Sounds like I should give an Eotech and the Insight a shot before I give up on red dots. I have buddies with eotexhs so that should not be hard. Maybe Insight will let me T&E a sight.
When I had an EOTech, I had the “flaming hula hoop” effect and the image appeared to be really washed out.
Currently, I have an Aimpoint H1 and when I turn the brightness down, I no longer get the “grapes” effect doing this.
The only one that works with my severe astigmatism is the ACOG TA44SG-10 (1.5x).
EOTechs are not bad (clarity-wise) but the reticle is not for me, and Aimpoint T1 dots are projected as figure eight blobs. Makes it very difficult to shoot accurately. The TA44SG-10 green ring/dot remain crisp and clean to my eyes under all conditions I’ve tested.
I do wish the optic had better indoor performance; the reticle is not very bright in the dark or against a white background because the fiber optic tube just isn’t picking up enough ambient light. You can still see the ring/dot, it’s just not as powerful as a T1 dot.
That being said, the optic quality between a T1 and a TA44 is night and day. Put them side by side and the T1 looks like you are looking through a cheap toy compared to the TA44. (And this is no slam on the T1 which is adequate for what it does. The TA44 is just significantly clearer to my eyes.)
Grant @ G&R has some awesome pricing on them. I picked an extra one up from him not too long ago.
I just tried my eye glasses with the H1 on my work gun and I still see a bunch of grapes. I will look at G&R tonight thanks.
==================================
Is that because the Aimpoint uses inferior glass or does the magnification (even though it is low) make the TA44 “appear” brighter?
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I doubt the glass is inferior it just looks bad with some of our ole eyes. For me it is the electronic red dot that just does not work well win my peepers.
Does the Short Dot give you guys the same problem. I’ve never had my hands on one to look through.
I played with a buddy’s Meoptia K Dot (the “poor man’s Short Dot”) over several days and had no problems with my astigmatism. Very crisp and clear including illuminated.
FWIW, using my my bifocals, which are supposedly corrected for astigmatism, with the Comp ML3; I get the comma tail. Sometimes it’s almost a diagonal figure 8.
Using my shooting glasses, which are distance corrected only (and not corrected for astigmatism), I don’t see the comma but the subtension is much larger than it should be and a little blurry.
No grapes for me- just a navel orange.
I had astigmatism issues with my T-1 as well. I have not used a Short Dot, but my NF NXS 1-4 is crystal clear. I have also used a compact ACOG 1.5 with no problem either. The ACOG is probably the closest substitute for an Aimpoint type sight. The downsides have already been mentioned, notably a loss of brightness indoors.
For me, I was able to get prescription lenses that have taken care of the distortion for the most part. Also, if you keep the brightness down to just what you need to pick up the dot from your surroundings, the blooming is reduced.
Tried looking through a buddys Eotech today and it is lots of little dots for me. I need to try the little ACOG. Any one in Central VT out there with one I can take a look at?
Which compact ACOG 1.5 are you guys running, there are a lot of choices. I liked the green and red dots and the green and red dots inside of the circle. Even among the 1.5’s there looks like a significant size difference between some of he models.
I can’t remember the model number, but mine is the red dot on a post. If I were picking one now, I would probably get the green circle-dot reticle. Those seem to gather the most positive reviews. The central dot is also more precise than the dot on my ACOG.
I’m not an eye doctor but there must be different “kinds” of astigmatisms? I looked through a Meopta K-Dot a few weeks ago and the dot had a tail. I looked through an EOTech and the center dot looked like the T-1’s RD. I looked through a Accupoint 1-4 Green Triangle last week and I was seeing two slightly misaligned triangles.
But I can see scope crosshairs just fine, even a 1X, it just seems that an illuminated “dot” looks funny. I think maybe they “project” the illuminated dots, triangles, etc the same way… BUT… I love my T-1 and even though I see everything except a precise fine dot, I still get some pretty good groups with it.
The first time I shot a T-1 was at 100-yards at a 4" red diamond. Talk about hard to see…a RD on a red diamond. I had to point the RD off to the side to see the red diamond, then aim the RD where I “thought” the diamond was and shoot. I ended up with a 7-1/2" 30-round group. (If I dropped 1 of those shots, it would have been a 5-1/2" group) I was very surprised.
I said all of that to recommend that you “try” a T-1. Some how I shoot well with it. Maybe when I’m aiming, I not really looking at the RD?? I don’t know but it just seems to work.
If any of you are around the Baton Rouge area and want to try a T-1, yell at me, I’ll see what I can do to oblige.
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Another “grapes” guy here checking in. On a good day I will see only 2 or 3 dots, but when my eyes are tired it can be as many as 6 clustered together. This is obviously a major issue for me as a shooter.
