686+. 3 or 4 inch Red Dot?

cybersnow

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Am looking to buy myself a new revolver to carry out in the Idaho Forest. I am wondering about barrel length as I understand there is a slight chance of a grizzly encounter. My current revolver only carries 5 rounds and has a 3" barrel. At the range and at 10 yards it shoots a pretty tight pattern, but I would feel a lot better with 7 rounds. So my first question is whether to stay with 3" or go to 4"? The second question is whether to mount a red dot on it? At 78 years old my eyesight is not what it used to be but I know it takes time to find the red dot on my 9mm. After 30 years in the military I know that when you actually need to shoot, time is critical.
 
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A 686+ is a great gun in either 3 or 4 inch versions. You will get slightly more velocity out of the 4 inch gun though. An optic would sure add to the bulk of the gun and I'm not sure it would help much at close range, like most grizzly encounters. I have a 3 inch gun and put night sights on it. It works quite well for me.
 
Depending on load, you'll gain 50-200 fps going from a 3" barrel to a 4" barrel. If you're worried about a potential angry grizzly or moose, ammunition selection (hardcast or a bonded hunting bullet is ideal) is likely to be your most important gear decision. A lot of .357 defensive JHP have shallower penetration than you'd want for a large animal. Still, that extra velocity is nothing to dismiss out of hand.

Red dot upsides:
-Easier for older eyes to see, especially in poor lighting conditions.
-Sighting system is on the same focal plane as your threat.
-Sight window can function as a big ghost ring at very close distances if necessary due to dead battery, cracked window, blocked emitter.
-Potentially easier to zero for a wide variety of loads.

Red dot downsides:
-Needs batteries.
-Requires practice to find dot quickly; otherwise, can be slower than irons.
-Potentially less weatherproof, especially open emitter designs.
-Can be less durable, depending upon optic and mounting choice and iron sight comparison.
-Cost of quality optic and mount.
-Unlikely to have backup irons on a revolver.

If you don't think that you'll put in the reps necessary to make the a red dot optic work for you, you might like the sights that LPA offers. They have adjustable rears with or without fiber optics, and front fiber optic sights. You'll need to order the correct front sight option for whatever revolver you get (pinned or DX style). You could theoretically pair one of their rears with a tritium front.

Meprolight also offers tritium sight sets for K/L frames.

In the red dot world, you might like the Primary Arms ACSS reticles that consist of a chevron in the center, and a selectable large outer ring that you only see if you're not aligned on target properly. I've got the open emitter 507C ACSS in red and green, and the enclosed emitter 509 ACSS that only comes in red. I quite like the reticle, I just wish that they came in more optics options. The 509 ACSS probably isn't an option because it uses a unique mounting footprint (different from the 509T) that limits support.
 
I'm not a big fan of optics on self-defense revolvers because of what has already been said above (close range, quick response, etc.). Point shooting is most likely what would happen in a close encounter. I recently picked up a 3" 686-6 Plus (7-shot) and am very happy with it. It has an SDM fiber optic front sight, which to me, is sufficient for most applications. However, if you really think a red dot optic is necessary, then there are many great choices out there. I tend to go with Holosun. Good luck.
 

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So far this month I have been deer hunting with either my GP100 or my 686 357 magnums. I started with Burris FF3 red dots on both after spending time at the range getting used to finding the dot quickly. I got pretty quick with it at the range. But last night I removed the red dot from my 686 and today I re-zeroed my iron sights. It felt like getting together again with an old friend shooting the irons and I will take it hunting tomorrow.

I have not taken a shot yet at an animal this year, so it is not like I had an actual problem with the red dots. But confidence is important when shooting at something live and at 75 I have a lot of it with irons and not much with red dots. At the range I shoot much better and easier with the red dots but in the woods I feel better with the irons.

Besides, my 686 looks much prettier with irons.
 
I'm in the skip the optics crowd. I have an Ultradot on my 5" 686+, but it's for deer hunting and not defense against bears. I can't really see open sights either now days, but at defending myself against a bear range, I'm not really worried about top target accuracy. I prefer 4" to 3", but it's going to make any real practical difference.
 
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