Red Dots… are they total bs on a compact?

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Let me preface this saying I may have not properly zeroed it… however:

Recently picked up a sig 229. I tried with close to 100 rounds to zero it in… Around 90 rounds at 20 feet things were finally looking accurate.

Took it out to the steel targets and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (or plate). Btw I am a very good shot with normal sights and can hit up to 100 yards with reasonable ease.

Are RDS’s possible of point- shoot- hit target?

I’ll probably go back to the irons- Maybe a lazer would be fun.

It’s a holosun 407k properly attached.

Appreciate your insight.
 
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In my opinion, they are not superior to iron sights on a defensive pistol. Lots of people think they're great. And for them, they probably are. But I get no benefit. I am told if I spend the time and money training with it I can make it work well. I don't have reason to believe that I will become better than I am with irons with the resources I have and the amount of effort I am willing to put into it. So for me its a solution without a problem.
 
Red dots are awesome if you train with them. Half the battle is 'finding the dot'.
I love my holosun 509t because it has the eotech style circle dot which is a lot easier to pick up.

Very often when I hand my pistol to a new shooter they ask if my red dot is on.... I tell them to move it around a bit and tell me [rofl]
 
Adjust it from bench at 25’, then go longer. Site it in from rest.

Get one of those laser snap caps and dry fire train to see if you’re moving the gun during trigger pull.

They take a little setup but once you get it, it’s almost like cheating. Almost
 
ok, seems like i deleted my old pistol shots as they were irrelevant to me.

so, from today - it was with irons. left is the reference shooting from the rest, if i would be using my other gun with dot - on the right side, all the shots would be i fnot the center, but at least in the second boundary, from at 25yds.
a result of shooting with red dot only for last 2 years. now need to get back my irons skills.

shadow2at25yds124gr.jpg
 
That’s a lot of rounds just to zero it. Can’t tell if it’s because of your shooting or you didn’t know how much each click was for the distance.
 
Try bench rest shooting with it to see if things are lined up correctly, first. If you can hit your PoA that way, then NOT hitting when holding it fully is on you.

I typically bore site the firearm first to be sure I'm at least close. Then tune it up shooting from the bench, then free handing it.

I'm getting my first pistol slide machined for a 507k X2 (CZ TS 2). Once that comes back, it will already be zeroed in. :D Since I provided the dot to the gunsmith doing the work and every time he does something for optics/sights, he makes sure it's sighted in (good results to date).

Personally, with my eyes, I need the help a good dot provides. I've already mounted them on my longer guns and will be mounting one onto my 22/45 when it comes home (getting the barrel threaded by the same smith). For me, it's more about NOT having to struggle to get the sights lined up so that I can them than anything else. There are some good dots out there that are not stupid money. I'm not willing to spend $500+ on a dot at this point.
 
Red dots are awesome if you train with them. Half the battle is 'finding the dot'.
I love my holosun 509t because it has the eotech style circle dot which is a lot easier to pick up.

Very often when I hand my pistol to a new shooter they ask if my red dot is on.... I tell them to move it around a bit and tell me [rofl]

I'm not sure I understand what people mean when they say this. For a properly zero'd pistol, the hold needs to be way off to not even see the dot upon presentation. That is, unless the dot is broken like my old Romeo Zero POS that was like 100 MOA off to the top right the last range trip before I dremeled it off my pistol in anger.

And that's not me bragging on being a good shot. I hit paper, but will not elaborate further from there. But I can find the dot right away, every time.
 
Let me preface this saying I may have not properly zeroed it… however:

Recently picked up a sig 229. I tried with close to 100 rounds to zero it in… Around 90 rounds at 20 feet things were finally looking accurate.

Took it out to the steel targets and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (or plate). Btw I am a very good shot with normal sights and can hit up to 100 yards with reasonable ease.

Are RDS’s possible of point- shoot- hit target?

I’ll probably go back to the irons- Maybe a lazer would be fun.

Appreciate your insight.
What red dot?
 
If the RDS is mounted correctly, it should group tightly (precision) without being zero'd (accuracy) - if you can shoot well.

View attachment 715360
so many words...
b5f90c03d4f862af59ff304b8d065a2b.jpg
 
i`m not... i`m sad now.
:(
Ha sorry to hear that paul. After all those misses I pulled out my brand new springfield garrison (1911 .45acp) and hit EVERY target.

Kinda questioned myself with all this “tacticool” stuff and embraced FUDD life for a moment there and had a real moment of reflection.
 
Let me preface this saying I may have not properly zeroed it… however:

Recently picked up a sig 229. I tried with close to 100 rounds to zero it in… Around 90 rounds at 20 feet things were finally looking accurate.

Took it out to the steel targets and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn (or plate). Btw I am a very good shot with normal sights and can hit up to 100 yards with reasonable ease.

Are RDS’s possible of point- shoot- hit target?

I’ll probably go back to the irons- Maybe a lazer would be fun.

It’s a holosun 407k properly attached.

Appreciate your insight.
Start at 5 yards, zero, confirm, then 10 yards. Repeat as necessary. Verify mounting of red dot is secure and within specs. Try mounting and zeroing red dot with a different weapon and compare results.

Bottom line, it’s either a crappy dot not holding zero, a poor/insecure mount or the shooter. It does take some getting used to, especially finding the dot. If you have iron sights cowitnessed, try using it as a reference. Dot should align roughly…
 
get a red dot unit with a really thick base, then put it on top of a plate, so whole shit contraption sits like an inch and half above the pistol - then good luck finding that dot.

That's something I didn't consider, so good point. I suppose that's because I don't like the thought of a plate and have tried to avoid those systems. But if I could afford a Staccato, I think I'd still give it a go.

But for flush mount optics, it seems really weird to me to not find the dot. It would be like presenting without a dot and being so off on irons that you don't see one of them.
 
I’ve got a 507k on my 43x. It works fine for me. If you are,not accurate with it, either the dot is broken or it is not installed correctly.
 
I’ve got a 507k on my 43x. It works fine for me. If you are,not accurate with it, either the dot is broken or it is not installed correctly.
Could be improperly zeroed- however I find it’s harder than using ironsights for me personally.

Ever used a laser dot? Probably would be fun.
 
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