I have used the 4 MOA Aimpoint Comp ML2 and a couple of 1 MOA Eotechs. My eyes function the same with both, but the Eotech’s smaller dot helps mitigate the effect – the multiple images are not only smaller but are also closer together. Using it, I can still reliably hit an 8-inch plate at 200 yards. With the Aimpoint’s 4 MOA, a much larger “cluster” is produced, behind which an 8-inch plate at 200 yards disappears and is lost. For close-up “CQB”, none of this matters. The rifle is capable of far greater accuracy though, and I want a sighting system that will make full use of that.
Optics are like holsters in that there are none I’ve been entirely satisfied with. The 1 MOA is about the only thing I like about Eotechs. They are otherwise bulky and heavy, and won’t co-witness in the lower 1/3 unless some kind of riser is added (making them even heavier). I wish the Aimpoint T1 Micro came in a 1 MOA. It is a lot lighter and more compact, and with a LaRue or Daniel Defense mount will co-witness in the lower 1/3.
None of my glasses needed for reading help with any of the optics, but rather make matters worse by putting the entire image greatly out of focus. Alternatively, glasses have become mandatory for the iron sights, which if so equipped I can still use pretty effectively. In fact, for +100 yard shots, it has now almost reached the point where I am about as good with glasses on the irons as bare-eyed on any kind of optic, so long as adequate light is available of course. I’m still stuck with relying on an optic under low-light conditions, unless I went to tritium irons, which I have not yet tried.
From the above comments, if I want to improve with an optic, it looks like I need to check out some ACOGs. I’m not looking forward to the price tags on them though. Otherwise, I’ll likely resign to a grape cluster for close-up and glasses on irons for long distance.
Scot
Thanks for sharing the info. It is helpful to know we are not alone. It is also great to learn what works and does not work for other folks. 8" hits at two hundred yards is good to go.
Actually, the T1 glass is definitely inferior. Again, you will not notice this unless you actually compare them side by side. But even the oldest of eyes will notice with an A/B comparison.
I had two T1s, and before I sold them, I did side by sides with the TA44SG-10s.
The best way to describe it is that the Aimpoint T1 glass is tinted (it emphasizes and pushes red), slightly dull (not as sharp), and lets much less light through the smaller lens. I always thought they looked good until I did a side by side.
With an astigmatism as bad as mine, when you mount the TA44 (placement on the rail is up to you, but I prefer mine two slots back from the front of the receiver as I try to keep my nose to the CH), the ghost ring of the optic just about disappears. The black outer ring of the case, the inner green ring, and the tiny small green dot center make for a really fast, crisp and ultimately intuitive optic. Great FOV, and exactly 1.335 oz. more weight than a T1 w/ LaRue Tall mount. (This is for the TA44SG-10 w/ LaRue mount. Again, I did side by sides.)
Now if someone could figure out how to get better indoor performance out of it…
JC
Thanks for the update/info.
Hey, I hear ya. Most of the guys I shoot with are 10-15 years younger than me, and since I’ve managed to keep in fairly good shape, I am pretty sure most don’t realize my age (52). So I just get blank stares when I try to talk about sighting problems. No matter though – they’ll be there soon enough.
I was also just now fooling with some really weak glasses that aren’t good for anything other than walking around, but found that they do actually clean-up the Eotech’s reticle some, especially using the non-dominant eye. Any glasses strong enough to read with though make the reticle a complete blur.
I have the exact OPPOSITE problem! LOVED my EOTechs, but the fuzzy holography only got FUZZIER! 
I run Trijicon RX30’s on a couple of my AR’s, and the big yellow dot works GREAT! Then I tried the Aimpoints (I have a Comp M2 on one rifle; a T-1 Micro on another), and those are easier on my eyes than the EOtechs were!
All you can do is check around - see what works bets for your eyes. ONE of these days, I’ll get around to getting new glasses, too. :o
Mine also and I found that Wiley X would provide similiar prescirption lens whereas Oakley would not. So I got a set of Wiley X. Bad move. Oakley’s right. Severe prescriptions applied to curved lens are a non-starter.
I have severe astigmatism and the only thing that has helped is scopes and peep sights. When looking through a red dot I just see a big blur about 3x the actual diameter of the dot. The pattern reticals, like on the eotech, are even worse.
Yes, there are three types of astigmatism. There is with-the-rule and against-the-rule. Against-the-rule astigmitism means that you see vertical lines as blurry and with-the-rule astigmatism is when you see horizontal lines as blurry. Most people have what is known as oblique astigmatism, with a bias towards either the vertical or horizontal, which is when you have a little of both in the same eye.