Generally Underwhelmed By Red Dot Sights

yanici

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I went ahead and installed the combo slide with Romeo 1 Pro red dot sight on my Sig P229, 9mm. Runs great, dot is nice and easy to pick up 6moa. The slide and the sight are top quality. I've taken it to the range twice and put 260 rounds through my P229 with the red dot set-up. I will say that I shoot a little more accurately with it over the 3 dot sights but not really by that much. I suppose the red dot would be a superior sight to use in low light situations too. Don't know if I really want to keep it or let it go. Do these sights grow on you over time? Right now I don't feel like I got my money's worth out of the purchase. You might see this slide & red dot in the classifieds.
 
Hey John, hope you are doing good. Like you, I was used to iron sights on a pistol, but had to try the red dot. I have the same sight on my P320 and was like you, so so. I took the Sig red dot course and it really opened up my eyes to better shooting from the holster. Hope to practice more later in the fall after Trap season. Good luck
 
I had the opposite reaction. I put a holosun 509t on my Glock 45 and it felt like I was cheating. I was way more accurate and much faster on target. A lot of this is my lack of practice/skill at handgun shooting. If you were already a great shot it may be a very incremental change.
 
Have you tried it at varying distances? Inside 10yds I don't feel like I have much of advantage, but 15yds and out and I think it is excellent. Also I think follow-up shots are far easier.

If you do decide to sell it, and it is for a railed 229, let me know as I have been thinking about going this route on a 229 I have.
 
Have you tried it at varying distances? Inside 10yds I don't feel like I have much of advantage, but 15yds and out and I think it is excellent. Also I think follow-up shots are far easier.

If you do decide to sell it, and it is for a railed 229, let me know as I have been thinking about going this route on a 229 I have.

Inside 10 yards i'm faster with iron sights. Where the dot really works for me is on the 20 yard or greater shots, and star targets.
 
Do you have suppressor height sight on it? If you put on a set with the right height to get a good co-witness you may like it more. Once you zero the dot, you can practice with it on or off. Just train the muscle memory to lift to the correct 3 dot sight picture and the dot will just be there if/when you need it in a low light situation or for longer shots.
 
It took a lot of getting used to for me. I started with a Vortex Viper on my MP9 and ran it for a season of 3 gun. It definitely grew on me once I was done fishing for the dot. Now I have a rmr on my Glock 19 carry gun. I’ve never felt at a loss or disadvantage shooting irons out to 20/25 yards but can definitely appreciate the simplicity of the dot.
 
I have limited experience with red dots on semi-autos, but I've enjoyed them when I've shot them. Older eyes create challenges that red dots just eliminate. OTOH, it turns out so far that I can't be bothered so far to put one on a carry gun. Maybe in the future.

Colion Noir has several videos about red dots on handguns, starting off with the one where he started to warm up to them.

 
My buddy took the sig red dot class as well. I benefitted from him taking the class!! 👍
I was on the fence about a red dot. After he showed me some drills to be more efficient and faster in acquiring the red dot, I have enjoyed it more.
I find it easier to be "target focused". Helps with faster target transitions for me. I am certainly not a high level shooter, but I have seen a lot of improvement since using a red dot exclusively.
One downside for me. Had rain at a match and a drop splashed on the glass. Had some strange reflections of the red dot until I fired a shot, and the recoil cleared the water droplet.
 
Try timing yourself with a series of targets: acquiring, transitioning, and accuracy. The advantage of the red dot is allowing you to stay target-focused.

Rather than this approach with irons:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, focus on rear sight
  3. focus on front sight to align
  4. shoot at blurry target
  5. refocus on target to evaluate
  6. transition to new target or refocus on front sight
With a red dot you simply:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, stay focused on target with red dot overlayed
  3. shoot until desired effect and then transition to new target
The red dot will reduce this time wasted switching focal plans for any shooter. But If you're over 40 and your eyes' lenses start getting stiff, causing difficulty with near-focus and needing readers, it's a huge advantage.
 
Red dots on defensive / edc are an acquired taste. And the acquisition of said taste is slow. You need to practice. A lot. Sight/ dot acquisition is different eye/muscle memory than steel sights. You will be faster with steel sights unless you practice practice and practice more with red dot- and then you will be faster. Also technology has its pitfalls- dead battery, failure to illuminate- shale and wake depending on phase of moon, too bright at night/ too weak during the day, etc. Not to mention the rmr chassis can catch a shirt/ jacket and hamper quick draw.

I have prcticed a lot with my sig 365 and Romeo zero and I am about .3 secs faster with it than with steel sights, but for the longest time it was the opposite- I was faster with steel sights. If your grip is solid follow up shots with the rmr will be more accurate. If your grip is not where it needs to be steel sights follow ups will be faster. At least for me that is the case for double alphas at 7 yards standard uspsa target.

printing your shots (focusing on target and making shots appear where you want them) for me is easier with the rmr and in my mind that skill is essential for self defense situations and timed shooting.

One advantage of the rmr is that at distances over 10-15 yards you will be more accurate. At least I was and still am.

my 2 cents. Your mileage obviously may vary
 
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Try timing yourself with a series of targets: acquiring, transitioning, and accuracy. The advantage of the red dot is allowing you to stay target-focused.

