Aimpoint sights

Danny rem mag

Well-Known Member
Evening all. Has anyone any experience with these? Thinking they might be suitable for my .375H&H when I get it. Could you still take an ethical shot at 200yds say? At the other end of the spectrum, would one suit a rimfire for rabbits? I've never looked through one, but the idea of both eyes open and no faffing kind of appeals.
 
Yes, I have shot rifles with the Aimpoint Comp, several of the long tub Bushnells, the short and wide Tascos, C-More, Eothech, Trijicon the Bushnell micro, Burris Speed Dot, Burris Fastfire, and Bushnell Micro.

Can you ethically shoot game at 200 yards? Yes. The sights are capable. Some have very large dots, which are too large for 200 yards. The Aimpoint comes in fixed sizes, 2 MOA or 4 MOA. The 2 MOA is definitely small enough to shoot clay pigeons offhand and very quickly. Even when the dot is wider than the target, you can hit it, such as a shotgun shell standing up, and shooting it with a 3 MOA dot.

The Fastfire and the micros are small enough to mount on a handgun. The micros by Burris, Bushnell and Aimpoint lock onto one rail slot. The Fastfire, and similar ones by Doctor and Zeiss, will also fit into a notch made for them, such as on the FNP pistol. The Aimpoint Comp will mount on one rail slot, but covers 3 of them. It will mount non a single Warne or Leupold scope base, using a very wide ring. So will the Burris Speed Dot.

The Aimpoint has phenomenal battery life, like a year. The Trijicons use no battery, gathering ambient light into fiber optics and channeiling it to the dots.

If you have never shot one, you should buy an inexpensive one and try it before spending $400 or more on an Aimpoint, Eotech, Zeiss, etc. These Bushnells and Tascos are far better than you might think. The long tube 1-inch and 30mm Bushnells come with adjustable levels of brightness, several sizes of dots, crosshairs, and different colors, so they are excellent for finding out what type of reticle you want, dot size, color, and size of tube.

A major factor will be mounting on your rifle. A long tube Bushnell or Aimpoint 9000L will mount on a magnum action in QD rings. The Aimpoint will have larger occullar lens, but you need to see if your bolt handle and hand will clear it. You don't want to jam your fingers while trying to load a second shot which you really, really need. So the make and model of your rifle, the mounting system, and any other scope you will be using in conjunction with the dot sight and the iron sights is a factor which will limit your choices.

One more point: You cannot just compare MOA to MOA, because of how the sights are mounted and used. 2 MOA in a sight on a rifle close to your eye is going to be good for shooting out to 200 yards. But on a handgun, 24 or 28 inches from your both eyes, you might want 5 MOA or 8 MOA. Again, this is why buying something like a Bushnell or Tasco with a lot of adjustment options for around $100 is a great way to learn what you need for your intended application.
 
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Wow southern , that's got to be a candidate for answer of the year! Very much appreciated. I didn't realise you could get different size/style reticles. I've also only looked at the AIMPOINT and again didn't realise there were so many on the market, I'm a bit of a zeiss fan, so I'll check those out. In your obviously very experienced opinion, what would your choice be? Up to around £400\$600.
 
Good reply from Southern. I have Aimpoint 9000L that fits on my Mauser M03 and a Aimpoint Micro on my slug gun. Myself i would buy Aimpoint but there are many makes out there. Doctor make a good one to.
 
Thanks Jagare, I'll have a look at those as well. I'm starting to wonder if for sub 200yd shots on deer/fox that I've been wasting my time and money on super duper scopes?
 
I have a Aimpoint Hunter 34s on my Ruger 308 Scout Rifle ,I've shot plenty of Deer & Foxes in the UK & Boar in France , very well made top notch pieces to kit .. When I find the right Double Rifle I will fit a Aimpoint Micro ..
My brother has a Zeiss Z-Point on he's Double Rifle & being Zeiss nice bit of kit ...you may also be intrested in a Meopta 1-4 x 24 K-Dot Tube scope fitted to he's Stainless Ruger No1 375H&H lovely glass ...
 
Again, I suggest spending $100 on a Bushnell you can mount ( if a two ring mount suits you), and try it on several rifles, to get used to it. The Bushnell has so many settings. Put it on a .22 or .223 and shoot it a lot. Then, if you shoot an Aimpoint 9000L and decide that is the way to go, sell the Bushnell. Better than making a $400 to $600 mistake.

What kind of rifle do you have, and what mounting system?

