Author Topic: FA New JP Red Dot Mounts (Read 4985 times)

Bob96 · « **on:** February 11, 2008, 08:06:22 AM »

I have 3 Model 97's. My old eyes just don't focus any longer on the sights. Clear target but blurry sights. Bi-focal glasses gave me clear sights and blurry target or the opposite depending how a moved my head. I tried the standard notch rear and the express sight. I tried the standard front ramp blade - Partridge - Brass Bead - Fiber Optic and Brass bead painted white. Some improvement but still blurry. I ordered 2 of the new JP mounts and installed them. I didn't want a big bulky scope-mount-rings to spoil the clean lines of the FA. The set up looks very small and clean and the dot picture is clear and crisp. I installed 2 of the Pride-Fowler sights which are like the JP but have a on-off switch. I just ordered a 3rd mount for my 4.25" model. There is a picture of the new mount on the FA web site. Now my 4.25" - 7.5" - 10" models 97's will shoot better and still have clean lines. The mounts by the way drop right in and fit perfectly the the rear sight channel.

kennisondan · « **Reply #1 on:** February 11, 2008, 10:37:39 AM »

Wow Bob : I am probably right behind you on that... I am struggling with the sights and trying all the stuff you tried... I should have stayed with the express longer and then skipped trying the other fronts, rears and combinations of all those.. and switching back and forth...
I will affirm if my ultimate experience ends up the same as yours..
Do you feel this is ultimately where you will stay for a while... it is that good ?
and you are Ok with the lines of the weapon, etc.?
would you post a pic of them... should be cool in all lengths and with the little sights on top.
dk

Bob96 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 11, 2008, 06:49:27 PM »

I loaned out my camera to a family member. Will post a picture when I get it back. I do like the lines of the setup. Besides being a rugged and accurate gun the FA is just plain beautiful. I wanted to preserve the look as much as possible while being able to see the target and sights clearly. The little red dots do that for me with little disruption in gun look.

kennisondan · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2008, 05:40:03 AM »

I priced the fowler and the JP reflex sights on midway and they are affordable enough... if I cannot clean up the old eyes problem I will then just get that for my fa 475, as it is probably the furthest shooting sixgun I have though it is the short barrel and octogan at that... I could always get another one with a long barrel I guess ... I am ansious to see the shorter barrel one you have rigged out.. for aesthetics...
Boy aint we gettin fancy here..
dk

doghawg · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2008, 12:47:51 PM »

Bob96

I'll be looking forward to seeing some pics also. I'm planning to mount optics on a 7 1/2" Mod 83 but am holding off pending feedback on this system. It's a shame to own such an accurate gun and not be able to do it justice with iron sights.

TommyD · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2008, 03:10:22 PM »

I am right there with you guys. This red dot system looks very promising while keeping the balance and the beautiful lines of the Mod 83 mostly intact.

Tom

kennisondan · « **Reply #6 on:** February 15, 2008, 04:39:55 PM »

I can see a flood of scopes on the classifieds very soon...
dk

doghawg · « **Reply #7 on:** February 17, 2008, 01:44:17 PM »

This proves the gun has the accuracy but that front sight (Ken's) helps also. This was at 25 yds. but I bet the gun would do this at 50 yards with optics.

bobthenailer · « **Reply #8 on:** February 23, 2008, 08:09:15 AM »

my 6 inch 83 in 454 has a shortend ssk tsob mount with a p/f special ops sight mounted with there weaver adaptor , i love it holds the zero the dot is nice and round with no dot flair under any lighting condtion, im bying another p/f sight for my other 83 before next hunting season.

IronAir · « **Reply #9 on:** February 23, 2008, 12:22:22 PM »

bobthenailer,

What is a p/f sight? Sorry, I'm slow.

IronAir · « **Reply #10 on:** February 23, 2008, 12:25:00 PM »

Nevermind, I got it...

