon... gonna be below zero here for a while yet. Now I'm really in a quandry. The wonderful wife presented me with a new Ruger 10/22 I've been eyeing to do some "fast & furious" shooting. So I just ordered another Tru-Glo for that purpose. I can use the bolt guns for precision stuff and the "automagic" for the close-up and fast stuff. Would someone please order me some good weather so I can go shooting? Whilst on this topic... has anyone here installed any of the trigger kits in a 10/22? How difficult is it? I like this little gun but it does have the typical 6lb. Ruger trigger pull.

[crabo]

The Powers custom competition is a good one. I have it in this rifle. A good trigger is really important to me.

[http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/[/url] is a good site for 10/22 info.

Crabo

[Scrounger]

I was going to say to get a Volquartsen trigger for your 10-22 because I remembered putting it in mine. But a little research tells me the triggers sell for over $200 so I KNOW I didn't put one in mine! I did put some Volquartson part in and it did make the trigger better. It might have been something to make the bolt stay open on an empty magazine or something else, but it did help the trigger.

[DLCTEX]

I have a Aimpoint red dot on my Savage Striker pistol in 22-250. It's good to about 100 yds. on PD's and armadillos, but beyond that the dot covers too much of the target. I will probably replace it with a scope if I can find one I like. Dale

[Mallard57]

I put one of these on my 10/22, it was reasonably priced and it helped the trigger pull immensely.
Jeff
Volquartsen Ruger 10/22 Target Hammer
http://http://www.rimfiresports.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RSC&Product_Code=VC10TH&Category_Code=R1A

[lovedogs]

Thanks for the advice on the 10/22 trigger. From all I've read and heard here it sounds like the Power one is good to go.