Red dot shorting out

R

Roland Thunder

New member
Does anyone have trouble with their red dot sight shorting out or just shutting off by itself/ I do. I have a Burris Fast Fire III and almost every time I go to the range at some time during my shooting session it will shut off on it's own. So far, every time it does this, I just press the power button and it comes back on. This usually happens (and usually only once) each time I go to the range. This isn't my first Burris FF III to do this. I had another one that just quit working all together. I sent it back to them and they sent me a new one, there very good about this. I'm wondering if other manufacturers like Vortex, and Trigicon, etc have this problem too. I would spend the money on a Trijicon or Leupold, etc. if I were confident I could avoid dealing with this.
 
I've had several Burris FF sights and never had one do this. I have had other manufacturers products do it, but only on the older style "tin can" sights. Tasco was famous for this. I had a Vortex Venom recently that wouldn't shut off. I sent it back and they sent a new one pretty quickly and it's worked OK so far. FWIW, I shot my burris sights a lot, and on some heavy recoiling handguns and a couple of rifles....no problems at all. Try putting a new battery in it.
 
When mine did that, the battery cap was loose.

When shooting with the sight on "Automatic", some times it looks like the dot disappears, so I use medium or low setting.

David
 
Problems are not common ???

I have owned a number of RedDots and to date, have only had "a problem with one. After checking the practical's, I sent it back to the factory, which they fixed and informed me that it had lost it's ground connection. No trouble after that !! ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
Roland Thunder said:
Does anyone have trouble with their red dot sight shorting out or just shutting off by itself/ I do. I have a Burris Fast Fire III and almost every time I go to the range at some time during my shooting session it will shut off on it's own. So far, every time it does this, I just press the power button and it comes back on. This usually happens (and usually only once) each time I go to the range. This isn't my first Burris FF III to do this. I had another one that just quit working all together. I sent it back to them and they sent me a new one, there very good about this. I'm wondering if other manufacturers like Vortex, and Trigicon, etc have this problem too. I would spend the money on a Trijicon or Leupold, etc. if I were confident I could avoid dealing with this.
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Send it in for warranty.
 
I wonder if the more expensive ones, like Trijicon, Leupold, etc. are less prone to malfunction.
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I know a lot of people who shoot thousands of rounds a year out of their handguns at competitions. I'm not aware that the Burris FF's (2 and 3) are known to have a problem. However, you can buy a more expensive one and let us know. I can tell you that I have fired thousands of rounds out of three different Burris red dots with no problems at all. I've had them mounted on 45-70 rifles and 44mag handguns and never had a problem. I have owned Tasco's and had them fail due to not plating their contacts inside and they failed due to corrosion on the contact points. I've also see cheap tin can red dots have the entire turret fly off while speed shooting plate events. I think the older cheap dot sights were prone to a lot of things and shooters soon quit buying them. Their all made in China and I'm sure a lot of them, regardless on name, are probably made in the same places. However, even the Chinese are capable of producing products made to the spec's given to them by the sellers. Trijicon may be a cut above, but even the Leupold isn't made by Leupold....it's just packaged with the brand name on the box. I've owned literally a couple of dozen red dots over the last twenty-five years and the newer, mid-priced dots are pretty robust. The "under a hundred bucks" ones are still pretty much junk in the long run.
 
Read the warranty

I wonder if the more expensive ones, like Trijicon, Leupold, etc. are less prone to malfunction.
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All of mine, came with a warranty and the one I sent back, was a low-end RedDot.

Be Safe !!!
 
I wouldn't be surprised if recoil caused issues with the batteries bouncing and losing contact with their contacts. Look inside and see if you have leaf-type leads you can bend up slightly to increase battery contact pressure a little. Clean with a swab and alcohol and then lightly wipe the battery with a cloth pad you sprayed a little plastic-safe silicone lube onto and you are good to go. If you live in a salt air environment, the anti-oxidizing types of contact lubes are better but more expensive. If you don't live with corrosive air and don't have existing signs of oxidation, you don't typically need the more expensive stuff. Just don't use a lube with Teflon in it, as that will insulate the connection, defeating its purpose.
 
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