The first time I shot a rea dot was a Tasco on a Colt AR-15 carbine, at sunset. The dot was 2 MOA and I could shot one inch sticks stuck in the ground, at 100 yards... just centered them up. A friend has and EOtech on a SIG 556. We were at the range, shooting offhand. He broke 5 clay pigeons in 7 seconds. These things are fast.

And consider the 1-4x24 scope with illuminated reticle on a .375, too. Or a 1.5-6x42. I have a 30mm 1.25-4x24 with German No.1 post, which I used on my .375 H&H Winchester Express. It is very fast, huge field of view, and the sharp point on the top of the post will make a 200 yard shot at 1.25X, much less at 4X. I would run a Burris 2-7x35 E1 Illuminated on a .375 in a skinny minute.

Bottom line - go find some boar hunters and try their sights.
 
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I realise this is an old thread - It occurred to me - particularly as I get older and my low light vision is not so good any more - that an Aimpoint or similar might work well for me
Has anyone else had the same problem or tried one in poor light?
 
Providing you can see your target just paint it with the red dot and drop it. As posted above very fast to use, very instinctive


I realise this is an old thread - It occurred to me - particularly as I get older and my low light vision is not so good any more - that an Aimpoint or similar might work well for me
Has anyone else had the same problem or tried one in poor light?
 
I have tried Jagares aimpoints. Whilst they were good and quality bits of kit, they were not for me. Bear in mind that most have no magnification. So for me at least, they are a sub 100m optic unless a big target, ie elk. I believe that they are best for the typical Scandinavian woodland hunting where action can be fast and short range, often sub 50m.
As a compromise I think that the driven game scopes in the 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-8 range with an illuminated dot can be a better solution, albeit with greater weight and cost but more versitality. I have recently swapped my S&B Zenith 3-12 x 50 FD for a Kahles 1-5 x 24i. Will be interesting to see if the change was a move in the right direction or not.......
 
Sounds almost too good to be true ! - Thanks

It is (too good to be true) - a bit!

Remember that, unless you get the 3x add-on magnifier, Aimpoint have no magnification: they are 1x only. So if your low-light vision is weak, the sight will not give you any help at all in acquiring the target in the poor light, or seeing precisely what part to aim for.

I would suggest that if your low-light vision is poor, you should first consider a normal scope with a very large exit pupil: at least 7mm, preferably a bit more. This will give a far brighter image, and magnified. Then you can decide if you need an illuminated reticle in addition.

But Aimpoints are designed for relatively short-range fleeting engagements: superb for driven/running game.
 
I have acquired a s/h 2moa model and I used it for the first time (on a range) yesterday
Verdict - suits me and my eyesight very well
Thanks for the input Chaps
ATB
Ed
 
Used one for a while as I kept getting into deer at 40 or 50 yards then struggled to get the scope onto them. So put on an aimpoint (2 Moa). Of course the first deer I saw was at 200. It worked just fine.

Took it off, as I was going up the hill and it never went back on. I am about to buy another rifle and the aimpoint will go onto the woods rifle as I don't really need a scope in there.

I let my 'smith (ex Forestry Ranger) have a few shots with it one day when we were on the pipe range and he felt confident to take deer out to 200 with it.

Underrated IMO.
 
I have a Aimpoint Hunter 34s on my Ruger 308 Scout Rifle ,I've shot plenty of Deer & Foxes in the UK & Boar in France , very well made top notch pieces to kit .. When I find the right Double Rifle I will fit a Aimpoint Micro ..
My brother has a Zeiss Z-Point on he's Double Rifle & being Zeiss nice bit of kit ...you may also be intrested in a Meopta 1-4 x 24 K-Dot Tube scope fitted to he's Stainless Ruger No1 375H&H lovely glass ...

+1 for the Aimpoint 'Hunter' series: Opt between short or long; 30 or 34 MM. Works just fine on the Steyr Scout .308 W rifle for fairly close-in hunting during day-light conditions.
 
I have tried the Aimpoint and similar and just don't like them. I have a stigmatism in my left eye and shoot left handed, and any form of illuminated reticle doesn't show as a dot but much more of a star. What I do like about them is that they are small and mount low, but on a rifle a 1-4x20 straight tubed scope will be much better option. At 1x its both eyes open with a very wide field of view and ideal for big game up close. But when you need to take that 250yd shot on a small trophy springbok (size of Roe deer) the 4x will get the job done.

Also in low light they help intensify the light - lust like other optics do. I reckon my S&B 1.25-4x20 is as good in low light as my S&B 6x42 in terms of image quality etc, albeit it doesn't have the magnification, but can certainly and have taken shots at beyond naked eye level.
 
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