EXPECTATIONS ON RED DOT

[diver dan]

I hunt coyotes and decided to get a red dot for my AR.I took to 50yd range . I put a target up with circles , standard target . I tried to hit center circle and couldnt do it. I was covering the whole center circle with the dot. Was it wrong to assume I could get a 2 inch cluster ? was I expecting too much from scope ? I beleive I am going to go back to a 3x9x40 crosshair for yote hunting . My MAXIMUM shots are 100yds or less , I know my limitations and its 100 yds.I am 68yrs old and my eyes arent what they used to be , I cant seem to be able to wear glasses and use a scope , wearing glasses. I expect to get 2 inch cluster with 3x9x40 crosshair hoping for better though.

 

[MCgrease08]

Please don't take this as a smart Alec type question, but did you zero the red dot prior to this? Or was this your first try at doing that?

Two inch groups is totally doable at 50 yards.

A little more info on make and model of the optic would be helpful too.

 

[gregkl]

Yes, more info would be helpful. Like what size dot it is. I wouldn't use anything larger than a 2 moa dot for a rifle, but that's just me.

Personally, if I was 68 (getting close) and had a rifle intended to shoot coyotes, I'd stick with a 3-9 X 40. If it's nice glass, that's all you need.

I have magnified optics on all my rifles except for 2 that the intended purpose is fast shooting (run and gun, SHTF, whatever you want to call it). Those I run 2 moa dots and I stay at 50 yards max for the most part.

 

[diver dan]

Please don't take this as a smart Alec type question, but did you zero the red dot prior to this? Or was this your first try at doing that?

Two inch groups is totally doable at 50 yards.

A little more info on make and model of the optic would be helpful too.

Dont you think thats a big group for hunting ?

 

[Ggreen]

I hunt coyotes and decided to get a red dot for my AR.I took to 50yd range . I put a target up with circles , standard target . I tried to hit center circle and couldnt do it. I was covering the whole center circle with the dot. Was it wrong to assume I could get a 2 inch cluster ? was I expecting too much from scope ? I beleive I am going to go back to a 3x9x40 crosshair for yote hunting . My MAXIMUM shots are 100yds or less , I know my limitations and its 100 yds.I am 68yrs old and my eyes arent what they used to be , I cant seem to be able to wear glasses and use a scope , wearing glasses. I expect to get 2 inch cluster with 3x9x40 crosshair hoping for better though.

What brand optic and mount? A red dot will not make your gun less accurate. If your groups are opening it is either: you, the gun, or the optic failing to hold zero for whatever reason. I have no problems holding less than 2" groups at 100 with red dots as long as I'm doing my job

 

[Jaybird1980]

Dont you think thats a big group for hunting ?

Not really.

Do you know the size of the dot?
What brightness do you have it turned to?

 

[Ggreen]

Dont you think thats a big group for hunting ?

In 2000 that was a decent group overall. The moa guarantee is new and most of the time is an outright lie.

 

[diver dan]

Please don't take this as a smart Alec type question, but did you zero the red dot prior to this? Or was this your first try at doing that?

Two inch groups is totally doable at 50 yards.

A little more info on make and model of the optic would be helpful too.

I think the scope is a axion or something , got on a trade I did , I believe a while ago.

Please don't take this as a smart Alec type question, but did you zero the red dot prior to this? Or was this your first try at doing that?

Two inch groups is totally doable at 50 yards.

A little more info on make and model of the optic would be helpful too.

I just put up a target and shot at target , and adjusted scope accordingly till I got as close to a group on target as possible.Then they got scattered a little at that point.

 

[Hookeye]

A round target larger than the dot would allow you to better place the dot in the center repeatedly.

You shoot spacial relationship.

It is different than using a fine scope type aiming system.

You have to learn to not try peeking around the dot.

You will w practice learn to trust the dot over your intended target.

I had a 3moa dot on a Contender .223 pistol and got 1" groups at 50 yards.
The bbl was more accurate than that I reckon, the limit being the aiming system.

Had a 1 moa dot on an AR and it shot fine.

Liked the 1 moa dot way better than 3 moa, but on something fast, and under 100 yards, think 2 moa good.

I have a 2 moa reflex on a buckmark pistol. The dot is not as crisp as Id like, even w brightness tirned down. Yeah Im picky. Dunno who makes a crisp small dot. Even w such annoyance i can shoot golf balls at 50 yards.

The more you shoot a red dot the more relaxed youll get and shooting improve.

 

[diver dan]

Not really.

Do you know the size of the dot?
What brightness do you have it turned to?

I honestly dont know the size of the dot , got no instructions with it.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I honestly dont know the size of the dot , got no instructions with it.

