Looking for an optic to put on a Contender handgun. Still up in the air on cartridge for new barrel but however I go on this barrel it will be for woods ranges on whitetails, most likely 50 yard and under.

Anybody using the reflex type sight on a Contender or Encore??

If so what brand, reticle style, any durabilty issues?

Several here use them; good choice as long as you get a quality one that will hold up to handgun recoil.

If you can get this to open up, you will see an example of the .500 WE in recoil.

A buddy shoots my .500 WE

Red dots are good also. I use them; on single action revolvers in calibers .454 Casull, .475 Linebaugh, and .500 Wyoming Express, as well as smaller calibers. My choice WAS the JPoint, which is the old Tasco Optima 2000. However, I have recently had some problems with the LED separating from the mother board, so I no longer recommend it.

Holosun, a company I had not heard of before, is now on board with their line-up and their logo is "Military grade optics without military grade price." They make both reflex type and red dots.

Holosun Optics

I bought the Micro red dot and so far am impressed with its quality. Hell, even the box it comes in (plastic not cardboard!) is high quality with a snug fitting lid!

I will report back after I get more experience with it.

Red Dots are not out of the question either. I will want whatever is the most durable for sure no matter which route I go.

One of our prominent posters here goes by "Whitworth," and he shoots some of the biggest and baddest SINGLE ACTION revolvers made, including customs, which for their size have recoil as nasty as ANY handgun. At any rate, he has had good luck with a tube type red dot sight, and I am pretty sure that he (Whit) will chime in here any time now to share his experience.

Look up the Ultra Dot brand which is what Whit and several more uses on there's. I only have one Ultra dot but it has worked well.I run scopes on most of mine 2x6 or 2x8 . Leave it low turn up as needed.

I run variable scopes on most of mine, but just switched to a circle and dot style red dot that is unmagnified and tube style on my 45-70 encore. I played with low profile red dot on a glock but always had trouble finding the dot. The large circle and small dot speeds my acquisition. This will be a big game gun with ranges under 150yards. At 50 yards and under, I would skip the scopes.

Ultra Dot Matchdot would be my choice, I have several, not one issue!

UltraDot's are very good red dot sights. I like the 30mm version.

I have also had very good luck with the Bushnell TRS-25. Smaller in size.

I have both and have had them on 12 gauge turkey and slug guns, and 45/70's. They handle recoil well.

Red dots are not magic. They can be too bright early AM and late PM even on lowest setting. I use UltraDots on a few guns, but my choice for low light, recoil proof, close range is the Bushnell Elite handgun scope, 2-6X. In case you get a long shot you have the option of turning it up. With the Dots, they'll cover a lot of the animal and not be very precise.

I don't trust anything that takes batteries. I know there are some very reliable electronic sights out there, they're just not for me. I agree with wvhitman on the Bushnell Elite 2-6 scopes. I have several of them and they are very good scopes. I've also been happy with Leupold fixed and variable handgun scopes.

I agree on the "trust" part, pab1. I personally would not use a battery operated sight for dangerous game or serious work that paid off in money, but for "regular" hunting at closer ranges and plinking I'm OK with them; they allow me to shoot better than if using irons. But then again, that said, it may have something to do with these 66 year old eyes.

That's the good thing about the Holosun, solar line. Solar powered with battery back-up. Has my attention.

10-4! I forgot to mention that.

No one has mentioned the Leupold Deltapoint. My contact at Leupold sent me one with the understanding I could keep it if I wrote it up.

A REVIEW ON THE LEUPOLD DELTAPOINT SIGHT

After meeting my obligation, I used it for a while, and then sold it. It worked fine but at the time I needed the money to put elsewhere, and I already owned several JPoints (which I no longer recommend.)

Good write up. I really like how small the sight appears to be.

Thank you sir. I know others here have some experience with them also; the only negative I have heard is the size of the red dot (3.5 MOA) but it is what it is...

Again, I really like how they adjust for sight-in, and if you have ever experienced sighting a red dot in you would appreciate that.

Also the fact that they DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY turn off in the dark and that they are motion activated. All points to consider!

I recently got a couple of the SIG solar circle dots on steep discount at gander mountain that look and spec out just like the holosun but cost much more. The things I like about the sig (think the holosun should be the same) are the small 2moa dot in the 65moa circle. At arms length the circle nearly fills the field of view through the head tube so it is very easy for me to get on target. There is also a lot fo brightness adjustability on the unit (11 or 15 levels I think). They even have two levels of brightness for use with night vision or IR assistance, you can barely see them in daylight. Of course taking advantage of that adjustability means pushing buttons, but they are big and easy to find. The dot is small and sharp. I was shootings it a couple weeks ago and had the smallest three shot group (under 1.5" )I've ever shot with my 45-70 at 100 yards. The stated battery life is something like 50k hours with the solar backup. I've only had it a few months, but like it so far.

Karl, Is that sig like sig-sauer? Do they have a website? I guess I'm just lazy today...

Yes, sig-sauer. The Romero 4c or something close to that with solar and circle dot reticle. I've only sent 20ish rounds down range with it, but happy so far. Most were +p 45-70. We will see what happened after a couple hundred rounds.

Here was the web site for the one I have.
https://www.sigsauer.com/store/romeo4-1x20-mm-1-1.html
The battery life is state as 5k hours.

Thanks for the web address, Karl. I like the looks of it. It states:
"...1x aiming solution optimized for today's MSR/AR platforms."

I am wondering how it will stand up to big handgun recoil. That can be far worse than big rifle recoil. Keep us posted if you would please, Karl.

I like the 30mm MatchDot by UltraDot pretty well. The MatchDot has several dot sizes, among them the 2 MOA Dot Size is my favorite, while the regular UltraDot is a fixed 4 MOA. Where this makes a difference is early and late. A red dot will Bloom in low light. A 2 MOA Dot set on 1 at closing time works pretty well.
I got a new 2-7 Burris Plex scope last year. I am very impressed with it. WAY Brighter than the older Burris handgun scopes. If I can make the deer out with my eyes, I can get on it with this scope. It also has a Lifetime Warranty. Normally a company that has been in business for years will not Lifetime Warranty a scope that will fail with any frequency.
I prefer scopes on my singleshot handguns, and the MatchDot 30's on Revolvers.

My last Contender Barrel Purchase was an MGM 13" in 357 Maximum.
Advantages:
Uses most reasonably late model 357 Magnum Die Sets to reload. You may already have a die set that will work. If not you can find a set cheap.
Starline makes Great Brass for it.
Works well with Hornady 158 FP/XTP's and 180 XTP's that are fairly cheap and easy to come up with.
It is a Miser on Powder. Several powders work well in the singleshot, AA #9, H110, 300MP, LilGun, and 296. You can also use 2400, 1680 and a few others at slower speeds.


Bob