Red dot rifle scopes

[USMC87]

I am looking at buying a new hunting scope and have been considering the Meopta Optika 6 that has a red dot in the center of the Plex reticle or the plain Plex reticle, do any of you guys use red dots for hunting? If so please provide feedback so I can make a better decision between Plex and red dot scopes. I really appreciate your help.

[country gent]

I have tried them on rifles and went back to a scope Most dots are bigger than I want at distances

[kungfustyle]

Primary Arms makes a prism scope that is fantastic. They have 1,3 and 5 power scopes and the recital is etched into the glass, so you always have a sight. Down side about a Red dot is the adjustments. https://www.primaryarms.com/rifle-sc...ne/prism-scope Opticsplanet carries them too. https://www.opticsplanet.com/primary...ot-scopes.html

[fastdadio]

I had one years ago and finally sold it. I consider it a gimmick. It comes down to what your intended use of the scope is. If you're night hunting for varmints, thermal is hands down the way to go. If your hunting big game, well, except for pigs, it's illegal to shoot big game at night.
So the only real use of the lighted reticle would be for those last few minuets of twilight at the end of the day before closing of legal hunting hours. Any good quality scope will still gather enough light in that low light situation to afford you a good sight picture.
I found that the only time I ever turned mine on was to check operation or to play with it. But the lighted feature was certainly never really needed for hunting.
Then there is the issue of having a battery powered circuit board in your scope. The two things that destroy circuit boards the fastest is extreme temperature changes and vibration. The exact same conditions a working rifle scope will be exposed to in normal use.
Personally, when I pay good money for a quality scope, I expect decades of reliable service from it, and circuit boards generally don't last decades.
So there you go, I say pass on it and buy a good quality scope with the features you need.

[pietro]

.

FWIW

I've had hunting experience with two different scopes that had illuminated reticles; one was battery powered, the other was lit with a light-absorbing section of the eyepiece & a tritium aiming point on the reticle.



The battery Tasco 2X handgun scope worked well with my self-limited handgun range of 100yds and never killed it's battery ( I did, however, carry an extra battery in my haversack).

The ambient light powered (no battery) Trijicon Aimpoint 1-4.24 variable riflescope also worked out very well - but, given where I hunted, shots were usually available up to 250yds. It's IR feature can be turned off for hunting in full daylight.




The illuminated reticles really came in handy when hunting during those times when game was moving in the dim light just prior to sunrise & just before dark - besides keeping me on the legal side of allowed game-shooting hours.

I have had zero experience with any of the newer IR scopes, like Meopta.

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[Finster101]

I have a Leupold Pig-Plex on my .300 Blackout and really like it.

https://www.leupold.com/vx-freedom-1...lex-riflescope

It has a red dot in the center that you can turn on with variable brightness or just leave it off. I find the red dot very dim really helps me when shooting targets with a black background.

[gloob]

I concur with fastdadio. Illuminated reticles are rarely useful for accurate shooting, like hunting or pesting. If too dark to see the crosshairs, you can't see your target anyway.

In addition to IR, red light also works great for pesting. Best if the source of red light is near to your scope (or mounted behind you), so the light reflects straight back off the eyes of your pests, glowing like beacons in your scope.

Lighted reticles are useful for dim lighting and fast/repeat shooting. Best I have is an etched reticle scope. So the spot itself glows, rather than being backlit. But the COM of the lighted reticle is affected by the direction of the light. So when you switch from red to green, the COM of the reticle shifts slightly.

There are red dot prism scopes with 3x magnification. That should give the most consistent dot with no backlighting or shifting. But the etched reticle dot is clear even if you have astigmatism and you can have much more and variable magnification.

[USMC87]

You guys have gave me a lot to think about, I am going to think about the pros and cons you have given me and make a decision then. I really appreciate your help in making this decision.

[Rapier]

Most scope makers make a red tot that when turned off disappears as a dot. However deales do not stock them as they do not understand how useful the disappearing dot is in the early morning or late afternoon for going to or from a stand.
With this scope the dot is only visible when turned on, the cross hairs are always visible except in low light. It is the best of both worlds with a 2 MOA dot.

[oconeedan]

Leupold Freedom RDS has a 1moa red dot, and has click adjustable turrets. It comes with a mount that is proper height for AR rifles, as that is what the sight is made for.