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Red dots on pistols

Being in the USPSA circle, i am around more people than most with dots.
-A buddy had a Leupold delta point pro fail straight out of the box. Dot shut off on the first stage and wouldn't come back on.
My boss has had a vortex venom crack the housing and the glass came loose around 5k rounds.
My boss had another venom fail around 18k rounds. Shut off and wouldn't come back on.
Another shooting buddy had an SRO fail at 12k rounds and another fail around 2k rounds.

I've been lucky, I've had nothing but good luck with my DPP, Romeo 1 pro, 507c and Venoms.

Been shooting any matches lately? I've just done some steel challenges.

As for optics, I don't expect anything to hold up to months of being beat, dropped, racked off hard surfaces, stored in humidity, bad battery, etc. Not saying that's what they did but to say an optic failed is to put blame on the optic when it could very well have been the Owner. For 2 people to have 2 of the same optic fail is quite unlikely.

Did those companies replace them free of charge?
 
Due to alignment and lockup, with the optic having only one focal plane and the irons having two... they won’t always line up 100% matched and still have the same POI.

They should be zero’d completely independently.

I've always just slaved the RDS to the front sight. I set it so half the dot is above the front sight post. Of course, I fire to confirm and it's always been dead on.
 
I've always just slaved the RDS to the front sight. I set it so half the dot is above the front sight post. Of course, I fire to confirm and it's always been dead on.
They can line up. But it’s not a guarantee.

Slaving the dot to the irons is not a good practice.
 
They can line up. But it’s not a guarantee.

Slaving the dot to the irons is not a good practice.

How so? That's how co-witness is supposed to look. An absolute co-witness set up is when the reticle from the red dot is resting right on top of your front sight post. Some people don't like that though.

I use the irons for a quick reference to get on paper, then fire and adjust if needed. Perhaps I've just gotten lucky, but I think it's because I align the red dot with my front/ rear irons and it's worked thus far. I believe the biggest factor is the zero. If you zero the red dot for 25 and the pistol irons for 10-15 yds, then that'll give you different POA/POI. I always zero both at the same distance.
 
From an LEO perspective,

Red dots are the way to go. Being able to focus on the person, their actions, what’s in their hands, etc. is extremely helpful. Having to switch between focusing on the front sight of a traditional weapon and then back to the perp and so on is difficult without constant practice.

I believe red dot leads to quicker target acquisition, tighter groups, and positive identification of threats. Take it as you will, but this is the future of firearms. Red dots won’t replace iron sights, ever. Gotta practice with both.

My advice for new red dot operators is to get a red dot that allows for battery replacement without having to remove the red dot and re-sight the optic. The vortex venom is one of my favorites.

This is my daily carry.

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Here is my EDC... .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
How so? That's how co-witness is supposed to look. An absolute co-witness set up is when the reticle from the red dot is resting right on top of your front sight post. Some people don't like that though.

I use the irons for a quick reference to get on paper, then fire and adjust if needed. Perhaps I've just gotten lucky, but I think it's because I align the red dot with my front/ rear irons and it's worked thus far. I believe the biggest factor is the zero. If you zero the red dot for 25 and the pistol irons for 10-15 yds, then that'll give you different POA/POI. I always zero both at the same distance.
 
Been shooting any matches lately? I've just done some steel challenges.

As for optics, I don't expect anything to hold up to months of being beat, dropped, racked off hard surfaces, stored in humidity, bad battery, etc. Not saying that's what they did but to say an optic failed is to put blame on the optic when it could very well have been the Owner. For 2 people to have 2 of the same optic fail is quite unlikely.

Did those companies replace them free of charge?

I’ve done the IDPA and USPSA match at Riverbend every month. All the companies fixed/replaced at no charge. You just put a lot of use on your equipment in practical shooting. Dry firing multiple times a week, practice and then matches. Stuff gets used. Not really abused.
 
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