Under 150 yard scopes

[etisll40]

For woods hunting using a 45-70. 1x6x56 or something along those lines. Any recommendations appreciated. Also reticle choices...

 

[Mike 338]

Trijicon MRO red dot. Battery will last 5 years in the on position and they're tough.

 

[etisll40]

i'll check it out, how big is the moa dot, have you found it easy to obtain good accuracy. I'm probably better off with open sites out to 50 yards though, Thanks

 

[troupe]

I have the Sig Romeo 5 on most of my rifles. Some of them are the Primary Arms and one is the Holosun. All are the same with a 2 moa dot. Once you get used to a dot, you wont go back to open sites, only for back up. I don't know your age, but some older folks have problems with the dot looking blurry if you may have some type of astigmatism. My AR's all will do head shots at 100 with the dots and no magnification. The only thing is that you may need magnification even in the woods. Vortex makes one of the best 1x6 scopes out there in the HD Razor line. Look at the JM-1 reticle. It would be the best scope, not cheap, but great glass, a ballistic tree for distance, and a day light visible dot. Both eyes open on the 1x up close shots and at 6x for the 150 yds. shots. The big reason I mentioned the high end scope is because I hate busy reticles for hunting. The JM-1 does not have that stupid doughnut reticle. Primary Arms make a 1x6 with a triangle aiming point. Some like to use the tip of the triangle for precision. I have used a dot site for 25 years, so the 2 moa dot is more natural for me. A moving shot is sweet with a dot as long as the distance is not to far. Just my opinion.

 

[Mike 338]

i'll check it out, how big is the moa dot, have you found it easy to obtain good accuracy. I'm probably better off with open sites out to 50 yards though, Thanks

They're a 2 moa dot. Regarding accuracy, I'd attach an regular telescopic scope for load testing, so you can actually find your best and most accurate load. Then take it off and attach a red dot or ghost ring sight. The thing about a red dot is that with a thick dark canopy and somewhat low light, cross hairs can be a bit of a pain to get on your animal when the animal is dark too. A red dot does away with all that and at those ranges, a 2 moa dot, shot from a quick field position is plenty accurate. I have a ghost ring on a 45-70 and I was surprised how well I was throwing them in there at 100 yards. Most of the shots hung in there with an average scoped sporter rifle. Scoped lever gun is fine too but I find the best thing about a typical bare lever gun is the fine way it carries and the quick handling. They are by far my favorite gun to tote in the woods. I typically hunt with a bolt gun but nothing beats a trim lever gun to carry.

 

[RT2506]

I have a Primary arms 1-8x24 with the ACSS reticle on one of my ARs in 6.5 Grendel set up for under 300 yards usage but mostly for under 150 yards. Crank it down to 1 power and light up the ACSS reticle and it is just like a red dot with a fine point of aim (^) kind of like this. If you want to shoot longer distance crank up the power. You do not have to light up the reticle unless you want and it will be just a black reticle. It has a number of brightness settings and when set on the lowest one it does not wash out your field of view like many do. It has a lifetime guarantee. Check out Primary Arms. They also make a 1-6x24 and I just got one to put on an AR M4 223 version for Christmas but have not had time to put it on and weather to go shoot it.

 

[troupe]

Primary Arms are great optics for the money. Great folks to deal with and fast shipping. My Micro with mount was around $169. They are one tough little sight.

 

[xsn10s]

I had a 1.5-5 VariXIII on my 45-70 Marlin. I trained for a year for a Alaska hunt. I switched to a fixed 2.5X Leupold after I "accidentally" left it on 5X. It's my hunting/ bear protection rifle.

 

[etisll40]

I never thought about a fixed mag scope, is 2.5x good for close up and out to 100 maybe. I likle 1x6 or 8 conceptually. I saw a Trijicon 2.5x10x56 and that looked interesting, it had a duplex which wasn't too busy. Paying 600 is a bit steep for what I will be using it for. I will look at each of these ideas as I gotta get something.

 

[etisll40]

Trijicon MRO red dot. Battery will last 5 years in the on position and they're tough.

That Trijicon looks big enough for quick shots, a 2moa dot isn't that bad, I have never had ared dot, maybe it's time

 

[KyCarl]

EOTech!
https://www.eotechinc.com/

 

[Alibiiv]

I had a 1.5-5 VariXIII on my 45-70 Marlin. I trained for a year for a Alaska hunt. I switched to a fixed 2.5X Leupold after I "accidentally" left it on 5X. It's my hunting/ bear protection rifle.

I've got a safe full of Leupold VariX III 1-5X scopes, some old and some new. Shotguns, rifles and muzzle loaders. They're a great scope, especially if you don't leave them on 5X when something wants to bite you!! Just messing with you, it's not hard to do!! I have the medium, duplex reticle in most of them. You really have to work at changing the power from 1.5 to 5X, none of these scopes have ever given me any trouble, and if they do there is a lifetime warranty. Print out a warranty form and send it to the company; no charge. I have absolutely no accuracy problems with my 45-70 Guide Gun out to 300 yards on 12 inch steel plates. I don't hit them every time because of the nut behind the trigger, and at 100 yards the rifle will shoot it better than I can shoot it, especially a lot of trigger time with the 406 grain bullets.

 

[Mike 338]

That Trijicon looks big enough for quick shots, a 2moa dot isn't that bad, I have never had ared dot, maybe it's time

So it's 1:1 magnification or in other words, no magnification. Sounds like your handicapping yourself but if things are thick and/or dark around you, you'll appreciate the simplicity, fast handling definite aim point of a plain 'ole dot. They're very trim in terms of not blocking your peripheral vision and/or your other eye from taking in all that's going on around you.

I have one of those self-healing target balls (yellow) I picked up at Sportsman's Warehouse, that's about the size of a softball. It's good practice to set it as far as you dare and shoot off handed at it. When it moves to far out, you can take up various field positions to keep it going.

 

[xsn10s]

They're a great scope, especially if you don't leave them on 5X when something wants to bite you!! Just messing with you, it's not hard to do!!

LOL no problem. I used to train LEO and some military and so I knew how to train for different scenarios. I thought I had it covered lol, yeah right. After I caught myself I went back to the KISS method. Anyways low powered fixed scopes is an old concept I probably got from reading Ken Waters, Finn Aargaard, Jack O'Conners, or such. Hard to argue with those riflemen. I've shot steel pigs out to 400 yards using 350gr Hornadys loaded hot. But I designate it a 250-300 yard set up.