Red Dots on Lever Guns

Red dot sights are very popular on rifles in Europe, specially for driven boar and deer.
Fast shots in dark forests on brown animals, makes sense.
Goto the aimpoint website, they have a demo video of shooting driven boar with Merkel bolt rifles and aimpoint sights.
 
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Just ignore the music.

The downside to these IMHO is the stupidly high price.
 
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My eyes suck and I'm barely into my 30s... I have a 1.5-4.5 Scopechief with post reticule on my 30-30 AE WinTuff and love it. It makes me warm and fuzzy every time I look through it.

I wish I could find more scopes like it at a reasonable cost, it would be equally at home on my Sears 6a or SKS.

I got that same scope on my ar, picked it up for $25 at a gun show last year.

As for a red dot on a lever I was going to say the same thing about a low power 1-4 or 2-7 kinda scope. I have a marlin guide gun in 45-70 with a 1.25-4 power that I really like for moose hunting.
 
I don't have one on a lever gun but I do have an Aimpoint on a Heym SR-30 straight pull bolt rifle. It is a great hunting setup, incredibly fast target acquisition and more than accurate enough for hunting purposes out to at least 100 yards. I do like peep or aperture sights (and have them on a couple of my hunting rifles) but I find a good red dot is even faster and easier to use, and faster to reacquire for followup shots. I also find that I am comfortable with my Aimpoint at longer ranges than with iron sights. I can put five shots into the vital zone of a 100 yards target faster with my Aimpoint than with any other sighting system I've tried, including peeps and low power scopes.

However a low power scope like the Leupold VX-6 1-6x24 with illuminated reticle is almost as quick as a red dot sight, but has more flexibility for longer shots if you hunt a mixture of thick and more open areas, it also has a more classic look if that matters to you (and a higher price tag, although I snagged a used one on the EE for a good price). It lets you have most of the advantages of a red dot in the bush, and you can still make a 300 yards shot across a clearcut or field easily.
 
In response to the question about hunting quotas in Europe,

In most European countries game is the property of the landowner, or of hunting clubs or syndicates who have acquired the rights to the game on a tract of land. Governments often set seasons based on breeding times etc., however it is up to the landowners or hunters to manage game populations and quotas are not typically set by governments. Hunters may also be held responsible for excessive damage caused by game to crops in there management areas and must maintain sustainable populations while preventing overpopulation. This also includes managing predator populations. Boars are hunted my two main methods, from high seats (often at night as they are typically nocturnal beasts) or by driven hunting. Sometimes driven hunts will occur on a given tract of land only a few times per season, so daily bags can be high. In general much of Europe has very high game densities due to large amounts of well managed agricultural land, but with a lower percentage of the population hunting than here. So yearly bags for big and small game can be much higher per hunter. In the end much of the game ends up in supermarkets, wild venison, pheasant, pigeon, boar etc. are all easily acquired in European supermarkets. It really is a totally different way of doing things.

Oh and if someone tells you that only the rich hunt in Europe ignore them, there isn't free public access to land like we have, but people from all walks of life hunt and shoot just like here.
 
I shoot a lever gun with a reflex sight on it because it works, I can't see the sights well enough. If you want to shoot a lever gun and using a red dot allows you to do that go for it. Just had mine weather proofed it looked better before but it was well used and needed something.


pounder


That's a nice looking rifle. :)
Cool looking target as well.

Other than the silly ill-advised red dot, the target catches the essence of the problem pretty well.

 
Dot's are usually too big for any rifle. A 3 MOA dot will completely cover the black of a standard sight in target at 100 yards. Makes accurate shot placement impossible.
Think Ghost Sights. Williams sells 'em. Really just a big ring peep, but easier to see through.
 
Dot's are usually too big for any rifle. A 3 MOA dot will completely cover the black of a standard sight in target at 100 yards. Makes accurate shot placement impossible.
Think Ghost Sights. Williams sells 'em. Really just a big ring peep, but easier to see through.

And deer vitals shrink at 100 yards?...
 
Hey Chuck, I just got in a new 1895 SBL with one hell of a rail on it - it's just dying for a red dot. I am going to try out the ghost rings for a bit but will likely order a Bushnell, Burris, or Vortex red dot if I don't like the stock sights. Need to shop around a bit. Don't give a rats arse if its non-traditional or if people like it, only that it functions as I need it. A good 50-75 yard gun. I say get one and try it out and let us know how it works for you. Post some pics too eh
 
I shoot a lever gun with a reflex sight on it because it works, I can't see the sights well enough. If you want to shoot a lever gun and using a red dot allows you to do that go for it. Just had mine weather proofed it looked better before but it was well used and needed something.


pounder

One word: Awesome
 
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Here is my fastfire 2 on my marlin 1894 357, perfect for the range of the cartridge. It retains zero when removed to use my light 357 loads and peep sight.
 
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