I have always used a heavy reticle Leupold 1.5x5 scope for buffalo and it worked perfectly. I can't use my experess sights due to vision issues and recently mounted a Burris Fast Fire Red Dot Reflex sight. Makes my 416 Rigby a nice sleek carry gun and it performs well on the range. I just wonder if it gives up too much on a real hunt. Deep brush..100 yd buffalo...low light...etc. There's an old saying that if it aint broke don't try to fix it. What's your opinion on this subject.

I well take a low powered scope any day over a dot sight.

Take the dot out and try to use it at any distance in low light.

Or try to pick out holes in the brush with it.

I found that they do not work very well myself.

quote:

Originally posted by LB:
I have always used a heavy reticle Leupold 1.5x5 scope for buffalo and it worked perfectly. I can't use my experess sights due to vision issues and recently mounted a Burris Fast Fire Red Dot Reflex sight. Makes my 416 Rigby a nice sleek carry gun and it performs well on the range. I just wonder if it gives up too much on a real hunt. Deep brush..100 yd buffalo...low light...etc. There's an old saying that if it aint broke don't try to fix it. What's your opinion on this subject.

All my heavy guns wear Dokter red dot sights on QD mounts,in my opinion there is no better sight system for hunting DG,quick on the target,low light for me not a concern,the dot is bright,I have hunted DG three times in Africa with these sights,one black bear here at home,completely satisfied.

For ele...the red-dot is the way to go. I use a Tijicon RM06 on my .500 NE double.

For buff on a .416 bolt action...stay with 1.5-4 scope. It gives you way more options and versatility.

I also say the low power scope is better, except...

Like Lane comments on a double.

IMO that isn't so much an issue of the red dot being superior, but rather that it avoids disrupting the biggest positive in a double, namely its balance. If my vision cooperated, I'd still use irons on the double... the Trijicon RMR I have on mine is about an ounce and a half, with the mount included.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'll keep the quick detach scope for buff and hold on to the Red Dot in case I shoot elephant again.

Or the best of both worlds, use an illuminated reticle scope such as the Leupold vxr or vx6 in whatever magnification level you think is appropriate 1-5, 2-7 etc. I run these on all my rifles now and would never switch back. Crystal clear glass and red dot in the middle of the crosshairs As needed is a beautiful combination.

I have a docter optic on my 500 NE. but my eyes are getting worse. The dot is getting blurry and I don't want to hunt dangerous game with my glasses as everything passed 5 yards will be blurry. Do you think I could use an illuminated reticle 1-4 on my double?

Best thing I've found is a Z6i 1-6x. Low to medium power scope, variable, and crank it down to 1 and turn on the lights and you have a red dot.

The Red Dot has its limitations in low light particularly against a dark background where DG tends to lurk, especially when wounded.

If mounted on a DR it is better to have than to want.

You lose nothing with a scope with true 1X on the low end, and it will give you more options
at longer ranges.
Except for elephant. Too much loss of situational awareness, tunnel vision.
Or if it’s a double rifle.
Or you are shooting a 505 Gibbs, 500 Jeff, or some such. My 505 wears an RMR. Unless the scope is in a scout position, I’m sure I would be flinchy, then bloody with a traditionally mounted scope.

If you are getting close, red dot all the way. You can use it with both eyes open which is a big advantage -- again, assuming you are getting close.

I have 3X Leupolds on all my big bores. No red dots or gimmicks or battery powered junk on my DG rifles or my regular rifles where a 4X suits me fine for that matter..but Ive been accused of being antiquated, guess that comes from hunting the dark continent more times than I can remember, and besides I see no reason to deny such trivia, its actually a truism..

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have 3X Leupolds on all my big bores. No red dots or gimmicks or battery powered junk on my DG rifles or my regular rifles where a 4X suits me fine for that matter..but Ive been accused of being antiquated, guess that comes from hunting the dark continent more times than I can remember, and besides I see no reason to deny such trivia, its actually a truism..

Some are battered powered junk, the ones I use aren't. I'll bet you have a flip-phone, and dial-up internet, Ray.

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I have 3X Leupolds on all my big bores. No red dots or gimmicks or battery powered junk on my DG rifles or my regular rifles where a 4X suits me fine for that matter..but Ive been accused of being antiquated, guess that comes from hunting the dark continent more times than I can remember, and besides I see no reason to deny such trivia, its actually a truism..

Some are battered powered junk, the ones I use aren't. I'll bet you have a flip-phone, and dial-up internet, Ray.

HEADS UP! Topic hijack again! (Apologies in advance, LB.)

Joke all you want; I not only have a pair of flip-phones, I searched long and hard to get them and argued down a couple of snotty twenty-something clerks at the cellphone store to get them put on my account. I may not fantasize about black helicopters, but I value my privacy too much to give it up to invisible corporate interests, and to actually PAY big money for the privilege of doing so.

CDSX,
Doesn't everybody!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
CDSX,
Doesn't everybody!

Too right, Ray! You don't want to get me started on the subject of "smart" (!) phones.....

Gentlemen, embrace technology. It's okay!

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Gentlemen, embrace technology. It's okay!

The technology that allows my surgeon to rebuild my broken legs like new with titanium and ceramics, so that I may walk upright and with confidence, I embrace whole-heartedly. Technology that allows murky malefactors, buried within the internet, to track my every move through Home Depot, continuously and permanently record my exact location from the day it powers up, and whose two cameras and three microphones can be remotely activated at any time, whether the phone is turned on or not, I emphatically reject. And all of this from a device that I have been conned into paying many hundreds of my own dollars to buy, and many more every month to operate? The only thing missing is that strap that fastens it to my ankle. No sale, Mr Whitworth! Peddle your Trojan horse "technology" elsewhere, you minion of Digital Satan!

(All this of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with Red Dot sights. Again, apologies LB.)

screw techknowledgy!! its over the top, ruins our bodies and brains, we will end up looking like little green men with huge heads aka Martians..I misspelled some words,screw that also...

Have a nice technical day and remember do what blows your skirt up..and never lose your since of humor...

As mentioned above
the variable setting Illuminated Swaro EE Z 1-6 has been a remarkable DR and Big Bore bolt scope.
(i now own a few)These offer a few different illuminated reticles, i particularly like the circle dot.
My preferred mounts are Claw systems, especially on the DR's
and even on the Claw mounted DR's I retain the ability to switch to the red dot

Also as mentioned above The Doctor(Noblex) Red Dot has been phenomenal.
I have not experienced the effect mentioned by pdogshooter in low light with it , at all;
but have with another makers sight.

40 years ago we mounted air rifle scopes on the truly heavy kickers
(the glass was inferior , but they withstood the recoil)
Today many makers produce recoil resistant , long eye relief scopes.