ForumSponsors Area: Ultradot OpticsHunting with Ultradot’s Matchdot …Post Reply

Post Reply: Hunting with Ultradot’s Matchdot II By: Joe Sandrini

<blockquote><div class=”quotetitle”>Quote from <a class=”profile-link highlight-admin” href=”https://handgunhuntingafield.blog/forum/profile/handgunhuntingafield/”>handgunhuntingafield</a> on April 6, 2026, 2:11 pm</div>&nbsp;

Mule Deer Hunt

Picking my way through downed timber and up a small rise to glass for mule deer, I happened to glance left. Movement caught my eye. It was a 4X4 mule deer buck about 300 yards away tracking almost straight towards me. Dropping to the ground, I liberated my pack from my shoulders and slid a .358 win. chambered XP100 out of its carrier. Still cradled in the Nixon Leather holster on my chest was a BFR in .454 Casull, topped an Ultradot Matchdot II. Which gun would it be?

Getting Into Position

Considering how fast the buck was closing, and wanting to continue my streak of successful revolver hunts, I drew the big single action from the chest rig and laid the XP against my pack. Gathering up a homemade support bag and my range finder, I began to belly crawl, slither really, over fallen limbs and rocks to find a rest for my gun and a view of the buck.

Having covered 20 or so yards, I raised my head like a snake. I saw the buck, and he saw me. We both froze. The range finder found its way to my eye, 78 yards. Perfect, but I still had to get into shooting position with a clear lane of fire. As I fumbled to set up a rest on a rotted limb, the buck began to move. Changing his angle, he moved diagonal to my left but kept coming closer. His gait began to change. He was about to bolt – time to act.

The Shot

I took a firm two handed grip, sunk my elbows in the dirt, and placed a 4 MOA dot on the buck’s shoulder. That was it. Instinct took over, and with just enough mental processing to know I had a clear, safe shot, a 240 grain XTP mag was on its way towards the deer’s chest – now 67 yards away. The bullet completely penetrated the buck, and he crumpled into a pile after two stumbling strides. A couple of heaving breaths, and he lay motionless.

Success Breeds Success

This was the first deer and fourth big game animal I’d harvested with that revolver using the Matchdot II. The others were a bull and a cow elk two seasons before, and a buck antelope a few weeks prior. In the more distant past, I had used the BFR to take the same species employing open sights, and with a scope, another pronghorn. However, I’ve found hunting with the Matchdot II atop the big single action to be a truly effective combination. Especially when a quicker shot was required, which had actually been the case each time the Matchdot II has been deployed. The bull elk was shot quartering away at 130 yards as he walked away in dimming light. The cow had to be shot when the elk mingling nonstop around her were not in the way. While the buck antelope, felled a few weeks earlier, presented an identical situation as the cow at the almost the same range of around 120 yards.

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The Matchdot II

Ultradot’s Matchdot II became available to shooters in 2013. This revision to the original Matchdot added two reticle patterns to the optic’s 2, 4, 6 &amp; 8 MOA red dot selections, along with a 1 MOA elevation turret to allow “on the fly” elevation adjustments. In 2024, Ultradot came out with a green dot version of the venerable 30mm tubed dot sight, and added off positions between each of the 11 brightness levels.

I received the newest versions of both red and green dot Matchdot II following their testing and review by other <a href=”https://handgunhuntingafield.blog/2025/06/06/ultradot-matchdot-ii-or-seeing-is-believing-by-roy-yeager/”>Handgun Hunting Afield writers</a>. To add to the body of knowledge and reporting on these optics, I offer my field and range experiences for your consideration.

Why the Dot?

The primary reasons I moved to a dot from open sights or a scope was for faster and more distinct sight on target acquisition. The dot is easy to pick up in a hurry. Plus, compared to iron sights, you only have two focal points to deal with. Still, as with iron sights, you must focus on the “front sight,” in this case the dot. I have also found the dot easier to detect and place quickly against dark fur. Finally, with no magnification and a bright aiming point to follow, the dot sight makes shots on moving game easier for me.

Test Guns

Besides using a red Matchdot II on my trusty BFR, I also mounted one on an Uberti 1873 Hunter Revolver in .45 Colt, and a 6.5 X 284 custom XP-100. The .45 was used to subject the optic to intense acceleration under recoil, with the light .45 Colt pushing a 255 grain SWC out of the muzzle at 1,360 fps. While the XP-100 and match type ammo were intended to test the precision and repeatability of green optic’s adjustments.

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Red Light – Green Light

When it came to using a green or red dot in the field, come to find out my astigmatism is much less correctible for green. My prescription glasses pretty much negate the starburst effect of the red dot when it is not set too bright for conditions. On the other hand, I get almost no correction with green light. This made it virtually impossible for me to shoot the green dot with precision. Consequently, I parked it after some basic testing. However, some folks will find the exact opposite to be true for them.

