Now that I have confidence in my "Vicky", I'm thinking about helping my 65 year old eyes with some sort of cheater on the firearm. Does any one have experience with one, such as red dot, on a range pistol? I'll be shooting up to 50 yards, outdoors. I saw one in the accessories pamphlet that came the pistol, but don't really want to spend 400 dollars. Any reviews, suggestions would be appreciated. Dave

I use a Bushnell TRS-25 mini red dot (bout $65-$90) on my Buckmark and it has been a god send for my failing eyes. Won't shoot without it now. (can't really see the irons any more)

I have a 2nd one waiting to be installed on a SW22 w/threaded barrel once I can find one.

Not exactly an answer to your question, but I finally gave up and had my optometrist make me up a pair of safety glasses such that I'm focused closer to the front sight than the target. I've gotten a bit far-sighted, and, as you know, with age you lose the flexibility to focus nearer or farther than where your eyes are naturally focused. It's much more important, for accuracy, to be able to line the sights up correctly than to see the target with crystal clarity. Anyway, I'm shooting much better now with my cheater safety glasses than I was before. And I don't need an optic on my gun. I don't know why, it's not logical, but I'd rather eat worms than scope a pistol.

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NRA Benefactor Member

Worms are supposed to be high in protein, I'm sure with enough hot sauce they would taste good. I have a 22A and one day at the range a young guy was shooting next to me that had two 22A's one with a red dot, he asked me if I wanted to try it, it was a bright sunny day and I couldn't see that red dot to save my life, I do have one on my in line black powder gun and I have no trouble seeing it at all.

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Don

Thanks for the culinary advice. If the country keeps going the way it has been the last few years, it may become relevant. We'll all be eating bugs, worms, and larvae, which people in other places have been doing for centuries. They represent a huge, untapped source of food protein.

As for optics, I have no problem at all with them on long guns. I have them on a couple of rifles. They just seem inappropriate to me on handguns. I guess it's because I think a pistol, even if it's strictly for range use, should maintain the essential form of a tool which is useful for its basic purpose. Or maybe I'm just an old fart who's way to set in his ways.

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NRA Benefactor Member

I may be looking for a magical solution for my old eyes. I've got a pair of prescription glasses that are adjusted for the end of my arm, so sights on handguns are fairly sharp. But, with the rest of the world a little out of focus, my eyes feel strained rather quickly. Not interested in trifocals. The SW22 Victory is the only one that I'll try any optics on. My other 8 handguns, ranging from .22lr to 45 Colt with a couple black powder 44 cap and ball, will wear what the factory gave them. I can still shoot respectable, but shooting soda crackers off my shootin' stump at 25 yards is getting pretty hard. I may just have to face facts and move a little closer. Not worried about self defense, got that covered.

Thanks for the replies. By the way, I haven't eaten worms since I was 3 and I don't remember them being too bad, but I don't remember much from 62 years ago. Dave

They couldn't have been too bad, your still here.

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Don

Getting back to the OP's original question, the choice rests on what your in tended use will be. If it's target shooting or even squirrel hunting(better than worms), I strongly suggest an Ultradot tube type red dot. They can be bought with a built-in selector of four dot sizes. Long distance(25 to 50yds.) calls for a small dot. Closer can plinking uses a big dot. IIRC, Ultradots cost 1 to 2 hundred dollars.

There are a zillion choices of red dots from incredibly cheap to multi-thousands. Go above cheapo and you'll be fine.

Note to NH Old School: If you have a rant you want to bore us with, please start your own threads and respect the OP!

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Thanks. I appreciate ALL the comments. Dave

A red dot sight was my salvation until the cataracts were removed. If you need one, you will enjoy it.

It is much nicer to shoot when you have an improved ability to hit what you are shooting at. Otherwise you are just throwing bullets away.

I bought a matchdot 2, pretty new at shooting, 99% understand MOA, that why I bought this one to learn on, it does it all, I can't remember at the moment but I think with my discount I have around 211.00 invested, when I sighted it in I just put my hands on a small stiff bag, the following week my "god" gun father in law brought is whoa daddy pistol rest, I didn't have to do any adjustment, felt good about that, I was punching between dime and quarter size holes except for the occasional wasn't ready when it went off a couple of inches, my bad.....this was all on a slow fire fifty foot target, using SK standard plus ammo, I can't remember at the moment, but I believe it's 1050 fps, I also have a fluted volquartson barrel on order, will maybe get grips when available, since the barrel is so easy to take down, I plan on using the new barrel with the SK only for some serious target shooting and using the stock barrel with any an all ammo for plinking, I haven't had any take down screws loosening on me "yet" the only cleaning I did was run a bore snake down the barrel till it went thru easy enough, took a paper towel to clean the screws and a q'tip for the screw holes.

I've replied to the many threads on the subject of aging eyes and handgun sights and remain convinced that addressing the real cause - your ageing eyes - is better than altering a gun. Good optometrists can make glasses for you that will allow you to see both your sights and target with clarity.