Pride-Fowler http://www.rapidreticle.com/sopscauto.htm

TommyD · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2008, 02:51:46 PM »

The 4 MOA sight is hard to find, but after weeks on back order I finally got it.

I have not used this type of sight before on a revolver, so it took a little getting used to - finding the dot.

Adjusting the elevation required the use of the shim that freedom arms supplied with their mount. I put the "thicker side" forward because the gun shot high off the paper without the shim in place.

I believe that the supplied instructions for the windage adjustment may be reversed.

Once I got it sighted in, I was able to shoot 50 yard groups as small as the dot. This is a blessing for my aging eyes.

Unfortunately, I was not able to put more than 50 rounds through the gun with the new sight because I started having problems with the cocking mechanism. This has nothing to do with the sight, but for some reason I no longer get the definitive click when I put it in the half cock position for loading. And then, intermittently, the hammer would not lock back in the full cock position.

This afternoon, I put the factory sights back on and dropped the weapon off at my local dealer who will ship it back to Freedom Arms for service.

A bit frustrating. I spend weeks waiting for the sight to arrive and then when it finally gets here the gun needs repair. Oh well. Just another example of the principle of the "conservation of misery."

Tom

kennisondan · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2008, 03:20:41 PM »

tommy d : I feel your pain... that is how it goes sometimes... not many returns for FAs I bet... the four MoA dots seem preferred... I am interested in this extremely... pics would be so nice from everyone... range reports.... more more more
dk

paul105 · « **Reply #13 on:** May 07, 2008, 03:33:17 AM »

Last week, I installed a JPoint (4 MOA Dot) on my FA97 .357 Mag. I also had to install the shim (large end forward) just like TommyD. I didn't have any problem adjusting the POI -- just like a Bow, or moving a front sight -- move the dot to the point of impact. Anyway, a couple of observations.

First, depending upon light conditions and which glasses I was wearing, I was getting some dot flare, which impacted accuracy some. When I could get a "clean" dot, results were very good. I normally wear a pair of 1.25x diopter safety glasses when shooting open sights. The 1.25 gives me a clear front sight without blurring out things at a distance. When bench testing loads, I'll go to my reading glasses (1.75x diopter) under my Zeiss shooting glasses for a "crisper" front sight picture with somewhat blurrier distance objects. Either magnification caused the Red Dot to blur or flare. The clearest red dot came while wearing the uncorrected Zeiss shooting glasses. When the dot is clear, it is very precise.

Most of the shooting I was doing was with the sun behind me. There were some scattered clouds. I'd get dot flare with the sun behind me, and the dot would clear up when a cloud passed in front of the sun.

The "flare" for all practical purposes just makes the dot larger (less precise).

Just like shooting a scope, the JPoint will magnify your shakes.

Here is a picture of 10 shot group I fired at 50 yards the other day. Conditions were terrible. The wind was gusting to about 30 MPH. I was using a blue jean leg stuffed with kitty litter and sewn up a both ends as a rest. As mentioned above, the sun was directly behind me. I was getting some dot flare occasionally. I was getting tired, and my concentration was waning.

You can see 7 shots in 1 5/8" in the lower right quadrant of the black square in the middle of the target. You can also see parallel lines going down to 3 other shots that open the 10 shot group to 3 5/8". I'm sure that the 3 lower rounds were my fault as the 357 load I was shooting is real consistent in the FA.

Paul

paul105 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 09, 2008, 08:07:12 AM »

Just found this -- Jeff Quinn did a writeup on the FA Mount and Trijicon sight mounted on his .500 WE. Included are some good pictures.

http://gunblast.com/Freedom-Trijicon.htm

Paul

odoh · « **Reply #15 on:** May 27, 2008, 04:18:53 PM »

