Anyone know if a fast fire Burris will hold up? I have one laying around. Any real experience as to longevity on say a 505? Who has had luck with what?

Trijicon works for me.

I have one on my 416 Rigby. Haven’t hunted with it but have punched paper with approximately 40 rounds. So far so good.

quote:

Originally posted by Hogbreath:
Trijicon works for me.

+1...have one on my .500 NE with a lot of rounds under it.

I have heard though that FF does hold up...just no personal experience on a big-bore.

I have a Trijicon RMR on my .470 that has right around 100 round through it.

So far, so good. Makes an iron sight type hunt workable for us with old man eyes.

quote:

Originally posted by gunslinger55:
Anyone know if a fast fire Burris will hold up? I have one laying around. Any real experience as to longevity on say a 505? Who has had luck with what?

I have one on a 8 pound leveraction in 50 alaskan shooting 535 grain woodleighs 1900 to 2000 fps. I has held up fine.

Most of those sights hold up, but like any iron sight its a good idea to have an extra under the grip cap...I use iron way more than most and I like those red beads. I only had one come loose where it was glued into the frame, but Ive broken a couple of irons sights also..A lot can happen with any sighting device in about 70 years give or take..Pick your irons with care and they will probably last a couple of lifetimes. Irons sight break from abuse or accidents, not recoil btw.

I have a Fast Fire 111 on The Slide of a Glock 20 shooting Buffalo Bore Hard Cast Ammo and not a Hiccup yet.I am going to put one on my 500 Double.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Most of those sights hold up, but like any iron sight its a good idea to have an extra under the grip cap...I use iron way more than most and I like those red beads. I only had one come loose where it was glued into the frame, but Ive broken a couple of irons sights also..A lot can happen with any sighting device in about 70 years give or take..Pick your irons with care and they will probably last a couple of lifetimes. Irons sight break from abuse or accidents, not recoil btw.

Going to be awfully hard to store an extra Trijicon or Fast Fire red dot sight under the grip cap.


Back to the topic at hand, I almost broke down this year and put one of the Trijicon's on my 416 Rigby. Took it to the range a few times getting ready for this year's buffalo hunt but even though I wear progressive glasses, I can still see well enough to use the old irons. I'm sure the day is coming but I've held it off so far. I don't remember hearing of any recoil issues though with either the Doctor, Trijicon, or Burris FF.

Have one on my 458 Lott. About two hundred rounds through it and numerous DG animals and some plains game species. All well so far. Really like the set up.

Thanks for the info. I don’t “need” it yet but I am a firm optics believer and use red dots a lot in competition so for a short range boomer thought I might try it out. I think Wayne at AHR has a mount for the cz. At least it won’t smack you In The face

I do like the swaro Z6i 1-6 EE. On one power with dot on just like a red dot and the ability to dial it up if you need to

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Most of those sights hold up, but like any iron sight its a good idea to have an extra under the grip cap...I use iron way more than most and I like those red beads. I only had one come loose where it was glued into the frame, but Ive broken a couple of irons sights also..A lot can happen with any sighting device in about 70 years give or take..Pick your irons with care and they will probably last a couple of lifetimes. Irons sight break from abuse or accidents, not recoil btw.

Actually, many don't hold up to heavy recoil. I use red dots extensively on heavy kicking revolvers and have found that among the toughest are the Ultradots (plus they have a lifetime warranty).

I misread the OPs post..He mislead me using "red dots", Which the Trijacon and Burris has but in the rear sight..sorry about that, my bad..I have only looked at those sights, they don't appeal to me, I like irons with red 3/32 or Ivory 3//32 for hunting buffalo, if I want optic it will be a low power scope with std. duplex..Or perhaps a low powder variable..and they fit under my grip caps.

I've never seen a failure with either the Docter or Trijicon. That includes an RMR on a 600.

I have the FastFire currently on one of my 500NE doubles, which has taken Ele and has many rounds through it without any negatives. Have also used them on a 458 Lott.

