Red Dot Sights

[Johnch]

A SAD fact , my eyes are getting worse :violin:
I can either see the sights , with the target a total BLUR
Or I can see the target and not be able to even make out the sights

The results were as I shoot several of my 9 mm pistols this afternoon and .... Well the groups ...The BEST groups I could see the sights and target
Were not good at Best ...patterns several times
A friend shot my Sig 229 and Hi Power with my reloads and shot pretty darn good groups

I have gone mostly to Tube type Red Dot sights on the revolvers and can use them Darn good
I have Red Dot sights on the Ruger 5 1/2" MK2 and the Sig Trail Side 22 Auto's

So IMO I need to change

I am thinking of replacing the rear sight with a base to mount the Red Dot on

Anyone else made the change ??
Also what of the small profile red dot sighs hold up to the recoil and not cost as much as the pistol ?

As I will need to add them to 9 MM , 40 S&W and 45 ACP pistols
As I can afford the sight and base

Thanks
John

[hawkenhunter50]

I use a Vortex Venom on a Ruger MKIII. Has been great. I loaned it to my brother for testing on a SW 44Mag and a SW 460. Neither of them broke the red dot. He gave it back, mounted it back on the MKIII and its as good as new. Thats the only one I have experience with to give feedback on. If I were to buy another for another pistol, I wouldn't hesitate to get another of them.

[GhostHawk]

I am using inexpensive Truglo Red Dot sights on my pair of Ruger Mk III 22/45's. A bit bigger than the expensive small red dots, but a lot less pricey.

The second one was an early version, was not drilled and tapped for scope base. So I used a dovetail mount picitini rail from Weigand. https://www.jackweigand.com/

It did work loose once, so I carefully cleaned, locktited it and torqued it down and rezero'd. Good since.

Now that I know I like them, and how well they work. It might be tempting to invest in 2 smaller ones with longer battery life, new features like auto off, etc.

[NSB]

Vortex Venom. I've used them on 44mags and 45-70s and for the money they simply cannot be beat. There are cheaper red dots, but you kind of get what you pay for. Right now you can get fifty dollars off at Palmetto State Armory. This price is as good as it will ever get on this sight.
Follow this link
https://palmettostatearmory.com/vortex-venom-red-dot-top-load-3-moa-dot.html?avad=55097_a19092039&utm_source=Avantlink&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=cl

[Johnch]

Thanks

I will look at them all

John

[jonp]

I just put a red dot on a Ruger Mark IV and it is amazing. I used to be able to head shot a red squirrel with my Single Six and with the Red Dot I hope to be able to do it again.

[jonp]

Vortex Venom. I've used them on 44mags and 45-70s and for the money they simply cannot be beat. There are cheaper red dots, but you kind of get what you pay for. Right now you can get fifty dollars off at Palmetto State Armory. This price is as good as it will ever get on this sight.
Follow this link
https://palmettostatearmory.com/vortex-venom-red-dot-top-load-3-moa-dot.html?avad=55097_a19092039&utm_source=Avantlink&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=cl

All give this a great review although I've not used them. When Red Dots come up these always get a mention.

[ShooterAZ]

The Burris Fastfire 3 is another good choice.

[Art in Colorado]

I also put a Vortex Venom on my Ruger Mark Four. Can't be beat. Also, have very aged eyes. I went all out on this Ruger and had a Volquartsen trigger put in. Changed trigger to about 2 pounds with zero creep. A very good set up.

[NSB]

I have both the Vortex Venom and the Burris ff3.....both excellent and pretty near equal in performance. Both have a lifetime warranty and both will withstand very significant recoil for a long, long time.

[RedlegEd]

Hi John,
Two additional benefits of the Vortex Venom are the top loading battery, which means you don’t have to pull the sight to change it, and it comes in 3 MOA. I’ve got mine on a Garand. Let us know how it comes out.
Ed

[charlie b]

Years ago I put red dots on my pistols. Revolver and 1911. I got a Fastfire III for the 1911. I was really skeptical about it handling the slide action but it did well. My progressive lenses in glasses made the red dots look a little 'funny' but they worked well.

Just a little advice. When you mount them take some time and do some target acquisition drills. It was very difficult for me to get the red dot to show up in the sight immediately. Took me quite a while to get it to work for me and a lot more time at the range to make it into my 'muscle memory'.

FWIW, I had always done target acquisition in dark room drills just fine. Don't know why the red dot messed it up other than the eye-brain thing. I think my eyes wanted to see the top of the pistol as it lowered down to the target.

[W.R.Buchanan]

A SAD fact , my eyes are getting worse :violin:
I can either see the sights , with the target a total BLUR
Or I can see the target and not be able to even make out the sights

I am thinking of replacing the rear sight with a base to mount the Red Dot on

Anyone else made the change ??
Also what of the small profile red dot sighs hold up to the recoil and not cost as much as the pistol ?

