Mini Red Dot Sight Advice.

mr alexander · May 7, 2021

I was planning on buying a Weigand WEIG-A-TINNY Scope Mount for my Model 586 so that a red dot sight could be installed onto it. Can anyone recommend a good quality sight? Based on so many of the online reviews I've encountered, it seems that none of them are worth it, regardless of the price. One shooter commented that the technology has not yet caught up with the concept! Yes, any maker can have a "lemon" go out the door. But, is one brand/model truly superior to the others? What am I looking for?

Relatively light in weight and compact in size. No "tube types".

Dot size around 3.5 MOA or so.

Glass lenses.

Metallic housing.

No locking screws to deal with when making sight adjustments.

Tactile and audible clicks on sight adjusting screws.

Battery cover is on the top of the sight housing.

No need to remove the sight from the gun to install new battery.

Good warranty.

Perhaps I can't have everything mentioned above, but will purchase whatever comes closet to my desires. Who's sight and mount are most of you using? This is going to be a range gun only and will not be used for any competitive events. I strictly run .38 Special ammo in this six inch-barreled handgun, shooting on a nice 25 yard indoor range. Iron sights are so trouble free. I wish that I could still use them. But at 65, I can no longer shoot with iron sights, due to changes in my vision. I am willing to spend whatever it takes to acquire decent equipment. I'd rather buy once without having to cry later. Your recommendations are much appreciated.

WCCPHD · May 7, 2021

Can't recommend one over the other brand/model, but something to consider. IF you have astigmatism you need to try them before you buy. I have tried most red dots out there and only one, Holosun, is not distorted by my astigmatism.

lihpster · May 7, 2021

Never used one of the small red dots. Always was interested in a Leupold Deltapoint Pro. Made 10 minutes from my house. I know several people who work there. Good company.

mscampbell2734 · May 7, 2021

Don't know who's saying the technology is not here, I know more then a few people who bet their life on their equipment and are using red dots sights.

In general Trijicon and Aimpoint are considered the top tier names.
Trijicon RMR(R) Type 2 Adjustable LED Red Dot Sight | Trijicon(R)
Aimpoint(R) US Store - ACRO™ P-1 Red Dot Reflex Sight

From their Sig's Romeo I Pro is authorized for duty use by the third largest police department in America
SIG SAUER ROMEO1PRO 1x30 mm Open-Reflex Red Dot Sight

And the Delta Point Pro is highly thought of in competition circle
DeltaPoint Pro - Series - Red Dots - Shop

jjmIII_Ruger · May 7, 2021

I like these and their price, but have no first hand experience so take my opinion for what it's worth. HEX by Springfield Armory

DS-10-SPEED · May 7, 2021

Burris FFIII

I really like my Burris FFIII's, I have 3 of them and never had any problems with them. They are medium priced and seem to be excellent quality. I have two with 8MOA and one 3MOA. I have an Allchin mount on my 617 and a Raptor Engineering mount on my 627 VComp. My GP100 mount is hand made. The battery can be replaced from the top side unlike some that you have to remove it to change the battery from the bottom, but I have used them for 2 to 3 years and haven't needed to change them yet.

75Vette · May 7, 2021

I've had excellent luck with the Burris FFIII also. I use the 3MOA version and have six of them. I finally broke one the other day after roughly 16000 rounds thru my 629-4 PowerPort. The little lens covering the red dot projector (?) gave it up. Burris has a no questions asked lifetime warranty that even transfers owner to owner.

9mmPatriot · May 7, 2021

I have a Holosun 407c-GR on my M&P 2.0
2 MOA dot
Battery and Solar powered.
"Shake Awake" means you never have to fumble around for the right button to turn it on.

H Richard · May 7, 2021

I also have a couple of the Burris, a Fast Fire II and a Fast Fire III. Both are 3 MOA dot's, and are great on slow fire precision type shooting, but if I was to put one on an action shooting type gun i would get a 6 or 8 MOA dot. Much easier to pick up out doors.
The FF3 sits on my IZH 35M Bullseye gun.

The FF2 sits on my 617-6 with a Raptor mount, it previously was on a 986.

AzShooter · May 7, 2021

I've had good luck with a Vortex Venom. No distortion of the dot no matter how bright I set it. No lock to use to change settings and reasonably priced at about $250.

Doug44 · May 7, 2021

The Vortex has a great warranty. I have one mounted on a Sig 226 and one on a S/W 5906. The recoil doesn’t seem to bother them.

Benchrest1 · May 8, 2021

I've been running Vortex Venoms on a lot of my revolvers , and haven't had a problem with any of them.

Octagun · May 8, 2021

This Trijicon SRO has been a perfect fit for my TRR8. I’d recommend it.

series guy · May 8, 2021

Another vote for the Burris Fastfire 3. I have 5 of these on revolvers and really like them. I had one that I bought used that I couldn't get to adjust properly and Burris replaced it right quick.

Nightowl · May 8, 2021

I installed a Delta Point on my 629 last year, but have not shot it enough to evaluate durability. It is expensive but it looks good and I was shooting it pretty good. One thing is that it does not come with any mounting hardware, so I had to buy a base and I bought it from Leupold to match. It installed very well.

One alternative is to set up a pair of shooting glasses with the lens of your master eye set up for front sight distance. I have been shooting iron sights with this set up for about 25 years. Its harder to see the target this way, so a red dot might be better for your shooting preferences.

mr alexander · May 8, 2021

Thanks for all of the replies received to date. Several of you have recommended the Vortex Venom. I read the reviews of this particular model on the Optics Planet Website. Quite a few of them from 2018 to today had three common complaints:

A lot of difficulty was encountered when installing the battery cap, due to the very fine threads on it. If not very careful, the cap could potentially be cross-threaded.

Some shooters could not establish a "0" at normal handgun shooting distances because the sight ran out of elevation adjustments.

To correct the problem above, Vortex recommends purchasing a 1 degree delrin shim from an aftermarket supplier. This part needs to be installed between the sight body and the mount. After doing so, the sight can be zeroed for elevation.

Have any of you Venom users experienced the issues mentioned here? Thank you!

Muss Muggins · May 8, 2021

I like the HoloSun line . . .

tt66 · May 8, 2021

I have a Burris FF3 and a Vortex Viper, love both of them.

Bought a Holosun and there is no going back. The Holosun has 'shake n wake' technology and solar back up. Basically the same size as everything esle. I have two 507 series and a larger 510.

Check them out if you get a chance.

Tim

TAROMAN · May 8, 2021

No mention made, but the Allchin type mount gets the optic lower. Lower is batter as there's much less parallax causing POI to shift more at different ranges.
As for optics, I use both Vortex Venom and Trijicon RMR with great results.

Fishinfool · May 8, 2021

I have had good luck with the Burris Fastfires on both rifles and handguns. I own one Vortex Venom, mounted on a 1911 with maybe 800 rounds thru it. No issues, and it zeroed fine. Some models offer the "shake awake" feature that is useful in certain situations, but I don't mind having to push a button to turn it on, especially on a range gun.

Like another poster stated, look thru a few before you buy. If you have astigmatism, it can really mess up how the dot will look. If that is the case, a tube type prism sight will work better for you, as most come with an adjustable diopter that can focus to your eye, like a scope.

Larry

a2 by Larry, on Flickr

Mini Red Dot Sight Advice.

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