Red dot on shotgun

I have one on my pump action shotgun that I take into the bush for predator defence.

I have read that a 6MOA dot is about ideal for a shotgun that will be used in close quarters. My red dot sight is dual-illuminated so it projects a 4.5MOA dot mainly by way of light-capturing fibre optics in the sight. I like it because as long as there is daylight I don't have to worry about battery life or reliability in colder seasons.

A great thing about my red dot sight is that it also has a back-up, battery-powered, variable illuminator for when I don't find the dot to be bright enough, but I've only ever used it when I'm shooting at an indoor range.
 
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I have ran a couple and like them both, the first was an APEX atom which is a reflex dot you would put on a pistol. It has an open emitter so I got the weather shield or whatever its called so now its a closed emitter. Some have covers already and some do not. The second one I have is the Vortex crossfire 2 I think? It’s the cheapest tube style dot from them anyway at 2-250$ I think. I moved the atom to another platform as my 45* offset dot so grabbed the vortex for the shotgun. Love the atom sight picture better on the shotgun but the other one works just fine. Not really finding any increase in accuracy over the ghost ring just quicker acquisition and personal preference for what type of sight you are comfortable with. I also like the ghost ring sights. If you like using dots you will dig it, just don’t t get really cheap ones that can’t take the recoil. Anyway thats my experience, hope it helps

Edit, I think they are about 2moa dots, easy to look up i suppose, I always get smaller dots. Haven’t had outside in the cold so not sure of battery life but the reflex has shake awake and that is a great feature.
 
I took the ghost ring and pic rail off my 1301. Put a 6 moa vortex venom red dot on a strike industries mount on it. It sits nice and low. Sighted it in at 35 yards. Had it shooting clays last week and it worked very well. If I didn’t already have the red dot I would have bought the new Vortex shotgun enclosed red dot. I’m looking forward to calling coyotes with it.
 
Depending on the platform you can usually get a low profile RMR mount for most modern shotguns. I cut the front sight, installed a large hand spun brass bead and am currently waiting for my low pro rmr mount for my Blackwater M590a1 with the factory speed feed stock.

The one I tried before going this route seemed to line up as the ghost rings did for me
 
Put a vortex venom on a cheap Turkish semi auto
Took the rear ghost sight off as it was poorly made
It works really well in this application, I patterned some buckshot rounds that I made and the beavers really hate me now lol
 
For turkey, or for slug use, a red dot can work very well, but for wingshooting, I wouldn't bother. I have seen a few people try holographic sights at skeet, and they failed miserably.
 
I put a Holosun 507 Comp on my VM.

I like to keep height over bore to a minimum so I used a Tac Ord TOMM mount and it works great (as do all of Caseys products).

I have tried a few dots over the years and ultimately settled on the 507 Comp, it has a big window which makes shooting two eyes open and finding the dot really easy, it also has a choice of reticles which is the main reason I like it, I settled on a 6 or 8 MOA circle with the dot in the middle, its big enough that I can pick it up easy and small enough that I can still pile slugs on top of each other consistently at 50m. I also got it in green as that seems to work best for my eyes.
 
I use an Aimpoint 9moa on my Maxus for geese + cranes + ducks ... hunting only and it works great for me ✔

I did try it for laughs on my o/u for 5 Stand + Trap - nope, not 4 me ha, I found it task loaded especially for 'shooting doubles' at 5 Stand, was ok for Trap though - close to hunting...
 
I have one on my pump action shotgun that I take into the bush for predator defence.

I have read that a 6MOA dot is about ideal for a shotgun that will be used in close quarters. My red dot sight is dual-illuminated so it projects a 4.5MOA dot mainly by way of light-capturing fibre optics in the sight. I like it because as long as there is daylight I don't have to worry about battery life or reliability in colder seasons.

A great thing about my red dot sight is that it also has a back-up, battery-powered, variable illuminator for when I don't find the dot to be bright enough, but I've only ever used it when I'm shooting at an indoor range.
Make and model?
 
anyone have any experience with running a red dot on their shotgun. what would be a good size dot? how is battery life in colder late fall days?
I’ve had red dots on a few different 12g, I liked the setup. Dot size was 3moa iirc, was a good all around size for slugs, buck and birdshot uses.
 
The issue I have with the red dots that I have tried .... is proper cheek weld. The red dots are sitting too high and the stock needs a higher comb.

This is one of the reasons I bought a Mossberg 940 Pro. It has a receiver cutout that accept low-profile direct mounting of Shield RMSc-pattern micro dot sights. I use the Osight RMSc pattern micro dot. It's a 2 MOA red dot within a larger 32 MOA circle. A perfect cheek weld with the RMSc mount.

For my Browning Wicked Wing I only use the factory sights.
 
I put a Holosun HE507COMP-GR on a Beretta 1301 Comp 24 inch barrel. The Holosun has a choice of different reticles, 2 MOA dot or 8, 20 or 32 MOA Circle (you can also combine these... I use the 2 MOA circle in the 32 MOA circle). The larger circle is useful when using buckshot. Depending on the ammo and range you can use the larger circle to indicate where your pattern will hit. This combination works well for me, battery life has not been an issue, but it does not get too cold on Vancouver Island either. I use the green dot model but that is personal choice as I can see it better.
 
My wing shooting gun this year is a Cynergy Ultimate Turkey that I’ve set up with a regular bead and an aimpoint Acro S2 clamped to the rib. It has a synthetic adjustable cheek piece that gets the extra bit of height required for good cheek / head position.

My fun gun (grouse, deer, clays, maybe moose or elk) just came back from the gunsmith like this:

IMG_5288.jpeg

Am finally going to get to play with those Lee Key Drive slugs brybenn put me onto! Can’t wait.

Cheers,

Brobee
 
Make and model?
My red dot sight is a Trijicon RX34. It has an aftermarket REM30 rotary-dial, battery-powered illuminator kit installed that I ordered off of eBay.

The illuminator is made by a small outfit in the US called M1BullPup.com. They make battery-powered illuminator kits for other fibre optic sights like the Trijicon ACOG TA-11, the Trijicon 1x24 and the Meprolight M21:

https://m1bullpup.com/product/rem-30/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/267091253396/

The sight sits higher than ideal on my shotgun but I have a butt stock with an adjustable cheekriser that gives me a perfect cheekweld on my set-up.
 
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