Red dot sight on a high-recoil dangerous game rifle?

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Harwood

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The thread with a Red dot on a Model 71 got me thinking, and to avoid hijacking, I figured I’d start a new thread:

Does anyone have any experiences, positive or negative, using a red dot sight on a high-recoil dangerous game rifle?

I have a Weatherby Mark V rebarreled to 505/416 Rigby, and am very fond of it.

Recoil is significant; well north of 100 ft-lbs of recoil energy.

It currently wears an AO ghost-ring rear sight and a squared front post in gold. While this arrangement has worked well for more than a decade, my 40 year old eyes are really enjoying optics.

The way I see it, I have a couple of choices:
1. A 1-4 power scope, but a good one; This rifle destroys cheap scopes.
2. An electronic dot along the lines of an Aimpoint H1 or Trijicon Reflex.

I am concerned about taking a technology that is mostly deployed on .223s however, and subjecting it to this sort of recoil.

Has anyone here ever put an optical dot-sight on their DGR? How did it work out?
 
My 458 wm destroyed 1 in 2 shots. I tried several on my double rifle. All but one failed. The lone survivor is a Walther marked red dot off my Nighthawk pellet pistol. It survived my 458 wm as well just wouldn't span the chamber and I didn't feel comfortable with only one ring holding it
If you're going to try it I'd go high end trijcon or aimpoint
 
I don't know how well it will work, I just can not bear the sight...

I would personally go with a quality, low-power optic... JMO.
 
I've got a lowly bushnell TRS-25 on my howa 1500 in 375 ruger. It has held zero just fine for 30 or so rounds of load development. If it bites the dust I'll just throw one of my aimpoint micros from one of my ARs on there.
 
I've used the Aimpoint H-1 and the Vortex Razor on a 12ga shotgun w/o issues.

I wouldn't go any further downmarket than that price tier for a heavy-recoiling rifle.
 
I'd start with a Vortex if you just want to try it out. Even a used one is covered under warranty so if you destroy it you can sell the new replacement to recover your costs or use it on a milder recoiling rifle.
If you have astigmatism issues your eyes might flare out a red dot which is no big deal for your purposes but annoys some people. A prismatic optic or a low powered, illuminated, etched reticle scope would take care of bad astigmatism issues

Is the Peep setup you have now starting to fail your eyesight? Have you tried different front sight materials? I like gold myself but maybe a fibre optic would get you a few more years out of your ghost ring. As long as the gun fits and shoulders naturally, and you can see the front sight, your current setup is ideal.
 
While vortex and other are great, buy once cry once the aimpoint will take everything you can throw at it so why bother with other rds that "might" work ?
 
skoal said:
While vortex and other are great, buy once cry once the aimpoint will take everything you can throw at it so why bother with other rds that "might" work ?
Click to expand...

He might not like red dots is one possibility. Who knows maybe he's down with spending $600 or what ever the going rate is on an aimpoint but if he has astigmatism and the flared out dot bothers him it might be a waste of time and resources.
The Swedes have been making red dots for a long time and they were the kings of battery life but the Asian producers are catching up.
 
Thanks everyone!

No astigmatism issues (fortunately!) so both are real options. I'm just noticing the optics make more difference than they used to!

Aimpoint and Trijicon were the only two I was seriously considering. I believe in buy-once-cry-once, even if I just turn around and resell it; top-end gear holds value well.

As to the low-power scope choices: I have a Trijicon 1-4 on my AR, and am very happy with it, though I have been loving Nightforce of late, and would have no worries about a 1-4 NXS standing up.
 
A good quality 1X variable would probably suit your gun more then a red dot, and on 1X with illumination would be about the same as far as speed.
The red dot's will win for weight and size.
Why not try your current low powered variables and see how that works?
Care to post a picture of your rifle?
 
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what's the smallest /lightest/strongest package for a say 1x to 4x variable with a recticle ..... non red dot? for under 1000.00
i'm "kinda" in the same boat as the Op in my search for a good optic. I'm leaning to a 1x leupold prismatic because of the recticle but wish it came in 4x hehehe
 
As users lose ocular close accommodation in their 40's and beyond the appeal of electro-optical sights increases.

I've read that red dot sights give aging bullseye pistol shooters a respite from the increasing challenges of iron sights.
 
Harwood said:
Thanks everyone!

No astigmatism issues (fortunately!) so both are real options. I'm just noticing the optics make more difference than they used to!

Aimpoint and Trijicon were the only two I was seriously considering. I believe in buy-once-cry-once, even if I just turn around and resell it; top-end gear holds value well.

As to the low-power scope choices: I have a Trijicon 1-4 on my AR, and am very happy with it, though I have been loving Nightforce of late, and would have no worries about a 1-4 NXS standing up.
Click to expand...

Watching the ads on Wild TV, Ivan Carter is shown with a Trijicon on a double rifle. If it works for him, It would be good enough for me.
 
The Trijicon RMR's are supposed to be very rugged.

They are being mounted on auto-pistol slides and operating w/o failures.
That's a hard challenge to meet for an electro-optical sight. Battery life is sped'ed at 18000 hours.
That is over 2 years.

Trijicon also make passive (no electronics) version of the RMR sight.
(Fibre optic plus tritium for low light)
That might be my choice in a game rifle 1X optic where indoor lack of good illumination
would not be an issue.
 
Here are some cellphone pics:


The Larue mount on the 1-4 is a little high, and having your cheek away from the stock would likely result in more excitement than I'd volunteer for.

Side with the ghost ring:


And the gold bead does pick up very nicely. There is a reason it is a standard!
 
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