Recently bought a new Franchi Affinity Compact 20 gauge to replace my old 870 for a turkey gun. Want to put a mini red dot sight on it. Have read a lot about the Vortex Venom and the Burris Fastfire III. Would like y'alls opinion on each. Any mounting tips will be appreciated.

Thanks

Sumtoy sells a nice mount that is low profile and will work for either.

I have a FF2 and a Venom. Personally I'd go with what you can find the best deal on as they are both good sights. Also, don't discount the FF2 just because the battery is bottom load. Just put a new one every season and you good to go after sight in/check.

i got the fast fire over the venom due to the fact the ff has auto bright that adjusts to ambient light.

Thanks. I have Sumtoy's contact info.

I think the venom has a better field of view, better glass and less glare.

So does the Venom and the Venom in manual mode has more settings plus wider field of view. I have one venom that will be coming up on its 5th year of use on its original battery.

I wish i would have known that, they were about the same price. But i only seen where it had 5 manual settings. Some of these online stores need to step there game up when it comes to product descriptions. Guess i should have done more research.

I do like the fact that ff3 has that uv blocker cover that keeps dust off the lense, plus it has that mark so you can have an idea where to aim, if it quits. I'm a big fan of vortex. Just dont have any experience with the reflex sight.

I have several ff3. Never had a minutes trouble out of them. I like the auto brightness and it also has an auto off feature after 8 hours. I have one on an rem. 1100 with the “speed bead’’ mount. It is nice because it co-witnesses the bead.

I prefer venom over my FF3 all day. I like to control the brightness myself. Not on auto. Plus lifetime no question warranty

I could very well be the exception to the rule, but have had horrible luck out of the fastfires.
Been through 3 in 5 years.

I’m using a venom now but haven’t had it long enough to know how it will hold up.

I just got a dual illuminated RMR.....seems like a great sight and no batteries. Still have my fastfire three in case it doesn't work as good as I think.

I went with a venom

Nikon has one now too called the Spur. Same low profile style like the other two

It looks interesting. But a 5 yr limited warranty holds me up. It's a tool. A turkey gun

I put a venom on my stoeger 3020 with the sun toy low profile mount and warbird protector. Very happy with both so far. William at sumtoy has recently created a mount/protector in one piece that looks great.

Why doesn’t anybody use a fast fire 2? I don’t have an optic on my shotgun but I will probably put one on before next spring.

Nikon looks like its using its own unique foot print which is a turn off to most shotgun and pistol users not to mention only 5 year warranty.

Most dont like it because you have to remove sight to install battery. The FF3 and Venom battery loads from top and dont have to remove the sight. Theyre still a fine sight if ya can get cheap nuff.

ff3 has auto and 3 manual brightness levels.

Thanks for the info everybody. Most likely going with the Venom.

any of yall that hunt in really thick places, do you not have trouble hanging your red dots and stuff? I feel like the crawling around and going through briar thickets and what not would eventually just knock one off sight

Yes I know but the venom has far more levels of brightness. Crank mine on low in the Am and bright in cloudy rainy days.

So you guys with the Venom, which MOA do you like? What mount are you using?

3moa

3 moa

I fell down a muddy bank last year and scooped mud with my sight the whole way down. Didn’t nock it off a bit.

It was my first year using a red dot after years of swearing them off. I’ve been very pleased.

Why dont yall just use the bead on the front of the gun?

Cause not all guns shoot true to bead on the best pattern they throw.

3 MOA

I used one for years then swore them off too but I’m now considering going back.

Got one on my 410. I like it.
For some of the deals I've seen recently, I'd buy another one too. Just change the battery before each season, sight in (which I enjoy doing anyway) and then good to go.

What could u expect to pay for a vortex on a decent sale? These sights are as much or more than my guns are worth and I'd still need to mount it... but itching to try one if can find the right deal. Ha

I can't believe this many folks shoot red dots. I'll stick to my beads.

I thought same thing til I tried it. You be surprised how that dot allows you to swing on a quartering bird and kill him. Teaching kids is easy too. Red dot base of neck and shoot. ESP when my daughter is right handed but left eye dominant. Talk about a funky situation that solved.

I bought my first one to correct a poi problem with my gold 10. Had always shot a bead before. When I made the switch to tss and a 20 gauge years later I put a fastfire on it immediately......absolutely love shooting turkeys with a sight.

I generally buy from optics planet and check for sales. Right now you can get the Venom for 201.00 shipped normally 229.00 plus shipping. Use discount code 12LIGHT when checking out.

I see 3 beads; don't know which one to shoot. I was having trouble at the beginning of last season even seeing the red dot of the ff3, but I had a procedure done on my eye and can see it ok again now.

Red dot sights have definitely extended my time as a decent turkey hunter. By the time my dad was my age, he missed more than he killed. But he wouldn't change anything to compensate for his bad eyesight; just kept on using his A5 with a 30" full choke barrel and whatever shells the store was selling.

If I were forced to use a bead sight again, I'd use cylinder choke with TSS and try to make a really wide pattern. It would still be good to 40, just would put a lot of shot into the breast, and I would still miss some.

to me the biggest advantage is, it doesnt cover your target as much as the bead does. This makes a BIG difference if the target is moving.

Interesting. I have never looked through one to know. I do think the bead can cover the target at 50+ yds but I dont shoot at em over 40 er so anyway so it does not seem to be an issue at close distances.

I agree with Ben2, go by the KISS rule (keep it simple stupid )

I have killed turkeys with every aiming method out there I reckon and eventually came back to the reflex sight. There are cons associated with all of them, but I like the reflex sight the best across all situations, especially with my aging eyes.

I had two Fastfire 3s go bad on me..Exact same problem both times. The sight settings would go whacky when I turned it on and eventually the dot would just cut out..Both times I was in the middle of a hunt and each sight lasted right at a season and a half..Cost me a gobbler the first time, but I carried a tool with me to strip it off the second time and ended up killing the gobbler with the rifled sights on my gun. Burris did honor the warranty both times. When my third sight came in, I sold it and bought a Venom.

I've been using a Venom for two seasons now with no issues. I even got to test the 'no questions asked' Vortex warranty this spring. I slipped in a creek and landed right on my sight.



Sent it in to Vortex and told them exactly what happened. Had a brand new sight at my door in under 3 weeks! Can't beat that..To be honest, I wouldn't have even been mad if I didn't get a new sight. It was completely my fault. And the red dot still actually worked, I was just afraid to use it.

As far as which sight do I like the best? They are really about equal to me. But i've read about a lot more problems with the Fastfire 3s than the Venoms. So I'd stick with a Venom.

Will a Venom fit on a Marlin 336 mount like a FF3 does?

Yep. I use a smaller base and my gunsmith uses a roto zip tool to Waller out the slots in the base. I use redfield bases

Yessir they have identical footprints. I really think the venom is far superior to the Burris

Keep an eye on the Burris website. They’ve ran a couple deals in the past where they offered a free FF3 with the purchase of an AR scope. I bought mine like this, and then sold the scope. Wound up with about $30 in the FF3.

Reading reviews im being sold on the venom but, now that's my kind of deal!