The pros and cons of scoping a heavy, dangerous game rifle aside, has anyone had experience using the red dot or holosights on heavies, and their ability to withstand recoil?

ijl, welcome to AR...lots of good info on here (not so much from me!). Many of the dot and holo sights were designed to be used on competition pistols. With the banging they must get on semi-auto slides, they'd have to be pretty rugged. As usual, though, you get what you pay for, so if you stick with Docter or Zeiss, you shouldn't have a problem.

Not a super heavy but Docter Optik on 9.3x62 has not given me any issues or balked after quite a few rounds. It works, and very well at that, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

Bitteroot of American Hunting Rifles has a Cmore he has been using on a 500 Jeffery with no problems

I put an inexpensive Millett Red Dot on my .458 Win Mag 8 or 9 yrs ago and have not had any issues with it. I've fired a variety of loads, including my "full house" DG rounds, milder jacketed rounds, and a lot of more mild cast loads. The red dot makes more sense to me for a rifle I don't use for shooting over 100 yds and generally 50 or less. I had a 2.5x scope on this rifle for my first buff hunt. Worked just fine, but wanted to try the red dot alternative. Since putting it on, I've never felt the desire or need to re-install the scope.