Red Dot Setup for Youth 870 20 Gauge??

[BDeal]

My son would like to upgrade his sights to a red dot on his youth 870. Any suggestions on which specific mount and red dot to use?

Thank You!

[PharmHunter]

Drill and tap it for a Burris Fastfire III.  I'm a big fan of a Marlin 336 base or a Sumtoy.  If you don't want to drill and tap it then the Meadow Creek rib mount is a good option.

[mountainhunter1]

The bushnell TRS-25 is well liked. The AT3- RD Micro red dot for 75 dollars and a lifetime warranty with great customer service likely cannot be beat for the amount of money. If you want to go a touch higher in money, I really like the Vortex Sparc Solar (Just be sure to use the low mount option that comes with that red dot). Typically, these are mounted on a picatinny rail.

Now - if you want to go with an even smaller set up, commonly referred to by some as an open reflex sight - you could consider the AT3 ARO micro which is a really good option. The Vortex Venom is excellent. Holosun has several really good options. The Burris fast fire's are loved by a lot of folks and Leupold makes a very worthy candidate known as the Deltapoint Pro. These red dots will be smaller and lighter than the ones I listed above in the first paragraph. But they are still rugged in the field. If you go with one of these, I would check with Sumtoy Customs as he has a quality smaller mount made for these smaller red dot options. I usually go with a drilled and tapped approach, but If your gun is not drilled and tapped, the great thing about these smaller red dots is the ability to use the Meadow Creek vent ribbed mount system. You can check their sight mounts out and they also sell their vent ribbed mount system in a combo package with the red dot to save you more money. I have yet to see any issue with their set up on the factory vent rib of the barrel in the guns we have used extensively in the woods.

There are other quality red dots besides those listed above, but these listed are some that I know will rarely give you any problems.

But for the money, and with their great customer service, not sure you can beat one of the AT3 sights and they offer both a regular red dot and the smaller open reflex sights as well. And their warranty is also transferable. 

[BDeal]

His gun is not tapped for a scope. I like the looks of the meadow creek vent rib mounts. Are there any negatives with going this route?

Thanks!

[PharmHunter]

His gun is not tapped for a scope. I like the looks of the meadow creek vent rib mounts. Are there any negatives with going this route?

Thanks!

Only negative I've seen with the meadow creek rib mount is you have a little narrower field of view compared to the sight being back on the receiver.  Still works just fine though.  I went this route on my most recent build and like it just fine though.

[BDeal]

His gun is not tapped for a scope. I like the looks of the meadow creek vent rib mounts. Are there any negatives with going this route?

Thanks!

Only negative I've seen with the meadow creek rib mount is you have a little narrower field of view compared to the sight being back on the receiver.  Still works just fine though.  I went this route on my most recent build and like it just fine though.

What sight did you go with?

[mountainhunter1]

Go on you tube and check out Full Fan: Ryan Greathouse Turkey Hunting. He did two videos on the meadow creek mounts.

Also check out the review on Blue Collar Outdoors You Tube page and he does an even better job discussing why they have switched all of their guns to meadow creek mount set ups.

I guess we are all different, but I kind of felt like the meadow creek mount system made my field of view better. So far, no issues with using them have come about. They have worked great. If you can spare your gun, Sumtoy Customs can drill and tap your receiver and you can go with a marlin 336 base, or even better Sumtoy makes his own base which is excellent. You can run these smaller red dots (base and all) and stay under four ounces total weight.

At this point, I am assuming you are going to go with meadow creek to mount your sight. So that said, If money is no issue, I would go with either a Vortex Venom, Burris Fastfire 3, or a Leupold Deltapoint Pro. If you want to keep a budget, you just cannot beat the AT3 sights (I listed two in my post above), and I honestly feel that they are right there with the more expensive of the three I just listed. The Bushnell TRS-25 is much the same if you are on a budget. I just think that AT3 will take better care of you at the moment as far as customer service.

The only difference on the more expensive red dots is that they tend to show up better in very bright sun light in the middle of the day, but it seems that turkey hunters are usually in the shade trying to hide and that has never been an issue for me with the AT3 or Bushnell TRS-25. Holoson is also excellent, but I am more familiar with Vortex, Fast fire and AT3, Bushnell and Leupold. There are some others that are good as well, but you are going to jump an additional 1-2 hundred dollars for some of them and you really don't need anything better than those that I have listed. None of them have ever failed me. Just keep an extra battery in the vest in case one ever dies mid hunt. 

[BDeal]

Go on you tube and check out Full Fan: Ryan Greathouse Turkey Hunting. He did two videos on the meadow creek mounts.

Also check out the review on Blue Collar Outdoors You Tube page and he does an even better job discussing why they have switched all of their guns to meadow creek mount set ups.

I guess we are all different, but I kind of felt like the meadow creek mount system made my field of view better. So far, no issues with using them have come about. They have worked great. If you can spare your gun, Sumtoy Customs can drill and tap your receiver and you can go with a marlin 336 base, or even better Sumtoy makes his own base which is excellent. You can run these smaller red dots (base and all) and stay under four ounces total weight.

