To red-dot or not to red-dot, ..............

[Iloverevolvers]

...............that is my question.

I have a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight that I took off a firearm that is now, shall we say, useless.

Last week I installed that sight on a new O/U shotgun that has a green fiber-optic front sight and a notched picatinny rail in the rear, whose notch either serves as a rough rear sight or as a mount for an optical sight such as the red dot.

Mounting the red dot and having it bore-sighted with a laser seemed like a no-brainer thing to do at the time, but now I'm not so sure. I think I may have been swayed by either using the red dot or having it, like the firearm on which it was originally installed on, become useless, sitting on a shelf. (But, unlike the firearm, I suppose I could sell the red dot.)

Anyway, I also installed a flashlight on the left front picatinny rail, so the target will be well-illuminated even at night for either aiming method.

This shotgun is only going to be fired on targets that are, shall we say, close range -- probably 8 yards, maximum.

Unlike the stock sights, the red dot has to be switched on, and there is also some brief, head-bobbing, "finding the red dot" that takes place before putting the dot on the target (aiming) can occur. Doing both of these takes some time, albeit a small amount.

In short, I think that target-acquistion/aiming might be overall easier and faster without the red dot, but I'd like to hear some other opinions -- particularly from bird and clay shooters (but maybe this is the wrong forum to hear from that particular group).

Thanks.

 

[Jay]

I have a HoloSun HS510C on my Derya MK12 and I really like it.

If the target is inside 50m, the 2MOA red dot and 65MOA circle are an awesome reticle.

One comment wrt the claimed 2MOA dot on the HoloSun, I think the Chinese are 'full of it" & it covers about 5 to 6MOA at 100 yards. So, not an ideal optic on anything beyond typical shotgun ranges because the dot obscures the target. That being said, the HoloSun gets a solid thumbs up from me.

Paralax free is another benefit. Once sighted in, if the dot is on the target or centred in the circle, pull the trigger! It's fast.

Cheers
Jay
P.S. Shot this Turkey with my setup. Works awesome.

 

[Butcherbill]

I’ve used a trs25 on a couple different shotguns over the years, once you sight it in how you like it and shoot with it a bit it’s very quick and instinctual to use. Put the dot on the intended target and pull the trigger, I was shooting grouse with it the one year. It works well when ground swatting out to 35-40y with the right choke.

 

[Garaldtao]

For shotguns, I am a bit of an instinctive shooter so no red dot for me. Just as a side note, I have never seen a red dot being used for trap, skeet or sporting clays but having said that, I am sure if I am lobbing slugs out beyond 50, I would be using one.

 

[zhari]

Finding the dot is purely a training problem of having to reacquaint yourself with how you mount the gun. If it's already got a rail to take a sight and you've got said sight, might as well make a day out of getting comfortable with it and revisiting where you stand. I've messed around with clay on my 14" 870 wearing an aimpoint pro, once I figured out the hold it wasn't too bad a setup for the distance it would reliably bust clays at but then again it's set up to be a slug gun first.

 

[Iloverevolvers]

Thanks for all your input. I really appreciate it.

 

[wakeandsnow]

I run a holosun 507C on my versa max tactical. I have it mounted on a tactical ordnance TOMM and I highly recommend it. I have a 2moa dot and 32 Moa circle. Works really really well for quick shots on steel and you can even smash clays with it. Even got my wife into tactical shooting it works so well.

 

[Iloverevolvers]

For shotguns, I am a bit of an instinctive shooter so no red dot for me. Just as a side note, I have never seen a red dot being used for trap, skeet or sporting clays but having said that, I am sure if I am lobbing slugs out beyond 50, I would be using one.

After some practice holding the gun at rest while standing, "dangling" as low as possible, and raising the gun to aim, I decided I had to do something, anything to make the aiming situation better.

I fiound the following video: h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvYS5hdsSuU (remove spaces between h and ttps and you've got it)

After watching that video and the video recently posted by a CGNr in this forum of him shooting clays with a Shockwave (bloody amazing!), this morning I removed both the TRS-25 AND the picatinny rail.

In short, I could not be happier. My target acquisition is now nearly instantaneous and NATURAL. It is now quite obvious to me that the butt stock is designed for no optics. As soon as my cheek rests on the stock, my eyes are looking right down the top "rib" with the front sight perfectly centered. (Probably don't even need a front sight for a close-range gun, but I might be wrong on that.)

As soon as a local indoor range opens up, my wife and I will have some fun shooting at close range. We're looking forward to it.

 

[Suther]

For shotguns, I am a bit of an instinctive shooter so no red dot for me. Just as a side note, I have never seen a red dot being used for trap, skeet or sporting clays but having said that, I am sure if I am lobbing slugs out beyond 50, I would be using one.

This would be my take on it. For wing shooting, no sights required. For turkey hunting or slugs, a red dot could be a good choice.

 

[wakeandsnow]

I find that for 'tactical/practical' shooting a red dot is very useful. We have a range with plenty of steel and it's so fast to hit steel with a 1x optic on a semi shotgun. It helps getting you lined up that much quicker with a harder hitting pump.

For clays/birds it takes a bit to get used to, but you are able to determine leads if you have a 32 or 64 moa ring...

To each his own but for a 'tactical' style shotgun for buckshot/slugs, very handy...