What does a 1, 2, or 3 MOA red dot mean?
A minute of angle (MOA) represents approximately 1" at 100 yards, 2" at 200 yards, 3" at 300 yards, etc.
What this means is that a 2 MOA red dot covers 2" at 100 yards, and half that area at half that distance, i.e. 1" at 50 yards.
Two thoughts therefore come to mind about the size of red dots for short range DG hunting:
1) A 2 MOA red dot that covers 1" of Buffalo or Elephant hide at 50 yards is considerably more precise than the hunter shooting the DG rifle off hand at that distance. Unless the hunter is an Olympic champion in a discipline involving shooting standing off hand a high power rifle, the hovering of the rifle muzzle OFF HAND will cover a lot more than a 1" spot at 50 yards. The same logic applies in spade for a 1 MOA red dot that covers 0.5" at 50 yards, and a 3 MOA red dot that covers 1.5" at 50 yards. It follows that for DG hunting, it is completely irrelevant, in terms of shot placement, whether the red dot is 1, 2 or 3 MOA. Hence my personal choice to use a 3 MOA red dot that is much easier/faster to pick in the optic than a smaller red dot.
2) The same logic applies, of course, to smaller DG such as Lion or Leopard. The 1" dot at 50 yards of a 2 MOA red dot covers essentially 1 rosette on a Leopard, and I am not aware of many PH out there encouraging shooting a Leopard, or Lion, at much more than 50 yard, and certainly not more than 100 yards where even a 3 MOA red dot would cover 3" or only about 2 rosettes...
Therefore,
Scott, I think that the 2 MOA Leica Tempus is fine
if this is what you prefer. It is important to like and trust the hardware you are shooting.
I would personally still prefer the 3 MOA Leica Tempus (well, 3.5 MOA to be specific, but it makes zero difference whatsoever) for DG shots probably within 50 yards on Elephant and cats, and likely within 100 yards even on Buffalo, because I cannot hold much less than 5 to 6 MOA myself shooting standing OFF HAND, and my brain instinctively visualize the shot being in the center of the whatever size red dot if I happen to be on sticks where I generally do hold less than 3 to 4 MOA....
The same rationale explains why I have a 1 MOA EoTech on my M4 carbine, with which rested shots at 300 to 500 yards are conceivable and a 1 MOA dot makes sense (1 MOA = 5" at 500 yards), AND on which there is this big 65 MOA circle around the dot for fast sights acquisition at bayonet range...
Like many choices made by many folks, the MOA size of the red dot is largely driven, I suspect, by a misguided conception. In this case, the misconception that a 1 MOA dot will result in 1 MOA shooting. Yeah, right, don't we all wish we were shooting 1 MOA standing off hand
Just my $0.02, but certainly to each our own
PS:
If you doubt what is written above, there is a simple test: shoot OFF HAND a 6" paper dessert plate at 100 yards. This will likely be eye opening...
FYI, the Leica Tempus indeed has the same footprint as the Docter. This means that you do not need expensive custom work to put a Leica Tempus on a CZ 550. There are a number of readily available mounts, such as the one already posted by
Scott
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