I am a fan of red-dots for big bores and have a few different brands of the same style. Most recently acquired the Leupold as a potential upgrade but have yet to mount it. May go on my 450-400NE.

They just ruin the lines of a beautiful rifle IMO! but we do have millennials that disagree, they also like stainless steel and plastic guns, and they have every right to like crap!

just kidding of course! Lord I hate to explain humor, but it seems necessary these.

I sure ain't no millinal but do really like stainless and synthetic stocks. And dot sights are super easy to shoot fast and well.

cold trigger, I know you do! and will defend with my life your right to choice!

I'm dubious about sights like that for a number of reasons, first because of the reliability (if not ethical) aspects of using batteries. Second, they sit high but with little distance between the ends of their mounting connections, suggesting bumps could easily knock them out of whack.

The real bad news is here on AR somewhere: that most brands suffer from large amounts of parallax. I can't recall if Burris was mentioned but don't think it was the one brand without much of this problem.

Here it is:
http://forums.accuratereloadin...1421043/m/7031016252

... and it would appear the Burris Fastfire III is one of the worst, with maybe 12 MoA of parallax.

PS: Another reading of the document shows Burris didn't have 12MoA parallax, that was just its ID number, the parallax was about 4MoA

Interesting thread, as I toy with the idea of a .458 Socom upper. This caliber is not a particularly heavy kicker, but the AR action shakes an optic in both directions, somewhat like a springer air rifle does -- and springers are known scope destroyers when the internals are not braced for recoil in both directions.
Slider's experience with a red dot on a Glock 20 is encouraging.

What's needed there, Bill, might be one of those old Nickel Supras with just an elevation turret. Because the reticle runs up and down in a strong dovetail, pushed up against the screw by a strong spring, it can't move back and forward.

The six inches-odd of scope barrel also gave room to space the mounts for stability.

PS: take a look back at my last post. I found the reference just now and it didn't look good for Burris.

PPS: Looking at it again, Burris is not one of the worst after all, as explained above, but 4MoA parallax is more than I would feel comfortable with in any sight.

I have used a Leopold Delta Point on 458 magnums and several other rifles. Without failure. Any semi auto is harder on them than a bolt actioned rifle because of the two way motion of the slide. They (Leopold)are by far the better red dot sights in both the ability to see a large non distorted field of view without any color distortion, and the feature of shutting itself off after 5 minutes of being still. You simply cannot get the gun to your face before the sight is back on unless you shut it off manually. There simply is no better open sight system for aging eyes sans battery! Aesthetics be damned! That being said, I will not be without irons as a last ditch alternative. Preferably with an aperture in the rear.

Paul, those Nickels are a bit scarce here in the States. I am leaning toward a scope, however, in deference to eyes built in 1953.

There is no doubt the red dots sights work and are fast. Phillip Smythe, our PH in Zim loved the one on his 500 double. And for the close range stalking and shooting he was required to do, often near dark, I thought his choice of a big double and glowing red dot sight ideal.

But I did considerable testing of them a few years back when I was writing for Wolfe pub and decided that while they helped you get on target quicker , especially with an unfamiliar gun, they could not compete at any kind of range with either good irons or scopes.
And with familiar rifles shooting at 6" targets I was quickest shooting instinctively Than with any sights.

Phil, does the extreme cold up your way affect the battery-powered sights?

I am sure it does somewhat but most of them now last on so long on a battery it is not a major issue.

Bill/Oregon, I used to see quite a lot of Nickels on eBay, many in the USA where I could not easily get them legally. A lot come from Germany, too, but I've found that if you interrogate the sellers as to clarity and that reticle adjustment and focus still move, you can get good ones at reasonable prices. The vendors tend to be jealous of their eBay reputations, so don't tell porkies.

Also, since no one seems to have gone back to the postscript added to my post above regarding parallax, I'll reprise it here.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
...
http://forums.accuratereloadin...1421043/m/7031016252

... and it would appear the Burris Fastfire III is one of the worst, with maybe 12 MoA of parallax.