But I'm teaching my wife to shoot and she's struggling with the whole iron sight aiming thing, not simply seeing the sights. A scoped rifle is no problem for her so I bought a decent dot scope that offers multiple reticles in red and green and put it on my 22A as it has a rail and I didn't want to butcher a 617. I took the gun to one of the clubs to which I belong and sighted it in on their 50' indoor range. I wasn't impressed with the groups as one-ragged-hole groups were easily obtained with the factory sights so I shot a 10-round group from a solid rest with the dot and without it. The iron-sight group was significantly smaller so I'm not a believer in those sights and urge you to explore correcting your vision defect.

My wife is getting better and better with iron sights with practice so that dot sight is resting comfortably in my safe.

Ed

A friend of mine has a Bushnell TRS-25 that he uses and likes. He's going to let me try it on my SW22 Victory. I know it's only 80-100 bucks, but hopefully it will give me an idea whether I want to pursue this, a more expensive unit, or live with the open sights. We'll see. Dave

For me, the red dot was just a toy, I didn't even try the iron sights on this gun, I do pretty good with my iron sights on my other guns, my father in law has a red dot of some sort on his slab side ruger, I may/might get into some one on one matches with him, I might down the road take it off for another gun project, who knows...

Shot my new SW22 today at the indoor range. When I got to the range today my new gun showed up there a hour before me. I took it home and cleaned and lubed and then back to the range. Dime size groups at 50 feet off a rest but hate the sights. Why they put glow tubes on a target gun? That is no problem as I brought it home and put a pistol scope on it. Tomorrow I will find out what it will really do. My U22 will shoot one hole groups and I feel this is a far better gun.

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USN Retired/VN VET
M&P X5

I have a Truglo red dot on my Victory. https://www.truglo.com/optics-red-do...69FA2CBEB51CA6
I picked it up for $50. I have two, one i have had for 3 years works evertime. It is a good starting red dot to see if you like one.

Mark

Peoples eyes vary, so just telling someone to get a proper pair of glasses may not really help them see as well as they would like. I have worn trifocal glasses for many years as the eyes do not do a good job of focusing at different distances. Glasses which afford a clear view of the front sight are not much good for distance vision of a target. They are awful for general distance use.

Whatever type of sight you need to get the job done, use it. It does not matter what the other fellow likes or does not like. It is your gun, your eyes, and you shooting enjoyment that matters.

Frank, I have to say that your thought about not being able to focus at two different distances is wrong - as was mine! A few years ago, I mentioned in my column in Shotgun Sports Magazine my difficulty seeing my handguns' sights unless I used my reading glasses and then seeing a target bull that looked like a blurry football standing on end.

I received an email from Dr. Harold Morgan of Morgan Sports Optical in Olean, New York in which he said he could make glasses for me that would permit me to see both objects with clarity. Like you, I didn't think that was possible but I provided him with the information he requested - my distance and reading prescriptions, whether I was right- or left-handed, if that eye was the one I used for aiming and the distance at which I usually shot (25 yards).

Soon thereafter, a set of frames and six lenses arrived in the mail, one left and five rights. All five right lenses were better than my street glasses but one of them allows me to see both my sights and my target with about 95% clarity. They even have my reading bifocal Rx in them so loading magazines and close-up work can be done without changing back to my regular glasses.

Call them at 800-594-0175. Harold or his son Wayne will fix you up and all of you fellow olde pharts will be able to ditch those crutches like dot sights, glow-worm sights and scopes when you address the REAL cause of your problem.

Ed

My 68 year old eyes have problems with the old fashioned sights as well, but I do find the fiber optic sights are a bit better. If you want to play with a red dot and not invest a lot of money, you might try the one I bought - a FieldSport RD-D002RG. I got it online from Amazon for about $20. It has red and green reticles each in four different patterns. I have used this sight indoors only so far, but I think it is just fine for my purpose. I have used it on my Buckmark, NEOS and Victory and have found it to be well worth the tiny investment.

I've been using the Bushnell TRS 25 during a few outings now. During those outings I've switched between the red dot and the factory sights during the same sessions. While the red dot works well, I'm not totally sold on it. My friend gave me the Bushnell TRS 25 that he originally loaned me to try, so now I can play a bit more. It does take some getting used to.

I've run quite a few rounds through my SW22 Victory. I've thrown away more ammo boxes than I can count. So far not one hiccup. The only observation I can make, good or bad, is that it is sure a hungry critter.

Red dots and or scopes can greatly help old eyes. I use both on several pistols. Test before you buy though because if you have an astigmatism in your eye, a red dot can become distorted. As for the worms, I have an old Remington XP100 with one of the first Leopold 2x pistol scopes made on it. That pistol can hit worms at 100 yards. Over the years I lost the target, but the gun put 10 shots at 100 yards that could be easily covered with a quarter. I couldn't have done that with iron sights.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Absolutely love my Vortex Venom red dot. Small and tough as nails - doesn't overwhelm the gun like a tube does IMHO. Point and shoot.

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Pass it on.
Mark

If you can see worms at 100 yards, you don't need any fancy optics. :-) I can barely see a 3 inch bullseye at 100 yards, with my glasses.