Red dot optics

[4t5]

Just picked up S&W 22x , and am looking for a “RED DOT” optic for it , what are you guys using and how do you like them ?

[Walt]

I have a hard time with red dots on handguns. I shake a lot and the red dots magnify my shakes and twitches. I have put several of them on handguns and found that I could shoot better without them so took them off. On the other hand, although I haven't looked into IPSC and other similar competition for years, the top shooters were all using red dots and found they allowed faster target acquisition.

[samsi]

I'm still holding out on using a dot, but a lot of guys are using them in our local sorta-IDPA match. The most popular seems to be the Holosun and Trijicon but (like everything else these days) there are many choices. Green is more popular than red among the middle-aged and older guys, easier to see for some.

The S&W 22x interests me but I haven't seen one in the wild yet.

[JRD]

I've shot a friend's 22X. He's very happy with it and I thought it shot fine, though I'm already too much into old fashioned High Standards, S&W 41's, and Ruger's to get one myself.
He's a big optics guy and is very current on the handgun optics industry.

He recommends a Holosun 407k for a quality but affordable optic that direct mounts onto the 22X slide.

[4t5]

Thanks , guys.

[AJMD429]

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I like a red dot on something like a 22 pistol, or basically something that I would use for slow, deliberate shooting like target shooting or maybe small game hunting.

On the other hand, I can’t stand one on a gun I would use for self-defense, and I guess by extension that would apply to a rimfire gun that I might practice with that would be similar to my CCW gun.

Had a decent one on a Ruger RXM that found that the only way I could shoot with it reliably and quickly was to practice perfect ‘presentation’ - but what are the odds that one gets to do that in a self-defense situation? Those things tend to happen by surprise and you may be carrying something in one hand that you have to drop, or as a grandfather it might be a baby that I cannot drop. The first sign that I need to protect myself might come after I get hit over the head by a 2x4, and I’m on the ground dazed, so having a gun that needs a perfect presentation for the sights to be visible just doesn’t make sense to me.

However, I have aging vision and never did that well with Patridge sights. I did have a gold bead front and V-notch rear sight setup installed on my first center fire handgun, which was a Ruger Super Blackhawk, and that really worked well for me, but that wasn’t a gun. I would fire quickly like a self-defense situation.

I have had a ghost ring sight on a 5-inch barreled Ruger, Redhawk, and I liked that for a quick but accurate shooting. Since that experience, I’ve put a ghost string rear sight on several other firearms, but still didn’t feel like I was getting the kind of sight I wanted.

You may have seen one of the threads I posted about my new experiment, which seems to be the best of both worlds. I wanted the bright red dot type visual approach, without having anything much to obscure my vision of what was down range, but I wanted something that I could see without having to have perfect alignment. Obviously the sights need to be aligned eventually, but it helps if you can see them before they are fully lined up.

I have long been a fan of the Marbles Bullseye rear sight for short barreled lever action rifles that you might use for snap-shooting. So I decided to try one on a handgun.

Handgun dovetails are different than rifle ones and seem to be extremely varied, but I happened to have a 1911 in 9 mm that had the same dovetail as the one on the barrel of a lever action, so it was particularly easy to just put the Marbles sight right on that 1911, and then replace the front sight with a nice orange fiber optic.

IMG_9191.jpeg

Boy, was that the perfect sight…!!!

Extremely fast to acquire, because you already see your target and the front sight well before it is fully lined up, so in an emergency, you would already be dialed in enough for a torso hit, but taking an extra half second would allow precision. It protrudes less than the red dot, is way more durable, doesn’t require batteries, and costs $20 instead of $200.

IMG_9196.jpeg

Another advantage I guess is that since it’s entirely mechanical, there’s no need for ‘back up’ sights, like are on the Ruger above (which yes could be removed), so the field of view is awesome and so open versus the electronic red-dot, even without the ‘co-witnessed backups’.

What’s not to like…???

Well, there IS one thing is not to like, and that’s installation….

The gun I actually want that kind of a sight on is not that 1911, which is a fine gun, but rather is my carry gun, which is a Taurus PT 92. Since you can’t replace the front sight on that gun, that poses a problem because it does need to be raised about 0.03” to match the Bullseye rear (nowhere near as high as a ‘suppressor sight’ though). However, Beretta’s Centurion model has a replaceable front sight. So I ordered one (hadn’t gotten a new gun in a few years so it was a good excuse). But what I found out is that the rear dovetail on the Centurion is a 20° angle instead of a 30° angle, so I am in for some ‘precision hand-filing’…

Eventually, when I get that accomplished, I hope to post triumphant photographs of my new non-electronic ‘red dot’…

[4t5]

[BobM]

I’ve mostly switched to red dot pistols for work and carry. I have otherwise identical M&Ps, with and without, and have run comparisons with them and I clearly shoot better with a dot. Initially though I was still faster with irons at closer range but that eventually evened out. I use Aimpoint and Trijicon on my carry guns. It did take a lot of dry work and live shooting before I was comfortable actually carrying one
I also have an old 22/45 with a lightweight TacSol upper with an Aimpoint. It’s a lot of fun to shoot, and I occasionally shoot a bowling pin match with it.

[4t5]

If anyone is interested in the 22x , I shot it for the first time today, it ran 40 gr Blazer , and 40 gr Rem golden bullet just fine.
Many ftf’s with CCI sv’s. Good ammo , the gun just didn’t like it.

[marlinman93]

I have had a Tasco Red Dot on my Hi Standard Supermatic since the 1980's. Most of our Bullseye Team switched to either Aimpoint or Tasco back then so I had my barrel D&T to add one also. It's been over 40 years now since I put it on and it still works excellent. No magnification, and it took some getting used to back then at first as I found my self trying to grab the trigger instead of gently pulling when it got centered. I also found that turning the brightness way down made the dot much easier to see once any star burst effect disappeared with lower levels. I shot some of my best groups in matches with the Tasco and it helped me make Master Class.