357 pistol scope recommendations

Status
Not open for further replies.
Waterboy3313

Waterboy3313

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2019
Messages
960
Location
Redding CA
I've been pushing my iron sight
to (my) limits on my Ruger Gp 100. I like to shoot at 150+ yards. Keeping that in mind I only shoot paper and steel. I don't hunt and have zero interest in pistol hunting. Last night I ordered a weigan scope mount for my 6in barreled 357. It mounts off of the front sight and ties into the factory rear sight mount bolt holes. No gunsmithing/perminate modifications required.

I'm looking for a decent entry level pistol scope and could use some suggestions. I'm generally an iron sight kind of person. I figure I will either love this or hate it so I really don't want to break the bank figuring it out. I was thinking a mil dot type scope would be the best bet as I like to shoot at a wide variety of distance.

I'm open to suggestions and hope some people can give me some good suggestions as this will be my first pistol scope. I have my doubts and I'm actually a little hesitant to put a scope on a pistol.
Any good input would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have considered mounting a scope on my 6" GP100. My concern is the narrow field of view with a scope. Thinking a Ultradot might suit my needs.
 
Do red dots count?
Click to expand...

I have owned several red dot type scopes on rifles. After the fourth one I realized it wasn't the fault of red/green dot its my eyes. I did some research on the internet so it's probably all true. I discovered that a lot of people have an anti stigmatism that they never realized they had until looking at a red/green dot type sight. Now that is my way of paraphrasing it and I'm not an eye doctor and I never had it checked out. But all the dot Scopes I have looked though look kind of fuzzy and out of round. I used my phone to take pictures through the same scopes and the dot is solid and round like it should be. It took me 4 different dot sights to figure it out. I just thought I had bad luck and ended up with 4 defective sights.

So for me red dots are out of the question.
 
0BB518C5-FE10-4E9A-8338-72E32D768CC3.jpeg E18DA53F-DC9E-4655-9322-B58FD1BB828F.jpeg I recommend Burris . The Witness has a 2 power , the Bisley 2-7 . The sight picture pulls up fast on both . When you start cranking up the variable the eye relief shortens and you have to be lined up just right . From a rest not a big problem . Zero problems with either , but I would just buy the 2 power if I had to do it over .
 
Last edited:
Yesterday while I was doing some work out in my garage I found a vortex strike fire 2. The last red/green dot sight I purchased a couple of years ago. Just because for no serious reason I picked it up and held it at arms length simulating it was mounted to my revolver.

It definitely felt strange and was not the greatest sight picture. I also thought the battery was dead for some reason. Running it through the different brightness settings and holding it out further from my eye than having it mounted on a rifle I felt that I could see it pretty well.

I might give it a try.
 
Mine is a jack weigan no drill as well. I didn't see the one you posted or I probably would have gone that route.

How do you like that sight? It looks great.
 
I like it but my classic leather holster doesn't work with it. I can't decide which way to go. New kydex holster or keep it stock. Its good to have options.
 
There is a company called clay holsters that is local to my area that will make you pretty much any kydex holster you want. They are locally owned by retired law enforcement. I had them make me a kydex IWB for my 1911 that is really awesome.

My 357 is not on my CCW but if I can find a nice compact sight that l can live with I would seriously consider having a holster custom made and adding it. It's kind of funny of all the pistols I own the GP100 is my favorite to shoot.

I was just talking to my neighbor and showed him the ridiculous setup with my red dot. Then I showed him the picture of your pistol. He told me he gets a 40% discount on vortex and if I wanted to order anything to let him know.

If my pistol scope doesn't work out I will be ordering a reflex sight from vortex and hopefully getting that 40% discount.
 
So I don't know if anyone is follow this or not as of today. I put a 2.5 magnification scope on my gp100. Today was range day and I was disappointed. I shot a 50 rounds chasing a 25 yard zero shooting from a rest.

