Is an RDS on a HD shotgun practical or best left for competition and such?
Tomac
I honestly don’t know ANYONE who uses a rds on their shotgun for anything and I used to be a competitive trap shooter. You just stick that front bead on your target and fire away. I could see the use for a tritium front bead but I really can’t think of any advantage that an rds would give you over that. Seems like a massive waste of money.
Coasties do it. So do I. I run a trijicon rx06.
A RDS, as long as it is reliable, can certainly be an aid when using a shotgun.
Can it be practical? Sure. Just as with carbines, hold over issues can be addressed via optics. That said, any long gun is going to have some form of irons on it as well and unless you’re running a RDS in order to have some form of adjustable sighting system, (suppose you only have a bead), then you’re going to have to deal with a lot of shit in your field of view that you don’t need. That is, just as with fixed irons on a carbine, you already have an adjustable sighting system capable of addressing hold over issues if you have adjustable irons on your shotgun. So… To my mind… No real reason to run an RDS. To me, in fact, the RDS housing will just further obscure my FOV and complicate my sighting process. But I know there are plenty of guys out there who prefer an RDS with fixed irons, so when it comes down to it, it seems to just be an issue of personal preference. If you’re curious as to what it’s like, give it a try. Just keep in mind that, unlike carbines, you aren’t going to find folding irons that aren’t 9000 feet above bore when mounted on a receiver-mounted rail. So your irons will be fixed. Always. So you will have a lot of shit in your FOV. Always. Several more points of focus than necessary. Not to mention that few people are going to take the hit and get an aftermarket quick detach mount for their shotgun optics, because they’d like to keep it as low as is possible. And any optic that I cant get off the gun in a few seconds at most without the use of any tools is, to me, just a liability.
I’ve tried it, and just like RDS on handguns I didn’t like it enough to put up with the extra bulk, cost, complication and potential reliability issues.
I like rifle sights or peep on a shotgun, even a normal front bead.
like a pistol, ive been wanting to try a micro dot on my shotgun but it has been surpassed as an HD weapon except for last ditch in our safe room so the dot is unnecessary, imho. i do well with trap and skeet using my 20" turkey pump with a FO front sight.
I want to try a mini red shit on my 870. I don’t see how a mini red dot could add to major bulk.
I have run aimpoint and eotech on my hunting shotguns and its awsome much much better than a scope for the area I hunt in. I know thats not your game but I’m saying its a great idea.
I’ve always felt like an RDS’s cost-benefit on a shotgun did not work out. It made the gun that much taller and heavier and didn’t add much to speedy aiming.
I’d still like to try out some sort of RMR/MRD on my shottie, though.
I prefer a simple bead on my HD shotguns. An Aimpoint t-1/h-1 may be a great option as well if you are trying to save weight. Personally I like the simplicity of a bead on my shotguns.
RDS on shotgun are big help when shooting slugs. With birdshot and buckshot they can actually be downside, because shooter tend to use them for precise aiming, that slows down taget acquisition.
I ran an eotech 512 on my 870 police for a long time, ieven dove hunted and shot clays with it. It was really nice and the center dot was main POI and the outer circle was more or less spread pattern. Only reason i sold it was to fund optics for another rifle but I miss it…
I agree.
However, I use shotguns for 2 applications:
1- Blowing chunks out of door frames
2- Running around a range in daylight
If I had to fight with a shotgun I would probably be more inclined to mount an optic.
I just recently took a rob haught shotgun class that included a bunch of agents from the DHS. All of them were running eotechs mounted on 870’s, and all of them seemed like they had an easier time making hits than those that didn’t have optics. The top four shooters in the class all had eotechs mounted. Imo having an optic takes the guesswork out of aiming. Put the dot on target, pull the trigger, that’s it. That leaves room in your brain to worry about manipulations which imo is where shotguns get tough to run. Manipulating a shotgun at full speed is in my experience the most difficult part of running a shotgun. Ammo management, reloads, and the actual act of racking the action can overload your brain. Making aiming easier can’t hurt, and can only make you a better shooter imo.
I’m currently exploring options on mounting an aimpoint to my personal 870 after seeing how well they work in class.
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A RDS is always a huge aid in low light when you cannot see the end of your barrel in your peripheral vision. So if my shotgun was my primary HD gun, then yes.
Once upon a time in a night 3-Gun shoot I remember the only guy to make his slug shots had a RD. Metallic sights were 100% invisible since the shoot was in complete darkness, but targets had some illumination.
I have a T1 on my duty Benelli M4 and it is MUCH easier to make accurate longer range slug hits than with the chunky open sights. For shorter range buckshot work the RDS is easier as well because you can get a flash sight picture in a heads up position, just as with short range carbine shooting.
I think typical shotgun bead point shooting is generally frowned upon in domestic LE settings…
Dennis.
I have an Aimpoint H1 in a Larue QD low mount on my 14 inch 870 with a Vang rail and his ghost ring sights. The optic is enough higher that a conventional stock smacks my face with slugs. I got a Mesa Urbino stock, with the adjustable riser, and it is now extremely comfortable with Brenneke slugs. This combo shoots great groups with slugs. I haven’t done enough with buckshot on the timer to say how the speed of the RDS compares to just irons.
For hunting and when using slugs, a mini RDS would be impressive. The EOTech’s wider window would make it faster to acquire, but the model that works best for that (XPS) on a 12ga seems like it would punish the 123A much too badly.
http://www.burrisoptics.com/speedbead.html
This would seem to add red dot ability without extra weight and height issues. Anyone use this?