reddot or iron sights

reddot or ghost sights for an 870

  • red dot sight

    Votes: 31 43.7%

  • ghost ring sight

    Votes: 40 56.3%
  • Total voters
    71
  • Poll closed .
hutchster

hutchster

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i am starting to build up my grizzly 870(thanks canam:)), and am curious as to what is the better option for sights.

my primary use is for range plinking and or home defense.

my price cap is around $200.00, which would get me a cheaper reddot and hopefully a saddle mount, otherwise a set of wilson/scattergun-tech ghost sights will run about the same installed, correct?

with the reddot you have to deal with batteries and remembering to turn it on, but it is easy to see, how well do the ghost sights work during a bright sunny day?(sorry if this sounds stupid, as i'm not used to using open sights)

any thought's would be appreciated.
thanks
hutchster
 
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I agree with Greenhorse six's recommendation. A red dot is not a bad idea, but I would always want a backup sight on the gun in case it went to pieces on you.
 
Metallic sights, either aperture or open, will never fail, never run out of batteries. I'm satisfied with the open sights on a 20" deer barrel for my 870.

SH
 
I just mounted a red dot on my HP9. I think it looks great and I dont ever plan on shooting anything but targets with it. In a home defense situation like you mentioned, I'd imagine one of the 15 balls from a 3" shell would contact something and "pointing" in that general direction would be more reallistic than actually "aiming"!!! If you plan on target shooting, the reddot is the way to go in my opinion.
 
i used to have an rem870 (18.5" camp gun) that i ran a bushnell reddot on, and it was ok i guess, but now i'm curious about the irons simply for the batteryless aspect.
plus they do look smooth aesthetically compared to the scope, and would be less likely to snag on clothing and such.
damn, with my big overtime check coming up i should just buy one of those ar15/870 rail adapters that BBB(?) sells and mount some flip up irons and an eotech on it:rolleyes:
so much to dream about, so little money to spend:(
 
im working on sites for my grizz also, how are you mounting the red dots? im thinking to drill & tap & install a rail,then a see thru scope rings with a red dot,a ghost site mounted an the rail behind the red dot, probably a xs banded front with tritium insert, ive seen a xs site for rail mount on a marlin, wondering if anyone has any experience?
 
I think the question needs a little more context.

I agree with KK1, and here's why.

Shotgun as firearm to be aimed (a'la turkey): Iron/FO Sights or Reddot. I like the Reddot option for the lack of parralax error when firing from an awkward position where moving into a comfortable sighting position might spook the bird.

Shotgun as firearm to be aimed (a'la Deer): Reddot for close shots, Scope for long shots. Deer are big animals and slow moving when being shot. A big red dot seems to be just the ticket. If the deer suddenly becomes a fastmoving animal again, it's probubly too late to matter what sights you have.

Shotgun as a shotgun for shotgunning: Iron/Fo Sights for quick target aquisition. Any optics just slow down your response time. For home defense you shouldn't really need to aim unless the target is running away. For clay or other bird, you still don't need the hassle of locating a moving target through optics only to then need to lead a target, and at that point the tarket could be outside of your optics and hard to lead.

Take it from me, I've never been deer or turkey hunting and have owned a shotgun for about a week now. And I haven't had the time to fire my new gun. LOL. BUT! I am really thorough in my research! LOL.

Yea, I'm a newb. But I do have a ProPoint RedDot for my shotgun becuse if fits within my zombie defense budget. I think RedDots are going to be the optic of choice for the zombie holocaust. (that and I'll try it out turkey hunting this year).
 
ThePunisher said:
I just mounted a cheap Tasco Red Dot on my CanAm Grizzly - I really like it. Only cost $46.97 at WalMart, so if you don't like it, you're not out a ton of coin.
Click to expand...

I have one of these RedDot scopes, but I'm still waiting for my Grizzly.

How did you mount the RedDot? Does the Grizz come with a Weaver rail, or did you get a saddle?

If a saddle mount is needed how much was it, and from where? I've seen them online at about $50 but that seems a little pricey for what it is.
 
I,m old school, for the 12.5 inch grizzly I just use the bead. I'm in the process of getting a set of LPA sights on my 18 inch 870.
 
The Iron sights on my 870 work pretty good, I can put my slugs in a 8"x8" target at 150 yards. :D I've since mounted a scope though, hold overs to hard for 200 yards shots 22" drop.
 
I own three red dot sights. I bought two of them, and got one of them with a rifle I bought used.

#1. is a cheapo. I wouldn't trust it on a shotgun that I might use for home defense.

#2. is a nice little Bushnell unit. I bought it for a rimfire, and have put about 1000 rounds of .22 through it. I feel pretty confident that it'd hold up to bush/range use on a rimfire or a .223. It cost me about $120.

#3. is the Eotech on my AR. $450 IIRC. I trust it 100%. Best CQB sight I've ever used.

From what you've told us about your price range, I think that we can safely say that Aimpoints, Dr. Optiks, and Eotechs are too pricy. Personally, those are the only three red-dot type sights that I would trust on a shotgun that might be a personal defence weapon. When you're buying a parachute, which model do you buy...the cheap one?

As far as irons (ghost rings) go...

For $100 you can get a good set of ghost rings. For another $100, you can have a good gunsmith install them professionally.

If you try to get a red dot and a saddle mount for $200, I expect that you'll end up with a somewhat half-@rsed result. If you spend $200 on good ghost rings and installation, you'll get a quality result. You can even get a set of those skookum Trijicon tritium ghost rings for that sort of price.

You may have to put in a little bit of practice to get the most out of the irons...but good ghost rings are pretty bloody quick anyways.

You can also put the ghost rings on now, and then get a saddle mount and cheapo red dot at a later date if you decide that really, really want that LCF at the range. That said, I think that a good set of ghost rings adds more LCF than a cheap red dot.
 
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