Prismatic Red Dots for non-AR long guns

[chicharrones]

As my eyes age, and I find the need to use scopes mostly for the ability to focus the reticle, it makes me wish there were more red dots with a reticle or dot focus capability.

There are several Prismatic red dots for AR rifles set at AR rifle sight height, but for a traditionally stocked rifle, there seem to be none that I can find other than the Leupold 1x14 that appears to have been discontinued. http://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-1x14mm-prismatic-hunting-riflescope.html

It sure would be nice to have a focus adjustable red dot sight for mounting on a light carbine without having to resort to a heavy and expensive illuminated reticle scope.

Are there any other prismatic red dots out there for non-AR guns that I don't know about?

If not, do y'all think this is a market segment being missed for shooters with eyes that could use the help of focusing the dot?

 

[tarosean]

Aimpoint has a hunting line, just for that. I've forgotten the product numbers though..

 

[chicharrones]

Yeah, I thought Aimpoint would have that feature, but all products I've seen of theirs have unlimited eye relief. Which pretty much means it isn't a prismatic red dot with a focus adjust.

 

[jeepnik]

Not sure if it will work for you as there is no magnification. But holographic sites work pretty well for me. Simply keep both eyes open and the master eye automatically superimposes the red dot on the target. This one is on a Marlin 1895 GS.

 

[chicharrones]

That's a great looking lever gun.

Can you focus the dot on that one, jeepnik?

 

[Arizona_Mike]

That is a reflex site not a holo site. Dot placed at focal point of two equal lenses projects dot to infinity. No need to focus but looks fuzzy if you have astigmatism. I migrated from irons to reflex sites a few years ago due to Presbyopia and have bought a couple magnified prism sites lately due to changing astigmatism. I am overdue on new glasses and the jury is still out until I get around to it.

The problem is that most prisms don't give enough eye relief for a conventional rifle length of pull. I am tall with long arms and am not a nose-to-charging handle person on the AR and I have found I need special mounts to use these prisms on an AR. I think the eye relief might work out well on a lever action but don't see it as as option on a bolt action.

Mike

PS. You don't need a prism site to have a focusing eye piece . . . prisms just make the scope shorter for the same specs.

 

[chicharrones]

PS. You don't need a prism site to have a focusing eye piece . . . prisms just make the scope shorter for the same specs.

Understood. Much like roof prism binoculars.

Do you know of any tube type red dots with a focusing eye piece? I though for sure the Aimpoints made for hunters would have that feature, but I can't seem to find any evidence of that.

 

[jeepnik]

That's a great looking lever gun.

Can you focus the dot on that one, jeepnik?

Not sure what you mean by focus. But you can adjust the intensity of the dot. It now rides on a flat top .22 lr AR.

 

[chicharrones]

Not sure what you mean by focus.

The prism red dots for ARs usually have a focus ring on the eye piece so that the red dot can be focused to suit the shooter's needs. Much like the focus ring on binoculars or what can be done with scopes, whether fast focus or the screw type.

See the photo at the link from Vortex below. Note the +0- at the top of eyepiece lens ring. That is the focus ring I'm looking for.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/uploads/ps_spitfire_ar_bl-t.jpg

It's clear this type of red dot is made for ARs, I was looking to see if anyone made them for traditional rifles with a low to bore mounting height.

The penalty would be a red dot with eye relief limitations, but the advantage would be potentially having a dot or reticle that is actually in focus instead of a starburst blur. It's a "middle age eyes" thing I'm dealing with.

 

[jeepnik]

The prism red dots for ARs usually have a focus ring on the eye piece so that the red dot can be focused to suit the shooter's needs. Much like the focus ring on binoculars or what can be done with scopes, whether fast focus or the screw type.

See the photo at the link from Vortex below. Note the +0- at the top of eyepiece lens ring. That is the focus ring I'm looking for.

http://www.vortexoptics.com/uploads/ps_spitfire_ar_bl-t.jpg

It's clear this type of red dot is made for ARs, I was looking to see if anyone made them for traditional rifles with a low to bore mounting height.

The penalty would be a red dot with eye relief limitations, but the advantage would be potentially having a dot or reticle that is actually in focus instead of a starburst blur. It's a "middle age eyes" thing I'm dealing with.

The holographic sight isn't like a true red dot. It has a single plain. The dot is superimposed on the glass. It's quite fast, but has some limitations with regard to lighting.

For hunting it works well in tight terrain. On the GS it worked very well until my eyes needed more help.

 

[barnbwt]

I think the Primary Arms guys may be sort of what you're looking for. Still very much AR-centric, but they at least use the quasi-standardized ACOG mounts on some of their products that should give you more options for your application. Basically emulating what an ACOG does but without the expensive tritium or fiberoptic (and a whole lot smaller & cheaper). Some are actually neutral magnification (1X image, but flattened onto a single focal plane as with a telescopic sight) most are low power, though. One drawback, I think intrinsic to all low-power sights, is that the focal length from your eye is on the short side, and is rather 'thin'; the 'sweet spot' your pupil has to sit at is smaller and closer to the lens than your typical 4X deer scope.

The most direct route would be a dot with a standalone magnifier for what you describe, because I think pretty much every sighting system that bothers to use image focusing lenses is going to have an illuminated reticle vs. a laser dot. There's simply too many advantages in doing it this way (less light transmitted down range, windage/elevation/rangefinding markings, better visibility at a given brightness, unobstructed viewing tube, sharper reticle image since we all have a little diffusion in our corneas, etc.)

TCB

 

[chicharrones]

On the GS it worked very well until my eyes needed more help.

That's the point my eyes hit a few years ago. Red dots are still better than iron sights for me, though.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a 3x vortex spitfire on my 50 Beowulf AR and it works great. No reason it wouldnt work well on a lever gun too.

 

[chicharrones]

ive got a 3x vortex spitfire on my 50 Beowulf AR and it works great. No reason it wouldnt work well on a lever gun too.

The Spitfire is set at the typical 1.4" to 1.5" AR height above the rail, correct? Is the riser removable?

 

[Lloyd Smale]

on mine theres a removable base and it can be mounted at different heights