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Thread: Red dot gun sights

  1. #1
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    Default Red dot gun sights

    418gaGvUteL.jpg

    Looking to buy a gun sight like this for my 300 blackout and use it for wild hog hunting. Prices on these range from $25 to $500. Reading reviews on the $25 sights indicate 90% of buyers are happy with these low cost sights. I think for $25 I could buy a spare sight.

    Just curious if you folks have experience with these sights and could recommend something practical.

    Thanks,
    Jim


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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I have used several red dot, or reflex sights. In my personal experience is that the cheaper ones were not up to the task with one exception. That exception being the BSA RD30 http://www.bsaoptics.com/scope.aspx?productID=84. I picked a couple up on sale for around $20 and have used them on a S&W 22 pistol and on a Beretta CX4 Storm 9mm carbine.

    The best one I have is a Docter RDS on my Glock 9MM MOS, but it is rather expensive.

    My experience is limited, but those are my findings.
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    My Brother-in-law has this kind of sight mounted on one or two handguns that I have fired. Since we hunt hogs in low light or total darkness I don't care to look through any type of scope. With the sight I posted the target will always be in view. But, this is why I'm posting the question because I'm not familiar with these.

    I was all set to buy a laser sight and a buddy cautioned me against that saying the hair on a hog will break up the laser dot and the red dot will not be visible on the target. Makes sense. Jim

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    I have the SeeAll sight and the Mepro M21 sight. I was drawn to them because they do not need batteries. I like both and the seeall was ~$100 while the mepro M21 was ~$450. Both use a green triangle which I really like because I can use the tip of the triangle for pin point aiming and use the entire triangle for fast action shooting or clays when I get around to putting it on my shotgun

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    I have a shoebox full of cheap red dot sights.

    They are one of the items I will spend a little money on to get a good quality item, although I am not talking about the $300-$500 range. More like the $75-$150 price range.

    One problem I have with them is that the manufacturers all buy from a limited number of suppliers and model A will cost $25 from supplier X and the exact same sight will cost $75 from supplier Z.

    My problem with them is holding zero and battery life. The cheap ones shift, shake their internals and eat batteries rapidly. the mid-range ones, $40-$100, do much better if you find a good quality unit.

    I have the same BSA model as Crash, have had it for 6 years, and it has done well on my .22 pistol, thought I do not shoot .22lr much. Since the one I have has the narrow rail for .22 I can not say what it will do on a .223 rifle.

    I do have a Barska on one of my AR platforms and it holds zero very well. It also co-witnesses with the iron sights and when you turn the "scope" off it is simply like viewing the iron sights through lightly tinted sunglasses. With the scope ON the red dot sits on top of the front sight post like a glowing red bullseye. It just uses batteries faster than I would like.

    http://www.sportsmansguide.com/produ...cope?a=1564603

    A lot of folks think reflex sights are new technology but they have been in use as gun sights since WW1 (that is 100 years now), have been in use as heads up displays in airplanes since WW2, have ruled the competition shooting world for 40 years, and are now integrated into helmets, car windshields and visors. If you get a good one it will do the job and it will extend your shooting time into the dark hours.

    You just have to get used to shooting with both eyes open.

    The only thing I have a laser on is my "bump in the night" pistol. Been using it for 10 years now. If they don't work on hogs I sure hope one never gets in the house after dark.
    Last edited by kyratshooter; 06-09-2016 at 11:54 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    The only thing I have a laser on is my "bump in the night" pistol. Been using it for 10 years now. If they don't work on hogs I sure hope one never gets in the house after dark.
    My buddy claimed the laser would not light up a deer. The hair was thick enough there was no flat surface for the laser shine on. Hogs have coarse thick hair.

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jim Glass View Post
    My buddy claimed the laser would not light up a deer. The hair was thick enough there was no flat surface for the laser shine on. Hogs have coarse thick hair.
    That does it then!

    The laser comes off of my "bigfoot shotgun" right now!
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I have a green laser on my EDC. It will light up a deer or a hog. Here is the reflex sight I have on my G34.


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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    I use a laser on the BYB air rifle....light up the eye in the dark, too dark for a scope.....so I can tell it's a bunny, not a clump of leaves.

    Have an old Red dot sight on a Barnett cross bow for the 1970's....

    Haven't tried one on anything else.
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    I feel your thinking about 2 different sights, the one you posted does not project a beam on the target just on the sight. What I mean is if you put your hand in front of the sight you will see no laser on your hand but if you look thru the sight you will.

