Who Shoots Red Dots on Their Rimfire Lever Guns

[Rep1954]

As the title reads who uses a red dot on their lever guns and what brand along with performance.

[leverjc]

I use a red/green dot on a Smith Victory but not any of my lever guns which I use mainly for Lever Silhouette. The green dot stands out better for me even on a green background as I am red-green color blind. Couldn't tell you who makes it but is was cheap. Never had any problems with it.

[North Country Gal]

I don't shoot lever guns any more, but I did a lot of shooting with red dots on lever guns when I had a nice Marlin and Winchester collection. The lever guns are gone, but I kept the red dots. I now use them on a lot of our air rifles and air pistols. I tend to go quality with Ultradots, Burris Fastfire, Gilmores and so on and have never regretted it. There are some great values in the more affordable red dots, though, like the compact Bushnell TRS-25.

I've always considered red dots/reflex sights to be great problem solvers. Very practical and effective choice when you don't want to add weight and destroy the balance of a fine lever gun, but need help seeing when iron sights don't cut it. Out to 100 yards, I can shoot very nice groups with a red dot, assuming I have good target visibility.

[BigAl52]

https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-SP ... 319&sr=8-1

Dont know how much you want to spend but I bought one of these a while back and like it alot. It uses a common triple A battery. Also any of the ones NCG suggested I have a few of those and they work great.

[WayneE]

I have one on my Golden Boy Silver Youth 22LR. It is a SwampFox Justice 1x27 red dot, 2 MOA. I mounted it to the Talley Picatinny rail from Henry Pride. I really enjoy this setup and it is a nice change from my other rimfires that have the iron sights, Skinner Peep Sight, or fiber optic sights.

AF277DE4-FA7F-45C7-A416-D70EE517C633.jpeg

[gecsr1]

do you or would you have problems seeing a "red Dot' during a bright day.. would a green dot be better ??

[John E Davies]

I have a Fastfire 2 on a 22/45 and a TRS25 on a 10/22 TD, I like them both, the latter is way more affordable and robust. I would not trust the Fastfire to survive a hard drop, but it works better and is very light and graceful. My eyes are horrible for iron sights, even my daily carry CZP10F-OR carries an optic now. All my other long guns are scoped.

The TRS25 is terrific for busting cans rapidly at short range with the 10/22, but for pinpoint accuracy it is not very good. If you want the best groups use a scope.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[North Country Gal]

do you or would you have problems seeing a "red Dot' during a bright day.. would a green dot be better ??

All red dots have a brightness adjustment for changing light conditions, so you can use them on even the brightest days, though some are better than others in this respect. Our eyes are more sensitive to green than red, so green is a good option, too, but red works fine, assuming you have a decent red dot.

Overall, most shooters use red dots as an alternative to iron sights, myself included. Accutacy with red dots for me is usually a cut above iron sights, but definitely not comparable to a scope.

[gecsr1]

do you or would you have problems seeing a "red Dot' during a bright day.. would a green dot be better ??

All red dots have a brightness adjustment for changing light conditions, so you can use them on even the brightest days, though some are better than others in this respect. Our eyes are more sensitive to green than red, so green is a good option, too, but red works fine, assuming you have a decent red dot.

Overall, most shooters use red dots as an alternative to iron sights, myself included. Accutacy with red dots for me is usually a cut above iron sights, but definitely not comparable to a scope.

Thank You for the info.....

[Bake]

I would choose the "Green" dot if possible, as one gets older it becomes hard for the eye to focus on the color red, because of the Red's wavelength . . .

[tonymc]

I was having trouble with lining up the semi-buckhorn sights on my Evil Roy, and a scope seemed like a little much, so I chose a red dot. Found a DAISY at my local Farm and Home Supply store on sale for $10.00. Mounted it with no adapter needed. Shoots fine at 25 yds with groups about an inch. I'm happy.

[deano5150]

I put a Bushnell TRS25 on my daughter's 10/22 takedown and it works great! I'm thinking about putting one on my AR-15.
I considered putting one on my H001 Henry but I just can't do it. It looks too weird.

[Hatchdog]

My only experience with a red dot on a long gun is a Vortex Sparc II mounted on an AR-15 in 9mm. My thought was this is a 50 yard gun at best so a red dot would be fine. I have to say I was disappointed with the accuracy of both the red dot and the carbine itself. Truly I probably expected too much from both and the accuracy at 50 yards was certainly minute of bad guy. So that being said, I much prefer a nice scope over a red dot on a rifle. Handguns, now that’s another story.



EDIT: I just remembered that I have an M4 carbine with a Burris AR332 red dot on it. I do better with this set up than I did with the 9mm due to the fact this red dot has 3x magnification in it which helps this old man’s eyes greatly. Of course 5.56 caliber helps with the accuracy too.

[Cofisher]

Al, that vortex is looking good. I am using a Sig Romeo on my 357 carbine. Both have 2 Moa dots, something I learned while listening to NCG. The Vortex seems more robust. And, uses the AAA battery. A plus. A little more money, and worth it.

[BigAl52]

Jim
I have one of the triple A battery ones in the box I would sell as Im not using it. However because of the height of the mount it only really works on an AR 15. It has some adjustment to it and might work on a stock with some drop to it.

[Cofisher]

Thanks Al. Thinking of a 223/22LR Combo. This sight might be the best all around.