Red Dot scopes
- Thread starter Trone
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mickeyelk
Very Active Member
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- 1,895
I agree with Don, the 1X is nicer. I used the red dot while hunting deer in Utah and I would either forget to turn on/off at the wrong time. At long ranges I had troubles placing the top of the red dot on my target. The 1X, just put the cross hairs where you need. Make sure you buy a good sturdy scope. Good luck!
LAST EDITED ON Jul-22-08 AT 09:41AM (MST)[p]I used a Bushnell Trophy on last years elk hunt and was super happy with its performance! It runs on batteries (which I was leery about) but I put a new one in prior to my hunt and packed along an extra.
The Trophy has a number of dots and crosshairs patterns/colors to use. I am colorblind so couldn't see the red. The bright green color was the best for me and stood out the best in low light conditions.
The Trophy is 1x so is legal in Utah. I put my setup through the gauntlet before my hunt and shot every week for 2 months prior to the season. The Trophy and the mount held up nicely and once I had it set it never moved.
I shot last year's bull twice at 218 yards. Although I was confident at 200 yards I was leery shooting much farther than that distance with a critter the size of an elk. My sabots were only dropping 8" at 200 yards so that is pretty good!
One thing you will notice is that you are only as good as your eyesight with a 1x scope! It is very difficult to shoot in low light conditions, through brush/trees, etc. I had a gigantic bull at 60 yards one evening close to dark for about 1/2 hour but I didn't take a shot because I wasn't confident and could barely make things out in the low light. If I would have had a 4x scope I could have easily seen the detail to make the shot. The same thing happened another day. I couldn't see well enough through the trees/brush to make a shot. 1x is like looking with your naked eye and is a definite disadvantage compared to a 4 to 10x scope!
Depending upon the size of the dot and the distance of the animal it can make shots tricky with a dot scope. Obviously the larger the dot the tougher it is to shoot long distance because the dot will cover a large chunk of the body! I had my dot scope set with the finest dot that had a circle around it.
Although I was a little leery at first buying the Bushnell Trophy I was super impressed with how it performed. For the money it may be one of the best dot scopes available? I plan on bringing it along on this years antelope hunt! When practiced up with my dot scope and sabots I very confident I could hit a critter at 200 yards,,,no problem!
The Trophy has a number of dots and crosshairs patterns/colors to use. I am colorblind so couldn't see the red. The bright green color was the best for me and stood out the best in low light conditions.
The Trophy is 1x so is legal in Utah. I put my setup through the gauntlet before my hunt and shot every week for 2 months prior to the season. The Trophy and the mount held up nicely and once I had it set it never moved.
I shot last year's bull twice at 218 yards. Although I was confident at 200 yards I was leery shooting much farther than that distance with a critter the size of an elk. My sabots were only dropping 8" at 200 yards so that is pretty good!
One thing you will notice is that you are only as good as your eyesight with a 1x scope! It is very difficult to shoot in low light conditions, through brush/trees, etc. I had a gigantic bull at 60 yards one evening close to dark for about 1/2 hour but I didn't take a shot because I wasn't confident and could barely make things out in the low light. If I would have had a 4x scope I could have easily seen the detail to make the shot. The same thing happened another day. I couldn't see well enough through the trees/brush to make a shot. 1x is like looking with your naked eye and is a definite disadvantage compared to a 4 to 10x scope!
Depending upon the size of the dot and the distance of the animal it can make shots tricky with a dot scope. Obviously the larger the dot the tougher it is to shoot long distance because the dot will cover a large chunk of the body! I had my dot scope set with the finest dot that had a circle around it.
Although I was a little leery at first buying the Bushnell Trophy I was super impressed with how it performed. For the money it may be one of the best dot scopes available? I plan on bringing it along on this years antelope hunt! When practiced up with my dot scope and sabots I very confident I could hit a critter at 200 yards,,,no problem!
bragabit
Active Member
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- 811
I agree with Marley. The Burris 1X is a great scope. Some people do not like the 20mm objective, but I think it gathers as much, if not more light the the cheaper 32mm scopes. Muzzleloader kick and I would go with a quality brand that you trust. I saw one for sale the other day at sportsmans warehouse.