At this point, I am assuming you are going to go with meadow creek to mount your sight. So that said, If money is no issue, I would go with either a Vortex Venom, Burris Fastfire 3, or a Leupold Deltapoint Pro. If you want to keep a budget, you just cannot beat the AT3 sights (I listed two in my post above), and I honestly feel that they are right there with the more expensive of the three I just listed. The Bushnell TRS-25 is much the same if you are on a budget. I just think that AT3 will take better care of you at the moment as far as customer service.

The only difference on the more expensive red dots is that they tend to show up better in very bright sun light in the middle of the day, but it seems that turkey hunters are usually in the shade trying to hide and that has never been an issue for me with the AT3 or Bushnell TRS-25. Holoson is also excellent, but I am more familiar with Vortex, Fast fire and AT3, Bushnell and Leupold. There are some others that are good as well, but you are going to jump an additional 1-2 hundred dollars for some of them and you really don't need anything better than those that I have listed. None of them have ever failed me. Just keep an extra battery in the vest in case one ever dies mid hunt.

So you can use the AT3 with the Meadow creek ventilated rib mount? Thank you SO much for all of the info!!

[mountainhunter1]

Go on you tube and check out Full Fan: Ryan Greathouse Turkey Hunting. He did two videos on the meadow creek mounts.

Also check out the review on Blue Collar Outdoors You Tube page and he does an even better job discussing why they have switched all of their guns to meadow creek mount set ups.

I guess we are all different, but I kind of felt like the meadow creek mount system made my field of view better. So far, no issues with using them have come about. They have worked great. If you can spare your gun, Sumtoy Customs can drill and tap your receiver and you can go with a marlin 336 base, or even better Sumtoy makes his own base which is excellent. You can run these smaller red dots (base and all) and stay under four ounces total weight.

At this point, I am assuming you are going to go with meadow creek to mount your sight. So that said, If money is no issue, I would go with either a Vortex Venom, Burris Fastfire 3, or a Leupold Deltapoint Pro. If you want to keep a budget, you just cannot beat the AT3 sights (I listed two in my post above), and I honestly feel that they are right there with the more expensive of the three I just listed. The Bushnell TRS-25 is much the same if you are on a budget. I just think that AT3 will take better care of you at the moment as far as customer service.

The only difference on the more expensive red dots is that they tend to show up better in very bright sun light in the middle of the day, but it seems that turkey hunters are usually in the shade trying to hide and that has never been an issue for me with the AT3 or Bushnell TRS-25. Holoson is also excellent, but I am more familiar with Vortex, Fast fire and AT3, Bushnell and Leupold. There are some others that are good as well, but you are going to jump an additional 1-2 hundred dollars for some of them and you really don't need anything better than those that I have listed. None of them have ever failed me. Just keep an extra battery in the vest in case one ever dies mid hunt.

So you can use the AT3 with the Meadow creek ventilated rib mount? Thank you SO much for all of the info!!

Yes, if using the meadow creek mount, go with the AT3 ARO Micro.

Here is a link - https://www.at3tactical.com/products/at3-aro-micro-red-dot-reflex-sight-with-optional-riser-mount

BUT - you can go on Meadow Creek page and save a good bit of money by buying the base and sight together. Call them if you have additional questions. They are a big fan of the AT3 stuff as well. Here is the link to buy the two pieces together and it will save you some cash.

https://meadowcreekmounts.myshopify.com/products/package-deal-mount-optic?variant=42491134836980

[mountainhunter1]

BDeal - the "REVIVE10" code appears to still be workig on the meadow creek site. It will save you ten additional dollars if you can order before it expires.

[Greg Massey]

Do not buy the Burris FF3, it's nothing but a battery headache. Buy either the Swampfox Kingslayer green circle dot or Holosun brand ...

[strum]

I use the same gun with a Sumtoy mount and FF3 I like it so well I also have the same setup on 2 12ga supers.  as far as drilling goes. I bought a 6-48 tap set and a #31 drill bit and did it myself. not hard at all. But I have a little machining experience. even if you have to wait till season is over and get a gunspith to do it youll be happy you did. Greg whats this battery issue your speaking of? Ive never had a problem with any of mine. except installing the battery can be tricky

[mountainhunter1]

I assume he is talking about  trying to get the cap started back on the threads when changing the battery. It can be a pain on some of those Fast fires, but what we have done is just take out the small o-ring and the cap goes on after that with no issues. Other than that, I think the Burris red dot is an excellent choice among several different brands I listed above. 

[USMC0331]

I'm using a Meadow creek mount and vortex Venom red dot. Zero problems thus far

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Greg Massey]

Do not buy the Burris FF3, it's nothing but a battery headache. Buy either the Swampfox Kingslayer green circle dot or Holosun brand ...

Yes what i was referring to is the battery cap, trying to keep from cross threading and just getting it to start. If you eliminate the rubber o ring, in my opinion it's not waterproof and this could void the warranty.