Red dot on Tikka? Advice needed.

[RockAndSage]

They are also quite heavy compared to micro and rmr

They are, comparatively. But again, they're only heavy if comparing to a red-dot.

 

[medvedyt]

Aimpoint made a T2 mount for while that screwed right onto the tikka rail, super low, ideal setup. And you can put any t2 footprint dot on there I'd think. I've had one gathering dust in a closet for a few years now.

Aimpoint Micro H-1,H-2 Mount for Tikka T3

Aimpoint Micro H-1,H-2 Mount for Tikka T3

www.optics-trade.eu

Edited to add: I'd say this mount and a holsun 503 of some flavor would be a great combo. With a factory stock, I'd think you'll want something super low like this

i went with that mount for the micro orange i ve got for my 9.3x62. it will make a great back up even if i have open sights on it,

 

[nm.otter]

Not sure about Tikka rail mounting, but the Williams LRS seems like a clever design.

 

[TREE ‘EM]

I went with a Trijicon MRO on two of my setups.
I’ve got an MRO HD weather additional magnifier on a 308, and a MRO 2MOA Green Picatinny Mount on a 270.
I find the MRO to be faster in use on a target that’s more than just feet away. I have no problems hitting my 12 inch gong at 300 yards with either rifle.
I find the green dot shows up better in hunting scenarios than red. The red MRO has a significant battery life advantage though.

 

[Alfaduc]

i went with that mount for the micro orange i ve got for my 9.3x62. it will make a great back up even if i have open sights on it,

Any pictures? I just got an Arctic and am thinking of removing the picatinny rail to run that setup.

 

[medvedyt]

Any pictures? I just got an Arctic and am thinking of removing the picatinny rail to run that setup.

let me try something for you. but the weaver rail are not bad either i will post both for you later on.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Look up holosun 509t green and then the picatinny adapter for it. Mount it rear of action, gives bigger fov.

I ran a 507c on a howa briefly and no prob moa 3 shot at 200 yards zeroing then punched a fist size 3 shot at 300 in middle of gong holding bottom of dot on top of gong. Gun no less accurate than before.

The 509 is enclosed, has solar primary and can run without a battery but battery there for when no light available. Shake awake etc.

I run their eps full size on a shotgun slug set up with shield cut out in receiver as lowest deck height plus all above features and big fov. But unsure you can get it to picatinny? So 509t the way I’d go.

Also run 507c on several .22’s, they are awesome little dots.

 

[Alfaduc]

let me try something for you. but the weaver rail are not bad either i will post both for you later on.

I just received one of the new Aimpoint Duty RDS MR sights. The picatinny rail is off the rifle, all I need now is the Innomount from Europe. Playing the waiting game now.

 

[Eship]

Look up holosun 509t green and then the picatinny adapter for it. Mount it rear of action, gives bigger fov.

I ran a 507c on a howa briefly and no prob moa 3 shot at 200 yards zeroing then punched a fist size 3 shot at 300 in middle of gong holding bottom of dot on top of gong. Gun no less accurate than before.

The 509 is enclosed, has solar primary and can run without a battery but battery there for when no light available. Shake awake etc.

I run their eps full size on a shotgun slug set up with shield cut out in receiver as lowest deck height plus all above features and big fov. But unsure you can get it to picatinny? So 509t the way I’d go.

Also run 507c on several .22’s, they are awesome little dots.

Don’t mean to be that guy, but red dots are generally meant to be used as far forward on the gun as possible in order to minimize the amount of FOV that they obstruct. Since the glass on red dots does not provide any magnification, nor is it ever high quality enough glass that it enhances your natural vision, the optic housing only serves to obscure FOV, and the closer to your eye that it is, the larger percentage of your FOV it obscures. This is why when you see most guys shooting with red dots (think competition or tactical stuff) they have it mounted as far as they can get forward.

 

[medvedyt]

I just received one of the new Aimpoint Duty RDS MR sights. The picatinny rail is off the rifle, all I need now is the Innomount from Europe. Playing the waiting game now.

sorry i would do that when coming home in a few days.

 

[Alfaduc]

sorry i would do that when coming home in a few days.

No big deal. I did as much research as I could find on the internet. Going back and forth between a MICRO, ACRO, and RMR HD. Doing lots of measuring. Really wanted a RMR HD; but, couldn’t find a direct mount to the groove, nor an adapter plate for the Innomount Doctor mount.