Perhaps I'm confused ~ yeh I'm really confused by this thread. I read Trijicon, Pride Fowler and JP enterprises in such a way that infers they are all the same right? I see 4 MOA mentioned but PF is 5MOA. PF is waterproof/shockproof, Trijicon Docter is moisture resistant. JP is epoxy encapsulated hence wp also. Trijicon has glass lense as does PF and JP is acrylic. Trijicon is metal as is PF but JP is glass reinforced nylon. Lost track which have on/off/auto or on/off or no power switches. Yet the thread titled JP but primary posters (owners) have one or the other yet all talk as if theirs are the same as the others. Confusing ~

paul105 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 27, 2008, 05:14:50 PM »

Here are links to Both Trijicon and JP websites. If you look at the specs for both, you will find them to be identical. Trijicon also sells the Doctor (which is diffiernt from the Trijicon and JP versions). The Doctor has glass optics and metal frame, which makes it heavier, thereby less resistant to recoil. Both the Trijicon and the JP are made of (Lens: Acrylic with Hard Coating
and Body: Glass Re-inforced Nylon Polymer), much lighter materials with less recoil enertia.

The JPoint's Recoil Resistance is 5,000g (same as the Trijicon) and 5x the 1,000g rating for the Doctor.

http://www.jprifles.com/1.6.1.php

http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/part ... egoryID=13

The Pride Fowler Units are constructed of:

# Body made of 6061 T6 Aluminum, anodized black finish
# Screen made of coated laminated parabolic glass; lens 10/16" high by 14/16" wide.

http://www.rapidreticle.com/sopscauto.htm

Both the Doctor and Pride Fowler Units are constructed of heavier materials, and may or may not withstand the recoil forces of the the bigger magnum handguns.

If there is any difference between the Trijicon and the JP and I can't see it -- the specs are identical.

The Doctor and Pride Fowler are different from each other, and both are different from the Trijion/JP units.

From Freedom Arms website ( www.freedomarms.com )

"Freedom Arms is now producing a Reddot Sight mount for Trijicon & J.P. Enterprises Reddot Sights!"

Probably just confused the issue even further.

Paul

TommyD · « **Reply #17 on:** May 27, 2008, 09:20:49 PM »

I believe that what Paul05 writes is correct. the Trijicon reddot and JP sight are basically the same thing. Trijicon also sells the Docter, but that is a different sight. The trijicon reddot and JP Enterprises sight are much lighter and have higher recoil resistance and both use the mount that FA sells. The Docter and PF sight sights use a different mount.

I bought the Trijicon reddot sight with the 4 MOA sight. I also notice some "flare" of the dot in bright sunlight when wearing my reading glasses. At 50 yards, the dot will cover the 3 inch black of a 50 foot pistol target. I find that I can put most of my shots in the black with this sight at 50 yards. Not quite as precise as my 2x Leupold scope, but a VAST improvement to what my 50 year old eyes can do with iron sights. It is not a scope, but it does what it is meant to do. At least for the summer, I think I will leave the scope on my Ruger Super Redhawk and keep the reddot on the FA 83.

I received the sight in the first week of May and during my sight-in session at the range I started having problems with the trigger lock up. The gun went back to FA for service wearing the original iron sights. I got the gun back last Friday and when I re-mounted the sight the very first group shot was dead on target. I did not have to re-zero the sight. The repeatability is nice to have, since when you change the battery, you will have to remove the sight again.

My next step will be to order one of the FA holsters that accommodate the reddot sight. The one that Jeff Quinn at gunblast (http://gunblast.com/Freedom-Trijicon.htm) wears looks real nice. And I do prefer the cross draw for field carry.

Tom

Sverre A. · « **Reply #18 on:** August 19, 2008, 03:21:34 AM »

Can this be an idea for a scoped gun too?

My wishingdream is a mount - where I easily and quickly can remove the scope, and use a rear sight like it is on the red-dotbase.
But - when I scope it again - the scopemount must be so precis that the bullet hit the target where I aim.

Every time I`m in Africa - I feel a little handicap when my possibility is only the scope - or a dot - or open sights.

The biotop can be very bushy - and the shooting distance very short.
But it change fast - and if I could change from open sights to a scope within seconds - I`m sure that it would be a hit

!

