Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting red dot choices - opinion needed

Got two shotgun projects I want to try red dots on. I have 4 (+1) to choose from.

Project 1: Savage 24 in 12 ga & 223. want to remove the scope and put a red dot on. The gun is used for shooting beavers on my farm. typical short range under 100 yards, but want the lighted sight to shoot into the dark. The red dot will be sighted for the rifle and close enough for the shotgun. The current scope is too high for common shotgun aiming and makes cocking the hammer a finger pinch.

Project 2: turkey shotgun. 12 Gauge Mossberg with a 24 inch barrel. Like the idea of a red dot for beaver shooting and possible night time skunk & coyote shooting also

Optics choices:
1. cheap older simmons 30 ish mm red dot. Never really used it on anything. will it take shotgun recoil?
2. Browning reflex sight. looks like many of the same sight. not sure MOA. red only
3. Sight mark Reflex sight. looks like the browning. not sure MOA. has red & green reticles
4. Burris fast fire 3, 3 moa red dot


What would you put on each gun?

The turkey gun will see more carry once a year and handling. the sav 24 gets used about 4 times a year, but gets hauled in & out of the truck more.

wildcard choice (Leupold 1-4 shotgun scope - heavy duplex reticle)


Give me your opinions guys

Thanks in advance.

HD

humdinger,

IF the 2 firearms were MINE, I'd look for a pair of ORIGINAL & Swedish-made AIMPOINTs. = I watch craigslist & ebay.com for those "old-school" red-dot sights & would buy another one or 2 at "an attractive price". = Like a Timex watch, "they take a licking & keep on ticking".
(I paid 35 bucks for the last one that I bought "in mint condition" off of our local craigslist & am looking for another one to mount on my "house defense" riot-gun.)

just my OPINION, tex

Between my Daughter and myself we have 6 Turkey guns we use for various conditions. 4 of them have Burris fast fire with 3 dots. Works well for us.

I looked on ebay and was overwhelmed with expensive aimpoints....

got a model number or something to research by?

humdinger,

SURE.

The Aimpoint ELECTRONIC
the MARK III
&
the MODEL 1000.
(ALL of the 3 have been "obsolete" for about 2+ DECADES.)

The Old-school (and essentially still handmade) Electronic is my personal favorite BUT not easy to find.
My 35.oo Aimpoint is one of the first made & it still works fine with nothing more than new camera batteries each year..
(A friend's Model 742 Remingtom with the Electronic attached "went for a trip down a mountainside" in CO & the Aimpoint was still working, though the rifle "took a hit" & had to be repaired/refinished by a gunsmith.)\

BEST WISHES on the hunt.

yours, tex

It all comes down to how much you want to spend. The perfect answers are the Aimpoint micro or Trijicon RMR. On the cheaper side, the Burris FF3 and the Holosun work very well for a lot less. I ran the holosun last season and had no issues. The smaller dot will make it easier.

OP again....


My goal is to avoid buying more optics if the ones I have work.

My best one is the burris and I was hoping people have experience with the others.

#4 on the turkey gun, cuz that's what I have on a turkey gun and it works.

I've had #2 and #3 on rimfires. The Savage combo guns I've seen were heavy. If the shotgun loads are not heavy, then those would probably work.

No opinion on #1. Ammo costs enough that I'm not one to run up the total cost of a shooting exercise by having to shoot more to check and correct and malfunctioning optic.

I've noticed using red dots for precise aiming in low light requires turning the intensity down very low in order to see around the dot. A heavy reticle scope would work better than a flaring dot, if you could see the target.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm getting a sinking feeling I'm giving away my cheaper sights to kids in the deer shack and buying myself another burris FF3...

Good choice on FF3. Have them on all 3 turkey guns and no problems

Nice. Not sure if my budget handles the sight or gun, but a guy can dream.

That sight is highly visible but I don't recognize it. What is it?

Thanks
Jim

Trijicon RMR.

Ive also had good luck with the fastfire but the RMR is definitely a more rugged unit.

Thanks
The Trijicon RMR price is a wee bit high for this ole guy. Sticking with my Bushnell. It's been a tariffic tom turkey taker.

quick question... is it better to mount the red dot closer or farther away from your eye?

For Turkey its probably less of an issue but on moving targets I prefer further away as I shoot with both eyes open and find it more natural.

Doesn't matter. Put it wherever you seem to like it.

Aimpoint 9000SC for me...

20 gauge build?
or 12?

very nice