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Posted By: DrDeath Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/04/19
I have a few light weight iron sighted bolt actions that I was considering putting a Aimpoint 9000 on. Are there any other red dots that would work on a bolt action without having cheek weld/ height issues??
Posted By: Woodhits Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/04/19
An Aimpoint Micro mounted to a Weaver-style front base usually works well.
Posted By: DrDeath Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/04/19
I have Rugers! With the intergral bases. M77’s
Posted By: hookeye Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/04/19
Burris Fast Fire reflex sights.....have heard of guys liking them on 77/44s
Posted By: DrDeath Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/05/19
No aimpoint reviews?
Posted By: colodog Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/05/19
I've got an Ultradot that works wonderfully on a 45-70 levergun and a mini14.

Let us know what you figure out!
Have an Aimpoint H34S on a Ruger Ranch .223. It’s lives on my atv. Bit overkill, but i wanted something that could setup and forget it, and probably always work despite vibration and weather). Using factory rail and supplied rings, it’s just a hair higher than i usually prefer (which is low, or lower). Haven’t killed anything with it yet. Once get used to it, it certainly swing fast on target, which was the idea.
Tagged.

Thinking about an Ultradot on a 243 to let my cousins 9 year old boy shoot.
Posted By: erich Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/07/19
Just a thought. If you were to use say a 1-4x24mm, 1-6x24mm or 1.5-6x40mm scope with an Illuminated dot you can turn it down to 1x and shoot it just like a red dot but you would also have the option to turn the power up and have accurate long range capabilities.
Posted By: Pappy348 Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/07/19
Reflex sights, for the most part, seem to be the lowest of the red dots. Rugers with the dovetail require an adapter like the one Burris sells, which raises them a bit, and IMO, makes them look like they're hanging out there too much.

I had a Vortex Sparc 2 on a .270 FN for a while until I got a second hole drilled in the bridge. No problem getting good hunting accuracy with its 2moa dot. That sight has been rock-solid on several guns, but an identical one crapped after about ten rounds on a S&W .357. New one showed up in two weeks, door to door, but is unmounted as yet.

Aimpoint would always be my choice for use on a rifle, if I had the bucks. 9000s go for about $460 on Amazon last I looked.

Primary Arms makes a nifty 1x prism sight with diopter focus, but I have no idea how reliable they are. You also lose the unlimited eye relief red dots give you, but gain function without batteries if it ever comes to that.
One of my thoughts was that you do not have to stay perfectly square behind the red dot like you do a scope. As long as the dot is where you want it you are fine.

Not sure whether that is a good thing for a youngster or not.

I mounted a TRS-25 on my 660 the other night. May play w it some over the weekend.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
Sits pretty much like a scope in dual dovetail mount with medium Signature rings.
Posted By: Petro Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/07/19
I stuck a cheap Vortex Sparc II from Brownells on a beater 270. I haven't had a chance to shoot it due to dealing with hospice/funeral/estate stuff for my mother. The glass is clear and the dot is great. I can hit an 8" steel gong 9/10 times @ 200 yards with the same optic on my ARs. Should be perfect on a close range deer gun.

[Linked Image]
Posted By: JMR40 Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/07/19
Originally Posted by erich
Just a thought. If you were to use say a 1-4x24mm, 1-6x24mm or 1.5-6x40mm scope with an Illuminated dot you can turn it down to 1x and shoot it just like a red dot but you would also have the option to turn the power up and have accurate long range capabilities.


I've tried hard to like dot sights, but just can't. I currently have a Sig Romeo 5 on one of my AR's and have tried a couple of others in the past including a Vortex SPARC. I can mount a 1-4X or 1-6X scope with a 20 or 24 mm objective and get on target MUCH faster on 1X than I can with a dot or iron sights. And have the option to go up to 4X or 6X for more precision at longer ranges. I have one with the illuminated reticle and think it a much better option if you want to use batteries. And if the batteries die I still have a working scope.

I find the optics so poor that it is hard to find the target in low light. Yea, you can see the dot, but it does no good if you can't see the target. I can see a deer or other target much more clearly in low light with a scope. Plus the adjustments are so crude getting them zeroed is a challenge and beyond 50 ish yards the dots cover too much of the target.
Currently have four MRDS on rifles for hunting in The Swamp.

1. My second-hand (in 1988) Model 700 Mountain Rifle in 6.8 O'Connor has an Aimpoint T1 on the forward bridge using a Weaver base, a KRG Bolt Handle and a Timney Calvin Elite flat trigger set at 2.15 lbs.

2. A Traditions SS Ultra Lite .50 Muzzleloader with a silver Aimpoint R1. NOTE: this optic just moved off the Marlin .17 HMR that I've been practicing snapshooting with all summer.

3. Wife's Weatherby Vanguard Ute .223 with a SIG-Sauer Romeo5 2 MOA dot on front bridge

4. Ruger Frontier .358 Win with a Comp M2 on the front bridge in a Ruger 30mm ring

Every one of them zeroed at 50 yards. The CFs have varying MPBR secondary zeroes.
Here's a Burris FastFire III on a Model 77 .30-06. In height it's about halfway between a scope and a peep sight. One thing to note is that you can only mount it on the rear bridge on a long action 77, the short actions are just a bit too short so you have to put it over the receiver ring. In use it has the same advantages and the same limitations of most any red dot or reflex sight. Very fast to use and fine for game animals within the point blank range of your firearm but even with a 3 MOA dot it tends to cover a lot of the target for any kind of precision work at distance.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Couple more pics here



You drop that rifle or take a tumble down a hillside and that FastFire would be TOAST.
Posted By: Pappy348 Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/10/19
Originally Posted by chlinstructor
You drop that rifle or take a tumble down a hillside and that FastFire would be TOAST.


