Revolver with Red Dot - Recommend and Show what you have

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sirgilligan

sirgilligan

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I have been considering a revolver to go with my SP01 night stand firearm.
I want to put a red-dot on it similar to a Vortex Razor.
Caliber Choices: 327 Federal Magnum, 357 Magnum, 44 Magnum
Prefer something that will allow the red dot to be easily removed, will hold zero if taken off and put back on, keeps iron sights in place to use if needed/wanted.

What do you have? Does mounting the red dot require a gun smith to get the mount on the revolver?
The S&W R8 seems to be the "out of the box" choice, but I am not sure, that is why I am asking.
 
Oops.....sorry. I didn't know the form factor of the Viper red dot.....mine don't meet your requirements in that aspect....but hey, it's just another option and you might be interested in similar mounts.

I'm not sure how many revolvers will let you keep the sights. My no-gunsmith mounts use the existing cutouts and screw holes for the sights. I believe these are both Weigand mounts.

My blued 44 Special GP100 has a $50 Bushnell on it and my 357 GP has an old Swift tube type red dot sight that came with the gun.

20180210_195540.jpg

Please excuse the dirty guns.....they get shot a lot and cleaned a little.

The red dot sights come in very handy as my eyes age.....I've never worn glasses but at 47 I have no choice but to wear reading glasses if I want to see anything small close up.
 
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opps sorry my suggestion will not meet the OP requirements.

Maybe ask over at the smith-wesson forum?
 
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The Ruger scope rails that I've seen and use make removal of the rear sight necessary.

The S&W R8 you mention works around that. Of course the R8 is a pricey gun, but 8 shots of .357 magnum with moonclip capability and a good trigger out of the box sure is hard to beat.
 
I guess the "problem" as I see it has to do with being able to remove the dot sight (with ease) and replace without losing zero. By my way of thinking the concept of installing a pickitiny rail is that it puts the dot up high and this is a SD gun where one would expect short distance shooting. Then of course to go to iron sight you have to remove the rail and re-install the iron rear, none of this is what I would call "easy" and again makes keeping zero uncertain. This is the way I see it based on what the OP says.

If however you decide to forgo the easy removal of the dot then a modern S&W K or L frame, remove the existing rear sight assy, install a Allchin Mini STS mount (no machining required) and put a flush mount Vortex Razor on that. This way the low profile of the Vortex sight is maintained and the dot is very close to the barrel, a nice robust and compact set up. If you consider that double check to make sure the Razor will fit on the Allchin mount, my guess is it will. I use this mount with a C-More RTS2 mounted on an S&W N frame. The mount fits into the factory machined grove that the rear sight springy thingy fits in. It is removable and allows the factory rear sight to be re-installed BUT you have to first remove the flush mounted dot sight from the mount to get to the screws that hold the base to the revolver. Total of 5 screws and personally I put lock tite on the threads so that has to be delt with so not easy but it doesn't require any machining so your not making any permanent changes to the gun but getting very nice dot sight mount.
 
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The R8's rail has a notch in it so you can still see sights with top rail on. Here is a picture I found on the net that kind of shows it:

medium_14745-used-s-and-w-m-and-p-r8-357-magnum-with-ammo-holsters-and-more-taylor-mi-1200-obo.jpg

Here's another:
SW-4.jpg
 
The S&W Competitor 686 has a Pic rail on top of the barrel. The 629 Competitor has a Weaver rail on the barrel.

View media item 96View media item 95
I'd kind of like a 629 version also. I wish they would make an enlarged version of that barrel for X frames. The adjustable weights could be a benefit when shooting those guns, as they tend to have some substantial muzzle rise.
 
No pictures, but I put a scope and then a red-dot on my Anaconda. The weaver base mounted to the vent-ribbed barrel, and IIRC you could still see the sights when the red-dot was removed. Just barely though.

I don't know which other guns besides some of the old Colt snake guns have vent ribs though. Maybe Taurus has one?
 
Thanks to everyone. Are there other brands or models that have factory rails on them? I am doing searches and such, but any that you all already know about is a help.

Thanks.
 
As you are finding out, the answers to your questions depend on the gun. A 586-3? Not drilled and tapped. A 586-4? Drilled and tapped.

My 586-3 drilled and tapped by a gunsmith. 1st pic is how I bought it, 2nd is what I changed the dot to. And today it has a J-Point on it.
586-3 With Ultra Dot Pic 2 @ 90%.JPG 586-3 With Ultra Dot LT Pic 2.JPG
 
Check out Raptor Engineering, they have some red dot mounts for revolvers (As does EGW etc). I have one of their mounts for Rugers and intend to put it on a Redhawk. It should go on and off and maintain close to zero, and then you could put the rear sight back on if you wish. Not as easy as the railed revolver you posted, but reversible fairly easily. No damage or modification to the gun.
 
the original easy on-easy off scope/dot mount is the ruger redhawk hunter, I like mine have the blued .44 mag as pictured with a dot and a stainless ,45 colt
27972182_10215843371056177_704413671636787542_n.jpg
 
MaxP said:
Ultradot LT on my .44 Mag BFR using the factory base.

View attachment 778199

Ultradot 30 on my .500 JRH BFR.

View attachment 778200
Click to expand...
@CraigC
Max, I notice you and CraigC both seem to favor Ultra Dot optics. You are both big game hunters, and you have both indicated a consistent use of heavy bullets for cartridges that tend to produce substantial recoil.

In a flooded marketplace, can you please explain why you choose that particular brand? Ruggedness? Good value? Do they hold zero better with heavy recoiling guns than other brands? All of the above?
 
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460Shooter said:
@CraigC
Max, I notice you and CraigC both seem to favor Ultra Dot optics. You are both big game hunters, and you have both indicated a consistent use of heavy bullets for cartridges that tend to produce substantial recoil.

In a flooded marketplace, can you please explain why you choose that particular brand? Ruggedness? Good value? Do they hold zero better with heavy recoiling guns than other brands? All of the above?
Click to expand...

In my humble opinion, there is no tougher red dot than the Ultradot 25 and 30. They are priced reasonably, they have a lifetime warranty, and they can take a truckload of abuse. I have used them on .480s, .475s, .500 JRHs, .500 Linebaughs, .454s, .45s, etc., all loaded hot and they just keep going.

The L/T is another one I really like:

IMG_6248.jpg
 
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