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Red Dot Sight Question

I

iamcorey

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2018
Messages
2,716
Picked up a new to me Burris Fastfire 3 recently. When I turned it on it wasn’t a crisp dot like I was expecting. After some internet work, I’ve diagnosed myself with astigmatism. It’s not severe from what I can tell but it is noticeable.

Anyone have a similar issue and still use a red dot? Was looking to add to my turkey/squirrel/slug gun. Still plan on mounting it and taking it checking accuracy, but I’m definitely not as enthused about it as I was before.

All that eBay and forum lurking wasted. :(


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Be careful with the internet, next you'll end up with worts and ghonaherpasyphaids.
Red dots and astigmatism are notorious for not playing well together. You might need to switch sights. Holosuns are reported to work well with astigmatism. I use a vortex spitfire which serves me well.
 
Exhumis said:
Be careful with the internet, next you'll end up with worts and ghonaherpasyphaids.
Red dots and astigmatism are notorious for not playing well together. You might need to switch sights. Holosuns are reported to work well with astigmatism. I use a vortex spitfire which serves me well.
Click to expand...

I post those other diagnosis questions on a different forum.

That’s what I’m going to look into after a consult with an eye dr.


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I had astigmatism in both eyes. Before my lasik I don’t remember having any problems. I had one where you could adjust the size of the dot and always had it on the smallest setting and never really looked at the dot. Focus on the target and squeeze when the dot covers it. Its on my .223, so shooting 200 yards and in. I shot with contacts, glasses, and even those sports goggles like Chris Sabo ( I hope people remember who that is, Google it if you don’t) Without some form of vision correction though it would not have been a good idea for me to be shooting a gun, lol.
 
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Try turning the brightness down a bit.

I have astigmatism (along with generally crappy eyes). Without glasses, the reticle looks like red thumb prints. Glasses fixes this.

Of the red dots I have, Aimpoint seems to be the least susceptible to this, but it's still pretty noticeable.
 
As a firearms instructor I find when I hand a red dot sighted weapon to someone for the first time they first don't pick up the dot and secondly focus too much on the dot. Your main focus should be threat or target oriented and then superimposing the dot on the area to hit. That being said I run Trijicon RMR on my carry pistol and a MRO on my AR. There are some ok red dots out there but unfortunately you get what you pay for.
 
I got one on my slug gun. Absolutely love it on there. Although, I do question myself about one thing. If the batteries die during a hunt and I don't have a spare.
 
Mr Price said:
I got one on my slug gun. Absolutely love it on there. Although, I do question myself about one thing. If the batteries die during a hunt and I don't have a spare.
Click to expand...

Carry a battery. I use one on my slug gun too. I like.


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I took a defensive red dot oriented pistol class with Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics and we did one exercise in which we put tape over the reticle and you would be amazed at how your brain centers things up. Not pinpoint accuracy of course but for defensive work it suffices. I replace my batteries yearly and of course leave my dots on all the time. The MRO they say can last 3 years on setting 3 but will still change battery after a year.
 
cedar paul said:
I took a defensive red dot oriented pistol class with Aaron Cowan of Sage Dynamics and we did one exercise in which we put tape over the reticle and you would be amazed at how your brain centers things up. Not pinpoint accuracy of course but for defensive work it suffices. I replace my batteries yearly and of course leave my dots on all the time. The MRO they say can last 3 years on setting 3 but will still change battery after a year.
Click to expand...

I got my mro in I think summer 2016. Used it on multiple deployments and have had it on either my work or personal rifle since receiving and have yet to change the batteries. I do turn it off unless I was carrying it on extended operations.

I also have a slight astigmatism but I don’t really notice unless I magnify my mro (same with aimpoint t1). Like mentioned above ensure you focus on your target and impose dot on intended point of impact instead of focusing on dot as well as running dot on minimum brightness for current light conditions will help mitigate some of the issue.

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I concur turning down the intensity will tend to sharpen the dot plus staying threat focused.
 
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