Which red dot?

[AR15barrels]

My max budget would be $400 which I believe can get me something decent.
I'm reading up about standard red dot and reflex sights, and am a little confused as to the differences. I think I may want something with some magnification so I can have fun reaching out and touching some distant targets. Red dots are a whole new world for me so your help is much appreciated.

None of the optics being mentioned in this thread so far have magnification.
There really are no red dot optics with magnification that would fall into your $400 budget.
There are prism scopes, but these are all made for rifles so they have around a 3" eye relief which obviously won't work on a pistol used at arms length.
There are pistol scopes with traditional crosshairs that are made to work at arms length.
An example:

 

[Makoman]

None of the optics being mentioned in this thread so far have magnification.
There really are no red dot optics with magnification that would fall into your $400 budget.
There are prism scopes, but these are all made for rifles so they have around a 3" eye relief which obviously won't work on a pistol used at arms length.
There are pistol scopes with traditional crosshairs that are made to work at arms length.
An example:

I'm considering that route as well. I may decide to dabble in some handgun hunting, and if I do, that will likely be the way that I go. A scoped DE just looks very old school cool.

I did find this one from Jeff Bezos https://a.co/d/dPcnaKa. When the time comes, I may give this a shot. Not sure how the flip to side magnifier will hold up, but considering that the optics will be mounted to the barrel and that the barrel on the DE remains fixed/stationary when firing, it just may work.

 

[Mil-Dot]

None of the optics being mentioned in this thread so far have magnification.
There really are no red dot optics with magnification that would fall into your $400 budget.
There are prism scopes, but these are all made for rifles so they have around a 3" eye relief which obviously won't work on a pistol used at arms length.
There are pistol scopes with traditional crosshairs that are made to work at arms length.
An example:

Red dots do not have magnification they dont make them that way.

 

[AR15barrels]

I did find this one from Jeff Bezos https://a.co/d/dPcnaKa.
When the time comes, I may give this a shot. Not sure how the flip to side magnifier will hold up, but considering that the optics will be mounted to the barrel and that the barrel on the DE remains fixed/stationary when firing, it just may work.

None of the add-on magnifiers will work either because they are all intended for short eye relief use such as on a rifle.
Good luck shooting a pistol with a 3" eye relief optic.

The one you linked from Jeff Bezos has 2.75" of eye relief:

Holosun HM3X 3X Magnifier QD Flip Mount

Holosun HM3X 3X red dot magnifier with ambi flip-to-side QD mount. Spacer for absolute and lower 1/3, IP67 rated, 70mm eye relief.

holosun.com

 

[rfgCA]

Good luck shooting a pistol with a 3" eye relief optic.

Will need extra luck with a .44 magnum

 

[mindwreck]

I use my 50ae as my bench mark for optics. If it survives 6rounds of 50ae on a plate rack run, its prob good to go. Gideon omega SRO clone. real Rmr. Vortex venom. The OG osight. 507comp. 407k. Burris fast fire. all have been fine. Real eotech 512 and xps3 also fine. I never put a scope on it. My friend bought me an actual weaver pistol scope for the deagle and my 500 and i never put it on. I thought it looked dumb LOL .. The 44mag is much softer recoiling than 50ae, most of the midrange decent optics out there should be fine.

 

[Makoman]

The one you linked from Jeff Bezos has 2.75" of eye relief:

Holosun HM3X 3X Magnifier QD Flip Mount

Holosun HM3X 3X red dot magnifier with ambi flip-to-side QD mount. Spacer for absolute and lower 1/3, IP67 rated, 70mm eye relief.

holosun.com

Thank you for pointing that out. I didn't catch that.

 

[Makoman]

Will need extra luck with a .44 magnum

It definitely wouldn't make for a good time

 

[Makoman]

I use my 50ae as my bench mark for optics. If it survives 6rounds of 50ae on a plate rack run, its prob good to go. Gideon omega SRO clone. real Rmr. Vortex venom. The OG osight. 507comp. 407k. Burris fast fire. all have been fine. Real eotech 512 and xps3 also fine. I never put a scope on it. My friend bought me an actual weaver pistol scope for the deagle and my 500 and i never put it on. I thought it looked dumb LOL .. The 44mag is much softer recoiling than 50ae, most of the midrange decent optics out there should be fine.

@mindwreck, you've wrecked my mind. There are so many options, it's driving me nuts. Part of me wants to go with a Leupold delta point because I use their optics on my hunting rifles and they have great customer service, not to mention that I have confidence that they can make a red dot optic that can stand up to heavy recoil, but I associate their stuff more with hunting, not the tactical and target shooting side of things.

I like Trijicon night sights, but I've been reading that their customer service is atrocious, so I'm shying away from their red dot. It's probably going to be a Holosun, or C-more, though I'm sure I will keep changing my mind lol. I've got a lot of research to do. I'm a little bit ahead of myself though. I need to get the spring "tuneup kit" for the Desert Eagle in hand first and make sure the thing runs!