Need help from my ODT friends, I have a dilemma...

[Foxtrot Sierra]

So, I've invested - what I feel - is a substantial amount in my red dot optics. Lately, I've noticed, after fiddling around with a magnifier, that the dots all look a little blurry to me. Just minor, nothing as major as a starburst or comma or comet. I have a slight astigmatism in my left eye, but am right eye dominant and wear corrective lenses anyway for myopia.

The sharpest dot is on my Vortex Sparc AR, and I think I really wouldn't have noticed the others being a little distorted had it not been for that optic. Through the magnifier, the dot remains crisp, while the others worsen. This is true for my Aimpoint T-1, several Meprolight Tru Dot RDSs, a couple Sig Romeo5s, and a Vortex Sparc II.

My dilemma is this... do I transition to prism sights, which I like for their etched reticles, illumination options, glass clarity, and built in magnification (model specific); or do I stay with my RDSs despite the visual imperfection. I like the ability to mount these far forward (particularly the large FOV of the Mepros, which is why I own several), and the ability to co-witness with BUIS... both things that I cannot do with prism sights.

I can't help but think, 1) as I age, the distortion will likely worsen, and 2) being OCD as I am, the distortion will drive me crazy every time I look through them.

And I can't help but cringe at the thought of having to offload them all. I don't shoot much at all (not by choice), and almost all of them have never seen any time outside of the safe or house and are pretty much brand new other than being mounted.

 

[jeep78]

Stick with what you have, for now. You can always trade up later.

Experiment with moving the sight further from you or closer, see if that helps. Also, all the red dots are sharper at lower brightness settings. They all appear to bloom when you turn them up.

 

[Foxtrot Sierra]

I'm leaning towards sticking with what I have... I like having BUIS options, co-witnessing, and unlimited eye relief. Now if only I could figure out why my "budget" Sparc AR has a crisper dot than my Aimpoint and Meprolight sights... sigh.

 

[Burdy]

I suffer from astigmatism as well. EOTech, Aimpoint and similar are blurry to me. I keep the dot brightness down low which helps. These are short range weapon optics so i don't sweat it too much. The only time it sucks is when zeroing. I have looked through the SPARC and I wish red dots and holographic sights looked that crisp to me. I have a TA-33 ACOG and it's crisp as well. Perhaps you could move to a 1.5x ACOG?

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[cmshoot]

Foxtrot Sierra , is it to the point that it is effecting your accuracy or target acquisition?

 

[Foxtrot Sierra]

Foxtrot Sierra , is it to the point that it is effecting your accuracy or target acquisition?

Still in the process of figuring that out. Just curious what other people's experiences and recommendations are. I'm tempted to just replace everything with Sparc ARs since they're the crispest dot.

 

[WC1911guy]

Is this something you only pay attention to when you're goofing with your weapons and it's a non-issue when actually shooting? If it's an issue when shooting then it may be time for a change. If your OCD kicks in when your cleaning/inspecting/finger ****ing your weapons then I'd say your good. I'm in the same boat with the slightly blurry dots but it's not noticeable when shooting.

 

[greg vess]

Personally, I feel the ideal scenario is a 1-5x30 with a lit reticle. It's a short enough scope it would be about the same length as the Vortex with a magnifier. With the one power option, it can be used as a red dot. Then when you need the magnification you just dial up the scope ring. Look for one with all the bells and whistles. You might have to spend a little extra but it's damn well worth it in the long run. I have used them on a few of my builds and they turned out great. A couple of real good ones that can be had without a second mortgage are, Bushnell, Primary Arms, Leupold ( no illumination, 299.00 ) good price for a leup. You have to get the true one power and not 1.5. You need both eyes,looking through the same magnification for it to be a real red dot and perform like one. Take your time and look a lot before you pull the trigger. For a 1-4 power scope you don't need a high dollar scope to do what you want. I mean you will likely spend some in the 200-400 but that right on par with some of the red dots with a magnifier. Remember true one power. Then it works just like a red dot. Same thing.

 

[Burdy]

I think your solution is an Elcan Spectre DR 1-4x

 

[greg vess]

Plus a scope just looks cooler. Then hang a laser for indoor protection.