Red Dot on a HD shotgun?

[nowayitskevin]

Hey THR!

I'm a new gun owner from CA and I'm looking forward to slowly increase my collection. I recently just got my first shotgun, the Mavvy 88, for HD and a range toy. I've tried a few rounds of skeet with this baby with just above 50% success LOL. Only so much you can achieve with an 18.5" barrel, and I hope to someday own a longer barrel just for the occasion. The light might be too bright for a dark hallway at 3am (225 lm), but it's exactly how I want it right now. =D... Well... Sorta.


Fenix tk11
Lite Mount Tech Shotgun Mount
Esstak Shotgun Card with velcro directly on the receiver
Hogue 12" LOP stock
loaded with 5 Winchester 00 Rangers in the tube, 4 Remington bargain 00 bucks and 3 Winchester foster slugs on the card.

I've been on the fence about installing a red dot on her, maybe a micro aimpoint style or one of those 4 reticle sights. What are your opinions regarding an optic for a home defense situation? Better safe than sorry? Will it just be in the way? How expensive is it to get a reliable drill and tap job done? $10 rail vs $40 mesa tac rail? What are your experiences (if any) with a red dot on or off the range?

Lemme know what you guys think! Any input is appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Batty67]

Due to post-LASIK eye issue (with my right/dominant eye), both eyes open shooting is a MUST for me, so I'm looking into putting small and DECENT easy to acquire red dot on my future tactical/HD semiauto shotgun, likely an FN SLP, Remington 1100 Tactical II, but possibly a Benelli M1. I'm looking into a Burris Fastfire and have heard good things. Good luck.

 

[Fred Fuller]

KISS is usually the best approach for a defensive shotgun IMHO. The more crap there is to fiddle with on the gun or go wrong, the more likely a person is to screw up when the pressure is really on.

Take a good demanding defensive shotgun class (Louis Awerbuck, Randy Cain, Clint Smith, Tom Givens, John Farnam etc) and then make up your mind what you need (as opposed to want) on the gun...

lpl

 

[USAF_Vet]

My Mav88 wears a red dot and a Streamlight TLR-1 in it's HD configuration.

I like the red dot because even when turned off, it provides a good sight picture for HD distances with 00 buck. Bead sights are easy to use, just point and click, but I had the red dot in spare and like it over the Ghost Rings it has as well. I'm not asking my 18.5" HD scatter gun to have pinpoint accuracy. Hopefully I'll never have to test it in a real world scenario.

To address the question about rail mounts: I forget the brand, but they are sold at Wal-Mart. My Mav88 has the saddle style rail mount that fits over the receiver and uses the trigger/ ejector screws to mount on. I've had it on there a couple years now, and it's a must-have accessory for me. It's low enough that with no optics I can easily use the beads on the 28" barrel, easily use the ghost rings I have on the 18.5" barrel. Bought it for about $25, installs in minutes.


And one last thing, I've spent as much or more on accessories for my Mav88 than I did on the gun itself. The only thing I consider a must have is the rail. Everything else has come and gone, or has been made obsolete by something else. If I had to do it all over again, there are a lot of things I would pass up.

 

[rcmodel]

If you need to use a shotgun for HD, very likely you will need it with very short notice, and under a great deal of stress.

Do you really want to have to stop and turn on a red-dot sight to make what will probably amount to a bad breath distance shot??

rc

 

[Telekinesis]

I personally don't like anything more than a little bead on my shotguns (though I'm not using slugs). If you want to get better at using that sight picture, start shooting more trap and skeet and take a good "combat" shogun class. The class will help you with tactics and accuracy against static targets and the trap/skeet will help you with moving targets (you don't expect the BG to stand still while you shoot him, do you? )

And it is possible to do well shooting trap/skeet with a short gun. The only reason competitors don't use it is because longer barrels help make your swing smoother and a LOT of competitive shotgun shooting is related to the fit of the gun, and I can guarantee you that a competitive shotgun with stock work will fit better than a shorter stock from a SD gun.

 

[451 Detonics]

I plan on adding a Burris Speedbead on my HD shotgun which is also used for multi-gun and combat shotgun matches. It requires not alteration to the gun, just remove the buttstock and install, and does not interfere with with either iron sights or bead sight.

If you have time when the bump in the night happens then turn it on, if not just sight through it.

 

[NoobCannon]

I put an El Cheapo Tasco Red Dot on my equally El Cheapo H&R Pardner Pump HD/Hunting/Range Toy awhile back. I can see where in a high-stress situation you might forget to turn the giant knob on top a little bit, but should that happen on mine, I have no worries. I backyard Gunsmithed the entire project, including grinding off most of it's vent rib, leaving about 2 inches at the front. At first it looked like a half-posterior job, but once you peek down the red dot, even with it off, that bit of vent rib acts as a nice long sight for you to bead off of in an emergency.

I'll replace the sight whenever the funds allow, but for a $20 red dot, I've yet to complain about it.

 

[Steve C]

The bead front is all you need on a shotgun, esp for the short range you'll be shooting at in a HD defense situation regardless if you are using shot or slugs. Anything else is just TV fantasy. You should be able to hit anything worth killing at 30+ yds with slugs let alone buckshot just using just the bead.