Does anyone have one of those red dot sights on their big game rifle? How well do they work, how they hold up to recoil, battery life, etc, etc...

I have several. Trijicon Acog 3.5, Trijicon Reflex,Trijicon Armson OEG, Aimpoint and an elcheapo BSA.
I have the Reflex on a Mod. 71 .50 AK. for Bear and Moose in heavy brush. I love it. It seems to be much faster than crosshairs. The eye goes to the dot quicker than to the crosshairs. I've used an Acog on white tails also. Same opinion, very fast.
I have the Acog on a 375 HH. I shot at a wolf this year and it fell off. It was not a problem with the scope however, the mount was not secure. I had to modify a Weaver mount to get it to fit, so it was my problem.
No batteries on the Acog or Reflex, they have a tritium insert which lasts 10 years or so.
If money is not a problem, I would get the Acog, but, be sure and check for mounts for your rifle. They are Military scopes and made for the rail on an Ar15/16. There is a Weaver adapter avail. but it puts the scope above the normal line of sight. Reflex would be my 2nd choice.
Summary: If your shots are less than 100 yds or so, they are an excellent choice. Hope this helps.

I have one on my 45/70 it is a tasco pdp6 on running ferals at 40 yards or so it is awsome, but I have missed a few sitting shots at the 50-100 yard mark of the type I would have nailed with a scope. I am thinking it may go an live on my marlin 1894P in .44 mag as it is a shorter range rifle again and then putting a scope on my 45/70. Sometimes I love it and then other times I am not so sure. For running stuff there like a shotgun. I would only put them on rifles like 45/70's, 44 mags etc. Rifles with rainbow trajectories and big heavy pumkin rolling bullets. I reckon my .416 would wreck it in a handful of shots, but maybe I would be suprised.

I think the trap you can fall into and I did it the other day, is when you have a set shot you tend to place the dot on the animal and reef the trigger as if it were a shotgun, needless to say there is not any pattern exiting the barrel and the result is a miss. This happened to me two day's ago, a feral was sitting behind acacia bushes that did not look to be that thick, he was watching me so I had to take the shot, I placed the dot on him and missed. The bush I shot through was not heavy and I do not think that would affect the 300 gr sierra enough to knock it off course, so I am thinking I must have reefed on the trigger.

I hope this helps, just put on the sight that will most suit the rifles application. The 45/70 is my close range smasher so if I miss the odd 130 yard shot (as the dot covers all the target) I am not to torn up about it. If you own other rifles with scopes may be you could give one a go.

Funny thing bout shooting you rarely have the right rifle with you, that one is sitting in the cabnit.

Regards PC

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Red dots are great as long as you know their limitations. For .22's and rifles that don't kick that much they are great for semi close range work. But even as I have found out, the small dots even as small as the 2 or 1.5 moa are still too big when the yardage becomes longer or the game is not that big. I've had a bunch, mostly cheapos and they are ok for .22's 30-30's and the like but I've seen them go to hell pretty quick on bigger guns. One of the better ones I've come across is the Weaver model,which I don't know if it is in production anymore.

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Gotta love that BIG MEDICINE

I bought a Trijicon Reflex II with a 12.5 minute triangle reticle. I am not that impressed with it when I take it out and shoot.

If I had to do it again I wuld buy an aimpoint.

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www.rifleshooter.com

Save a plant, shoot a deer!

This old dog ain't in to new tricks..I still shoot ivory and gold beads, prefer the post and a peep or a ivory bead and a shallow V....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I have a Leupold/Gilmore that I have used on both my 450 Marlin Lever Gun and on my 454 Casull Encore. I like the fact that it is fast to aquire on my Marlin (not so on the Encore). But that is about it. I had problems seeing the dot on a bright sunny day at the range, wouldn't want that happening while out hunting. For me it was only good out to about 100 yards. Had problems lining the dot on the target past that (my eyes are pretty bad). I also didn't like the fact that you have to turn it on and off. Left it on by accident a couple of times and had a dead battery the next day. Just got a ghost ring sight for my Encore. Haven't shot it yet, and if I like it I will put one on my Marlin as well. Might also try a low power scope (3x-7x).

These old bi-focaled eyes of mine don't mesh with open sights any more, so two years ago I put one of those red-dot thingys on my RNS for deer hunting. Shot a buck at close range and was amazed at what happened. Shooting those red-dots with both eyes open and on target with no magnification allowed me to see the bullet strike and deer's re-action. When bullet hit, there was an area of hair about the size of a dinner plate that "volcanoed" outwards, the deer humped a bit and kicked out a rear leg before taking off. I didn't shoot again because I knew it was a good double lung shot and a 180gr. Nosler P. would do the job. The deer only ran about 20 or 30 yds. before piling up and I had him in the sights all the time and felt confident I could have hit him again if I felt it necessary. I was impressed.

I do not think it is the answer to all hunting situations, but for that application it worked, and worked well.

Tom

Hey Ray we agree on this one. I can however see a use for low powered quick shootin optical aperatises. I also hate batteries & would always buy a low powered scope with 2X the field of view of a dot. Even spell check can't help with aper-a--tisesss, something.

sxr6,
I can't spell it either but I'll bet a shot of penicillin will cure it up right away.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com