Close range optic for astigmatism

Willie Lowman

New member
My go to AR-15 has had a EOtech on it for many years. My number 2 AR and my MP5 have AimPoints. These are all great optics... When I have my glasses on.

Without my glasses my EOtech reticle looks like the eye of sauron from the LOTR movies. The AimPoints are a bit better as red star bursts. I can aim with the center of the star burst and get decent accuracy.

But I want something I can use without this distortion without my glasses. I have read that etched reticles are the way to go. The ACOG 1.5 x 24mm prism optic seems promising. Not crazy about tritium tubes that will go dead in 5 years though.

What good optics are out there for people with astigmatism? I am not afraid to spend good money on good glass so I'm not looking for bottom of the barrel suggestions.
 
I don’t have a specific brand / product recommendation but you want to look for a prismatic scope. They tend to be 1x illuminated etched reticles so they shouldn’t play hell with your astigmatism.

I also have an astigmatism but aim points when used for fast acquisition don’t bother me and if I don’t have glasses on........well it’s spray and pray baby. :)
 
I think as long as you get a scope with an etched reticle you should be fine. That would be a prism or lvpo I believe. I don’t know enough about them to give an informed opinion though. I have astigmatism as well and these are the options I’ve looked at for my AR. As for brands, check out Vortex, Burris and Primary Arms
 
If you are set on an optic, a 1x prismatic can be very nice. You not only get a sharp reticle, but a diopter adjustment. I have an old Leupold and a newer, cheaper and smaller Bushnell, both of which are discontinued. Vortex, Primary Arms and Swampfox all still make them. The Swampfox people describe their product as set up for very short, "red dot", distances.

I don't care for them, but SeeAll sights work well for people with good binocular vision.

I also like iron sights as a solution. Stick a fiber optic front sight post on and you have your red dot; it just isn't in an optic.
 
IMO the best option on an AR is a 1-4X or 1-6X conventional scope. They are faster to get on target when set on 1X than any other sight option including dot and iron sights. On 4X or 6X you have more than enough magnification to hit at ranges farther than a 223/5.56 is useful.

While dot sights sound good for low light I still find a conventional scope better. You can see the illuminated dot well enough, but you can see the target better with conventional scopes.
 
They are faster to get on target when set on 1X than any other sight option including dot

I have VERY little experience with a LPVO so take this with a grain of salt.

How can you be faster on target with an LPVO vs. a Red Dot? The dot's usually have a wider field of view, no parallax and an unlimited eye box. The LPVO's have an eye box, tend to smaller tubes and can have parallax etc.

Now none of the above should be construed as "I KNOW BETTER!" because I don't. I only have passing experience with LPVO's so keep in mind I might not know what I don't know. Now I do think LPVO's offer a whole heap of capabilities over a standard 1x dot/holo but at 1x they do seem to have some deficiencies vs a dot that are just baked into the fact that they are a scope.

Am I completely off base here???
 
Aren't Prism scopes supposed to fix this issue? similar to a red dot but with an etched reticle instead of a projected dot?
 
You could use a plain non-dot optic together with a Crimson Trace to provide the dot in low light conditions.

Disclaimer:

I haven't tried this but did pick up a Crimson Trace (well, mine's green, actually) fr the AR. I have an upper for it and for a low magnification scope, and as soon as I pick out the scope, I'll give the combo a tryout.
 
I run a Primary Arms 1x6 illuminated reticle. I like it lot. On 1x iI think it's actually 1.2x but it still works for fast close shooting with both eyes open. It has a 5.56 reticle on it and it's zeroed t 25/100 yards. Basically for my uses it is good to hit a dinner plate from 5 -200 yards as is.

The negative is that it's heavy.

On the higher light settings the objective lens when viewed from the business end with NODS is very visible. At the lowest 2 or 3 light settings it's barely visible.
 
Shadow9mm said:
Aren't Prism scopes supposed to fix this issue? similar to a red dot but with an etched reticle instead of a projected dot?

They fix the astigmatism induced flaring, but they introduce the problems of an optic. The reticle needs to be focused and there may be some magnification (+ or -) even with a 1x.
 
I run Vortex Spitfires on several rifles, I like the etched reticle for if the battery dies mid match, of if I forget to turn on the optic before the timer goes beep. The doughnut and dot sight is clear, a vast improvement over the EO tech, or Aimpoint the Department said I had to use. Those looked like a fuzzy blob and a star burst to my astigmatism.
 
I'd try a C-More. I use C-More Railways on all of my competition guns. They have no starburst effects. You can get the dot in any size from 3 MOA - 16 MOA. 3 is good for target use. I use a 12 for Steel Challenge Matches.

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