LAST EDITED ON Jul-23-08 AT 03:37PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jul-23-08 AT 01:17 PM (MST)
Hunters, I purchased a new Tasco red dot scope last season for use with my Encore .50 black powder rifle. I believe that it has a 3X power to it. It was one of the less expensive scopes out there. I liked the quality of it fine but a couple of my hunting friends reported that the Tasco's did not hold their "zero" as well as did other brands. Maybe, a man gets what he pays for? I killed several whitetail deer with the Encore and was satisfied with the red dot type scope.
Hunters, I purchased a new Tasco red dot scope last season for use with my Encore .50 black powder rifle. I believe that it has a 3X power to it. It was one of the less expensive scopes out there. I liked the quality of it fine but a couple of my hunting friends reported that the Tasco's did not hold their "zero" as well as did other brands. Maybe, a man gets what he pays for? I killed several whitetail deer with the Encore and was satisfied with the red dot type scope.
>LAST EDITED ON Jul-23-08
>AT 03:37 PM (MST)
>
>LAST EDITED ON Jul-23-08
>AT 01:17 PM (MST)
>
>Hunters, I purchased a new Tasco
>red dot scope last season
>for use with my Encore
>.50 black powder rifle. I
>believe that it has a
>3X power to it. It
>was one of the less
>expensive scopes out there. I
>liked the quality of it
>fine but a couple of
>my hunting friends reported that
>the Tasco's did not hold
>their "zero" as well as
>did other brands. Maybe, a
>man gets what he pays
>for? I killed several whitetail
>deer with the Encore and
>was satisfied with the red
>dot type scope.
>AT 03:37 PM (MST)
>
>LAST EDITED ON Jul-23-08
>AT 01:17 PM (MST)
>
>Hunters, I purchased a new Tasco
>red dot scope last season
>for use with my Encore
>.50 black powder rifle. I
>believe that it has a
>3X power to it. It
>was one of the less
>expensive scopes out there. I
>liked the quality of it
>fine but a couple of
>my hunting friends reported that
>the Tasco's did not hold
>their "zero" as well as
>did other brands. Maybe, a
>man gets what he pays
>for? I killed several whitetail
>deer with the Encore and
>was satisfied with the red
>dot type scope.
MULEYSTAND
Active Member
- Messages
- 137
LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-08 AT 08:21AM (MST)[p]
I HAVE USED 3-4 DIFFERENT RED DOT SCOPES AND THE LAST ONE I BOUGHT WAS A AIMPOINT. I WOULD NOT USE ANYTHING ELSE. A FEW PLUSES TO THIS SCOPE ARE: WHERE EVER THE DOT IS IN THE SCOPE IS WHERE YOU HIT SO IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CENTERED. ANOTHER IT HAS A LONG BATTERY LIFE I THINK 10,000 HOURS. FOR INCTINCE LAST YEAR I FORGOT TO TURN THE SCOPE OFF AND WHEN I NOTICED ALMOST A YEAR LATER I STILL COULD TURN THE SCOPE UP ALL THE WAY AND SEE A GOOD VISIBLE DOT. ONE DOWN FALL I PAID $600.00 COMPARED TO $100.00-$200.00 ON THE OTHERS BUT WELL WORTH IT. SEARCH AIMPOINT SCOPES AND READ A LITTLE ON THEM YOU CAN'T GO WRONG.
