Alrighty guys....I posted up about my new 45/70 a few weeks ago. I wanted to keep it with iron sights only, but realized that I can't see the sights at all when the sun starts going down. I feel that I'm losing out on a solid 15+ minutes of hunting time compared to my other rifles with scopes on them.

So.....I'm now thinking of a red dot. Do ya'll have any personal experience with red dots that'll handle a 45/70? I have an Eotech on one of my AR's and love it, but it's fairly large and I'd like to keep the size down on my Marlin, something similar in size to a Vortex Venom - I just don't know if they'll hold up to the recoil of a 45/70. I love the Trijicon RMR, but would like to spend a little less than that if possible.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't want a RD in very low light. The dots tend to be too bright and screw with your night vision.

Possible, yes, although I haven't seem to have an issue with the Eotech on my AR because I can dim the red dot way down. I just want to keep the gun minimal and don't really want a big scope sitting on top.

You need this rig here. I LOVE mine. I’ll never buy a regular scope again. Go ahead and get it, you can thank me later. VXR

I keep a small 1-4 scope on mine. In the past I used res dots for certain properties. I used a Burris fast fire 3 for a long time and liked it. The brightness of the dot was never an issue because you can turn the brightness down. Burris makes a direct mount to Marlin so it looks really sleek and nice. The only thing with many red dots though is that some of the red dots with coatings on the lense can get hard to see through in low light. Try to find one with clear lense and not super coated. The Leupold deltapoint was pretty good as well. I also used a Bushnell trs25 for several years and it did great but the coating makes it kind of difficult in low light. But I used it for several years. It's on my 22 now.

This is the correct answer. I have vxr on 2 of my rifles and they are great. Best thing for a lever gun.

Also, the VXR will adjust high enough to see it in bright daylight and low enough you can barely see the dot in pitch black darkness. Also the auto off/on motion sensor is awesome.

I’ve been hindered in low light with my Red dot non magnification to identify antlers, for a meat gitter, its fine. Those VXR’s are nice

I went with a VXR 3x9x40 30mm tube, on talley lightweight low rings. It has just enough clearance for the rear sight folded down and for the hammer. It is a very natural and comfortable set up, the scope is awesome for this gun if you go that route. IMHO. Btw you can find them on sale for 300$. Valleydawg might recognize this gun. Lol

Man dats nice!

Oh man you have that thing set up just right. Happy you are still enjoying it. This pic makes me miss that gun lol. Also, you could remove that rear sight if you wanted. Just drift punch it out. They sell blank dovetail pieces that you can drift into the dovetail and looks factory.

The VXR looks nice but has a real short eye relief so it can’t be mounted in a scout position like I would want if I go with a scope versus a red dot.

I like the Burris 336 or 536 red dot sights, 3x or 5x magnification. The reticle is etched so you can use it even if the batteries die. You can often find it bundled with a free FF3.

They do make a vxr scout scope. Burris and vortex both make good scout scopes that have illuminated reticles

I have an SBL and recently tricked out a plain jane 1895. You may want to consider installing the XS package which maintains the peep sight but also allows you to mount something with quick disconnects or with regular mounts. The SBL came with the rail and I installed one on the plain jane 1895. Both are sighted in with a Hawke 4-12 LER scope that has an illuminated reticle on Warne quick disconnects.

https://www.xssights.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=993387&CAT=8562

I ordered the just rail for my sons 30/30. I wanted a wide range of options

Been having the same issue with my Guide Gun . Also thinking about a Red Dot like you were . I have definitely have a few different options to ponder on now after seeing this post . I have a Delta Point laying around but like that Leupold setup . Looks real good !

Ended up going with the Burris Scout scope in 2-7x32. Has a 9-12" eye relief. I should have it delivered in a couple of days and mounted up for a hunt this weekend.

I'll post up pics once I'm done and give a report after hitting the range and woods this weekend.

Cool. I'm going to mount one on mine before nxt season, be waiting on some feed back on the Burris...

I've read nothing but awesome things on it. I'll definitely update after this weekend.