Any pros or cons I need to be aware of when I head to the woods with this thing? Looks as if it may be just the ticket for short range deer and hogs.

With my own ‘older’ eyes, I’m spoiled since mounting a Crossfire Red Dot on my Trapper. I’m able to track moving deer keeping both eyes open while swinging the dot onto target. I hunt in woods and haven’t missed a Bambi’s chance to change residence into the meat freezer.

Don’t worry about leaving it turned on while hunting, those batteries are very long lived.

IMO, as you can see, I’m not concerned about having ‘backup’ sights, I’m very happy with the current setup. I figure I’m not hunting dangerous game nor on a ‘once in a lifetime’ guided hunt. If the Red Dot failed for any reason, Amazon could deliver to me a replacement next day.

Ray

 

I run an aimpoint micro on my 1894c, and get excellent results. I can print with considerable accuracy at 100yds. The rifles not up to much further anyway, so suits the gun. I have skinner irons on the same rifle, so when I feel like it, maybe just for fun I can drop the dot off and go old school.

Some say dots are fast and accurate, I agree. Some say they are not for lever actions. I disagree. If it works, it works.

Actually, I will go further. When I was being taught to use a pump 12g I was told the movement of the slide going forward assisted with follow up shots. I for one found it to be so. I found the action of cycling the lever on my 1894c moved the sight off, but a dot seems to bring it back and keep it all in line much better. I have used dots of modern battle rifles, and love them. But its a different sort of recovery than with the lever. I can only speak for myself, but there you go.

 

I had an inexpensive red dot (Bushnell) on an H&R 45-70 and killed a couple hogs with it. It now wears a fixed 4 power scope. I would go back to a red dot but would choose a micro sized device and have a 2 MOA dot. The three was kind of large and I would prefer a better quality 2 MOA. Light and very effective IMO.

 

I bought a red/green dot for my 57 m, I let you know how it works later. After I get it back from the GS.

 

Looks like I'm asking Santa for a red dot. I've actually got a cheapo on my Beretta CX4 9mm carbine, but I don't shoot it much. It's certainly easy to put on target. Let's hear who's got a red dot and what kind it is. Santa needs a list ya know. Especially is you know of a 2 MOA,..... I want to say mine is like a 4 MOA. A buddy was showing me his "Glock turned into a carbine" gizmo the other day, and it was wearing a Sig red dot. The thing comes on when you move the gun, and goes off when it gets still. THAT'S a great feature!

I do know that they don't work good with cataracts. I sold a good FastFire II cheap, because I thought it was screwed up. Turns out I was soon after seeing 4 stop lights where there should be one. Lasered the cataracts and everything is fine again.

Personally, I don't think they look any worse than a scope on a lever gun, and with my eyes, I had to get used to that.

 

I recently did the same thing. I actually bought the red field rails (they are a two piece system). I installed one on the front two mount holes and that was perfect.

 

Who else beside NoFear has pictures to share. My interest is getting peaked. (piqued?) Oh crap, I'm getting more interested is what i'm trying to say! It's been a loooong week.

 

Thanks for the replies. NoFear, that is a nice looking outfit. The Romeo5 is has a 2 MOA dot and has the feature whereby it goes off when it is still for a while and turns on again when it moves. They claim up to 40,000 hours battery life. I do not remember the weight, but it is very light. I have been playing with this thing and am excited about getting it into the woods. Right now I am hunting an area where longer shots are the rule, but that will change as the season progresses. One thing I did find out. I originally had a fiber optic front sight on the gun to use with the aperture sight. I had to put a post back on. Looking through the Red Dot and seeing that Firesight was blowing my mind.

 

NoFear, that is a nice looking outfit. The Romeo5 is has a 2 MOA dot and has the feature whereby it goes off when it is still for a while and turns on again when it moves. They claim up to 40,000 hours battery life. I do not remember the weight, but it is very light. I have been playing with this thing and am excited about getting it into the woods.

Thanks for the kind words, that’s the one I continue to take to the dance. I considered the on/off auto feature Red Eyes but decided to stay ‘manual’ on/off, preferring knowing positively it’s on and not worried about a battery life expected to last longer than me.

Ray

 

I sometime use a red dot on my 1895 SBL and like how fast and accurate it is. I do confess I didn't see any bucks this year so no shots during deer season. I also have a scout scope with quick release rings and alternate depending on hunting conditions. The red dot is sighted in at 50 yards and i can not believe how fast these 71 year old eyes can get on target. I use it when in the deep woods. More open areas I use the scout scope on two power.

Padraig

 

Mine... Not sure why she came out so big...

 

I run a weaver scout scope with QD rings on my marauder. I also have a Holosun red dot with a QD base I can swap on pretty quick. I like the red dot. Traditional it ain’t, but it is superior to iron sights.

 

I put a Nikon multi-dot on my 1895SBL and thought it would be great for bear hunting. Used it on a couple of hunts and hated it. I switched to a more conventional Leupold Firedot scope and I'm very happy with the change. Just for fun I shoot at bowling pins at 300yds. That's virtually impossible for me to do with a red dot sight. Magnification can come in real handy sometimes.

 

Older eyes, same here I mounted an inexpensive red dot (3,5 MOA) on my 1895 GS and I am happy with it. I shoot as far as 70 yards and use the rifle for driven hunts and when searching wounded game with my scent hound.

 

Older eyes, same here I shoot as far as 70 yards and use the rifle for driven hunts and when searching wounded game with my scent hound.

Correctomundo, the right tool for the job. Parallax free & no fixed eye relief, the dot keeps the bore aimed at whatever the dot is seeing despite your eye’s angle to the sight. Snap shots that just can’t be done with an optical sight. Not meant for long range (100 yards plus) and a joy within those limits in the woods.