I HAVE USED 3-4 DIFFERENT RED DOT SCOPES AND THE LAST ONE I BOUGHT WAS A AIMPOINT. I WOULD NOT USE ANYTHING ELSE. A FEW PLUSES TO THIS SCOPE ARE: WHERE EVER THE DOT IS IN THE SCOPE IS WHERE YOU HIT SO IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CENTERED. ANOTHER IT HAS A LONG BATTERY LIFE I THINK 10,000 HOURS. FOR INCTINCE LAST YEAR I FORGOT TO TURN THE SCOPE OFF AND WHEN I NOTICED ALMOST A YEAR LATER I STILL COULD TURN THE SCOPE UP ALL THE WAY AND SEE A GOOD VISIBLE DOT. ONE DOWN FALL I PAID $600.00 COMPARED TO $100.00-$200.00 ON THE OTHERS BUT WELL WORTH IT. SEARCH AIMPOINT SCOPES AND READ A LITTLE ON THEM YOU CAN'T GO WRONG.
Timberbuck
Active Member
- Messages
- 346
LAST EDITED ON Jul-31-08 AT 03:19PM (MST)[p]I agree. A quality red dot like the US Army battle proved Aimpoint is the way to go.
Get a 2 or 3MOA dot and this covers up way less of the bullseye or target at any range than any 1x scope reticle I have seen or used.
THe battery life is rediculous on the new Aimpoints, like 50,000 hours on low-you don't even turn them off just turn to the lowest setting.
THe Aimpoint is paralax free and any distance. (other brands are not)
THe Aimpoint has the brightest dot and longest battery life.
Another advantage of the red dot is the ability to turn down the brightness of the dot to where you can still see it on the target but also see what is behind it-adds a little more precision in aiming in some circumstances.
The red dots can be used with both eyes open and are faster on target in short range shots-think jumping a buck for a quick shot in heavy timber!
The best thing about the red dot is when you look through it things appear the same as your eye, they dont look slightly farther away as in a 1x scope.
Aimpoints can be had for $250 on up, I have no experience with other brands so these comments relate to my experiences with Aimpoint Red dots only (the best).
I have a 3moa dot Aimpoint on my Ar-15 and can shoot 1 MOA groups off a bench at 100yds.
On my AH muzzloader I can shoot 1.5 inch groups at 100yds and 3 inch groups at 200yds.
Point is that this sight is capable of great accuracy.
My friend just put a Aimpoint on his new TC prohunter .50 muzzloader and shot a 1 inch group at 100 yds with barnes 250g tmz sabots and multible 2 inch groups with other sabots.
Get a 2 or 3MOA dot and this covers up way less of the bullseye or target at any range than any 1x scope reticle I have seen or used.
THe battery life is rediculous on the new Aimpoints, like 50,000 hours on low-you don't even turn them off just turn to the lowest setting.
THe Aimpoint is paralax free and any distance. (other brands are not)
THe Aimpoint has the brightest dot and longest battery life.
Another advantage of the red dot is the ability to turn down the brightness of the dot to where you can still see it on the target but also see what is behind it-adds a little more precision in aiming in some circumstances.
The red dots can be used with both eyes open and are faster on target in short range shots-think jumping a buck for a quick shot in heavy timber!
The best thing about the red dot is when you look through it things appear the same as your eye, they dont look slightly farther away as in a 1x scope.
Aimpoints can be had for $250 on up, I have no experience with other brands so these comments relate to my experiences with Aimpoint Red dots only (the best).
I have a 3moa dot Aimpoint on my Ar-15 and can shoot 1 MOA groups off a bench at 100yds.
On my AH muzzloader I can shoot 1.5 inch groups at 100yds and 3 inch groups at 200yds.
Point is that this sight is capable of great accuracy.
My friend just put a Aimpoint on his new TC prohunter .50 muzzloader and shot a 1 inch group at 100 yds with barnes 250g tmz sabots and multible 2 inch groups with other sabots.
OwnMoreBone
Active Member
- Messages
- 737
On my last muzzleloader I had a Simmons 1X32 and I just loved it. This year a drew a LE Muzzy Elk tag so I bought a new TC Encore Muzzleloader and I bought a new Bushnell Holo sight and I like it even better than the 1 power scope. Just my $.02
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treedagain
Long Time Member
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- 6,534
sounds like there are alot of options out there..