Rather than this approach with irons:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, focus on rear sight
  3. focus on front sight to align
  4. shoot at blurry target
  5. refocus on target to evaluate
  6. transition to new target or refocus on front sight
With a red dot you simply:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, stay focused on target with red dot overlayed
  3. shoot until desired effect and then transition to new target
The red dot will reduce this time wasted switching focal plans for any shooter. But If you're over 40 and your eyes' lenses start getting stiff, causing difficulty with near-focus and needing readers, it's a huge advantage.
I will add , for me shooting red dots with the iron sights visible is a distraction after the years of looking for irons is burned into your brain.
For me its even worse with co-witnessed set up.
My MKIII is currently the only red dot set up and it has no iron sights.
Any change takes getting used to
 
Try timing yourself with a series of targets: acquiring, transitioning, and accuracy. The advantage of the red dot is allowing you to stay target-focused.

Rather than this approach with irons:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, focus on rear sight
  3. focus on front sight to align
  4. shoot at blurry target
  5. refocus on target to evaluate
  6. transition to new target or refocus on front sight
With a red dot you simply:
  1. focus on a target
  2. draw, stay focused on target with red dot overlayed
  3. shoot until desired effect and then transition to new target
The red dot will reduce this time wasted switching focal plans for any shooter. But If you're over 40 and your eyes' lenses start getting stiff, causing difficulty with near-focus and needing readers, it's a huge advantage.

You can shoot iron sights with a target focus too.
 
It’s hard after years of focusing on the front sight to not focus on the dot the same way. As others have said, target focus is the key.
 
Not well.
I think this is really dependent of what type of shooting your doing?
Hits on torso size targets -
6-10” plates inside 15yds
1.10” X ring at 50 yards

each will have different needs and different results.
honestly hits on torso size targets inside 10 yards any sight should work and work well

i cant shoot red dots that well accurately that cover my target ——ex 5” aiming black at 25 and 50 yards.

my rear sight is a blur front sight only slightly better , i can make out the “white”
Seen when the sight is not aligned well.

so I would call my iron sight style half blur
I bring the black blur of the front sight up into the black aiming bull and just as the white of the target vanishes I snap off a round.
Red dots - i try for center of what Im shooting at
Fun stuff: dont shoot mb p
 
It’s hard after years of focusing on the front sight to not focus on the dot the same way. As others have said, target focus is the key.
whats wrong with focusing on the dot ? I get the use is to just find your targets and bring the sight in line with what your looking at but heck why not focus on the dot.
I still find myself closing one eye !
 
Sure you can.
🙄 Yeah, if you get lucky.
I think this is really dependent of what type of shooting your doing?

honestly hits on torso size targets inside 10 yards any sight should work and work well

Yes, but one doesn’t want to just hit the torso. You want to hit a ~6” circle in the upper center of the torso. Yes, I can easily hit a torso when target focusing with iron sights at home defense distances, but I want a bit more confidence in POI.

Dots also provide an easier and more confident hit into the T-box if you need to. Admittedly, that is unlikely to be needed for the vast majority of self/home defense scenarios.
 
The dot is focused to infinity, focusing on it just makes it blurry.

I target focus, not matter what kinda of shooting I am doing. Doesn't matter the distance or size.
 
whats wrong with focusing on the dot ? I get the use is to just find your targets and bring the sight in line with what your looking at but heck why not focus on the dot.
I still find myself closing one eye !
Focusing on the dot, as in within the plane of the glass, would make your target even further from your plane of focus than if focusing on the front sight -- makes the target even blurrier. Anyone with the habit of focusing on irons will have to overcome their tendency to focus on something in the range of the irons. You can do it that way if you want. But you effectively just have a super-bright fiber optic red front sight, not worth the price of a red dot.

Try focusing on the target while at low ready, see every crisp detail, and then make the last arm movement to present. The dot looks no less focused (infinite focus, as Supermoto said) when you simply overlay it on the target. And you retain all that crisp detail and awareness of the target. You've brought your aiming point into the same plane of focus. That's what you paid $$$ for with a red dot.

And keep both eyes open. Another old habit that becomes a hindrance in this case.
 
whats wrong with focusing on the dot ? I get the use is to just find your targets and bring the sight in line with what your looking at but heck why not focus on the dot.
I still find myself closing one eye !
Your missing out on most of the benefits of the dot, and this is why some guys don’t see the benefits of it.
 
For you guys that want to get used to target focus with both eyes open, put a piece of painters tape over the front of the red dots glass. One eye will see the dot, the other will see the target.
your brain will automatically superimpose the dot from one eye over the target that’s being viewed with the other eye.
it’s called the Bindon Aiming Concept.

View: https://youtu.be/cLHcbk7WSt0


The tape over the front of the lens will force you to target focus.
Dry practice your draw first so your not hunting for the dot.
 
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I hated electronic sights for years. In my experience anything that requires batteries will fail at the worst possible time.
But now that I need reading glasses it's becoming difficult for me to pick up my iron sights quickly. A red dot sight on my target pistol helps immensely.
But my self defense gun will remain iron sighted. I'll take speed and reliability over pin-point accuracy in a combat situation.
I realize that the odds are slim that my sight red dot will fail right at the moment a one in a million gun fight kicks off. But it is a possibility. And in the close distance that a handgun battle is likely to occur I'm fairly confident that point shooting will suffice.
 
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