    Something like a crimson trace or several other will project a beam, although I don't think hair would hide it?

    My son and I sighted in a reflex sight with a magnifier today on his single shot 300 aac. It's more suited for an Ar style rifle, it was around 125? I liked the fact that the magnifier slid on a bracket so you didn't always have to use it. I think the brand was sight mark or something similar.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Yes there is a difference.....I just don't use them....
    The old Red Dot (Weaver Quick Point)......didn't use batteries....

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  12. #12
    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    The reflex sights that have batteries or project a radiation light source can be used at night. they are actually better in the dark than in the daylight.

    The "old style Weaver" and the See All are fiber optics that depend on ambient light to enhance the sight. When it gets dark they are as useless as iron sights.

    I have found that unless I am well practiced with the gun/laser combination I spend too much time looking for the dot for the laser to be an effective night time shooting tool for me. It took me and the cat a long time to work the bugs out of using the laser equipped 9mm in the dark. That cat would climb the walls to get that laser dot! She would have probably been more effective than the 9mm at stopping an intruder.
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    Now that right there is funny.

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    Senior Member nell67's Avatar
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    I bought a AK 47 from a guy on FB, it came with 5 mags,125 rounds and a red/green dot sight. We have not yet fired the weapon, and I need to learn the ins and outs of the sight, people I have asked about says it is a good sight.

    I also bought a Walther .22 handgun from my daughter in law, it came with a sight on it as well. It is the gun that I keep bedside just in case. One night, we heard what sounded like a ,22 being fired just outside the house, I sat straight up in bed and waited to see if we heard it again, the boyfriend flipped the light on as we were grabbing our guns to check out the premises, when I noticed the back from the battery compartment on the laser sight lying on the floor.

    What we actually heard was the batteries inside the laser sight exploding! I was glad it was lying on the nightstand, and not in a holster on my side or in my purse.
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    Three red dot sights for $51. Call me crazy but someone on Youtube recommended buying cheap red dot sights to experiment with. Bought a Barska, BSA and Ohuhu through Amazon.com. The Barska and BSA are used. The Barska was only ten bucks. All three sights had excellent customer reviews so I'm going to check them out. With a name like Ohuhu, its got to be good. I'll be finding out. Jim

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    Junior Member Fatizi's Avatar
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    Will you be shooting over feeders? Much easier to simply have a "night" (I've seen mostly red) light on the feeder...the truly big boars are likely to be pretty cautious, but that setup will get lots of hogs.

    Like others have suggested, I'd also suggest a smaller caliber in a gun that can more readily have lots of follow-up shots. If you're over a feeder, the hogs will want to stay, but they ain't going to stay long enough to work the bolt on the big boomer twice.
    Last edited by Fatizi; 12-21-2020 at 03:29 PM.

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    you being new and the thread now two years old it might surprise you that we have now moved past the red dot phase and gone butt over elbows into the world of night vision devices!

    I believe the op now has about half million dollars worth of IR and starlight scopes and I myself have embraced an "IR gun camera" aiming device.

    The WSF crew can now operate in pitch blackness.

    Has anyone else noticed that if you have enough money you can buy your way past most survival problems?
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  18. #18
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    Fatizi, just curious, where are you hog hunting?

    I now have a Pulsar XQ38 thermo imaging scope mounted to a 300 Blackout AR-15. I pretty much own the night with this scope. It takes pictures and videos and has a WiFi. So far only killed 2 hogs in a single shoot out. Very difficult to get a second shot fired off even with a semi-auto rifle, for me at least.

    This summer I'm perfecting shooting at moving targets so I'm ready for multiple shots when hog hunting this winter. In Four and a half months and I'll be back in Florida where I play golf twice a day and wild hog hunt almost every night.

    My moving target machine in case you haven't seen it. It is actually fun and I'm getting good at it to.

    https://youtu.be/Ue3LxDRZ4Kw

    This is what a wild hog looks like through the thermo imaging scope in total darkness. The hog has know idea I'm there:

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    Last edited by jim Glass; 06-12-2018 at 11:28 PM.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Mortars. I'm thinking mortars.

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    No we do not need mortars.

    You never get just a mortar, you get the mortar, and the crew, plus three 2nd Lts to argue over where they are on the map.

    By the time they get the tube out of the truck, set it up and decide exactly where both the crew and the target are located, they have drank all the beer!
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