Newbie with some questions about red dots

[Drumbum]

Hello folks,

I'm new to the forum and have learned a lot so far. I just pulled the trigger on a sport and love this little gun! I am trying to decide on an optic, but I don't want to break the bank. I will be using the gun mainly for target practice, but might hunt with it too. I live in GA and shots will be made at 50 to 100yrds max.

My question is should I go with the red dot with a magnifier or a variable powered scope? I have shot red dots before, but never really further than 25yrds. With a magnifier what kind of groups are y'all getting at 100yrds?

I have read/heard nothing but good things about the Vortex StrikeFire red dot. I was thinking of this red dot with a primary arms magnifier.

Thanks y'all

 

[PainterlyShotgroup]

Hey there! Congratulations on your Sport! I have one as well and love it so far. I also have the Vortex Srtikefire. I think it is a a great optic for the price. The magnifier it comes with is okay. You will probably like the PA one better.
Just to give you an example, while sighting my Sport in with the Strikefire, I was hitting 12" plates consistently out to 130 yards benched and 100 yards off hand. To be honest I wasn't able to get everything dialed in as tight as I would like, but that's on me not the optic.

 

[Drumbum]

Very good to know. I guess I shouldn't have any trouble taking GA whitetail within 100yrds. Anyone had experience with Mako products?

 

[Wraith413]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new "toy"!

 

[MichiganScott]

Depends on you desired usage. I find a plain non-magnified red dot all I need for targets out 100 yards and beyond. For hunting, I like a low power variable scope like a 1.5-5 or 2-7 simply because of their light gathering ability. Most useful in the deep woods at dawn or dusk when the deer are moving.

 

[Drumbum]

Thanks guys! I have been wanting to pick one up for a while now. I've put about 400 rounds through her without any problems at all. It's gotta be one of my favorites in the safe right now. I should have purchased one years ago. Sorry another question. When using a magnifier how much does it affect the size of your red dot? If you're using a 3x magnifier on a 4MOA dot is the dot gonna be three times bigger when magnified?

 

[imku]

Your 4MOA dot will be the same size. The stories you may have heard about the dot size increasing with a magnifier was due to it not being adjusted/centered. Sure someone else will chime in, but thats what i've seen before.

 

[JaPes]

Your 4MOA dot will be the same size. The stories you may have heard about the dot size increasing with a magnifier was due to it not being adjusted/centered. Sure someone else will chime in, but thats what i've seen before.

Whether or not a dot magnifies when using magnifier isn't dependent on whether or not the magnifier & dot are centered.

An Eotech dot doesn't appear to increase in size with a 3X magnifier. Put a 3X behind an Eotech, and the outer ring magnifies but the dot stays at 1MOA. This is because the dot on an Eotech is really 1/3 MOA.

The 1/3 MOA EoTech dot is diffraction limited by your eye and appears to be 1MOA unmagnified. Magnifying an EoTech dot X3 actually magnifies the the EoTech dot to 1MOA.

Whether or not a dot 's size increases with magnification depends on the construction of the red dot scope being magnified.

 

[imku]

Interesting, so your saying that a 4MOA dot magnified 3X will be 12MOA? I personally do not own a magnifier, so now i'm curious.

 

[JaPes]

Interesting, so your saying that a 4MOA dot magnified 3X will be 12MOA? I personally do not own a magnifier, so now i'm curious.

What I'm saying is that the perceived effects of magnification on a dot will depend on the construction details of the red dot. The manufacturer specs should tell you.

If you're using a red-dot that presents a true 1MOA dot, the unmagnified dot will cover 1" of the target @ 100 yards. If the adjustments (felt click through the knob) on the dot are in 1MOA increments, one click will = 1" movement on a target @ 100 yards.

If you put a 3X magnifier on that same dot, the dot will magnify. The magnified dot will be 3MOA covering 3" of a target @ 100 yards. If the adjustments on the dot are in 1MOA increments, one click will = 3" movement on a target @ 100 yards.

This is the way I keep it straight in my head, and keep it simple. I'm sure there are other members who know more than I do, and will jump in to correct me or fill in the blanks.

 

[imku]

Makes sense to me. Thx.

 

[MichiganScott]

If you're using a red-dot that presents a true 1MOA dot, the unmagnified dot will cover 1" of the target @ 100 yards. If the adjustments (felt click through the knob) on the dot are in 1MOA increments, one click will = 1" movement on a target @ 100 yards.

If you put a 3X magnifier on that same dot, the dot will magnify. The magnified dot will be 3MOA covering 3" of a target @ 100 yards. If the adjustments on the dot are in 1MOA increments, one click will = 3" movement on a target @ 100 yards.

If 1 click of adjustment is 1 MOA at 1 power, how does one click of adjustment become 3 MOA at 3 power at the same yardage? Seems like a click is a click, just like in variable scopes.

 

[JaPes]

If 1 click of adjustment is 1 MOA at 1 power, how does one click of adjustment become 3 MOA at 3 power at the same yardage? Seems like a click is a click, just like in variable scopes.

This is why the forum exists. I get messed up with optics easy.

The click adjustments are the same, its the area of the target covered that changes. As the size of the dot increases, accuracy is inversely proportionate to the distance to target.

 

[TangoFoxtrot]

Drumbum welcome to the forum and congrats on your new Sport rifle. Listen to these members they have a lot of knowledge to share. I've learned a lot from them as well.

 

[oneyeopn]

I have the Mako Magwell grips on both of my rifles and really do like and use them. From a Bipod shooting position they give me a great grip of the rifle plus work very well for offhand shooting. Their pistol grip is also a well made product.

 

[Dikinalaska]

+1 on the strikefire from vortex. It's red/green dot, something like 7 different brightness settings, comes with perfect co-witness mounts, has night vision mode for use with a night scope, and comes with a screw-on magnifier. Switch mine between my m&p15 and 15-22, even holds zero within about an inch at 50 yds. Can't beat it for the price. One question to you guys that have one though.. When I have my magnifier on it, the dot doesn't seem perfectly "round" I guess for lack of a better work. It gets a little oblong On the bottom left part of the dot. Anyone else have this experience? It's not too bad, just enough for me to notice, but I am real picky.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

Interesting, so your saying that a 4MOA dot magnified 3X will be 12MOA? I personally do not own a magnifier, so now i'm curious.

The dot stays proportional to what you are viewing. If the dot covers up 4'' of target at 1x, it will still cover up the same 4'' when using a magnifier.

 

[batmann]

Just a thought, why not go to the Burris AR332? I took my Lucid HD7 w/2x magnifier off and changed to the Burris. I will work without batteries, will go either red or green with different brightness levels. By going to a 3x optic, I took the confusion that seems to exist out of the equation and made it simple. The 3x is not to much to hurt you at close range, but gives you magnification for precise 100+ and it has BDC for longer ranges. Also it is ONE piece with not need to worry about losing the magnification part.
I liked my Lucid HD and feel like it is one of the better red dots out there, but I really like the Burris better.