Thanks for the emphasis, Paul.

I use the Swarovski Z6i 1.7x10 with a red dot. So far so good on about 100 shots from my .375HH. I don't shoot any of the real bruisers.

Another thought on RMR and Red Dot sights. They are widely and regularly used now by many elite combat units who frequently engage in close quarters battle, as bad as it can get. They are used with great results. If they work there, they should work as well or better on dangerous game at close quarters. They have worked for me and I trust them.

Paul,

Ditto the thanks for that link.
I never could understand the claims of "parallax-free" when I could see the red dots wandering all over the targets with small movements of my head.
I am not crazy after all.

Rip ...

quote:

Originally posted by clayman216:
Another thought on RMR and Red Dot sights. They are widely and regularly used now by many elite combat units who frequently engage in close quarters battle, as bad as it can get. They are used with great results. If they work there, they should work as well or better on dangerous game at close quarters. They have worked for me and I trust them.

I know more than a few of these folks.

They can whack you at 3 to 400 yards regularly with a red dot (not talking about ACOGs).

I have a DR set up with a "close" sighted Doctor Optic (set at 50) and a second "long"one sighted at 150.

With the "150" on it,
I would not stand in front of me at 200
even as old and shaky as I am.

quote:

Originally posted by DuggaBoye:

quote:

Originally posted by clayman216:
Another thought on RMR and Red Dot sights. They are widely and regularly used now by many elite combat units who frequently engage in close quarters battle, as bad as it can get. They are used with great results. If they work there, they should work as well or better on dangerous game at close quarters. They have worked for me and I trust them.

I know more than a few of these folks.

They can whack you at 3 to 400 yards regularly with a red dot (not talking about ACOGs).

I have a DR set up with a "close" sighted Doctor Optic (set at 50) and a second "long"one sighted at 150.

With the "150" on it,
I would not stand in front of me at 200
even as old and shaky as I am.

Exactly!

Safe shooting.

Red dot sights have not become as popular and ubiquitous as they are because they don't work

I like 'em on a 10mm Auto Glock.
Better than a 9mm Auto Glock for bear country.
For a double rifle or an Old Ugly bolt action I would just as soon add a strip of white tape down the length of the barrel, topside, to back up a low-power scope,
for moonless night shooting at close range.

Rip ...

I have no field experience with these sights or any other type that requires batteries but embrace the Aldo Leopold outlook that hunting is most meaningful recreationally when we recreate ourselves as the ancestors who hunted out of need.

While taking that line to absurdity would limit us to throwing rocks, I feel use of electrics is an obvious place we can draw the line in fair chase.

As to defence forces using these sights, the eternal arms race demands that any whiz-bang gadgets that can, day-in-day-out, allow your side to kill more of the other side will be adopted - or should be if they really work without risking mutual annihilation. (The French failure to update from the tubular-magazined Lebel rifle may help explain their poor showing in WWI.)

Whether these technologies are always safe and reliable is another matter and history shows many cases where men were sent out with dodgy mechanicals and chemicals. Where they fail, the users may not come back to bear immediate witness to the problem, and only failure of the whole campaign might raise questions about the matter.

And so if these sights allow a body of soldiers as a whole to break through, they are justified. If they occasionally fail, even costing the life of some of those using them, bad luck - the victorious end justifies the means.

As individual, recreational hunters, perhaps our outlook might reasonably be different to that of the generals.

In regard to parallax, however, I now notice in that document posted above that the Burris was not one of the worst, at all, the number I had quoted was in fact just its order in the test sequence, something that could usefully have been deleted esp. because the best brand just happened to be at the top.

The Burris fastfire in fact may be the next best after the EOTech, but compared with parallax in rifle scopes, four MoA is still not great.

All my big bores wear Dokter red dot sights,six trips to Africa,no problems at all,I put a lot of rounds downrange,again no problems at all.