The Ultradot Matchdot on a 686

[jynks]

At the risk of absolute annihilation for not posting correctly, I am after advice on the Ultradot Matchdot 30 for a S&W .357 686. I am waiting for the WA Police clearance for my additional Handgun License. I would like to set up prior to the eventual release with a redot sight. Can anyone condemn or condone the Ultradot Matchdot 30 scope mounted on the 686?
I guess the main areas of interest would be

• Mount issues
• Reliability
• Suitability
• Accuracy

Would love to hear from you
Kelvin

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

AN ULTRADOT IS A FINE CHOICE. HERE'S A COUPLE OF PLACES THAT SELL THEM TO BULLSEYE SHOOTERS.. JIM P

Bullseye Gear

Sights - Larry's Guns Inc.

 

[catboat]

Ultra Dot red dots are highly regarded. They are durable, have a nice round dot, have a life time warrantee. The option to vary the dot size is nice, but may not be needed. The standard dot size on the UD is 4 moa. For pistol shooting, this should be fine-but no reason not to have the option. Some bullseye shooters are actually using larger dot sizes than 4 moa, as a bigger dot will fit "inside" the black bull portion-for easier eye/hand recognition.

One thing to remember about the intensity adjustment knob is to just turn it one way. It you turn it "on" ("0") by going from "off" a higher number (like "4"), turn it "OFF" by going continually HIGHER TO "off"/"0" (same knob rotation-and I forget if it's clockwise or counter clockwise-just keep turning the knob in the same direction to go back to the "off" starting/ending point).

When you turn it one rotation direction to turn "on" (ie from"0" to "4"), and you turn it "off"/"0" by turning it in the other direction (ie cw "on" and ccw "off") you may unscrew an internal part of the tube/intensity assembly-and cause it to go on the fritz. It has never happened to me, but I have read this from several UltraDot discussions.

I have a 30mm UltraDot Matchdot, and like it a great deal. I will be putting a blued 1" standard (4 moa) UltraDot on my 1911a1 for competition (slide mounted).

Good link:
Encyclopedia of Bullseye Pistol

 

[tomcatt51]

Is your gun factory drilled and tapped? Makes a big difference in ease of mounting a scope. -4's and later are factory D&T'ed. The Ultra Dot is an excellent choice.

 

[tdan]

Since the majority of bullseye shooters at Camp Perry shoot the Ultradot Match Dot, you will be in good company. If your 686 is a -4 or later version, all you need is a good scope mount and rings. I like a Weigand mount for your 686. The rings that come with your Match Dot are a little on the high side, plus I do not care for the vertically split rings. Get yourself some horizontally split rings that mount the scope tube as low as possible.

 

[tomcatt51]

The rings that come with your Match Dot are a little on the high side, Get yourself some horizontally split rings that mount the scope tube as low as possible.

That is the conventional wisdom, but if you're shooting at distances greater than 50 ft, which I would suspect handgun hunting with optics, higher rings will keep your POI closer to your POA from 50 ft to 100 yds. Increased "point blank range", which can be an asset.

 

[roundgunner]

I have 2. the blue one I bought well used and I have put thousands of rounds of medium 44 and full power 45 thru.

The SS is only a couple years old but has about a thousand or so thru it.

never a problem with either one.

 

[wantmoresmiths]

Like everyone else here, I can not say enough good things about the Ulrta-dot. I have 2. One is mounted on my .44 mag while the other is mounted on my model 41.
Mount issues - none. The model 629 is factory drilled and tapped. The model 41 was drilled and tapped by a local shop.
Reliability - extremely reliable. It has held up to full power .44 mag hunting loads. I have seen the match-dot mounted on .45 cal. bullseye guns as well as .22's used for bullseye. Nothing tests your shooting equipment like competition, and I see a lot of competitive shooters using the Ultra dots.
Suitability - I'm not sure what you mean by suitability, but anything that helps these old eyes hit the target is a huge plus.
Accuracy - any of the red dots will help your accuracy as you only need to focus on the dot and the target rather than the rear sight, the front sight, and the target. You will still need a steady hold and good trigger squeeze. The dot does magnify an unsteady hold, but it is also more forgiving than improperly aligned iron sights. Interestingly, I just shot an ICORE match last night using a red dot for the first time. Up until now I had been using only iron sights. The dot allows me to be a little faster (now they can use an egg timer rather than a calander) with lining the dot up on the target.
I strongly recommend the Match-dot. I like the 4 different dot sizes. It is a well made and reliable product.