Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Reflex sights

Hi, folks.
I have a question about reflex sights on rifles.
I was wondering what distance one could shoot accuratly with a reflex sight such as a burris fast fire on a rifle like a remington 760. When I say accuratly Im talking shooting deer in the vitals, not shooting dime size groups.

Thanks in advance.

depends on your eyes and your abilities.

how far you can hit may not equal how far you can reliably hit the same spot. it becomes a question of ethics at that point. i tend to avoid RDS optics on anything other than shotguns for that reason; the shotgun gives me a reference when birding, but i cannot place the same round on the same spot as often with an RDS as i can with a traditional scope. also, the MOA dot on most RDS sights are far larger than the stadia on trditional telescopic sights. so at range, you may cover your entire vital zone, but not have any real way to judge drop and distance.

that said, i know one guy who's mounted an RDS on his .30-30, and he's good with it. but he shoots VERY close in, from a stand. he doesn't use them for any type of range hunting.

R J Im really not talking 200 yards, more likd 75 to 100 yards..
Just dont want to spend the money and it not work.
My old eyes aint the best anymore, so the irons or a little blurry. Just wondering.
Thanks for the reply

i'd prolly save your money then. but perhaps look into an ACOG - good combination, and none i know of are above 4x. they are pretty intuitive to use, and that range is perfect for them. cost a little more than your average RDS, but worth it in the long run.

hope it helps. 'specially 'cause now i'm thinking about something like that. interesting concept.

I do have experience with the Aimpoint CCO. It's heavier than the typical reflex and more expensive. It uses a parallex corrected lens and is designed for rifle use. But it is very accurate even without magnification. 200 Yards would be a chip shot with it. Also I found placing shots with the dot was easily done.
I'd feel comfortable using any of the aimpoint sights designed for rifles past 200 yards.

Red dot's are good to well past 100 yards. They will work fine for what you stated.

Thanks Guys

I've got a Burris on my Guide gun, and have used the same gun and my M94 .30-30 with receiver sights. As long as I have a good reference to be consistent with the sight, either rifle will shoot 1.5 to 2 inch groups at 100 yards.

The .30-30 front sight subtends 4" at 100 yards, and I have regularly hit 8" paper plates at 200 yards. At the risk of continually repeating myself, I shot a deer with the M94 at a lasered 236 yards, two shots to the chest, 4" apart. The deer moved after the first shot, stopped, and got hammered again. 20 yards later it was deader 'n hell.

GG with Burris:

Vic,
What type of mount did you use?
Weaver?

Marlin specific.

A Weaver would work.

Thanks Vic.

I think what Jim is very sensibly saying is that you want to use the best optic for the situation you are confronted with. Having recently played with one, i am acquiring an Aimpoint - because a lot of the hunting i do involves close ranges and quick shooting where the red dot/reflex scope are at an advantage. And they offer a big advantage, too. More than i thought. It clearly isn't best though for longer range shooting. There are stories of folks hitting things at a thousand yards with their Sharps -but that doesn't mean they were using optimal optics for a thousand yards. A reflex sight is only optimal for quite short range, moving target scenarios - probably 50-70 yards or so, then a low powered variable is going to be better. There is no reason you couldn't have the reflex sight on most of the time, but carry a little fixed power compact for longer range shooting, where you get a bit more time and can swap optics.

The reason I have gone back to open sites to begin with on leverguns, singleshots and small ring Mauser's is that you can carry the rifle in your hand with your hand wrapped completely around the receiver while hunting close cover..
The FastFire reflex looks like it will allow you to carry the rifle in the same manner..
A tube type reddot would be the same as using a scope, at least that is what I have found out using my old Aimpoint..

It will. It's barely noticeable when carrying, no more so than a receiver sight.

Talking specifically about the Burris Fastfire, you can reliably and quickly hit as far away as the point blank range of your rifle.

The dot is a point of light with indistinct edges, not a clearly delineated circle, so it's difficult to judge holdover. Plus, the further out the target is requiring more holdover, the more the dot subtends and so the further out you go the less exact they are. However, you can always put the center of the dot right on whatever you want to hit and do that very quickly. Even if it covers a deer from brisket to spine, you can still center its body very exactly and if the trajectory of your bullet stays under that dot you will hit your deer.

The FF works best when used like a bead front sight and peep rear - paste that bead on the target and fire. The bullet will "ride the bead" or in this case ride the dot all the way.

I have been playing with a Burris Fastfire a bit on a .30-30 that has a midrange trajectory of 4" when sighted in at 200 yards. Like Vic, I practice on 8" paper plates and can hit one all the way out to 200 just by pasting the dot on the middle of the plate. I can't say I always hit it but if I miss it's because I missed, not because the sighting system was at fault. Also, I might fudge just a shade low at 100 but the closer the target the more precisely you can fudge (if you'll forgive that oxymoronic phrase ).

It is lightweight at 2 ounces and out of the way of your hand around the action. Your cheek weld is just a little bit higher than a peep or open sights but not as high as even the lowest mounted scope I've ever used.

For a long range rig they won't replace a good scope but for a handy dandy alternative to peep sights I think they are an excellent choice.

If you are expecting shots out beyond a hundred yards, and can afford one, i'd suggest the Aimpoint Comp c3 with 2MOA dot. They are much, much better for longer ranges. They're worth having a look at.

I have used a Fastfire on my Marlin 336 and agree completely with Jim. They are faster on target than peep sights and much more compact than even an Aimpoint Micro.

I have 3 of the FFs. They are great for short range work, but I personally would not care for them for ranges past 100. The dot, despite being advertised at 4moa, actually is far larger than that to my eyes. Mine seem to take up around 8moa on target. It could be my eyesight as the dot on all 3 has more of a blurred star look than a dot, but they work quite well for short range work. I love the no paralax, it doesn't matter where your head is or where the dot is on the screen, that's where the impact will be. The auto brightness feature is also nice. It's not as good as a quality scope in low light, but better than open sights for me.

the dot looks the same to me, somewhat starry, but the ranges that the rifle is used at won't exceed 100 yards. You might could see that far, but shooting through all the brush wouldn't be the best idea, hard to tell where to bullet would actually go. And, the dot doesn't seem to subtend any more than the front bead did when it was on the barrel. The barrel has no sights, now.

Actually, I put mine on with the thought of hogs. They can be a close-range, fast shot proposition.