Educate me on Electronic Sights

T

The Real Wyatt

New member
I bought a Red Dot sight. Whilst adjusting the elevation/windage knobs I noticed that the dot moved in the tube. On the rifle I bought it for, when adjusted for proper elevation, the dot is close to the bottom of the tube.

I find this terribly disconcerting. I'm used to crosshairs and as soon as I shoulder a weapon, my eye naturally goes to the center of the tube. I have to hunt around to find the red dot.

I did a lot of reading about electronic sights before making the purchase. No where did it mention that the dot would travel around the tube as adjustments were made.

I gave the sight to my son. Now I'm looking for a replacement.

Do ALL electronic sights move the Point of Aim away from the center of the field of view as elevatiion/windage are adjusted? If not, then which types (dots, holographs, etc.) give a view that stays centered?

I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive sight for a .22 used strictly for plinking out to 50 yards or so.
 
Don't the crosshairs, in an optical scope, move with the adjustment knobs, too?
If the red dot isn't where you want it when it's zeroed, then the mount will somehow have to be modified.
What kind of dot scope is it?
The long tube style, with rings, or a does it mount directly to a rail?
 
One size does not fit all.

I have to hunt around to find the red dot.
Click to expand...
Basically as in all opticle devices, you should not have to hunt for the RedDot, ever. Now, I'm trying to read you post right but have to ask if you have mounted it yet, on your rifle??? Looking through it by itself is a little harder to see when compared to it being mounted. Now, if indeed you do have it mounted, there is something wrong with your mount or anchor. Give it a chance. In fact, I find them easier to use than optics with magnification and crosshairs. ... ;)

Now, RedDots have their limitations and you have to understand the trade-offs. ... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
I'm disapointed

in the replies so far.

I stated in the OP that the sight as mounted on my gun, when adjusted for elevation, puts the dot at the very bottom center of the tube.

This implies several things to the casual reader:

The sight is mounted on a gun and I'm looking thru the sight as mounted.
When I look thru the mounted and aligned sight, the red dot is quite low and off center.

When I sight thru a scope, the crosshairs are always centered irrespective of the adjustments in windage or elevation.

I asked -
"Do ALL electronic sights move the Point of Aim away from the center of the field of view as elevatiion/windage are adjusted? If not, then which types (dots, holographs, etc.) give a view that stays centered?"

The answer seems simple to me. "Yessir, they ALL do that." or "Nosir, Holographic sights (or your preferred type/brand) don't do that, they stay centered.
 
Dot scopes are quite different in their design than optics.
The cross hair of an optic, does, of course, move some, with adjustments.
But not much, relative to the scope body, due to the range they are used.
It doesn't take much adjustment to change the point of aim for longer distance.
So, they stay pretty much in the middle of the scope.
But if there's a mounting problem, the cross hair of an optic scope can wind up a long way from center position, too.
Dot scopes are more for shorter distances and the dots will move around more with adjustments.
All of them, apparently.
Especially if the dot is large, relative to the overall size of the scope body.
Smaller dots, in larger bodied scopes will move around less, with adjustment.
If the dot scope is adjusted to try to match (co-witness) the still mounted iron sights, the dot can wind up in strange places.
The two systems, on the same gun, should be adjusted independently, due to the separate mounts and heights.
To add to the confusion, the dot can move around a lot and even vanish from sight, if the gun is mounted either incorrectly or inconsistently.
They take some getting used to, but once accomplished, are very quick to use, with both eyes open.
There's quite a of info available by doing a web search with something like "how to use dot scopes."
 
Last edited:
Not easy to diagnose over the internet.

I stated in the OP that the sight as mounted on my gun, when adjusted for elevation, puts the dot at the very bottom center of the tube.
Click to expand...
That was not entirely clear to me but so be it :rolleyes:
When I look thru the mounted and aligned sight, the red dot is quite low and off center.
Click to expand...
That may be so but on a good Dot, as long as you can see it in the field, any where in the field, you are good to go. However, if it's hard to shoulder and sight, then the mounting is in suspect of perhaps this application does not lend itself well to your rifle. ... :mad:
When I sight thru a scope, the crosshairs are always centered irrespective of the adjustments in windage or elevation.
Click to expand...
Not so but certainly in the center area. Depending on the adjustments, it will move from one end of the field to another and mostly in the center area.

Same on a Dot, or at least the ones I work with, the Dot can move around in the entire field but regardless of where it settles, in that field, I'm on target.

Be Safe !!!
 
The cross hairs will also move, but because of the way they are designed, your sight of vision will bring you to the center automatically.

i.e., If you shoulder the gun your line of sight might actually be to the right of the inside scope picture. You are so used to looking at/for the cross hair, you automatically acquire it. Sort of like an optical illusion.

If you kept the dot sight, you would get used to using it.
 
Last edited:
What kind of red dot sight were you trying?

I ask because the lower quality ones may be a bit different from the Aimpoints (which tend to be the gold standard... they're great quality and the cost a lot of gold :D).

The idea of a red dot is quick target acquisition over precision. With the good ones, the location of the dot in the tube is irrelevant; if properly zeroed, the bullet will strike at the place indicated by the dot. It does not matter if you have the dot centered in the tube or way over to one side. The idea is to use it with BOTH eyes open for a wider field of view and the dot superimposes over your field of view, and when the dot gets over your target, you shoot. It is possible to close one eye for more precision if you like, but that's not really their forte. The dot will move around in the tube based on the position of your head.

Therefore, I am wondering if you weren't using a mount that was way too low... if your head is too high, the dot will appear in the bottom of the tube. A higher mount should solve this issue (so long as the optic is of good quality; I wouldn't rule out some of the el cheapos not working along these lines).
 
The holographic sights look the coolest to me and super fast target aquisition.

What are the advantages of co-witnessed sights?

I think if I purchased a holographic sight, I wouldn't keep the iron sights at all...
 
What are the advantages of co-witnessed sights?
Click to expand...

A couple benefits:

If your optic goes down for any reason (damage, bad batteries, general attack of Murphy), you can just flip up the rear and use them through the now-dead optic's tube/screen without having to dismount the optic.

You can double check the zero of either the optic or the irons by the other.

Generally, backup irons don't take up much space and they aren't that expensive (compared to the cost of the rifle and optic), so they're a very common backup. Even though I would think that anything that would trash my Aimpoints would pretty well do in either the rifle or the shooter, both rifles still have backup irons on them.
 
Thank you all

Thanks for the enlightenment.

I reckon I'm just too old to adapt to the technology. The dot just "feels" so much different from irons or scope crosshairs.

I just tested a Bushnell riflescope by running the elevation knob all the way up, all the way down and then back to the middle of its range. The crosshairs appeared center/center to my eyes at each extreme.

My eyes just want to pick up a sight picture in the center/center of the field, which they do (even if it is an illusion) with irons or crosshairs. I just can't get used to seeing that red dot about 1/16 th. of an inch up from the bottom of a 1 inch tube.
 
Growing old is optional.

I reckon I'm just too old to adapt to the technology.
Click to expand...
I doubt that and give yourself more credit. It was because my old eyes have seen too many birthdays that I went to a RedDot. In fact, my ten year old "Rambo" Grandson, can shoot better with open sights than I. RedDots sometimes demand a lot of faith and trust and once the brain gets programmed, they are great. .... ;)


Be Safe !!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top