[Freightman]

Had a cheap red dot (BSA) so I said wonder if it would work on my H&R 45/70 so mounted it and went to the range. Worked for three shots and the insides are scrambled, took it off and used the scope rail to shoot with. lined the front sight (Lyman Globe) up with the bottom of the rrail amazing shot the 10 ring a little below the X ring 10 shots all within 1.25" at fifty yds. at least didn't waste a trip to the range. I also went to try a couple of other rifles that I was told that wouldn't shoot military primers because they were too hard, wrong they both shot fine one a 308 and the other a 30-06. I have a bunch of '06 ammo loaded for my Garand and didn't want to load anymore right now and the 308 was Australian an it not only shoot it was accurate as well.

 

[quickdtoo]

I put a $30 BSA red dot on my 835 Mossy, during patterning, it started raining, nothing new here in Washington, finished up and went home. The red dot was fogged up on the inside when I went to clean the gun at home. Fortunately I had checked the hard sights too, so I didn't waste any ammo or the trip, just the $30 for the cheap scope. BSA = broken scope assembly, been screwed again.... ect...ect... :

Tim

 

[MSP Ret]

I have a Simmons Red Dot that cost me about $30.00. It did yoemans service on my .22 Mag coyote gun for 2 years and then that gun got a better (smaller dot) Millet Red Dot. The Simmons is now on my 19" barrelled .280 Remington Handi called "Thunderboomer". It shot 1.5" groups at the range last week with green box Remington 140 grain ammo. "Thunderboomer" with it's Simmons Red Dot is fine and leaves in about 48 hours with me for Maine. Two friends in Maine got the same Simmons Red Dot after using mine and had them mounted on thier coyote guns (also .22 Mags). Those have worked and worked well for the last 3 years or so in some plenty cold weather, down to -27 on at least one occasion I can remember. One friend has replaced his Red Dot with a 3x9 scope, but not because of any trouble with the Red Dot, he just wanted a scope. I would like to buy his used Simmons Red Dot cheaply if he will sell it to me but I think he wants to keep it, "just in case"....<><....

 

[billy_56081]

I put a $30 BSA on my handi 20 guage barrel for slug shooting and the DOT broke loose within 10 rounds. They might be ok on a 22 but I wouldn't put em on a kicker.

 

[Sm Bob]

BSA = broken scope assembly, been screwed again.... ect...ect... ;D ;D ;D


Robert

 

[Roudy]

I really appreciate the heads up. I have a BSA red dot on my 22 lr handy and it works fine. Now I know NOT to put it on any rifles or pistols that recoil heavily!

Roudy

 

[gould]

I like the Bushnell trophy red dot I put one on my daughters 223 Handi and it worked great she took her fist deer with it. I am going to get a 44 mag Handi and another Bushnell red dot for that for me.

 

[handi243]

I had a bsa on my Taurus 357 worked great ???

 

[fanner50]

Looking back over the last 30 years I can remember when the normal guy could afford a Leupold 4X and was very happy. Now it seems that there are so many choices out there and twice as many prices. As a dealer I get new fliers every week and somebody else is in the scope business (that's how I got my Tru-Glo scope). The problem is most of our incomes have not kept up with the cost of the higher end scopes, and we're Handi rifle guys. So, the question is do you buy the top end of the cheap line or the bottom of the expensive line. Or, is the quality similar and it is basically a crap shoot? Are there "lemons" in all brands? Can you get a good $30 scope and a bad $700 scope? I have 4 top of the line BSA scopes with no problems but these are $150+ scopes not $30 scopes. What's the answer? Or do we really want to open up this Can-O-Worms? It's easy to say buy the best but what if you can't afford it ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

 

[quickdtoo]

The only time I've got burned is on the really cheap scopes, two that fogged up on me, the $30 BSA and the $50 Barska, but I have a few others that cost very little, and seem to work fine so far, but they're older Simmons scopes that are no longer made that I got on closeout. Many rimfire shooters at RFC praise the top of the line BSA Platinums, but they use them on rimfire rifles and they apparently work very well for them, but for the same money, a Mueller can be had that has an impressive reputation on any rifle.

I've got several Leupold scopes, all VX-1s and an older Vari-X compact, other than an Elite 4200, they all cost $250 or less, with most of em about $150-$200. In my opinion, above that threshold, you don't get a lot more for your money, the higher you go, the less you get in return. :-\

Tim

 

[fanner50]

Good words to live by Quick.

 

[MSP Ret]

Tim, would one of those be the 2.5 fixed power shotgun scope you and I bought a couple of last year? I have mounted one and it's still working fine. The other is still in the package awaiting a gun to mount it on....<><....

 

[quickdtoo]

Yes, they would be, I haven't shot mine on anything yet, so I'm relying on your track record with it, Andy!! I also have 3 ATVs, 1 Prohunter, 1 Aetec, 1 44Mag, 2 Whitetail Expeditions and a Whitetail Classic that all work great too.

Tim

 

[MSP Ret]

that's quite a collection quick.,My favorite long range varmint scope is my Simmons Whitetail Classic 6.5x20x50. It works very well for me....<><....

 

[tn_junk]

I have a BSA red dot on my .357 MAX Encore and (so far) it's holding up very well. Have shot mostly .357 MAG loads through it but it shows no signs of losing it's zero. But, time will tell.

alan

 

[kennyd]

My Savage 24 in .30-30/20 has one. I have hunted with it in some fairly poor weather. It has not changed, nor fogged. This is a later synthetic stock gun so it is heavy. Could this be one of those things where quality keeps going down?

 

[Chilachuck]

I have two BSA red dots and the parallax is horrible in both. I will not give them a chance to shake loose.

 

[kennyd]

I noticed how far off the dot can get(parallax), so tried a few shots with my head in a poor position. It seems that the dot is still right, at least with my old eyes.

 

[351 power]

i use 2 of those red dot BSA sights. work fine. don't think i'd try a 30$ right on a heavy kicker. i thought paralax didn't apply at 1x

 

[Chilachuck]

Maybe not technically parallax. I put the scopes on a rock and lined up the dot with something, then moved my head back and forth. The dot did not stay lined up.