Red Dot on a 686

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Werewolf

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I'm considering putting a Red Dot sight on my S&W 686. I fire half and half .38 Spcl and .357 Mag out of it. The recoil on the 38's is minimal but the recoil on the 357's is substantial.

I am concerned that just an every day $70 or $80 Red Dot will not stand up to the pounding that the 357's will hand it. Is this a reasonable assumption?

If so what models of Red Dot type sights would those in the know recommend?

Inquiring Minds wanna know...
 
I've run Ultra-Dot red dot sights on .44 Mag, .41 Mag and .357 Mag as well as carbines shooting those calibers and never had a hint of difficulty. A good , solid sight well worth what I've paid for them.

Pete
 
I've had a scope die on my .50 AE Desert Eagle but I've never had a dot sight go bad. I've had my Tasco PDP4 on it a while and even had a cheap BSA for a bit and they both heald up fine. Dot sights are very rugged, even the cheap ones.

One thing I will point out, the BSA has parallax issues and the Tasco is solid. Aimpoints have a reputation for durability but most dot sights I've seen priced higher than the Tascos and you're getting more features, not really more durability.
 
I have Tasco red dot scopes on several 686's. I have a PDP 4 that's lived through thousands of rounds, all .38 spcl. Same with an accudot and a PDP5. I have a PDP6 on a 6" 686 which I use for hunting and it has seen many hundreds of full house 180gr .357 Mag rounds through it with no issues arising. I have yet to break a Tasco, sure wish they would start making the PDP4 again.

Chris
 
I use pro-point (Tasco) sights almost exclusively.
I have 2 on my .41 magnums, 1 in a .22 carbine, and my friend has 1 on his .41, and 1 on his .357 mag.
To the best of my knowledge, neither my or my friend used anything but full power loads in any of our red dot equipped guns, and no failures to date.
I bought my .41 mag blackhawk used with the pro-point on it back in '93, and have shot many, many rounds through it, most of them were my hot handloads.
It still hits the 6" swinger target at 70 yards 5/6 or 6/6 without any problems, and I don't shoot from a rest.
Loctite it on, and you won't have a problem.
 
My S&W 686-2 has a Millet Red Dot SP2. IIRC, I paid $125 for the sight and the B-SQUARE mount. This rig has been rock solid and very accurate.
My S&W Model 29 has a Leupold Gilmore Red Dot sight mounted on a Weaver rail. It has also given me very good service. Ditto on the Loc-Tite.
As my eyesight gets worse with age, I like the red dots more and more.

P.S. I tried 3 different BSA red dots on my .44 mag. I got a combined total of 5 shots from all 3 before they went south. I'm glad some peope have had better luck with them. Shoot well and often.
 
I have an Ultra-Dot on my 686. Before being on the 686, the same Ultra-Dot survived thousands of .45 ACP rounds on a 1911 (with a slide mount) without any sign of deterioration.

When I bought the 1911 used, there was a Tasco red dot on it that was ready to be junked. Both windage and elevation controls had vibrated loose so you could move them front and back about an eighth of an inch. I don't know how many rounds or what loads caused this, but they sure took a heavy toll on the Tasco.

If you don't have a scope mount for the 686, I'd like to suggest the Weigand mount. If your 686 is drilled and tapped for a mount from the factory then it goes on with no gunsmithing. I bought mine from Brownells.

www.brownells.com search on item # 957-113-100

Alan
 
Lotsa excellent info here. Thanks guys.

Now one more question.

How do I get the factory rear sight off of the weapon? :confused:

S&W says the pre-drilled and tapped holes are under the rear sight but didn't tell me how to remove it. There are two screws that appear to be holding it on. The rear one is the height adjust screw. I find it difficult to believe that the height adust screw would also be a foundation screw but stranger things have happened. So what's the procedure to expose the pre-drilled and tapped scope mount holes on the 686?
 
Take the front screw out and you can either loosen the elevation screw or just slide the sight out to the rear. The elevation screw goes into a little piece that slides into a cut out in the top of the frame. There are two other holes under there, the third being the front sight screw hole.
 
I've got a 4" 686, been thinking about putting a PDP4 (I already have it) on it. I know it'll fit a 6 inch, but will the Weigand mount fit the 4 inch without hitting the front ramp?
 
Thanks. Felt kinda stupid after I asked that question. I checked Brownell's website and they had the dimensions. Overall length of 4-1/2 obviously not a problem.

Thanks again.
 
Based on the info provided I've ordered the Weigand mount and the Tasco Pro Point 2 Red Dot Sight.

All should arrive before the weekend (hopefully) and I can give the set up a try (which I'm really looking forward to).

I hope the mount comes with screws but if it does not what screw sizes will I need for the 686?

What LocTite should I use - the red or blue stuff?
 
JD,

I just orders a red dot from Midway. I had it to my dore in 3 days. I think I ordered it on Wednesday and I had it on Friday. I know I ordered it midweek and had it before the weekend.

I also ordered a Weigand mount and that was dilivered the same day. that was orderd directly from weigand.

I searched Midway and found the red dot your looking for.

http://www.midwayusa.com/esearch.ex...to+Begin+Search.x=9&Click+to+Begin+Search.y=5


I bought the bushnell trophy red dot.
I have mounted it, but I am hoping to get to the range this week to zero it in. it seems like a good red dot for the price and had some good reviews.
 
I got the mount direct from Weigand - you can find them easily by googling them.

I ordered the scope from Midway USA. Failed right out of the box. Midway's return policy is great. I sent it back and got credited for the return shipping charges as well as the cost of the scope.

I ended up buying a Chinese brand scope from a local gunshop. I don't remember the brand but it's worked perfectly for the past 3 years.
 
I have ultra dot and aimpoint...

I have shot the ultradot off my .500mag with 500gr fullstrength loads about 200times. Totally striped out the rings that come with the ultra dot (I have the match dot) you need steel rings for sure. The match dot is a fine sight and a GREAT value. My aimpoint m3 is better, but not by much at three times the cost...however, I do belive it is tough as nails and would not be worried if it got banged around
 
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