Then Aimpoint came out with the new Duty RDS MR this week and it had all the features I wanted. I ordered one a couple hours after they sent me an email. The Innomount for the Micro will work with the new Aimpoint Duty. I’ll post pictures once it’s all finished. Probably going to be two to three weeks to get here and clear customs. I’ll be back from Portugal by then.

 

[Lawnboi]

I just slapped an eotech on my 14 hmr area 419 rail. I can swap to and from the scope that way. Works good for backyard predators, especially with a gun light.

 

[Alfaduc]

Probably sit a little more forward.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Don’t mean to be that guy, but red dots are generally meant to be used as far forward on the gun as possible in order to minimize the amount of FOV that they obstruct. Since the glass on red dots does not provide any magnification, nor is it ever high quality enough glass that it enhances your natural vision, the optic housing only serves to obscure FOV, and the closer to your eye that it is, the larger percentage of your FOV it obscures. This is why when you see most guys shooting with red dots (think competition or tactical stuff) they have it mounted as far as they can get forward.

That’s what I thought too and I think generally for pistol distances from your face but receiver mounting fo you suppose Mossberg got it wrong. You get all the fov in world when it’s pistol mounted. I have one on barrel mount way out on barrel of a shotgun. I’ve run on front of receiver on bolt gun, I’ve got a new Mossberg 940 pro Turkey 18.5” and its cut out is rear of receiver. And it doesn’t take long to see why. It works well and improves fov in the dotted picture so it’s easier to find the animal and reference. Especially closer targets. Good news is all positions work. Play with it and see for your self. Bigger window, closer to face, is more better imo and took me long time to see it for myself.

Tips, whatever you get, find out the actual perceived moa of the dot at whatever eye relief you end up with. Or take notes when on known size gongs are distance. Ie; a 507c supposed to be 2 moa dot but on my 15” round gong at 206 yards is about 3.5-3.75 moa from recollection so takes up approximately half the gong. I used some target paper at home to predetermine moa of dot before range trip as I wanted to understand zero to Mpbr and where bottom of dot would land and also conveniently how to use dot as a rangefinder in relation to size of vitals. On howa Grendel when done for example if dot was bigger than deer size vitals then had to start moving up on animal but if dot fit in vitals just pull the trigger. If you know the dot size you can work with that to have bullet land in the dot for a long useful way. The ranging ability makes it a fast go no go gauge. Very easy to go beyond Mpbr also when you know what distance bottom of dot will give you etc. So you can get a pretty functional setup from a dot and being able to see 360 around dot and a larger fov adds to that. Iron sights can’t even begin to compete.

My only issue with them is aging eyes and they aren’t as clear/bright as scopes but my younger years I could have made one work to 300-400 well and also quality gear wasn’t available like now. They have come a long way in cleaning up image and brightness.

 

[justinspicher]

I like this idea and I’m curious how it works out for you.

 

[Eship]

That’s what I thought too and I think generally for pistol distances from your face but receiver mounting fo you suppose Mossberg got it wrong. You get all the fov in world when it’s pistol mounted. I have one on barrel mount way out on barrel of a shotgun. I’ve run on front of receiver on bolt gun, I’ve got a new Mossberg 940 pro Turkey 18.5” and its cut out is rear of receiver. And it doesn’t take long to see why. It works well and improves fov in the dotted picture so it’s easier to find the animal and reference. Especially closer targets. Good news is all positions work. Play with it and see for your self. Bigger window, closer to face, is more better imo and took me long time to see it for myself.

Tips, whatever you get, find out the actual perceived moa of the dot at whatever eye relief you end up with. Or take notes when on known size gongs are distance. Ie; a 507c supposed to be 2 moa dot but on my 15” round gong at 206 yards is about 3.5-3.75 moa from recollection so takes up approximately half the gong. I used some target paper at home to predetermine moa of dot before range trip as I wanted to understand zero to Mpbr and where bottom of dot would land and also conveniently how to use dot as a rangefinder in relation to size of vitals. On howa Grendel when done for example if dot was bigger than deer size vitals then had to start moving up on animal but if dot fit in vitals just pull the trigger. If you know the dot size you can work with that to have bullet land in the dot for a long useful way. The ranging ability makes it a fast go no go gauge. Very easy to go beyond Mpbr also when you know what distance bottom of dot will give you etc. So you can get a pretty functional setup from a dot and being able to see 360 around dot and a larger fov adds to that. Iron sights can’t even begin to compete.

