Scope or red dot sight ?

[BaldguyLee]

Hi guys. I need a new optic for my Rem 870 20ga w/ cantilever mount rifled barrel ( slug gun ). I've used a scoped gun a few times, but never used a red dot sight.

What are the pros / cons of both ? I'll be limited to about $150 for the purchase. Scope-wise the Nikon Prostaff looks good. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

--Lee

[HectorBuckBuster]

Are you going to do more hunting sitting or more still hunting and walking. I use a red dot scope on my 1100 as I do more walking and still hunting and can pick up the deer a lot faster with the red dot then a scope.

[mbucks27]

I have a truglo red dot scope on my shotgun and im going to switch to a regular scope. Dealing with batteries is a pain in the butt. And the two times i went to use the gun the red dot was barely visible in the woods. Im not sure if the cold/snow had anything to do with it but im def switching back to a regular scope for next season. Cant go wrong with a nikon scope either.

John

[BaldguyLee]

I do a bit more sitting than walking. I guess I could keep the magnification on the lowest on my scope to get on target quicker when moving about. I may like the shorter size of a red dot scope in the brush though. I've never even looked through one but they interest me.

[Pygmy]

Just buy a good quality low power scope for your shotgun, and don't worry about batteries, forgetting to POWER UP your sight, or whatever.

Keep things simple... Get a good quality small profile, lightweight 2 or 3 power scope and you'll get on target as fast as you will with a red dot..

[Dinsdale]

I'd go for the low power scope for that number.

On the good/bad; I have a couple of red dots that I really like on a shotgun and the battery life is in years, but you will pay to get there. They are very quick to pick up game in; and although I shoot both eyes open with most scopes, its even easier as there is no magnication in the red dot lense. But obviously no magnification can also limit comfortable range where some sure can help at times. JMO

[Elmo]

Just to make it clear that it's a red dot sight and not a red dot scope. Red dot sight is basically iron sights. You're just replacing the iron with a red dot. A red dot scope is a scope. You're just replacing the cross hairs with a red dot. The difference when looking through them is the same as iron sights versus scope. But in any case, here are my opinion when comparing the pro and con of red dot sight versus a traditional recticle scope.

Red dot:

Pro - Good open visibility. No change from the naked eye, you can easily find your target. Design for rapid reaction shooting when you don't have much time to aim.

Con - Need to always remember to turn on/off and worry about battery. Not very accurate beyond 50 yards. I noticed when I'm aiming at a 3" circle past 50 yards, the red dot covers the entire circle.

Scope:

Pro - More accurate. Don't have to fuss with batteries, turn it on/off, etc.

Con - Tunnel vision. Harder to find target through a scope versus red dot sight.

Edited December 17, 2011 by Elmo

[ny hunter]

Tried a red dot one time did not like it at all.Get a good shotgun scope you won't go wrong.

[GreeneHunter]

Question : How far out does the Red Dot go- Yardage - ? It might sound like a dumb question but I've never used one and am intriqued !

[nyslowhand]

They are not laser aiming devices, if that is what you are thinking.

A Red Dot is no more than a reticule instead of a crosshair.

Of course. some Red Dot scopes have the X-hair option.

I have one and it is sighted in like a rifle scope at ~90yds or whatever.

[Dinsdale]

Red dot:

Pro - Good open visibility. No change from the naked eye, you can easily find your target. Design for rapid reaction shooting when you don't have much time to aim.

Con - Need to always remember to turn on/off and worry about battery. Not very accurate beyond 50 yards. I noticed when I'm aiming at a 3" circle past 50 yards, the red dot covers the entire circle.

Depends on two things......The MOA of the dot; you may have been shooting 4 MOA dot to cover 4" at 100. And what is called "fringing", that is the dot being brighter than required for ambient and the dot gets fuzzy optically around the edge making it appear larger than it is.

Some are adjustable for dot size, some are fixed. The larger sizes/patterns are optically easier/faster to pick up and more intended for close quarters work.Finer dots will cover less of the target and will hold moment of hunting accuracy beyond 100.

The ability to be parallax free and a crisp adjustable intensity dot are what to look for. Parallax is the dot stays on target even if you move your head and the dot does not appear to stay centered in the scope body.

[bkln]

Depends on the distance, in my experience up to 75 yards = red dot, after that = scope. For a slug gun I would say red dot, just my 2 cents.

[Phillygunns]

Why not get a low power scope like a Weaver V-3 1-3x20. This is a fast sight for a shotgun.

[JJBat150]

Been shooting an 870 with rifled barrel and red dot for years. Currently using a Tasco Red Dot 1x30mm 5 MOA,

Comfortable with it from 15 yards out to 150 yards.

Always carry spare batteries in my pockets, just in case...