Sorry for the similar threads. Decided to go a different route for the turkey gun. Since I'm having patterning issues (directional, not clustering), and I don't feel like dropping $$ on a dedicate gun, I'm going to put a rail (weaver mount) on my 500A, wrap it (heat vinyl), and put a red dot on it. Any recommendations for a solid, affordable red dot for the turkey woods?
I would not recommend a red dot unless you have the $$$ to drop on a aimpoint. If/when the batteries die your SOL. I'd reccomend a Mueller 2-7x33 with the illuminted circle dot reticle. You still have the reticle if he battery dies and you have the illuminated dot in the middle the rest of the time. If it's in that circle and within your effective pattern range it will die. That's what I've got on my turkey/predator gun.
Aside from a new barrel, I have no other way of correcting for a consistent upper left pattern with open sights (7 different loads at 20, 30, and 40yds showed this pattern). Believe me...I'm cheap. The last thing I want to do is buy a gun or modify an existing gun for the sake of it. I'm weighing my options. Matt, thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.
This will be my 10th season with a Bushnell Trophy red dot. Its a dedicated deer slug gun and turkey gun. I havent had to adjust the sights since I initially sighted it in, real solid red dot scope. During deer season and turkey season a fresh battery and a dime is stored with my license, although in a full week of turkey or deer hunting the dot hasn't ever started to fade, so battery life is good.
I have a vortex on my turkey gun. Hasn't moved in 3 years. Has both red & green adjustable brightness dots. I am spoiled, I don't think I'll ever not have a red dot on my turkey gun. My 1st battery lasted 2 seasons. It's got an auto shut off so its a good idea to reset before every sit, but you have to be sitting quite a while before it goes off.
That's what I was thinking, you could buy a couple different chokes for the price of a nice red dot. Keep the one that patterns best and sell the others. I'm a fan of the primos jelly head choke tube. There's lots of options out there.
Tried a few to no avail, but I was planning to add one to the list when I pick up a scope. A few guys on thehighroad mentioned 500As had some barrel run out issues from the factory. A couple even said they took it to a gunsmith to have it straightened. If you sight down the side of the barrel and follow the rib, you can see it's not straight.
Price, reputation, and the reticle. I don't think you need high end optics on a shotgun, Mueller has a great reputation, and the reticle is exactly what I wanted.......if it's in that circle and closer than 60 yards it dies every time. I also predator hunt with mine and like the slightly larger objective due to this. It actually picks up light really well when hunting at night. I couldn't care less about the variable power, mine is always on 2x, but the reticle and adjustable brightness on the dot is killer.
Bushnell TRS 25. For the price you can't beat it. I've had two of them for years. the batteries last for thousands of hours. They are very short so you don't get tunnel vision as you would with some other red dots. http://www.bushnelltrs25.com/ Why the heat vinyl?
