Preferred Sights

[Dirty_Dave95]

What is your preferred set up for your DG rifle? Low variable scope with quick detach rings, a red dot, or regular irons and why?

I currently have a red dot on my 375. I took game out to 150 yards and was happy with it. Unless I’m sitting over bait for a cat I don’t see the reason to change it yet.

 

[375Fox]

I want a scope. I have no interest in using quick detach rings. For a 375, it’s a versatile rifle. I’ve taken buffalo at 5 yards and a few plains game slightly past 300 yards. I put a 2-10 on it. I took my elephant with 450 Rigby with a red dot, however I recently bought a 416 mainly because it’s more suitable for a scope. I would like some magnification. I’ve used before to verify I’m aiming at hair up close and can be very useful. I currently have an older 1.5-5 Leupold on it for now, but was planning a 1-6 Trijicon. We will see. My theory is I’m always going to keep my scope on my rifle. I shoot faster and more accurately with it. On low power, you have all the visibility you need in my opinion. Tracking a wounded buffalo, it might be a very close shot or it might break at 60 yards, you don’t know. Unless you have great eyesight and are extremely comfortable with iron sights, I think most hunters benefit keeping the scope on their rifle.

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

Okay, simple but yet complicated question. Step one is having plenty of critical eye relief for any optic on a heavy recoiling rifle. A red dot certainly accomplishes safe eye relief. And something I haven't seen on a DGR is a magnifier for the red dot, but that is possible. I have extensive experience with red dots in USPSA, 3Gun, and Steel Challenge. I have run the same course of fire with a red dot mounted on a carbine and a LPVO mounted on a carbine; the red dot was significantly faster than the LPVO for me. However, all my dangerous game rifles have low power variable or fixed low power scopes with QD mounts and express sights. Notwithstanding, I wouldn’t hesitate to run a red dot on a short range DGR.

 

[JPbowhunter]

I've only shot two buffalo so my opinion means little. I will say I shot one with irons and one with a scope and both experiences were good.

I'll always opt for QD mounts to have the option of both irons and scope, if I were limited to one I'd go irons but that's my preference and preference is only personal choice.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I have a 1-4x with 30mm tube on my 404 mounted with low Warne QD rings. It acquires instantly when mounted. I remove the scopes on both it and plains game rifle to pack them in a single gun Pelican case for flights to Africa. They both have backup iron sights and I can shoot with them surprisingly well for a half blind (literally) 74 year-old. But I prefer the scope. I have taken three buffalo and two of them just over 100 yards, both killed with one shot. Not sure I could have done that without a scope. The third buffalo was shot on the run at 65 yards with 3-9x set at 3x on 375 H&H. I did shoot him again but it wasn't really necessary. He was dead on his feet.

 

[Nhoro]

I have open sights-just the standard CZ iron sights. I am good to about 75-100 m with open sights and tripod sticks on buffalo sized targets. I can’t really afford to go dangerous game hunting at this stage of my life- kids at university from next year and for the next 6. I am using my 458 for protection- I do school camps. So I would have to justify self defense if I shoot an animal and that means I shoot at 10 m. Quite a specific requirement. Currently my eyesight is ok but I may have to fit a red dot or low power scope in the future. For my purposes, I need snap shooting at 10 m rather than precise first shot placement.

If I were hunting, I would use a 1-6 or 1-8 power scope with an illuminated Centre dot. That allows precise placement of the first shot and if you dial it down, you can use it like a red dot reflex sight.

 

[KJE81]

I use a Swarovski z8i 1,7-13,3x42 on my custom rifle in .375 H&H, I have yet to shoot anything more dangerous then a brown bear with it but it is extremely versatile. I shot a running moose on the lowest setting with no problem using the red dot, also shot a fox at close to 250 meters at the highest setting, both clean kills.

The scope is in quick detatch mounts (Recknagel swing mounts) so easy to switch to iron sights but I have yet to shoot anything with those, only paper targets at the range. It seems to hold zero between mounting on and of aswell.

Picture from yesterdays moose hunt, unfortunately no close up pictures of the scope and mounts on my phone right now.

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

This subject is discussed on AH every few months. Here are a couple threads on optics for dangerous game rifles.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/red-dot-rmr-sights-for-dangerous-game-rifles.73440/

https://www.africahunting.com/threa...ower-variable-scope-or-metallic-sights.80277/

To summarize,

• Reflex sights are great, fast, small, and make target acquisition fast!
• Reflex sights do however rob the shooter of available light due to the necessary coating that reflects the red dot back to the shooters line of vision.
  • From ChatGPT,
    • “In a typical LED reflex sight, the front lens is often coated with a thin-film optical stack designed to reflect the LED's wavelength. Depending on the manufacturer, it may contain alternating layers of materials such as:
      • Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) — a high-refractive-index coating material.
      • Silicon dioxide (SiO₂) — a low-refractive-index material.
      • Magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) — commonly used for anti-reflective coatings.
      • Other dielectric materials selected for the desired optical performance.
    • These are examples, not a universal recipe. Some reflex sights use different optical arrangements, and the precise coating composition is often proprietary.”

The "light transmission" of any reflex sight is reduced when compared to a similar quality Low Power Variable Optic (LPVO) set at 1x magnification. On sunny days aiming at a buffalo at 50 yards of face to face with a bull elephant, either reflex or LPVO will provide the shooter with excellent sight picture. But, in the bush where the amount of light is reduced and aim through multiple bush and tree limbs at a fatal spot on a buffalo or any game, 99.94% of the time a LPVO will be superior!

On a double rifle, a small reflex provides eyes that haven't been 20/10 or even 20/20 in a decade or clearer sight picture of both the dot and game animal being in focus. A LPVO would provide an even better sight picture but at the expense of destroying the balance of a double rifle. One doesn't drop $15,000 to $30,000 to butcher a fine rifle's movement of inertia (quick handling even on an 11 lb. rifle), i.e. "like swinging a fencepost".

My personal optics experience is based on a lifetime of target shooting with metallic, reflex, and scope sights. I was put to the test with my first elephant, a feisty tuskless at 22 yards, standing with its head swaying back and forth under the shade of a canopy of leaves. Light to dark as her head moved left to right.... All I saw throught my Trijicon SRO was a dark silhouette of her head. Where the heck was the end of the zygomatic arch and ear hole? My bullet hit exactly where I aimed and went through the bottom 2" of her brain. She went down but had enough remaining brain cells to stand! I've since realized in that situation, a bolt action with a LPVO would have been the better choice. On my next elephant hunt I will have a tracker carry such a backup rifle.

Here's the video of my Reflex or LPVO moment... The shot is at 28.57

Reflex or LPVO? On a double a small reflex for sure. On a bolt action, a LPVO on everything except a true short range stopping rifle such as a .500 Jeffery, .505 Gibbs or larger!

 

[Dirty_Dave95]

I use a Swarovski z8i 1,7-13,3x42 on my custom rifle in .375 H&H, I have yet to shoot anything more dangerous then a brown bear with it but it is extremely versatile. I shot a running moose on the lowest setting with no problem using the red dot, also shot a fox at close to 250 meters at the highest setting, both clean kills.

The scope is in quick detatch mounts (Recknagel swing mounts) so easy to switch to iron sights but I have yet to shoot anything with those, only paper targets at the range. It seems to hold zero between mounting on and of aswell.

Picture from yesterdays moose hunt, unfortunately no close up pictures of the scope and mounts on my phone right now.

View attachment 799169

That's a gorgeous rifle.

 

[zephyr]

Iron Sights only on my DG Guns, Bolts and Doubles