The dot won't be as precise as crosshairs, the bigger the dot the less precise. Even a 3 moa dot will cover about 1.5 inches at 50 yards, turning the brightness up will make that larger.

The group size your getting is roughly clay pigeon size at 100. And that hasn't even been zeroed on a bench right? I could live with that if it was faster/easier and you may be able to tighten it up even more with use.

 

[Rookie]

If I hunted coyotes during the day, I'd consider a 1-6 or 1-8 scope, not a red dot.

 

[Rookie]

Welcome to A&A Optics Inc - Certified Vortex Dealer

 

[Hookeye]

Shoulda got one of the Burris 1.5-6x w illum dot when Doug had em.

 

[Angrysauce]

This seems like you're using a football bat for tennis and you've never played tennis.
Your expectations from a rest with a decent optic, a basic AR, and the right shooter are by no means unrealistic, but that's not what you're working with.
If the dot is the one my googlefu finds on Amazon you have a 5 moa chinesium dot, not the most precise. That 5 moa dot in a loose optic with coarse adjustment and eyes past their prime is a recipe for disappointment. If you have the brightness cranked that dot will bloom out significantly larger. At 50 yards the dot alone ~3 inches, add in vision issues, human error, and poor manufacturing your groups get huge.

 

[diver dan]

Shoulda got one of the Burris 1.5-6x w illum dot when Doug had em.

I am retired now 20yrs and am on a tight budget , so I have to keep with scopes like simmons , bushnell etc. Cant spend 200 dollars on a scope to shoot stupid coyotes and crows . Would of liked a scope like a bench rest shooters uses 25 power. But I dont want to eat hotdogs ALL WEEK jeez , LOL. PS chili dogs RULE , LOL.

 

[diver dan]

This seems like you're using a football bat for tennis and you've never played tennis.
Your expectations from a rest with a decent optic, a basic AR, and the right shooter are by no means unrealistic, but that's not what you're working with.
If the dot is the one my googlefu finds on Amazon you have a 5 moa chinesium dot, not the most precise. That 5 moa dot in a loose optic with coarse adjustment and eyes past their prime is a recipe for disappointment. If you have the brightness cranked that dot will bloom out significantly larger. At 50 yards the dot alone ~3 inches, add in vision issues, human error, and poor manufacturing your groups get huge.

I have a PRIMARY ARMS RED DOT , dont know what model ? Musta cost 100 bucks or so.

 

[Hookeye]

The PA 30mm Aimpoint PRO clone used to be 3 moa and was changed to 2 moa. They are decent

 

[Hookeye]

FWIW the Burris 1.5-6x w #4 reticle and illum was a euro overrun Doug had and they were blown out at 250 bucks or so.

Ive done the cheap eats to buy stuff when in college ( Blackwidow custom recurve ).

Last chili dogs messed up my gallbladder and sent me to ER.

Where we coyote hunt, at todays gas prices .......its gonna add up.

 

[Whip_McCord]

Though I'm not really a hunter (I have hunted, but I prefer target shooting), You should be able to get better groups with a red dot at 50 yards. When I test my 22LR bullseye pistols wearing red dots, the ammo that works best gives me under 7/8" groups at 50 yards. I have been using a red dot on some pistols since 1995. I use them for bullseye, steel challenge, local PPC league, and some misc stuff. For precision shooting, I like a 2-4 MOA dot. For speed shooting, 8-16 MOA dot work best for me. I have heard that some shooters take a while to get used to the red dot. I think for hunting like you are doing, I would prefer a scope.

I do not understand why you cannot use a scope with glasses on. You never mentioned what the issue is. I have been wearing glasses since 6th grade (nearsighted). That's around 54 years of wearing glasses. I never had an issue using a scope. If your scope does not have an adjustable objective (AO), that may be the problem. Also, scopes need to be adjusted to get the crosshair in focus. Could be another issue. Maybe eye-relief is not right for your position on the gun. Like you, I never spent much money on scopes, until recently getting into rimfire rifle bench shooting. You can still get good, inexpensive scores with AO that would be fine for hunting.

There is a lot of good advice form others above. As many have stated, you did not give many details on your issues. What problem(s) do you have with glasses and a scope? Those 25 power benchrest scopes would not serve you well for hunting. I have a 10-40X56mm scope on my long-range 22LR Anschutz rifle. We are shooting out to 200 meters and the extra power is helpful. We also use a solid table and rest. A 3-9 or 4-12 should be fine for your needs, though. With the extra power of target scopes, every little movement on your part is magnified a lot. On a benh rest it is not much of an issue. In a hunting situation, you may not have a very solid rest or you may be breathing hard due to walking or excitement of the hunt. These will cause a lot of crosshair movement in a high-power scope.

Hope this helps. If you have specific questions, include lots of details and maybe we can come up with exact solution(s).