Red dot, Green dot, Small dot, Big dot?
- Thread starter TXAZ
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RaySendero
New member
red dot
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ammo.crafter
New member
the red green show
I use both as well.
I use both as well.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
I can't use a red dot.
To be more accurate, I can use a red dot indoors and in dim light. Outdoors on a bright, sunny day I can't see a red dot, even with the brightness cranked all the way up. I have red-green deficient color vision, which affects a rather large percentage of American males. Green dots show up much better. Alas, they're also more expensive.
To be more accurate, I can use a red dot indoors and in dim light. Outdoors on a bright, sunny day I can't see a red dot, even with the brightness cranked all the way up. I have red-green deficient color vision, which affects a rather large percentage of American males. Green dots show up much better. Alas, they're also more expensive.
2damnold4this
New member
Why would someone want a one MOA red dot over something like a two, three, or four MOA dot?
Aguila Blanca
Staff
It depends on the distance you're shooting and the size of your bullseye. If the size of your bullseye subtends a visual arc of 2MOA at whatever distance you're shooting, you can't hope for much accuracy using a 4 MOA dot because the dot covers the entire bullseye plus a lot more.2damnold4this said:
2damnold4this
New member
The ten ring of a 50 foot slow fire pistol target has a bullseye is just under 5.5 MOA. A two MOA, three or four MOA dot should be fine. The front sight on most handguns is way bigger than any dot sight at over 20+ MOA.
I think if someone needs more precision than a two MOA dot, they need a scope. It defeats the purpose of a red dot to get it so small that it slows you down.
I think if someone needs more precision than a two MOA dot, they need a scope. It defeats the purpose of a red dot to get it so small that it slows you down.
Smaller dots like 1 moa are fainter, meaning they have less contrast with the background until you crank up the brightness which causes "flaring" or "starburst" like effects for most people. But run fairly dim, a 1 moa dot allows for more precise, slow aimed fire which is useful for small targets at greater distances where a larger dot would totally obscure the target.
Larger dots can have sharp edges (disc shape rather than starburst) and may be faster to acquire, but the larger they are, the more of the target they will obscure. Because light is being reflected off a greater area of the glass surface, the intensity of the light does not need to be as great for the large dot to be bright and of high contrast.
Medium-sized dots (2.5 to 3.5 MOA) are a sort of middle-ground.
I have not seen test results or objective evidence that bigger or brighter dots are faster to acquire. I've heard that argument based on empirical reasoning. I don't know what to believe.
I am convinced that for my own purposes, a dot between 1 MOA and 3 MOA is best. I don't see a benefit to a 6 MOA dot unless targets are restricted to very close range, even closer than practical handgun ranges like 35 yards. But I don't know whether 1 MOA is best, or 2.5 MOA. I don't have a good way to tell.
I believe red is the most battery-efficient. It also possibly avoids a blind spot that most people have in low light. This is characteristic of most people, not just people with certain types of color blindness. It is due to the normal absence of rod cells in the central part of the fovea.
But mostly I think red prevails because the batteries last longest with it.
Larger dots can have sharp edges (disc shape rather than starburst) and may be faster to acquire, but the larger they are, the more of the target they will obscure. Because light is being reflected off a greater area of the glass surface, the intensity of the light does not need to be as great for the large dot to be bright and of high contrast.
Medium-sized dots (2.5 to 3.5 MOA) are a sort of middle-ground.
I have not seen test results or objective evidence that bigger or brighter dots are faster to acquire. I've heard that argument based on empirical reasoning. I don't know what to believe.
I am convinced that for my own purposes, a dot between 1 MOA and 3 MOA is best. I don't see a benefit to a 6 MOA dot unless targets are restricted to very close range, even closer than practical handgun ranges like 35 yards. But I don't know whether 1 MOA is best, or 2.5 MOA. I don't have a good way to tell.
I believe red is the most battery-efficient. It also possibly avoids a blind spot that most people have in low light. This is characteristic of most people, not just people with certain types of color blindness. It is due to the normal absence of rod cells in the central part of the fovea.
But mostly I think red prevails because the batteries last longest with it.
Aguila Blanca
Staff
Actually, I think red prevails because green costs a lot more. (At least, green used to cost a lot more. I haven't priced any recently.)
I have used a 2moa red dot for the last ten years out to 400 yards. The dot has begun to look elliptical because I have an astigmatism.
Recently I bought a Vortex Spitfire 1x prism scope with a 3moa dot that will illuminate either red or green. I prefer the green. It is very clear and well defined for my aging eyes.
Recently I bought a Vortex Spitfire 1x prism scope with a 3moa dot that will illuminate either red or green. I prefer the green. It is very clear and well defined for my aging eyes.
Jim Watson
New member
On a pistol or PCC, go big. An 8 MOA dot is 4" at 50 yards, framing neatly in a USPSA headbox.
2damnedoldfor this said:
I think this is one of those topics that illustrates the variability of shooter and their eyes.
I used a 24moa weaver red dot on targets smaller than the dot by centering the target within the dot. It worked well. My brother can use a .5 moa dot on his eotech to print 1 moa groups.
It's true that iron sights are larger than most dots, but those iron sights also aren't used over the POI.
o4l said:
I don't prefer a reflected dot, but the black reticle of a clear prism. I don't generally use the batteries on paper targets. Yes, some of these RDS have very long battery lives, but the idea that a sight needs a battery to work bugs me in a way that isn't robustly rational.
All I could think was that someone really needs to write a children's book called "Red dot, Green dot, Small dot, Big dot"
I prefer red dots, though I've only fired green a handful of times. I definitely prefer "small dot", 2 MOA or less. I have good eyesight, so I don't feel any less 'fast' acquiring a target with a smaller dot, but I do notice more accuracy with a smaller dot. Putting a 4+ MOA dot on a bullseye gets trickier!
I prefer red dots, though I've only fired green a handful of times. I definitely prefer "small dot", 2 MOA or less. I have good eyesight, so I don't feel any less 'fast' acquiring a target with a smaller dot, but I do notice more accuracy with a smaller dot. Putting a 4+ MOA dot on a bullseye gets trickier!