Micro Red Dot Sight Options for Double Rifles

[Ridgewalker]

This is my option on my Krieghoff Classic double in 470 NE.
It`s a Aimpoint Micro, it`s fast, and accurate, and most of all it`s stabile.
Shoot very good groupings.
One matter I agree in is the Trijicon sight are slimmer and therefor more fittet in a doublerifle.

Hallgeir, what size red dot do you have?
Thanks!

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Hallgeir, what size red dot do you have?
Thanks!

It`s a Micro 1 and 2 MOA

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Nice Hallgeir.
Today we were out at the range again for the ‘big bore’ shoot, the 375 being the smallest calibre they allow. There were mostly 375’s but two 458’s and a 460 WM. The format is six targets arranged in an arc from the shooting position, at different ranges from 50m to about 20m. All are placed amongst the bush and you have to change position after each shot to get a clear path To the next. My Verney o/u was the only double, all the rest bolts. They were allowed three rounds in the magazine, start bolt open, and obviously they had to reload another three at mid point. I started with two rounds in and breach broken. So i had to reload twice. Score divided by time was the measure. Some of the bolt rifles had scopes, some open sights, my Verney is open sight. One by one we all went and my turn came, first time at this and I was nervous. Anyway, it all went pretty smoothly, and what i remember most was not aiming per se, this was more like a reflex point thing. Result, the first target was outer ring and The other five bulls in the 50mm inner, time 33 seconds. A few of the bolt guys were faster, but most not. I was shocked, i am seriously not a good shot and all i can say is that yet again i am convinced that good fit and an over and under double works, it is all down to point. Ill do this again some time and try to ascertain whether one does subconsciously aim after all.

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Kevin, That shooting seems very funny aswell.
And it`s near what you get in the bush hunting, this red dot sights are fantastic, you focus on the target and when you lift the rifle to the shoulder you are on target.
I also know a couple of claytargets shooters that also uses this red dot sight. They are also very happy with this sights.
When I hunted my buffalo, I got a 5 seconds window, at that time I shot 2 shots and both hit there they should, the buffalo died after 20 meters.

 

[Hallgeir Gravråk]

Shooting with the doublerifles is very famyliar with shooting with a shotgun, you don`t aim, just point and shoot when you have the contact, the same when you shooting at running target/game, start behind aswing thru and let the shot go when jo are about to pass the target, important that you do the swing all the way thru.
Do not stop the swing.

 

[BigGame]

Question: How much does it matter if the red dot is located at the base of the barrels (@Hallgeir Gravråk) or further up near the iron sights base (@vette447)? Are there Pro's and Con's to sight placement?

 

[mikecatt13]

In my experience with red dots, field of view and perceived size of the viewing window will be effected by how far or close it is to the shooters eye. Other than that, its personal preference. For example, I have MANY MANY rounds through a tube shotgun with a bead, so my competition shotgun with a red dot has the dot located closer to the muzzle than everyone I shoot against, and it works for me and is much faster because it "feels more like a shotgun"

Question: How much does it matter if the red dot is located at the base of the barrels (@Hallgeir Gravråk) or further up near the iron sights base (@vette447)? Are there Pro's and Con's to sight placement?

 

[BigGame]

I was very lucky today to be able to shoulder three double rifles with red dot sights. 2 with Trijicon RMRs and one with an Aimpoint Micro H2. I concluded that where the red dot was placed is a user preference as all placements seemed to work fine to me when shouldered. My personal preference is leaning toward the RMR for its' low profile and other aesthetic reasons. The aimpoint has a larger profile but, seemed indestructible. Can't go wrong either way. IMO

 

[Scrumbag]

I would agree that it is largely preference.

I have a both set ups (not on a double rifle) and like them both. The reason I have both is due to convenience of mounting rather than choice:

9.3x62 has the red dot mounted in front of the receiver due to there being an existing dovetail there.

The Benelli supernova which I use as my slug gun has the red dot at the back of the receiver because it was easy to install an adapter between there (Speedbead is a ring which is held between the stock and the receiver)

Best wishes,

Scrummy

 

[bowjijohn]

It is your fault Scrummy that I'm going down the red dot route !!!

That and my 62 year old eyes

 

[Scrumbag]

It is your fault Scrummy that I'm going down the red dot route !!!

That and my 62 year old eyes

I'd say I'm sorry... but I'm not! Welcome to the (glow in the) Dark Side my friend

 

[Rare Breed]

I know that this has been mentioned or asked a few times but not in awhile and I haven't seen a bunch of options or pictures.

I have a vintage (1920s) Rigby Double in 9.3x74r (originally 350 No2 and rechambered by Rigby years ago).I am planning on going to France for a driven Boar hunt in January and I would love to use this rifle for that hunt. It is currently setup with iron sights (one standing, three folding rear and Westley Richards style flip hooded front) and I am thinking that it would be more useful for this hunt with some sort of optics. This gun would be great with claw scope mounts. However, I can not bring myself to have scope mounts put on this gun as I couldn't desecrate this classic rifle as adding the mounts to the rib would likely require the rear sight be moved and obliterating the barrel address, etc. However, I am considering having a micro red dot mount made that could replace the rear sight so that the original could be drifted off and back on to preserve what originality of the gun.

For red dots; I am thinking possibly a Docter or Trijicon RMR or maybe even the new SRO. I want something that will aid in usefulness of the rifle for hunting but not detract from the slender and handy nature of the rifle.

Thus, I was wondering if any of you have done something similar with a classic Double? Can you please share your thoughts/experience and especially pictures of the setup. Thanks!