I put a Fastfire on the receiver ring of 77/22 and didn't care for the look, or the wacky adapter. Why they didn't just use a simple through-bolt is a mystery.

The running boar shooters seem to mount a lot of the new short Aimpoints on the front ring too, but their trips back and forth to the stands seem pretty easy. Many of them carry their rifles cased.

A rail and a reflex mounted in one of those protective cradles or a tube-type in sturdy rings should be pretty rugged; rugged as a scope anyway.
Posted By: JCMCUBIC Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/10/19
I run a FastFire on a Benelli M2 and really like it...can use it for turkey loads or turn it off and see through it to use the bead.

I've played around with cheap red red dots and they are usable but not my cup of tea.

The Nightforce NX8 1-8x24 is a better mouse trap for my preferences and use. Bright dot on 1x, the ability to up the x's and dial elevation, and tough enough to use rough. It's not cheap though.
Originally Posted by JMR40
Originally Posted by erich
Just a thought. If you were to use say a 1-4x24mm, 1-6x24mm or 1.5-6x40mm scope with an Illuminated dot you can turn it down to 1x and shoot it just like a red dot but you would also have the option to turn the power up and have accurate long range capabilities.


I've tried hard to like dot sights, but just can't. I currently have a Sig Romeo 5 on one of my AR's and have tried a couple of others in the past including a Vortex SPARC. I can mount a 1-4X or 1-6X scope with a 20 or 24 mm objective and get on target MUCH faster on 1X than I can with a dot or iron sights. And have the option to go up to 4X or 6X for more precision at longer ranges. I have one with the illuminated reticle and think it a much better option if you want to use batteries. And if the batteries die I still have a working scope.

I find the optics so poor that it is hard to find the target in low light. Yea, you can see the dot, but it does no good if you can't see the target. I can see a deer or other target much more clearly in low light with a scope. Plus the adjustments are so crude getting them zeroed is a challenge and beyond 50 ish yards the dots cover too much of the target.


Listen to these two. The reflex/red dot idea is not the way to go these days. A true 1-4x is what you want.
77/44 + Millett SP1 = dead stuff for the last 20 years. Easy MOA at 100.

8 shots, 300 grain paper patch fired 9 years after it was loaded.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

http://www.millettsights.com/scopes/sp-series-red-dot/

https://www.binocularsplus.com/products/millett-sp-1-compact-1x20-red-dot-sight-matte-black

The recoil with this rig is rather stout but the sight has survived many, many rounds. Working on battery #3 after all this time.
The SP1 comes with rings suitable for a rail and looks kinda like this when installed.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Originally Posted by 10gaugemag
One of my thoughts was that you do not have to stay perfectly square behind the red dot like you do a scope. As long as the dot is where you want it you are fine.

Not sure whether that is a good thing for a youngster or not.

I mounted a TRS-25 on my 660 the other night. May play w it some over the weekend.



If that’s your thought, you might reconsider. Even Aimpoints and other higher end red dots that advertise ‘parallax free’, show error. Some may have minimal or none at a set range, but if your eye is not in the same place (good cheek weld), there will be impact shift. At 25-50 yards, it’s often not enough to matter. However, I’ve seen aimpoints shift a foot or more at 2-300. LPVs and Prism sights with a set eye relief and adjustable diopter and fixed parallax setting have proven far more precise, in my use, and every bit as fast.
Posted By: RufusG Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/12/19
Originally Posted by 10gaugemag
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]
Sits pretty much like a scope in dual dovetail mount with medium Signature rings.



I understand the red dot,,,, but why is there a fish reverse-mounted to your barrel?
Originally Posted by hh4whiskey
Originally Posted by 10gaugemag
One of my thoughts was that you do not have to stay perfectly square behind the red dot like you do a scope. As long as the dot is where you want it you are fine.

Not sure whether that is a good thing for a youngster or not.

I mounted a TRS-25 on my 660 the other night. May play w it some over the weekend.



If that’s your thought, you might reconsider. Even Aimpoints and other higher end red dots that advertise ‘parallax free’, show error. Some may have minimal or none at a set range, but if your eye is not in the same place (good cheek weld), there will be impact shift. At 25-50 yards, it’s often not enough to matter. However, I’ve seen aimpoints shift a foot or more at 2-300. LPVs and Prism sights with a set eye relief and adjustable diopter and fixed parallax setting have proven far more precise, in my use, and every bit as fast.

That 25-50 yards would be max distance where this rifle will be used.
Then have at. I was just pointing out the huge upside to an LPV vs a dot. I will say: get a good one. Some cheap RDs can show monstrous error under 50, and be more precise the further out you get, with relation to impact shift.
LPV?
Low Power Variable.....1-4/1.5-5, etc
Posted By: Fireball2 Re: Red dots on Bolt Actions - 11/12/19
Burris Fastfire III, Savage 99 16" 358 carbine. Fired about 25 rounds the other day and no problems.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
Actually, scout mounting the red dot like that alleviates some of the potential issues by forcing your head and eye closer to the same place between shots. When I do run one, I find farther forward like that helps, for sure.
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