My only issue with them is aging eyes and they aren’t as clear/bright as scopes but my younger years I could have made one work to 300-400 well and also quality gear wasn’t available like now. They have come a long way in cleaning up image and brightness.

Yes, my experience as a tactical/competition shooter and from military has been that farther from my face is better, and I want as little of my field of view taken up by the red dot sight housing as possible. No doubt, there are some people like yourself that prefer having it closer and seeing more within the lens of the red dot. I wonder if shooting both eyes open vs one eye closed would also affect your preference. I only shoot both eyes open and make sure to target focus rather than focusing on the dot. But whatever works best for you, do that

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Yes, my experience as a tactical/competition shooter and from military has been that farther from my face is better, and I want as little of my field of view taken up by the red dot sight housing as possible. No doubt, there are some people like yourself that prefer having it closer and seeing more within the lens of the red dot. I wonder if shooting both eyes open vs one eye closed would also affect your preference. I only shoot both eyes open and make sure to target focus rather than focusing on the dot. But whatever works best for you, do that

There’s a point where far enough from face to outer rim of sight you cover part of reference target. The dot itself isn’t the issue, but it’s what all else you can see around the dot that I’m trying to point out. Just play with it and you’ll see you can make it all work but how much of scene do you want inside the window vs outside the window. Think about it then play with it.

 

[Eship]

There’s a point where far enough from face to outer rim of sight you cover part of reference target. The dot itself isn’t the issue, but it’s what all else you can see around the dot that I’m trying to point out. Just play with it and you’ll see you can make it all work but how much of scene do you want inside the window vs outside the window. Think about it then play with it.

I see what you mean. I can see where too far away would be an issue, but I imagine on most rifles and shotguns, having it roughly 12” from your face wouldn’t obscure the actual target, whereas having it just a few inches from your face would be too obstructive like I mentioned. But if it were all the way at the end I could definitely see the sight housing actually obscuring your point of aim.

Why I don’t see it covering the reference target being much of an issue is when you are target focused and both eyes open, you look beyond the optic and that sight housing basically disappears giving you a clear view. It’s difficult for me to explain the concept over the internet. It’s something that would be better described in person while shooting.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I see what you mean. I can see where too far away would be an issue, but I imagine on most rifles and shotguns, having it roughly 12” from your face wouldn’t obscure the actual target, whereas having it just a few inches from your face would be too obstructive like I mentioned. But if it were all the way at the end I could definitely see the sight housing actually obscuring your point of aim.

It’s a different game from man size target at pistol distances, eye relief no issue. I didn’t think I’d like it closer and was taught same get it as far away from you as possible. Having set up and shot the howa and Mossberg recently my slow to change fudd ass has changed its tune lol. When you start playing on gongs and stretching legs etc. You’ll find what works for intended purposes and if for a hunting rifle setup as improved iron sights then I’m just saying check out closer to your face as possible and see what you think. I preferred the closer to face side of receiver than the far side. It was eye opening.

Howa has scope on it now but if ever set up another dot rifle there’s no question for me which side of receiver I’m setting up on.

 

[Eship]

It’s a different game from man size target at pistol distances, eye relief no issue. I didn’t think I’d like it closer and was taught same get it as far away from you as possible. Having set up and shot the howa and Mossberg recently my slow to change fudd ass has changed its tune lol. When you start playing on gongs and stretching legs etc. You’ll find what works for intended purposes and if for a hunting rifle setup as improved iron sights then I’m just saying check out closer to your face as possible and see what you think. I preferred the closer to face side of receiver than the far side. It was eye opening.

Howa has scope on it now but if ever set up another dot rifle there’s no question for me which side of receiver I’m setting up on.

I’ve done both close with pistols and farther (out to 300m) with rifle with the red dots mounted at the end of the upper receiver (all ARs). It’s really only a 6 inch difference in eye relief that we’re talking about here since I shoot mainly ARs. When I first tried red dots, I used them mounted close because I had always used ACOGs in the military, and as anyone who has used an Acog knows, their eye relief is non existent. It was after shooting like that and then getting into instruction and competition stuff that I learned and switched to mounting them farther out and found that I prefer it that way. So I’m unlikely to switch back since back to that. Currently I have an Acog with a 35 degree offset red dot and have found it to be my favorite set up. Same thing on my long gun; I have the red dot offset and in front of the scope.

I’ve changed from close to far mounting before, and I’m way too stubborn to switch it back.