Also, for me, the red dot stood out more against the terrain and vegetation where I hunt. But again, this could be different for you. So, give a look through both if you can. If you have an astigmatism and don’t have access to a sight in each color, look at red and green traffic lights at night. The color that “blooms” or streaks less is likely the better choice for your optic.

Testing the Turret

To test “on the fly” adjustment with the elevation turret, the Uberti was zeroed at 25 yards. Using a ballistic calculator, bullet drop at 50, 75 and 100 yards were calculated and the elevation turret “dialed” for each range via its 1 MOA per click adjustment. Three rounds were then fired at a freshly painted 10-inch steel plate at each distance. The adjustments compensated almost perfectly for drop. Although, I did alter the windage left after shooting at 50 yards to get better “zeroed” left and right.

The Matchdot II’s elevation turret relies on a wide headed slot screw running vertically down through it and into the elevation adjustment screw. It uses tension to keep the turret secured to the elevation screw. If not sufficiently tightened, the turret will either fail to adjust the elevation adjustment screw or turn it inconsistently. Personally, I had a hard time feeling the tactile “clicks” with it screwed down enough to work. Compounding my trouble was that without amplified electronic hearing protection, and not the best ears to start with, I could not hear the audible “clicks” when adjusting the turret.

I noticed the evaluation turret slippage issue when trying to “shoot the square.” That is, moving the point of aim vertically and horizontally consistently between shots, such that successive impacts on target should end up at the four corners of a square and then return to zero. Instead of a square, I shot more of a parallelogram. To ensure that the optic was mounted correctly, I used a scope leveling kit and remounted it. That helped some, as did tightening the turret screw. Still, neither the green nor red dot versions shot perfect squares, but both returned to zero properly.

Tough &amp; Tough to Beat – with a Qualifier

The Matchdot II handled the .45’s recoil fine, as far as maintaining zero and not coming apart, which was not surprising given their reputation and history. However, the included factory rings would not prevent the sight from slipping with it mounted according to the instructions, which simply state, “Tighten all four Allen screws evenly for a snug fit. Add an additional ¼ turn to ensure the sight is secure.”

To quantify and address the issue, I cinched the mounting screws down to 20 inch-lbs using a torque driver. But again, the Matchdot slipped. However, it took more shots to notice. Tightening the screws to 25 inch-lbs. improved the situation quite a bit, but the optic continued to slip slightly. Not wanting to deform the optic’s tube, the experiment was halted. To eliminate slippage without over tightening, the front of the center housing was positioned against the front ring.

Gun &amp; Optic g Force

The gun and optic g force is a gun’s acceleration when fired, and it can be thought of as how hard the firearm “hits” a mounted optic. To compare the Uberti to a couple of other hunting handguns in my line up, I used <a href=”https://robrobinette.com/Gun_Recoil_Calculator.html”>Major Rob Robinette’s online recoil calculator</a>. It assumes free recoil, and thus does not take into account added weight due to hands on the gun or the effects of different grip designs or hand tension.

Assuming all things equal, the Uberti firing the 255 gr bullet at 1,360 fps subjected the optic to an estimated 760 g’s during its approximately 1/10th of a second recoil cycle. This is about 30% more than a similarly topped 83/8 inch barreled S&amp;W model 29 shooting a 240 gr bullet at 1,400 fps. It is also only very close to my BFR firing the load I used to take the mule deer. However, the BFR employs a set of Steiner H-Series lightweight rings to hold the Matchdot II in place, and I have had absolutely no problems with slippage over hundreds of rounds.

Summary Judgement

Ultradot’s Matchdot II has all the optical quality and functionality needed in an effective hunting sight for handguns out to 200 yards or so. However, upgrading to a quality set of lightweight rings may be required on handguns with truly snappy recoil. That said, if you plan to use a handgun with intense recoil, most operate at fairly high velocities. As such, I would skip the extra cost for the Matchdot II with its elevation turret and go with the 30mm Ultradot Gen 2 and its 2 MOA dot instead. Same said if you don’t need variation in reticles or dot size.

After all, if you are zeroed at your “maximum point-blank range,” compensating for bullet drop at revolver hunting ranges doesn’t require an elevation turret. It is easy enough done with the amount of holdover needed. Plus, you do not need to remember to check the turret before shooting. Something I failed to do with that cow elk, and ended up with shots landing too high. That required tracking her a couple hundred yards into the brush to finish her off. All the taking my backpack on and off, crawling around and stalking during the hunt had resulted in a turret set about 10 inches high when I touched off the first shot. Lesson learned!

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Dot sights definitely offer some advantages over traditional open sights and scopes for handgun hunters. They are better in low light or when a quick shot is required. And, although they do not provide magnification, their weight savings and added contrast against an animal or its surroundings put them ahead of non-illuminated scopes and open sights for sure. These things play big in my book. As such, I believe you would do well to consider the Ultradot offering best suited to your gun, game, and tactics.

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