Red Dot...Holographic...Reflex questions??

[sswv]

thinking about one of the 'Red Dot'...'Holographic'...'Reflex' style sights but I know nothing about them so, what's the difference? which one is the more desired? and why?

thanks in advance

[Tail Feathers]

.Lots of good choices in the area.  Burris Fastfire III and IV are popular.  Vortex is pretty popular and I like my Swampfox Kingslayer.  You can get a plain red dot, circle with dot in the center, green or the Burris Fastfire IV does all of those I think.

They are like an easy button when you get it mounted and sighted in.  Wherever the dot is is where you hit center.  Good form, bad form, dot off center in the viewfinder...it hits where the dot is.

[NOmad]

Speaking on the two most common, Red Dot and Holographic, the main difference is the projection of the "dot". Red Dot optics use an LED light to project a simple dot on the glass of your optic. Holographic sites use a hologram or project an image of a reticle at a fixed distance from your eye.

Now as far as pros and cons of these sights go for turkey hunting, it definitely seems as though the red dot has the upper hand.

Red Dots typically are lighter, have a longer battery life, and more simplistic to operate. On the flipside, you are stuck with a narrow range of brightness and only have the option of the single dot for the reticle.

Holographic sights are better performing in low light (even as far as being designed to operate well with Night Vision) and have a much wider variety of brightness and reticle options. The negatives is that they are much heavier, much more expensive, and have a much shorter battery life than red dots.

Both are (typically) parallax free and can be mounted in a variety of different ways.

So while Holographic sites are often "better" optics overall, red dots definitely seem to hit the sweet spot that turkey hunting demands. I use a Burris Fast Fire 3 red dot and absolutely love everything about it. I have terrible eyesight and wear contacts and this has made a big difference for me this year.

[sswv]

thanks for the input so far gang. keep it coming

[Sungrazer]

I'm new to the green dot game, I know I have an astigmatism, therefore I ordered a manual adjust brightness model.I want to run the green dot at a dimmer setting so I don't get the starburst effect, was concerned an automatic brightness setting would be too bright for me.
I'm really happy with it while patterning, but I did miss a Turkey last week so... I learned to remember Dad's advice " Squeeze don't pull the trigger" and "always verify a clean shot path". Verified sight is still zeroed today, it was the Indian not the gun.

[Gobbler428]

Just so you know, the lifetime warranty does work with the Vortex red dot. I have hunted with one for several years and when I took it to the range this year prior to turkey season the left/right adjustment would not move the POI. I called Vortex, they sent me a return label and in about a week I had a brand new Vortex red dot along with an explanation from the technician as to what was wrong with the old one. Outstanding customer service and warranty from Vortex, just a FYI.

[NOmad]

I'm new to the green dot game, I know I have an astigmatism, therefore I ordered a manual adjust brightness model.I want to run the green dot at a dimmer setting so I don't get the starburst effect, was concerned an automatic brightness setting would be too bright for me.
I'm really happy with it while patterning, but I did miss a Turkey last week so... I learned to remember Dad's advice " Squeeze don't pull the trigger" and "always verify a clean shot path". Verified sight is still zeroed today, it was the Indian not the gun.

What has been your experience with the auto setting? I was worried about the same starburst effect when I got mine (red dot not green, I have the BFF 3) but the auto brightness setting has been perfect for me in every scenario I have turned it on in so far.

I will say though, if I am set up on a roosted bird, I wont turn the dot on until he fly's down as I like to get as close to the light I will be shooting in as possible when I hit the button. FWIW I think it continuously auto adjusts as light conditions change so when I turn it on likely doesn't make a difference.

[Sungrazer]

I'm new to the green dot game, I know I have an astigmatism, therefore I ordered a manual adjust brightness model.I want to run the green dot at a dimmer setting so I don't get the starburst effect, was concerned an automatic brightness setting would be too bright for me.
I'm really happy with it while patterning, but I did miss a Turkey last week so... I learned to remember Dad's advice " Squeeze don't pull the trigger" and "always verify a clean shot path". Verified sight is still zeroed today, it was the Indian not the gun.

What has been your experience with the auto setting? I was worried about the same starburst effect when I got mine (red dot not green, I have the BFF 3) but the auto brightness setting has been perfect for me in every scenario I have turned it on in so far.

I will say though, if I am set up on a roosted bird, I wont turn the dot on until he fly's down as I like to get as close to the light I will be shooting in as possible when I hit the button. FWIW I think it continuously auto adjusts as light conditions change so when I turn it on likely doesn't make a difference.

I have manual adjust, has 8 settings, 2 of those nightvision. I ran it last week on lowest daytime setting early morning and 1 step brighter mid-day.
It's a Gowutar A20 with 2 MOA dot

[Sixes]

I used a Burris FF3 for a few years and then switched to a Holosun with the green circle and will never go back.

The circle creates an easy way to frame the targe

[Notsoyoungturk]

I also have the Holosun and love it.  I have it on 2 20g and a pistol.  I went with the 507c which is the red dot.  You have 3 reticles.  Dot, circle and circle with central dot.  Good control of brightness.  You have 2 buttons on the left side.  Press one button to turn on, Front button increases brightness.  Back button decreases.  Press both together to turn off.  Great battery life.  It also has the shake awake feature plus a solar charger.

[sswv]

thanks for all the relies everyone.  trying to choose between 2MOA or 3MOA.  My eyesight is just fine at distance but up real close I have trouble. reading glasses are my friend.