Just me who think that

MarkH · « **Reply #19 on:** August 21, 2008, 07:34:01 AM »

Wayne Baker makes (or did make) a titanium see through scope mount with a useable rear sight. I didn't try to do any precise work with the rear sight, but was impressed greatly by the overall design and light weight.

BlackDiamond · « **Reply #20 on:** September 28, 2010, 12:05:58 AM »

Hello !

I want to order the Trijicon RMR Sight (LED), 4.0 MOA Red Dot sight for my FA 83.

From what I uderstand I have to order the sight without any mount code RM01 (http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/products1.cfm?PartID=666&back_row=0&categoryID=13)
and then order the sight mount from Freedom Arms

Is that correct ? Do I need anything else ?

HAMMERHEAD · « **Reply #21 on:** September 28, 2010, 12:58:51 PM »

Quote

I want to order the Trijicon RMR Sight (LED), 4.0 MOA Red Dot sight for my FA 83.

From what I uderstand I have to order the sight without any mount code RM01 (http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/products1.cfm?PartID=666&back_row=0&categoryID=13)
and then order the sight mount from Freedom Arms

Is that correct ? Do I need anything else ?

Unfortunately the RMR sights take a different mount than any of the other mini red dot sights. I've been waiting for them to come out with a Glock mount, it was due in August.....
Right now the only way to get the RMR sight on a F/A is to get a Weaver rail from F/A and get the RMR with Weaver mount.
http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/products1.cfm?PartID=719&back_row=2&categoryID=13 I don't like the big nut that hangs off the side. I'm not sure if the Picatinny mount would work with F/A's Weaver rail, it might if it was made to Picatinny specs.
Too bad, the battery free RMR was the one I wanted.

I have had the full size Trijicon Reflex http://www.trijicon.com/user/parts/products1.cfm?PartID=116&back_row=0&categoryID=8 for over ten years and it's a great sight with the crisp aiming triangle. Never any flair or other issues, and the triangle's sharp tip makes for a very precise aiming point. I'm going the cheap route and ordering the SSK Weaver rail for my 4.25" .357 Model 97 and putting my Reflex sight on it.
It won't be as svelte as the mini dots with custom mounts, but I know it will be rugged as hell and it will never need a battery.

BlackDiamond · « **Reply #22 on:** September 28, 2010, 08:01:14 PM »

Thanks for the info. I would want the RMR with LED and battery because of the smaller dot size (4 MOA).
Also tritium has an half life of 12 years so it won't last forever.

BlackDiamond · « **Reply #23 on:** September 29, 2010, 01:17:54 AM »

Any idea about who have the best prices on Trijicom sights ?

Bob Baker · « **Reply #24 on:** September 29, 2010, 06:01:51 AM »

The bases are all machined and out being anodized for the RMR Trijicon sights and should be in about the end of next week. We will have bases for both the M97 and M83.

When ordering these bases be sure to specify which sight base you want. The base we have had for a couple years fits the older Trijicon red dot and the red dot available from JP Enterprises. The new base fits the Trijicon RMR sight.

HAMMERHEAD · « **Reply #25 on:** September 29, 2010, 04:01:29 PM »

Quote from: BlackDiamond on September 28, 2010, 08:01:14 PM

Thanks for the info. I would want the RMR with LED and battery because of the smaller dot size (4 MOA).
Also tritium has an half life of 12 years so it won't last forever.

The primary light source for the dual illuminated RMR sight is the fiber optics, the tritium only powers it in total darkness.

Quote

The bases are all machined and out being anodized for the RMR Trijicon sights and should be in about the end of next week. We will have bases for both the M97 and M83.

Hooray!

bobthenailer · « **Reply #26 on:** October 03, 2010, 01:31:34 PM »

after a few years on my 454 casull the PF sight started to get vertical stringing with all loads ! i found that the lense housing screws on either side of the sight had worked loose letting the front part of the assy to move causing the striging . i tighted them up with a watch screwdriver, problem solved!