Good red dot for rimfire pistol plinking

[wtburnette]

WT .... unti! recently (I just sold the gun), I've had the BSA noted above by 2-Alpha on my Ruger Charger. It's been stellar for four years. I bet that the Tasco branded one for $40 would be the same, and you can't beat the price !

Leaning that direction. I'm a sucker for cheap...

 

[flightsimmer]

I've been using the Weaver Micro also and see no reason to change it

 

[wtburnette]

Yeah, the reason I got so into 22 plinking in the first place is it can be so darn inexpensive. I'm enjoying the heck out of my Federal Black Box 22 ammo that I got for $.02 per round after rebate. Normal price I pay for ammo is right around $.04 - $.05 per round. That's all day plinking I don't feel bad about. Sure I have some SK Standard plus for my bolt action Anschutz, but that's a different story

 

[Water63]

I have one of these on a Mark III hold zero works good. I gave around $50 for it

Pistol Micro Dot ? Osprey Global

 

[x10]

Hey I know, in the future when a person asks for a recommendation on any kind of sight or optic we just give them a list of every brand and type and be done with it. It seems every thread falls into a long string of everybody using everything. All of us use our firearms to a degree. I shoot in a weekly league and have done so for 30 + years. I have found that the cheap stuff NEVER holds up or gives a decent service. But the guy who goes through a brick of 22lr a year can just put a toilet paper tube on top of their gun and get the same result.

Ingo as a group needs to come up with an objective scale that covers experience, number of rounds per year, but more importantly the number of rounds for score. Tin can shooter can use any equipment it doesn't matter they don't know the difference and will never know the difference. Blasters won't know if their scope is holding zero or not.

 

[wtburnette]

Well, the weaver that I have on my Victory sees plenty of use. I take it once or twice a month and put around 200 rounds through it, so 400 or so rounds a month and it's held zero for the last 6 months or so just fine. I definitely won't be using it for competition though, so there's that. Just weekend plinking.

 

[Water63]

Hey I know, in the future when a person asks for a recommendation on any kind of sight or optic we just give them a list of every brand and type and be done with it. It seems every thread falls into a long string of everybody using everything. All of us use our firearms to a degree. I shoot in a weekly league and have done so for 30 + years. I have found that the cheap stuff NEVER holds up or gives a decent service. But the guy who goes through a brick of 22lr a year can just put a toilet paper tube on top of their gun and get the same result.

Ingo as a group needs to come up with an objective scale that covers experience, number of rounds per year, but more importantly the number of rounds for score. Tin can shooter can use any equipment it doesn't matter they don't know the difference and will never know the difference. Blasters won't know if their scope is holding zero or not.

I agree he did post that he was looking for a inexpensive red dot. I shoot several thousands of rounds each year and am a active competitive shooter. When my CMore went down I picked up this to run steels with and have not put the CMore back on so far has close to 10,000 rounds through it and still on the original battery and have not had to rezero it. IMHO for a $50 dot it's been worth it.

 

[Hookeye]

Cheapest I'd go for a mini would be Bushnell TRS25. If you like a 3 moa dot.
Rather go with Sig Romeo 5 (2 moa).

Those are small, light and work........but I kinda dislike them on handguns as you're looking through a small lens.
I don't like seeing all the crap around it. Pulled back, like mounted where a reg scope would be on a rifle..........I like them better.

For yote or deer, esp on a specialty pistol (Encore/Contender)..............a 30mm is the way to go.
I had a Primary Arms that worked fine, but was the 3 MOA version. And the .223 bbl I had shot so well, the dot was too big.
Better for that dot size...........to be used on a .35 rem for deer.

My Contender shot so well, it really needed a finer aiming point. Maybe not when hunting but a 3 moa dot sure sucked on the target range.
Would be YUGE on a .22 pistol.
So proly a Sig Romeo 5 or refelx like Burris Fastfire.
I'm looking at getting a Ruger Superblackhawk 9.5" 44 mag and putting a FF at the fwd ring slot.

Anyway, here's the TC.
I did pick up a minty Bushnell 2X EER (Japan) to possibly put on a Ruger MK.

 

[wtburnette]

Very cool...

 

[2-Alpha]

Hey I know, in the future when a person asks for a recommendation on any kind of sight or optic we just give them a list of every brand and type and be done with it. It seems every thread falls into a long string of everybody using everything

I know "inexpensive" is in the wallet of the gun holder, but quite a few optics mentioned on this thread are considerably more than I'd spend on a plinker.

