Red Dots on Lever Guns

A rifle I wish I wouldn't have sold... It didn't look smooth, but man was it a quick target acquisition. Aimpoint comp M4 I believe that was.


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And here is the product testing...it worked. The one thing missing is a pad to "raise" the comb so she can get a proper cheek weld.

...and I am going to go berserker on Photobucket...the video refuses to embed or be copied any way...now it will play on an iPad, but not on a PC...AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!

Ahh...finally seem to have figured it out...

 
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vancouverbc said:
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
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Hey, great rifle. I just got the same one about a month ago and am in the same boat as you. I don't give a crap what others say how it looks as long as it works for me. I've been shooting it with its standard sights out to 100 yards, works awesome but have been wondering if I want to go with a magnifying (maybe a 1-3x?) scope with cross hairs or a cheap red dot? Let us know how you make out as I am interested to hear how others are dealing with this issue on the SBL.
 
Chuckbuster said:
And here is the product testing...it worked. The one thing missing is a pad to "raise" the comb so she can get a proper cheek weld.
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You're going to need a large pad to get any cheek weld at all. It looks like a pad will get you a chin weld at the most

I would suggest looking at a red dot sight that sits lower like a Vortex Sparc or Bushnell TRS. If you can afford one go for the Aimpoint Micro. The Vortex is considerably cheaper and does have a lifetime warranty. With the Aimpoint you cry once at the cost and have something incredibly reliable.
 
homer76 said:
You're going to need a large pad to get any cheek weld at all. It looks like a pad will get you a chin weld at the most

I would suggest looking at a red dot sight that sits lower like a Vortex Sparc or Bushnell TRS. If you can afford one go for the Aimpoint Micro. The Vortex is considerably cheaper and does have a lifetime warranty. With the Aimpoint you cry once at the cost and have something incredibly reliable.
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Yeah, I was thinking about that option...but I'm not sure the vortex sits any lower. I have one on my M&P15-22. I'll take a look and compare. If you are right about the height, then I may just have to switch things up.
 
Chuckbuster said:
Yeah, I was thinking about that option...but I'm not sure the vortex sits any lower. I have one on my M&P15-22. I'll take a look and compare. If you are right about the height, then I may just have to switch things up.
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It's nice to see kids having fun shooting. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to go. I'm sure a Vortex Sparc with a low mount would sit lower than the red dot you currently have on your rifle.
 
freddyfour said:
Nice video, she seems to be a natural! Rifle doesn't look like it kicks much, you using something with a little less juice in there?
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Thanks. She really does enjoy it, and has been coming to the range with me since she was 4 or 5. And yes, for practice ammo, she is shooting lighter loads: 9.5 grains of Unique behind a 160gr cast. I was thinking of a 7-08, or even a .243, but at her PAL course, she expressed an overwhelming fondness for lever guns (she will be a hunter apprentice this fall). After shooting these for a while, I am going to move her up to a reduced hunting load.

homer76 said:
It's nice to see kids having fun shooting. I can't wait for my kids to be old enough to go. I'm sure a Vortex Sparc with a low mount would sit lower than the red dot you currently have on your rifle.
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Hmmm...I think the mount on mine is a high mount to co-witness with the irons...
 
Well, I took the Buckmark reflex sight off the 336 and put a Bushnell red dot on instead. It's not perfect, but it is much lower for my daughter. Anyhow, this past weekend, we went out and she went through about 75 rounds of practice ammo and a handful of reduced youth hunting loads. She'll need to continue to build her skill, but, she's not afraid of the gun or of practice. Right now, the zombies are in trouble...soon the deer.


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Awesome. I have one of those Bushnell red dots and other then having trouble finding lower rings for it locally it seems to work great.
 
neal said:
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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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This is the setup I was looking for in the last 10 pages. If I hadn't seen it posted already I'd have dummied up something similar and taken a picture of it.

The little Fastfire sits on a nice thin mount that uses the rear sight's dovetail. And being farther forward the issue of "lost the dot" (handgunners that use red dots will know exactly what I mean) is all but avoided. A setup like this should be super fast and automatic to shoulder and see the dot on the target. With a nice low mount and the low profile of a dot like this or some other small handgun style red dot that is similar the sight line axis is also just about as low as the iron sights. This means you don't need a big shift of the cheek weld.

Best part is that since red dots project the dot out at a virtual infinity it means us folks with bad eyes can wear our distance glasses and see both the target AND the dot clearly. Even if the frame or tube around the lens is all fuzzy due to being so close.
 
BCRider said:
This is the setup I was looking for in the last 10 pages. If I hadn't seen it posted already I'd have dummied up something similar and taken a picture of it.

The little Fastfire sits on a nice thin mount that uses the rear sight's dovetail. And being farther forward the issue of "lost the dot" (handgunners that use red dots will know exactly what I mean) is all but avoided. A setup like this should be super fast and automatic to shoulder and see the dot on the target. With a nice low mount and the low profile of a dot like this or some other small handgun style red dot that is similar the sight line axis is also just about as low as the iron sights. This means you don't need a big shift of the cheek weld.

Best part is that since red dots project the dot out at a virtual infinity it means us folks with bad eyes can wear our distance glasses and see both the target AND the dot clearly. Even if the frame or tube around the lens is all fuzzy due to being so close.
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It works great, it seems to be the easiest gun for beginners to use and be on target quick and accurately.
 
Chuckbuster said:
As the eyes get less sharp with each passing year, I found myself looking at the gun rack at my lever guns. All have iron sights of one type or another, factory or otherwise. However, I was wondering about putting a red dot of some kind on one or more of my Marlins. Anybody have red dots on their lever guns? What have you got, and how do you like the setup?
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I haven't read the whole thread, but do you wear glasses? I had a lot of issues because I wear progressive lenses. I installed Firesights on my open sight guns, but even then, I would usually see 6 dots and have to make adjustments and guesstimate. Then I bought a pair of glasses with no progressives or bifocals, and the problem is pretty well solved.
 
Papaclaude said:
I haven't read the whole thread, but do you wear glasses? I had a lot of issues because I wear progressive lenses. I installed Firesights on my open sight guns, but even then, I would usually see 6 dots and have to make adjustments and guesstimate. Then I bought a pair of glasses with no progressives or bifocals, and the problem is pretty well solved.
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Yes, I'm into progressives now too...my arms were getting to short to be of any use while reading. I also have a pair of single focus (distance) glasses, I'm not sure if they are better or not though. I'll likely have to bring them out to the range with me and give them a side by side comparison.
 
Chuckbuster said:
Yes, I'm into progressives now too...my arms were getting to short to be of any use while reading. I also have a pair of single focus (distance) glasses, I'm not sure if they are better or not though. I'll likely have to bring them out to the range with me and give them a side by side comparison.
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The single focus glasses will work awesomely with a red dot sight. As I mentioned above in my other reply the dot is sort of projected so that it appears to the eye to be at infinity. So the distance prescription will see it nice and sharp along with the distant target.
 
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