Big Boy X .45 Colt and Vortex Venom, take two...

[PNWguy]

Bought the Big Boy X a couple of months ago and took it to the range and shot it with factory fiber optic open sights. Got around 4" groups at 55 yards.

Borrowed a Burris Fastfire III off of a Glock G19 MOS and gave it a whirl. Got down to 1.5" groups. Shot all reloads in different flavors.

So, decided the little red dot was the way to go and ordered a Vortex Venom for it. Put it on and headed to the range and discovered it was broken. Wouldn't hold Point of Impact. So I packed it back up and sent it back to Vortex. A month later, I got a brand new replacement. Took it to the range today and fired it at 25 yards, then at 50 yards. Shot the same ammo I shot before and the same loads I use in my Ruger Bisley.

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Didn't get quite as good as groups as before. No idea why. Both optics are 3 moa dot. Glasses prescription is toast, so maybe just getting worse every month. Wind was gusting to 20 mph, but not sure how much that effects things at 50 yards.

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Shot my AR pistol as well and got just as good of groups with peep sights as with a red dot, so thinking about just going to a Skinner rear sight on the Henry.

[PNWguy]

25 yard performance with my preferred load was OK at 1".

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Maybe I am just expecting too much out of this rifle. What is a reasonable group at 50 yards and no scope?

[bdbrown66]

I can't tell you what to expect with no scope, as I've got scopes on all of mine. But this was the first group my 45 Colt shot when new, at 50 yards, once I adjusted the scope. 5 shots, my reloads.

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[North Country Gal]

I'd caution against making too many conclusions based on only one short range session, especially because you did better in the previous session and know what the gun with the Burris could do. My advice is to try again and also shoot more groups to get a better feel for what that particular rifle and red dot setup will do. Might even try the Burris, again, to see if it's a problem with the Vortex.

In general, my groups at 50 yards with a variety of rifles average closer to a scope than with a peep when using a red dot. Again, that's average group size over the course of a lot of groups and I also use 5 shot groups. 3 is fine, though, as long as you shoot enough groups to see a pattern develop.

Best of luck and keep shooting.

[BigAl52]

Agree with NCG. Dont change things to fast as you will end up chasing it till it drives you crazy. I have good luck with red dots at 50 yards and have them on a few of my rifles. I always shoot 5 shot groups

[Rifletom]

PNWguy, just a thought. You might try lowering your Unique charge in the ,45 Colt. I usually run 8.5gr Unique/250gr rnfp cast in my Henry BB steel and get very good accuracy at 50 and 80 yards, scoped. I tried 9.0-9.5 and didn't care for the grouping at all. But, then again, this was in my rifle. Just an idea. Like NCG mentions, shoot some groups and see what occurs.

[Slugnut]

FWIW, I shoot the Ultradot that has 2,4,6, and 8 MOA dots, on my Ruger Bisley SBHH. With most of my reloads,I get 1'' at 25yds. With 210g. Deep Curls, one ragged hole with 6 shots. Point being, the red dot is faster on target and not as critical as a scope. I've found that smaller dot (2MOA) is way better for tighter groups that the 4,6 and 8 MOA. Hope that helps, keep us posted.

[PNWguy]

PNWguy, just a thought. You might try lowering your Unique charge in the ,45 Colt. I usually run 8.5gr Unique/250gr rnfp cast in my Henry BB steel and get very good accuracy at 50 and 80 yards, scoped. I tried 9.0-9.5 and didn't care for the grouping at all. But, then again, this was in my rifle. Just an idea. Like NCG mentions, shoot some groups and see what occurs.

That's the hard part about tuning loads that you actually use for hunting or woods defense; How much power and effectiveness do you give up in order to achieve another 1/2" tighter groups?

I have my favorite plinking load of 250 grain cast boolits with 6.0 grains of Trail Boss, and that load is accurate in all my .45 Colt guns, and like shooting a .22 in the Henry, but it's not nearly as effective as the 10.5 grain Unique load behind the XTP. Going to play around with some 231 loads and 300 grain cast boolits.

Still took it out into the woods the other day when hunting for mushrooms. Bears were out and also found some wolf tracks...

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