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Turkey Guns & Shooting => 20 Gauge Turkey Guns => Topic started by: church on January 02, 2021, 10:50:13 PM

Title: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: church on January 02, 2021, 10:50:13 PM
Ive seen a lot of controversy online about this. I recently got a Burris fast fire 3 to put onto my pistol and never ended up using it. Ive seen a few different guns that use them and was wondering what yalls opinions on using them for turkeys is? Is it worth it to put it on my M2? Thanks!
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: USMC0331 on January 02, 2021, 10:56:59 PM
There are pros and cons to any sight you use. I have 1 with bead, one with green fiber front bead with 2 red fiber rear sight, one with William's rifle sights , 1 with a Bushnell red dot and another with the venom red dot. I like the venom set up the most and that's what I'll start with this year. Red dot once zeroed it doesn't matter how you hold the shotgun, put the dot on his head and its cancel Christmas.

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Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: church on January 02, 2021, 11:00:16 PM
Quote from: USMC0331 on January 02, 2021, 10:56:59 PM
There are pros and cons to any sight you use. I have 1 with bead, one with green fiber front bead with 2 red fiber rear sight, one with William's rifle sights , 1 with a Bushnell red dot and another with the venom red dot. I like the venom set up the most and that's what I'll start with this year. Red dot once zeroed it doesn't matter how you hold the shotgun, put the dot on his head and its cancel Christmas.

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?
Another question. What mount do you use? Seen a lot of people use sumtoys and marlin 336s.
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: USMC0331 on January 02, 2021, 11:01:47 PM
I use a Meadow creek rib mount.if you are going to mount to the receiver I would use the sumtoy mount.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210103/fce70cfad59a745e53c78dac10627c45.jpg)

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Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: paboxcall on January 02, 2021, 11:15:48 PM
Quote from: USMC0331 on January 02, 2021, 10:56:59 PM
There are pros and cons to any sight you use. I have 1 with bead, one with green fiber front bead with 2 red fiber rear sight, one with William's rifle sights , 1 with a Bushnell red dot and another with the venom red dot. I like the venom set up the most and that's what I'll start with this year. Red dot once zeroed it doesn't matter how you hold the shotgun, put the dot on his head and its cancel Christmas.

Early on, shot a single bead on a H&R single, and then two beads on a 12 gauge Mossberg 500. Graduated to my 1300 and the H&R each having Williams rifle sights - Sumtoy installed the Williams rifle sights on the single shot. Hunted those rifle sights for a number of years successfully.

Currently, my 20 gauge Mossberg has a FF3 with a Sumtoy mount. My strong preference is the FF3. Like USMC said, point and shoot.
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: BandedSpur on January 03, 2021, 09:01:39 AM
Largely depends on your age and the shells you shoot. If you are young, with eyes that can still focus on a bead or beads and the turkey at the same time, either will work. As you age, you lose the ability to focus on both the beads and the turkey. At that point, and you will know when it comes, a red dot is definitely the way to go. As others have said, put the dot on his head, and if he is in range, he is dead. The shells and choke you use also come into play. Old school lead loads have more wiggle room than today's TSS loads shot through tight chokes. At my age (59), shooting TSS through very tight chokes, I will never shoot another turkey without a red dot.
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: ChesterCopperpot on January 03, 2021, 09:55:23 AM
I'm not a fan of electronics on a gun. That said, I really want a rear sight on a turkey gun rather than just a front bead. They get close and I get excited and it's easy to get that head up just a fuzz. I find a rear sight forces me to keep my head down. Personally I like a ghost ring peep sight for the rear. Rear sights are also helpful running tight chokes up close. Aim small, miss small kind of thing. All in all with the chokes most of us run nowadays I think we need to treat our turkey guns more like rifles than shotguns as far as sights go. He races in to ten or fifteen yards and you get your head up just a hair with a super tight choke and you're over him. Anything that helps eliminate that margin of error, whether a red dot or a rear sight, is a good thing in my book.


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Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: chatterbox on January 03, 2021, 06:32:23 PM
My son and myself run fast fire sights in our turkey rigs.
I have FFIII's in my H&R single shot, and my Mossberg.
Harrison had a FFII in his Mossberg, and we have had great success with them in our guns.
I had to quick draw in a tom this spring, and I wouldn't have been successful if I hadn't had my FFIII on my gun.


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Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: chipper on January 29, 2021, 12:24:28 PM
I'm going on 30 years of turkey hunting and used beads exclusively until 6 years ago when my vision got worse and had to start using bifocals and switched to a Aimpoint Micro H1 on my 870 20 gauge, I wish I would have made the switch 20 years ago! Faster and more precise, plus I don't have to try to focus on 2 beads anymore. Center of my pattern is the red dot, and ive made some shots at extreme twisted positions I don't think I would have made with beads.
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: g8rvet on January 29, 2021, 12:48:18 PM
58 here and don't yet NEED one, but I can tell it will not be long.  I will switch when I have to.  Currently running a peep sight on my SA459 and like it fine.  I do have a red dot on a Muzzleloader that I could just not get good aim with available options (no rib, single bead, etc).  Works fine now, but still not happy with that gun.  Gonna work on it this year when it warms up a bit.
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: mountaineer long beard on January 29, 2021, 12:49:52 PM
Quote from: USMC0331 on January 02, 2021, 10:56:59 PM
There are pros and cons to any sight you use. I have 1 with bead, one with green fiber front bead with 2 red fiber rear sight, one with William's rifle sights , 1 with a Bushnell red dot and another with the venom red dot. I like the venom set up the most and that's what I'll start with this year. Red dot once zeroed it doesn't matter how you hold the shotgun, put the dot on his head and its cancel Christmas.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
So you're saying that with a red dot scope the dot can be off center in the scope and you'll still hit what you've got the dot on? I have a Bushnell red dot and I didn't know this, I just assumed the dot had to be centered.

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Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: schief on January 29, 2021, 06:26:03 PM
I use a FFIII on a Sumtoy mount on my Rem 1187  20ga. 78 years has taken toll on eye sight
Title: Re: Red dot vs no red dot
Post by: g8rvet on January 29, 2021, 06:43:07 PM
Quote from: mountaineer long beard on January 29, 2021, 12:49:52 PMSo you're saying that with a red dot scope the dot can be off center in the scope and you'll still hit what you've got the dot on? I have a Bushnell red dot and I didn't know this, I just assumed the dot had to be centered.

Most red dots have very little parallax.  So yes is the answer to your question.  This site explains it.

https://info.stagarms.com/blog/fast-and-accurate-red-dot-sight-techniques#:~:text=Red%20dot%20sights%20put%20you,and%20faster%20than%20magnified%20optics.&text=Parallax%20is%20the%20tendency%20for,point%20of%20impact%20can%20shift.