A quick back story: I’ve been shooting with a RDS since 2007 starting out with an Army issued M68, eventually moving to an EoTech in 2010 when I left the military and eventually switching to another Aimpoint in the form of an H-1 micro. I’ve always had issues with seeing a crisp standalone dot and have instead seen something akin to a small starburst. In addition to that I’ve never been able to easily shoot a RDS with both eyes open, which is odd considering I’ve never had trouble shooting both eyes open using any magnified sight.
With that said I’ve never been diagnosed with astigmatism in either eye but whether looking through my right or left eye while using a RDS the starburst effect remains. I know I need to see a professional regarding correcting the issue with my eyes but since I rarely wear my corrective lenses when shooting/driving/doing anything I’d prefer to find an optic solution that gets rid of the starburst.
Is there a small RDS that’s relatively lightweight, that also uses an etched illuminated reticle? Should I perhaps adjust fire and start looking at a variable powered optic that has a true 1x low power? I don’t want to give up the Aimpoint and will likely re-purpose it to an SBR but using it on my primary gun is limiting my accuracy at distance. Maybe a prismatic optic?
For reference here’s the rifle I’m looking to find a new optic for. I don’t currently have a budget for a new optic and would rather have suggestions that are based on quality and capability.
If you are going to transfer the micro to an SBR then I don’t see much reason not to go with a variable powered scope if you are wanting to tighten groups up and increase accuracy. As far as RDSs with etched reticules am I am not sure of which ones are out there and which ones are good to go either, and would be interested in the options myself since I do have a slight astigmatism and the dot on my M2 looks a dot with a halo around it in doors or in low light. In daylight it isn’t much more than a dot with a could smaller dots trailing around the lower half, but a crisper sight picture would be welcome though I have my other BCM with an ACOG for if I feel the need to reach out further with magnification.
I’m also interested in opinions of etched reticle sights, as I also have slight astigmatism. I owned a Leupold Prismatic awhile ago, I wonder about the Vortex version.
I have kicked around the idea of buying a TA44 or TA47, but I can’t get over the tritium/FO. I would want battery powered options for both of those and then I would be all over them like white on rice.
I’ve shot with the TA44 before using a green circle dot but found it overpowering at distance. Its not a bad choice but copious use of hundred-mile-per-hour tape might be necessary.
A TA33 or TA11 might be an option as well, but again having a battery powered option is more what I’m looking for.
Any chance did you get a chance to try/test out the Aimpoint Micro T2 yet? The dot is a lot crisper and I have not gotten a star-burst effect out of it.
The Leupold Prismatic Tactical and the Burris AR-132 and AR-1x sights are exactly what you’re looking for.
A variable optic with a 1x power setting and illuminated reticle might work too. They are never really true 1x at all distances, but when used with both eyes open, like you would a red dot, you really don’t notice it, and you can get very fast hits this way. I just don’t know about battery life if you’re constantly using it with the illumination on. Obviously that will vary by manufacturer, but no variable optic is made to be used like an Aimpoint, with the illumination on all the time.
Not sure why they don’t. They have the technology right now with the TA02, so besides making a new CAD file for the CNC, and finding room for all the electronics, I don’t know what else there is.
I would think a ta44 with the green chevron would be the ticket as far being a fast reticle. I love my TR24g. The only issue is washout but even then not so much really.
I wish someone made a 1.1x or even a true 1x reticle. The RDS bloom affects enough people where I think it would be pretty good even with the downsides of an eye box, parallax, etc.
I’ve been looking at Browe for their use of a blue reticule but the limited selection of only 4x optics with limited eye relief has kept me away. I heard a very long time ago Trijicon was going to produce ACOGs with blue reticules but that never came to pass.
To further my problem I also have some amount of color blindness that actually kept me out of the Airborne back in the day, so blue has been something that’s perplexed me. I’ve never had issues with RDS in the past granted that the brightness is turned high enough; thus the issue with blooming and starburst effects.