Maybe it was me but I found it very frustrating and even from a rest I found it very shakey. I found my Wilson firesights were much more accurate and easier to use. I have two options left. 1 is to use a dot sight I bought for my kid that he doesn't use anymore. Or 2 go back to the firesights I was using before.

Either way I thought the scope would be awesome or I wouldn't like it all. Turns out I dislike it as of now. I'm really happy I bought a no drill/gunsmithing mount at this point.
 
Waterboy3313 said:
So I don't know if anyone is follow this or not as of today. I put a 2.5 magnification scope on my gp100. Today was range day and I was disappointed. I shot a 50 rounds chasing a 25 yard zero shooting from a rest.

Maybe it was me but I found it very frustrating and even from a rest I found it very shakey. I found my Wilson firesights were much more accurate and easier to use. I have two options left. 1 is to use a dot sight I bought for my kid that he doesn't use anymore. Or 2 go back to the firesights I was using before.

Either way I thought the scope would be awesome or I wouldn't like it all. Turns out I dislike it as of now. I'm really happy I bought a no drill/gunsmithing mount at this point.
Click to expand...
Your not doing anything wrong the scope just shows how much we shake . I went through the same thing . I had to try hard to relax and breath better . A fine cross hair will show more movement than a dot . Just a suggestion but I would spend more time with it before I would abandon it . It’s just new to you . Beautiful Ruger by the way . 476760AE-FE26-40B2-B5CE-B7F8D500E00F.jpeg F4C6BDC9-45BA-4B90-835C-F113859A00A1.jpeg
 
Waterboy3313 said:
So I don't know if anyone is follow this or not as of today. I put a 2.5 magnification scope on my gp100. Today was range day and I was disappointed. I shot a 50 rounds chasing a 25 yard zero shooting from a rest.

Maybe it was me but I found it very frustrating and even from a rest I found it very shakey. I found my Wilson firesights were much more accurate and easier to use. I have two options left. 1 is to use a dot sight I bought for my kid that he doesn't use anymore. Or 2 go back to the firesights I was using before.

Either way I thought the scope would be awesome or I wouldn't like it all. Turns out I dislike it as of now. I'm really happy I bought a no drill/gunsmithing mount at this point.
Click to expand...
I have plenty of pistols with red dots and my Redhawk 8 shot .357 will be getting a Burris 2 power . F56B1142-2614-4E0A-8B44-1ED68E1A280D.jpeg
 
I shot my friend's S&W 610 with a Burris 2x20 today at 25 yards. At that distance the field of view was about 30" wide. I had trouble picking up on the target. I need something to aid my old eyes, but I am not ready for a scope.
 
I just wanted a scope because of the distance I like to shoot. I tried everything in my power to get this setup to work. I was shooting early in the morning so I even limited my early morning caffeine intake. I was trying so hard to relax it wasn't funny.

I bore sighted my scope and was about as close as possible in theory before I left for the range. My first shots were on paper and at first I figured ok I'm just a little off and with some minor fine tuning I think I should be there. I burned through 50 rounds and never got it consistent. This was all shooting from a rest. I only usually shoot from a rest when I'm doing a work up on new loads. I would rather shoot off hand and this has me wondering if shooting off hand would be successful.

My Gp100 is all factory original minus the wolf springs. I didn't want to permanently alter anything. With iron sights the wolf springs made a world of difference in my shooting. Throw on a scope and you can really tell how bad the factory trigger is. The biggest thing I learned with the scope is how bad the trigger really is and that I really shake a lot.
 
Waterboy3313 said:
I just wanted a scope because of the distance I like to shoot. I tried everything in my power to get this setup to work. I was shooting early in the morning so I even limited my early morning caffeine intake. I was trying so hard to relax it wasn't funny.