Ray

 

This is what I had to do with my 1952 336 in .30-30 which is not drilled and tapped for a scope base. It took a bit of work to get it set up right but it works great on the old rifle. That a Romeo5 with shake-awake so it ready anytime, I just have pick it up and it's on and ready for action.

 

I have not went the Red Dot route on any rifles as of yet. I do have one on a Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Mag. 10' barrel. That set up makes that a 50 yd handgun for me. I can see where they would be great for some people. One must always have respect for the game we hunt. Punching paper or ringing steel do whatever but in the field I use scopes or my Red Dot. That is just me, not telling anyone how to do anything.
Have a great day.
Jim

 

You should be very happy with your choice. I am in the same boat with older eyes that do not function like they did when I was young. I went with putting scopes on my 1895's. Let us know how your hunting goes.

 

I use a Vortex Spitfire AR on my Camp 9N. It has an etched rectal that can be used with or without the red dot turned on. I love it. It takes away the fear of the battery going dead while shooting.

 

Didn’t it hurt having your rectal etched? Sorry, sophomoric, but an easy shot I just had to take!

JW


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I had a Skinner aperture sight on my 1895. My eyes just turned 74. I can still get a good sight picture with the ghost ring. In fact, my distance vision is excellent after cataract surgery. However, there appears to be something just not quite right with my older eyes. In spite of the excellent vision, I am just not as accurate with the aperture as I was a few short years ago. Out to 50 or 75 yards accuracy is fine, but beyond that I do not want to risk a muffed shot on a game animal. I still have a Model 94 in 30-30 and a Rossi M92 in 44 Mag. that I can use with apertures on close shots. But for general purpose hunting sights I want the Red Dot or a scope. I initially wanted a Red Dot on my 336 in 35 Remington . However, with the Hornady Leverevolution ammo the 35 Rem. is an easy 200 yard gun. I have a nice straight power WeaWeaver that will probably go on the 35 Rem.

 

I am running a Bushnell TRS-25 on my GS as a trial. My eyes are not good enough at 100 anymore. It is 3 MOA which is a little big. I am thinking about getting a smaller red dot with 2 moa.

 

I am running a Bushnell TRS-25 on my GS as a trial. My eyes are not good enough at 100 anymore. It is 3 MOA which is a little big. I am thinking about getting a smaller red dot with 2 moa.



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I went through two of these on my GBL. Weirdly, it worked on my H&R Handi perfectly. I moved the first one over to the GBL...died. Put the second one on the GBL...died.

I am thankful for this thread. After the two Bushnell died, I had went with a Leupold 1-4-20 on my GBL. Yesterday, I kept thinking about this thread at work. I enjoyed the red dot. I liked being able to keep both eyes open. I start researching red dots. I didn’t want to spend a ton but wanted reliability. Vortex Crossfire II and Sig Saur Romeo5. Really it came down to warranty. The Romeo had features I really liked but Vortex 100% no questions asked warranty won me over.

I skip out of work. Pick up the dot. Pick up the rifle from home and off to the range I go. At 50 yards I could stack them with my 425 grain GT bullets over 34 grains of Buffalo Rifle. At 100, my stigmatism really kicks me. The groups open up to about 3.5”. There were a couple of groups smaller but most were in that 3” range. For pigs, 125 yards and in I feel good. Thanks again for the thread. Tomorrow I leave for a few days of pig / deer hunting.

 

I just had my first experience with a red dot. Got my son a Rascal for Christmas and slapped a Bushnell TRS-25 on it. Sighting this in was an absolute blast. Can't wait for him to open it and hit the range together.

 

@Panbolio you bring up a very good point about astigmatism and red dots. Astigmatism is a refractive focusing issue in the eye and a persons ability to use a red dot. This blog does a good job of explaining it and provides some opinions on some sights that work well. Best Red Dot Sights for Astigmatism [2020] - Scopes Field

I have issues at longer distances with my Bushnell TRS-25

 

I have not had my red dot sighted 1895 in the woods yet. Old injuries get tough to handle in cold damp weather and we have had our share this year. But, I liked the setup so well I put a Romeo5 on my Handi Rifle in 45-70. Hope to sight it in shortly. Also, hope to head for the woods tomorrow. I shoot 405 grain Beartooth cast bullets in the Handi Rifle. That rifle with the red dot weights next to nothing. It certainly gets you attention when the trigger is pulled with the Skinner sights I had on it. I run the 405 grain cast bullet about 1,550 out of the 22" barreled Handi Rifle. Recoil is tolerable and accuracy is superb. Saturday starts the second section of our primitive weapon season. My go to "primitive" weapon is a ProHunter with an MGM Barrel in 35 Whelen. But, I do have a couple of places where the little Handi Rifle with a red dot is going to come in, well, handy. Just have to get to the woods.

 

I have a red/green dot for sale on ebay. DIdn't think to post it here. I'm all for whatever works. Iron sights, then peep sights, then fiber optic sights.... For example, I am absolutely moving to double ended light sabre vs a single when they come out.

The dot is inexpensive but it works great out to 75-100yds. It is quick to see and good for day or low light in the morning or evening.

 

I have a red dot on my 44p, works great on running hogs and can easily hit a pie plate at 100 yards.

 

That thing looks awkward. It seems way to high above the bore, big and heavy looking, and is not even close to aesthetically pleasing....I would get a micro dot or small reflex that fits way lower and would balance nicer

 

How is that contraption on top of that rifle somehow superior to a scope?
Looks like a sight on a rocket propelled grenade!