red dot scopes ?

[nasha]

hello guys im intrested in a red dot scope for close to meadium shooting in poor light .

my experiance with them is limited !

can you guys talk me through the pros and cons of using them over say a very low mag tele with ir mildot .

i shoot alot of rats (imho one of the very best sport's you have with air rifle hunting)

hence i dont need much magnification but need clear image in poor light and very fast acasition.

the only experiance i have with a red dot is on a pistol manny years ago with a progected red dot on to lense the dot moved all over the lense and was rubbish i thought. is the red dot fixed on say a hawke det dot scope ? also what are they like for changing distants targets , for example a rat 5 yards away then out to one 20 yards away . with no aiming aides (like mildot ) will i be aiming in mid air ?

i hope this makes sence so far ?


i know the militery use them alot and i have seen footage of a sniper hitting a head shot on a man silouhet targe at 150 m so they must be ok .

any info would be great .

also if you guys think a lazer and low mag ir scope would be better please tell me .

all the best matt

[Parabuteo]

I dont know if what you are after is ideal.

Thing is, there are several types of red dot. Some you look through, and some you look at.

The only red dot sight I used in the military was an old singlepoint fitted to an L1A1 (SLR).

At any decent range, the red dot would cover the target, but as it superimposed the dot onto the eye (through an optical illusion) and appeared to actually float, you could aquire a target very quickly and in very low light. You could not actually see through thei type of scope.

The more modern red dot scopes project the dot onto a lens withing the scope and you look through it. In this cas, you would be dependant on the light gathering qualities of the scope, and may have to have the dot down quite low to prevent flaring, or leaving you seeing dots..loads of them

They are ideal for pistols as they can allow very quick target aquisition. I am guessing the sniper application was a film, and most likeley the dot was actually on the target rather than just through the sight, which means it was probably a lazer.

lazers are a whole different ballgame, but used well, they are good for rangefinding and targetting.


That said, for close range ratting a red dot may be just the job, I think something reflex/singlepoint would be better. I guess you are almost looking for a combat pistol type scope like the PP boys use. I am sure others will add something more usefull

[nasha]

thank you for the input .
the footage was a documentary on google video of the new israli bullpup asult rifle they have designed .
i will read some more and wait for others to put me right

[Grasshopper]

I have a hawke red-redot on my Crosman 1377 which is excellent for close range low light conditions, faster target aquisition and slightly better aiming point than the iron sight. There is only a fixed dot in space but with practice you could alter your aim point by turning the elevation turret, though that would kind of defeat fast target aquisition. If the dot is fairly central and zeroed correctly then at the right range you will hit the target.

On my rifle for low light I would rather use an illuminated reticuled scope of the Mildot type on lowish mag for wider field of view with a largish objective lens to gather more light.

To improve target aquisition using a scope you should try keeping both eyes open, provided your shooting eye is well dominant this is (IMHO) the best approach.

Regards

Chris

[nasha]

good stuff .

it sounds like mildot ir scope to so far

iv seen a scope by ags the sas 632 scope i reckon that is the beast or the job , it looks the dogs to lol.

any more info is greatly received.

[stuartp]

I have been advised to get, and in fact have now bought a Bushnell red dot 1x28 sight for driven boar shooting. I havn't fitted the sight to my rifle yet. but it seems very clear and looks as if targets can be acquired very quickly, my only concern is if the target is further away.

I recently shot moving target for the first time with a rifle using 'normal' 6x and 7x scopes and was amazed how easy acquisition was through them, it was my technique that let me down, not the equipment

So if I was to choose I would say look at what they do on the continent and go for a good quality low mag scope, with reticle that suits your eye.