Whats The Pros And Cons Of Scopes VS Red Dots

[StormDragon]

I often read about how someone loves their Red Dot for shooting and hunting as opposed to using a scope.

I currently have a Hawke XB on my bow now but am curious about how a Red Dot would compare to it

[Minnow]

With a scope you usually get some magnification, most red dots you don't. Some people like it with no magnification because you can keep both eyes open for a wider field of view

[frisky]

The red dot I had worked good morning and evening, but I had trouble seeing the red dot in the bright sun during the day. I uasualy did not hunt during the middle of the day, so no concern.
Now, as the old eyes are growing dim, I like the scope with lit dots.

[nchunterkw]

I think most red dots are also 2 to 3MOA in size which is too big for me. I love the reticle in my Hawke XB30 SR

[Carnivorous]

I like a good quality scope for low light gathering and a bit of light magnification for longer shots.

I also like a red dot for quick target acquisition. And to ensure I aim small miss small.

Both are important to me when hunting.

So I went with a Leupold VXR.

It is both a high quality scope and red dot all in one....

[Cossack]

The Hawke 1.5-5 IR SR is a reasonably priced scope that both magnifies and a lighted reticule .... for hundreds less than the Leupie. And it is crossbow specific so that the power ring changes the distance between the aiming points of the reticule to match the trajectory of the arrow.
Red dots have quick acquisition going for them. But since I'm not shooting moving targets, that serves no purpose for me. Only the very expensive have magnification. And the parallax is quite pronounced in most of the less expensive ones. Last negative: battery goes dead, so does your hunt.

[galamb]

I have always used a red dot on my crossbows and my turkey shotgun. I use scopes on all my other rifles, so well familiar with both.

For my crossbow I prefer the red dot (and specifically a reflexive red dot as opposed to the "tube" style) because:

It has unlimited eye relief;

I wear glasses and there is never a focus issue (the reticle is projected down range - ok optical illusion but..). So don't have to make sure the glasses are on OR flip them up to look through an optical scope (my optical scopes are now all adjusted to be shot with my glasses on - sometimes they slip and I get a distorted picture - not bad when you are looking at Bambi 100 yards away, you can get away with fixing your glasses - not so much when he's at 15 yards and you don't dare breathe or he might see you);

I can see the reticle even if I have to contort to a weird angle - so don't absolutely have to get it snugged into my shoulder, cheek down on the comb line etc AND the dot (or reticle) is still on target (again, this is an advantage of a reflexive scope);

I can shoot with both eyes open - not restricted to looking through whatever you have for an objective and my "eyes", when both are open, they gather light just fine;

I shoot close (35 yards max) so don't need any magnification and I never lose the "target" because the scope is cranked up (another advantage of shooting with both eyes open as well).

On the down side it is powered by a battery so there is a chance of failure at exactly the wrong time - some prudence on my part (start with a new battery every hunting season and change it as soon as it starts looking weak in the least - plus carry an extra battery or two in my day pack).

I do love my optics and have more than a couple of scopes that cost more than the rifles they are mounted on. I just prefer the red dot on the bow for the reasons I stated above.

I do shoot with a starburst reticle that gives me three different aim points, encompassing my entire shooting range with the bow.

[dutchhunter]

I am a huge red dot fan on my turkey guns.i am now looking for one for my daughters sa20 .what brand are the ones you use ..I always start the season with a fresh battery and keep one in wallet .never been a problem. I like the look of the reflex sight above can you tell me more about it. Thanks Dutch

[deerman41]

red dot useless in low light, I had big deer at dusk dark come by me twice at 35 yrds, I could see with naked eye but all I saw was red dot in scope. Last time I used it. I bought hawke XB30 , as good in low light as my leupold & Swarovski rifle scopes.

[galamb]

It is a model DB4 from NCSTAR.

It is "exactly" the same as the Browning BuckMark Reflex - also sells under a couple of other "branded" versions.

These have dropped quite a bit in price in the past few years, now generally sell for between 50 and 100 bucks.

In the (tube style) I am somewhat of a fan of the Bushnell Tactical Red Dot which I would personally consider as a replacement for one of my DB4's in the event one of them crapped out, particularly on my shotgun (20 gauge pump I use for Turkey).



Having said that, I sell guns/ammo at work and was recently given a "tactical sight" from Sun Optics (US company that has their optics assembled in China).

It is a model CD13-TS30WH - it's meant for the guys that run around and play Rambo but I had commented that it might be a good sight for a shotgun and the company rep tossed me one and said "here, try it out" (was at a buyers show back in December). While I haven't mounted it on anything yet, it has me intrigued.


Sun also has their own version of the DB4 (the reflex sight) they call a CD13-RRG. If I replaced my DB4 (directly) I would go with the Sun Optics version - they specified a few upgrade parts compared to the NCSTAR stuff (which was really designed for the airsoft crowd). You can google "sun optics" and get a look at their line - like I say, most is geared to the "tactical" types, but have some "usable" stuff and their prices aren't bad if you are looking for something other than the "dot in a tube".

And red dots, like optical scopes are not all built equal. If you buy a low end scope with an "on or off" dot, or a high/medium/low dot you will have issues at first/last light. The better (higher cost) red dots have "multiple" intensity selections where the lowest settings are barely visible (the sun optic I note, looking out my dark livingroom window at this moment is "too weak" on it's lowest setting - it's usable on it's second intensity of the five available for each of the green (full daylight) or red (dusk/dawn) settings - I can't see it ever getting so dark (would have to be pitch black) to use the lowest setting where it would "obscure" the target.