As I will need to add them to 9 MM , 40 S&W and 45 ACP pistols
As I can afford the sight and base

Thanks
John

John: I put a Burris Fast Fire III on my Glock 35 it worked pretty well. You will have a learning curve to pick up the dot during your presentation, but once you learn it you will be much faster than ever before. Using a Pistol Brace it becomes the SBR you always wanted and all of a sudden your pistol shooting elevates to rifle level.

I shot Short Range Silhouette with mine using a USA 1 Shot Pistol Brace. 10/10 on Chickens at 50M, 9/10 on Pigs at 100M, 1/10 on Turkeys at 150M, and 4/10 on Rams at 200M. turkeys are by far the hardest targets in the match.

The Fast Fire III has a simple mount that attaches to the dovetail for the rear sight and it is not expensive. The sight can take it just fine and is designed to be ran on a pistol slide.

Here's some pics.

Randy

[Johnch]

Thanks ...BIG Time Thanks

This afternoon I shot a Glock 17 with a Vortex Venom on it
Loved it big time

Not planning on tricking my Glock 22/17 out like his
But I am mostly a LOL " Kill the Paper Target " shooter , not into combat action

I will post on how it goes
But it will take me a few months to save up the $$
As I am disabled and the Workman's Comp checks may not be taxable
But the checks are also not a lot of $$ each month either .... bad part , 1 week working with overtime in the summer was WAY More than the monthly check I get now

Thanks Again

John

[Texas by God]

I got a Burris Fastfire 3 for Christmas; I’m going to mount it on my 6 1/2” .41 mag Blackhawk soon. I’m excited.

[DHDeal]

It seems your problem with your eyes isn't just your problem. I've run into the same issue the last few years.

I've put red dots on all of my Ruger Blackhawk's and one Freedom Arms 97. As others described, there is a learning curve picking up the dot, but they sure do make it easier to shoot them more accurately. On the medium price range sights, it's hard to say no to a Vortex Venom. On the high end, I just bought a Trijicon SRO and it may be the easiest to pick up dot sight I've played with. It does cost though.

[1eyedjack]

Ahh yes age & open sights aren't a good combination ! Went to optics myself- acquired a .44 Mag contender with TC 1-1/2 power scope for a reasonable price. Not enough eye relief sooo tried a Tru Glo red dot on sale at the local farm supply for less than 40 bucks. Figured for the price why not & if it fails it wasn't a big loss. Now I have one on my SBH 44 & another on the 357 contender !! Red dots are the way to go but some with 6 moa dots cover a lot of the sight picture. Plan on buying a higher end smaller dot (<6moa) if these ever die but so far have held up even with some heftie handloads!!!

[Texas by God]

A cousin just bought a Canik 9mm - kind of a race gun- and put a Vortex Venom on it. Plinking at the river, We were reducing dead limbs to splinters with barely any misses. I am very impressed at the ease of hitting with these sights. And the pistol.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200223/ce948a631aac5a0fceecb015c3727636.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[GhostHawk]

I have to admit I was shocked when I saw how tight groups got and how quickly I adjusted to a red dot sight on my Ruger Mk III 22/45's.

Wife's was first, then I was able to find a dovetail mount and put a rail on my older Stainless ruger. So old it was never drilled and tapped for scope base.

At 20 feet I went from coffee cup groups to putting 10 in a water bottle cap. And I can do it twice as fast.

I've been putting Red Dots on everything except a couple of rifles that already had 4x12 scopes on them.

[Chad5005]

ive got 2 burris red dots on 300 bo and a mini 14 but just ordered a at3 tactical rd-50 tube style red dot to try on my 44 mag ruger,alot cheaper than the burris at only 75.00 and they say it will stand the recoil,forgot to mention it 2 moa dot

[Idaho45guy]

I bought a cheap red dot off of Amazon a few years ago that was around $60, along with an adapter to mount in my G29 dovetail, just to see if I liked the red dots. It worked well and never failed. When I went to the fancy G19 Gen 5 MOS, I upgraded to the Burris Fastfire III and was impressed. But one of the larger Bushnell red dots on a Ruger 22/45 Lite and it worked good.

I have astigmatism, so the dot is blurry in every red dot I've tried or looked through. But, I still shoot tighter groups than with open sights. My latest eyeglass prescription was a transitions progressive lense (fancy bifocals) and they got the near sight lense part too small, so all of my pistol sights are blurry. My first pair had some "computer user" profile and was much better for shooting.

The G29 with cheap red dot...

257348

G19 with Burris Fastfire...

257349

[Burnt Fingers]

A cousin just bought a Canik 9mm - kind of a race gun- and put a Vortex Venom on it. Plinking at the river, We were reducing dead limbs to splinters with barely any misses. I am very impressed at the ease of hitting with these sights. And the pistol.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200223/ce948a631aac5a0fceecb015c3727636.jpg

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I've had some Ruger Mark pistols with red dots for several years. However I rarely shoot them any longer as I can reload 9mm for less money than decent .22 LR.

I bought my Canik SFX almost two years ago, it came with the red dot. The pistol is a tack driver. The red dot allows me to almost shoot as well as the pistol is capable of.

The red dot really shines when it comes to shooting matches. It really speeds it up for me.