The reality is that for a lot of shooters they could put on any old dot and be happy with it (or not know the difference...). But we should be able to provide some guidance towards things that have proven themselves, or away from things we've experienced issues with. Or just provide some information that would inform a choice.

I had $30 into the 30mm BSA on my 22/45 for 10+ years, and I wouldn't have been any more happy with something at 2x or 10x the price for that application. I recently spent $40 on the Weaver micro dot that replaced it and I'm glad I didn't spend more on it. That doesn't have anything to do with the "quality" of the two optics, but more to do with the difference in styles. With the 30mm tube I never had a problem finding the dot, and it has quite a range of brightnesses, click adjustments, and an easily-changed battery. With the micro dot the limited number of settings means the dot is sometimes too bright or too dim. I found it frustrating to zero it, and I suspect I'll have to zero it again after changing the battery. But mainly I have a lot of trouble just finding the dot in the small window, with no obvious feedback as to which way I need to move it. If the OP has a micro dot already and is happy with it, then he'd probably be just as happy with one on the new gun too. Maybe I would have been happy if I'd started with it, but having had something that I like better I'm disappointed with it now.

 

[wtburnette]

Thanks for posting and yep, that's pretty much along the lines of my thoughts. I'm going to be standing steel punching paper or ringing steel. Right now I'm using a light/laser combo because it works just fine and I already had it, so I'm out no money. The problem is that I can't break down the gun with the light mounted, so I have to get a red dot of some kind, or just replace the front black out sight with a FO sight. Still thinking under $50 is the way to go. I think I'm going to order something cheap from Amazon and give it a try. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.

 

[Hookeye]

Going cheap seems to work well for some folks.
Never has for me.
Not rough on my stuff, just am cursed with bad luck.
TRS25 the cheapest I'd go.
Had one, worked fine...........but sold it.
The ol lady has one on her 10/22 (bought with it). Older model, works fine.
Saw some YT reviews/complaints.......about TRS25 design changes.
Both of ours were of the older type.

I like the idea of grabbing the Romeo 5 and having it turn on at last brightness setting.
Suppose hunting that I'd crank it up and leave it for a few hrs.
So maybe auto on/off is no big deal.
Just something else to not work?
Would think not cranking back and forth (brightness knob) to be a plus.

 

[wtburnette]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a TRS-25. If it works it's nice and inexpensive and I've saved myself money I can spend on something else. If not, at least I'll know and will post here to bash it...

 

[T-DOGG]

Ended up pulling the trigger on a TRS-25. If it works it's nice and inexpensive and I've saved myself money I can spend on something else. If not, at least I'll know and will post here to bash it...

You shouldn't have any issues with the TRS-25. That was my go-to red dot for awhile, before they were around the $50 mark though. I had a handful of them and never had an issue. I see Amazon has them for $53. I think you'll be happy with it.

 

[wtburnette]

You shouldn't have any issues with the TRS-25. That was my go-to red dot for awhile, before they were around the $50 mark though. I had a handful of them and never had an issue. I see Amazon has them for $53. I think you'll be happy with it.

I'm hopeful. I've used the Weaver on my Victory and have had no issues with it for ~6 months. I'm hoping I like the TRS-25 as well.

 

[wtburnette]

Well, ironically as well as the TRS-25, I also have the Primary Arms red dot mentioned in the MAC video thanks to T-DOGG...

 

[d.kaufman]

I cant imagine the trs 25 giving you any issues. I run one on my sub2000(9mm) and HiPoint 45 carbine. Zero issues on either with well over 1k rounds on the sub and Probably around 5-600 thru the 45 carbine. If it can hold up to the recoil on those, on a 22lr you should be good to go for quite some time

 

[wtburnette]

The good thing is that since I have two red dots coming, one will end up going on my Sub2k

 

[wtburnette]

So, just to revisit, I have shot with the Primary Arms a couple different times now and really like it. The dot on it is much finer than the one on the TRS-25 and I'm loving it. Very accurate and the gun is a blast to shoot with it. I'm fortunate that I bought it used for a much lower price than the retail price though, as I don't think I would have paid $160 - $170 for it.

Pic for the fun of it:

 

[Usmccookie]

How does the weight feel on it?