Offset / piggyback red dot on a bolt action?

[mv2]

Has anyone got any experience to share with an offset or piggyback red dot on a bolt action? I've seen this done on semis, but is this feasible with the bolt handle etc. in the way? Or the sketchy chin-weld if it's mounted @ 12 oclock?

I've been going in circles deciding on a scope for a 308 bolt setup, going between an Arken EP5 5-25 or Athlon Helos 6-24 around $900 or a Athlon Ares 3-18 around $1400. If I go for the 5-25 or 6-24, I save some $$ but how would I deal with potential short range shots, say 25-100 yards? This bolt setup will likely be used for hunting at some point. With the 3-18x I would be ok by just dialing back the zoom, and I get slightly better glass too. I also wonder how much benefit I'd lose by sacrificing the zoom range from 18x-24x.

What do you guys think, could an offset / piggyback red dot work alongside a 5-25x or 6-24x scope? Would a 3-18x be a better choice for this bolt action setup? Would you trust an offset red dot for hunting?

 

[legi0n]

the best place to attach it is under the barrel

 

[Buck1950]

I tried a 45* offset 3-MOA dot on top of a scope on my Rem SPS 308 - couldn't get it down to Horizontal due to mounting-ring hitting the rail. I found it difficult to adjust zero for the dot and awkward to use at 45*-left side. I wouldn't want to hunt animals with it, not likely to hit 'in the zone' humanely. Might be OK if you have one of the 1-MOA dots but that might be too small to 'hunt' effectively. 'Pends on what/how far you're hunting, too.
As for scope, also 'pends - how close are you expecting to shoot? What are you hunting? And how good a shot are you ? The 3-18 would prob be ok if under 2-300yds . . . or get more power and a mag-throw lever for quick changes.

 

[mv2]

No hunting experience and also a newbie shooter so I wouldn't trust my aim until I get more experience. Might join some folks for deer or black bear in the future, they can get pretty close within 50 yards. What I really should do is pick any scope, mount it, head to the range and practice. I wanted to explore this offset red dot idea a bit and see if it anyone has made it work with a higher zoom scope for short range. I suspect it may be a bad idea/investment on a bolt though, and the alternatives may be better:
a) plan to build 2 different setups over time, a hunting and a target setup. Build this current setup for target, get practice, and worry about a hunting setup later.
b) build the "do-it-all" setup with a 3-18x scope now and settle for the tradeoffs & higher cost

 

[gallen270]

Build your range gun, then worry about a hunting setup when the opportunity arises later. That way you can get the barrel weights/profile/lenght you want. You don’t want to hunt with a heavyweight rifle cause you carry it a lot more than you shoot it, and you don’t want a light weight target gun cause you’ll shoot it more than you carry it. Hopefully.

 

[blakeyboy]

no, you can kill coyotes called in and running at 30 yards with 4x bottom end scope magnification no problem, either commit or skip it, far better off with a quality 3-9 for max versatility, front end of stock ahead of the sling stud you can put a little 1-3 slot rail for a light laser though for night defence work but skip the red dot or make it a primary, I did all of this to one recently and was smacking gongs to 400 with no issues, just put the " holds every 25 yards from beyond your mpbr on a decal on the stock or sleeve slid under the shell holder and have fun, far more effective than you think and very little practice all it takes to run it, can't miss at 300, as fast as I could rack the bolt, bottom of dot top of gong, went 2 for 3 at 400 on 10" gong with the 2' foot hold over gong as fast as I could go also, prone, but the dot hovering and ability to see underneath it is game changer making hold overs super easy compared to say irons


and if you can do that with a red dot...imagine how far you could play with a 3-9x of quality at 9x!

exactly, build a range toy, and a hunting toy, they are not the same...if you can only have one, and hunting is your priority then it would be silly to build a range toy and hope to not meet uncle Murphy out there hunting, but newbies like 'cool' sniper looking thingies lol so go ahead and build whatever and learn as you go then, like most of us have