I bore sighted my scope and was about as close as possible in theory before I left for the range. My first shots were on paper and at first I figured ok I'm just a little off and with some minor fine tuning I think I should be there. I burned through 50 rounds and never got it consistent. This was all shooting from a rest. I only usually shoot from a rest when I'm doing a work up on new loads. I would rather shoot off hand and this has me wondering if shooting off hand would be successful.

My Gp100 is all factory original minus the wolf springs. I didn't want to permanently alter anything. With iron sights the wolf springs made a world of difference in my shooting. Throw on a scope and you can really tell how bad the factory trigger is. The biggest thing I learned with the scope is how bad the trigger really is and that I really shake a lot.
Click to expand...
I changed one spring in the Redhawk but I did polish some surfaces SA/DA went from 7 and 11 to 4 and 7 but the smoothness of the DA was the biggest improvement . Watched a lot of videos on it . Really neat how it works and comes apart .The Ruger GP 100 has a loyal following and I’m sure there are videos on smoothing the trigger . All I used was 600 and 1000 grit sandpaper on a piece of granite .
 
I would like to say I'm fairly mechanically inclined. I used to build a lot of hot rods and everything from motors to carbs. There's just something about doing a trigger job that I'm a little uneasy about. Maybe it's because I've just never done it. It seems like all the stuff you learned growing up from your dad and uncle Joe ends up turning into bad advice.

Maybe I will do some research and give the trigger some more thought. I originally bought the wolf kit and went with the hammer spring and the lightest trigger spring. I ended up with a few light strikes that wouldn't light off the primers. I left the light trigger spring and swapped the factory hammer spring back in.

The hammer spring definitely was too light. The light trigger spring makes a world of difference but it still needs help. 99% of the time I shoot my revolvers DA anyway. There is a pretty decent dead spot shooting SA that I can find but I have managed to shoot before I was ready. I don't carry this revolver for defensive purposes and I am never in a hurry while at the range so I guess I got into the habit of just shooting DA.
 
Springs help and all but they won’t fix creep . I felt the same way about triggers . Keep in mind these are production line products. They don’t have time to finely hone interacting parts . Take any trigger system apart and look at the parts and you are going to see some rough parts . Polish interacting parts to a mirror finish with 600 and 1000 grit paper on a flat hard surface . Makes a big difference.
 
I didn't have a lot of time today but I did look into trigger work on the GP100. It looks like there are several videos I just didn't have time to watch any. I also did a quick Google search for some after market trigger stuff and the only thing that I saw was spring kits from several different manufacturers.

I will have to spend more time doing research as time allows. I found a complete trigger group on eBay in one of my searches for about $50. I was thinking it would almost be worth buying in case I screw something up beyond repair. I could always leave my original alone and rework the used setup. If I destroy it I'm out 50 bucks and can revert back to my factory setup.

I remember watching a video a while back at least a year ago or more on some gunsmith character doing a gp100 trigger. I think I said to myself I will try the springs first.
I will try to keep looking as time allows. A better trigger never hurts.
 
If you can build a motor you can do a trigger job . You are not trying to remove metal , you are not trying to change angles , you are simply polishing . No files , you won’t need one . Buy yourself a pair of flip down magnifiers . It won’t change the actual pull weight but it will feel so much better , smoother pull , cleaner break . I do it on every gun I buy . You got this .
 
I probably have everything at home to do it. I will have to make the time to pull it apart and see how bad it really is.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

V-fib
  • Locked
Blackpowder scope on .357mag revolver?
Replies
15
Views
1K
V-fib
V-fib
mcb
  • Locked
Recommendation for sights/optic for an AR-15 pistol.
Replies
19
Views
2K
CDR_Glock
CDR_Glock
E
  • Locked
Scope / Red Dot for Ruger Mark III Pistol
Replies
5
Views
14K
S&Wfan
S
R
  • Locked
Laser bore sight and laser sight on pistol
Replies
3
Views
323
razzle
R
F
  • Locked
Questions on pistol scopes for hunting
Replies
5
Views
618
tickfarm
T
Back
Top