A couple of questions guys: 1. What a huge difference in cost...Trijicon $700 Doctor $100? What is going on
2. How do you buy a base for one...I have a Rizzini 470 NE

thanks!

 

[mikecatt13]

A couple of questions guys: 1. What a huge difference in cost...Trijicon $700 Doctor $100? What is going on
2. How do you buy a base for one...I have a Rizzini 470 NE

thanks!

In my experience, most often price and quality go hand in hand with optics. No company has a magic process to make the same thing for a fraction of the cost of another. You MAY pay a small premium for a name sometimes but theres a reason that name is worth something.

Especially when considering your life is on the line with DG and you're talking seriously heavy recoil (keep in mind most reflex sights were designed for pistols and AR style rifles), personally I wont use anything that isnt proven and that seems to be Trijicon and Aimpoint. My double came with an Aimpoint so I plan to use it as long as I like it. If I bought one separate it would be Trijicon because I'm friends with most of the R and D team.

That's not a knock to any other optics like Leupold, etc. There are several more that are great companies and make great products, they just weren't designed with DG in mind and I'm not interested in finding out they have durability issues on a big bore when something is trying to kill me.

Just my $.02

 

[Rare Breed]

In my experience, most often price and quality go hand in hand with optics. No company has a magic process to make the same thing for a fraction of the cost of another. You MAY pay a small premium for a name sometimes but theres a reason that name is worth something.

Especially when considering your life is on the line with DG and you're talking seriously heavy recoil (keep in mind most reflex sights were designed for pistols and AR style rifles), personally I wont use anything that isnt proven and that seems to be Trijicon and Aimpoint. My double came with an Aimpoint so I plan to use it as long as I like it. If I bought one separate it would be Trijicon because I'm friends with most of the R and D team.

That's not a knock to any other optics like Leupold, etc. There are several more that are great companies and make great products, they just weren't designed with DG in mind and I'm not interested in finding out they have durability issues on a big bore when something is trying to kill me.

Just my $.02

Very good and fair points. I paid $10,500 for my new double. I don’t want to be penny wise foolish. Thanks

 

[Longwalker]

How do you buy a base for one...I have a Rizzini 470 NE

Optics-trade.eu

 

[BigGame]

@vette447 This is a Westley Richards double rifle with a Trijicon RMR mounted in the quarter rib in place of the rear sight.

I purchased the same Trijicon RMR for my double but, I will mount it closer to he breech of the rifle. (NOT IN PLACE OF THE REAR SIGHT) I paid a little under $500 with shipping for the sight. It will be installed with a special custom mount provided by the manufacturer. I'm trying not to modify the quarter rib and lose the aesthetics of the rifle. Installation will cost more than the optic but, it will have a warranty from the manufacturer and they cite proven feedback from the field. I was just glad they could mount one on my rifle period. I'm looking forward to having it back by the holidays.

 

[Hunter4752001]

I wouldn't dismiss reflex sights designed for pistol use. A sight mounted directly to a pistol slide is subject to far more forces than one mounted on a DG rifle. Think of the G forces of a slide slamming backwards and forwards, then repeat time and time again.

Even scopes mounted on big bore revolvers and single shots often require 3 to 4 rings to guarantee they hold on. How often do see a rifle with that type of requirement?

 

[mikecatt13]

I wouldn't dismiss reflex sights designed for pistol use. A sight mounted directly to a pistol slide is subject to far more forces than one mounted on a DG rifle. Think of the G forces of a slide slamming backwards and forwards, then repeat time and time again.

Even scopes mounted on big bore revolvers and single shots often require 3 to 4 rings to guarantee they hold on. How often do see a rifle with that type of requirement?

I wouldn't dismiss them, but I'd be very careful and I wouldnt be trying the lower budget ones.

I shoot 3 gun (quite a lot, and seriously), these reflex sights are very very popular in certain divisions in the sport. Without wanting to learn how to calculate it exactly, I can tell you with a fair amount of certainty that a big bore rifle is harder on then than a semi automatic pistol. Even in a slide ride configuration, with light springs and therefore fast slides, as well as hot loads (124gr 9mm going like 1400fps+), it doesn't come close to the abuse of a big bore.

There are reflex sights that are fairly durable on our pistols but will fail commonly on a semi-auto shotgun. This also tends to support my educated guess on a big bore being more violent than a pistol on the optic.

Regardless, however, I have seen many of them fail and have killed quite a few personally. The aimpoints arent popular in the sport so no data there, but the RMRs are very much so and I've never seen one fail. The Leopold's and Holosun have proven very good as well but again, just personally, I trust certain things for national championships but with my life I go with the largest amount of data. I know these are commonly used for self defense pistols too but let's be honest, if you hunt much DG you're more likely to use your big bore to defend your life than a pistol (thankfully)

I'll reach out to my friends at Trijicon and get their thoughts on big bores vs aggressive pistols on abusing the sights out of curiosity.

 

[Scrumbag]

A couple of questions guys: 1. What a huge difference in cost...Trijicon $700 Doctor $100? What is going on
2. How do you buy a base for one...I have a Rizzini 470 NE

thanks!

I would say a $100 Docter is a knock-off

 

[Scrumbag]

Very good and fair points. I paid $10,500 for my new double. I don’t want to be penny wise foolish. Thanks

Very true! And if you think of what a hunting trip costs...

I really like my Leica. I zeroed it, shot about 60rds and a shooting cinema, flew to Croatia to hunt boar, fell down a hillside with the rifle, flew back and checked zero - all shooting where it should. I've also used the the Burris shooting slug competitions which are ~80 slugs in a morning including changing positions from standing to prone on the clock - The Burris has held up to that as well.