Red dot frustration

timandkimandshea

timandkimandshea

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Just looking for help with a red dot optic. I really want to make this work, but have struggled and given up in the past.
I dug one out today, and played with it, but it sure seems like if my pov isn’t centred behind it, the dot does not stay on target.
I understand that the bullet should strike the same place even if you aren’t centred behind it, but if I put the optic on a stable base, like a table, and move my pov around, the red dot is NOT staying in one place. The red dot in question today is a TRS 25, which is definitely budget oriented, but it’s supposed to be parallax free ??
Am I missing something, is it a case of quality ?
Thanks in advance
Tim
 
You have to stay centered behind most sight, move your head and the point will move on the target.
At least that is what I find, I have $30.oo and 350.oo ones.
I use them for speed shooting, bullseye I do as good or better with iron sights.
I am talking hand guns, long guns peep sights work very well for me , as does $1000.oo scopes. Never tried red dot on a rifle.
 
Try it out while shooting. You'll understand it better. Point aim shoot. Move your head a bit, aim again, shoot and so on.
 
Unless you plan to be 2-3 feet aside from the sight, you will not see that variation in 'real use'. As eco says, try it while shooting. I also have the $30 and $300+ units and I prefer the "Circle-Dot" reticle. The circle gives a fast POA like for a paint-can, then the Dot will let you 'really aim' for a target. And if you have one with 'more options' I find that the Green reticle is better in most instances due to the green being a frequency more visible to persons, and 'less stressful' to your eye. Also, it's less affected by astigmatism - which you may have a bit of even if not in your glasses Rx. Many people do. And Green is easier to see in daylight since Red is closer to daylight frequencies.
 
timandkimandshea said:
Just looking for help with a red dot optic. I really want to make this work, but have struggled and given up in the past.
I dug one out today, and played with it, but it sure seems like if my pov isn’t centred behind it, the dot does not stay on target.
I understand that the bullet should strike the same place even if you aren’t centred behind it, but if I put the optic on a stable base, like a table, and move my pov around, the red dot is NOT staying in one place. The red dot in question today is a TRS 25, which is definitely budget oriented, but it’s supposed to be parallax free ??
Am I missing something, is it a case of quality ?
Thanks in advance
Tim
Click to expand...
Are you keeping both eyes open? I have often seen people close one eye as if looking through a scope. You should be target focused. Bring the rifle to your shoulder while looking at the target and the dot should center on your target... assuming it is sighted in correctly. Some parallax is normal, but even with the Bushnell... unless your is defective, should be minimal and likely only noticeable at 100 yards.
While i have a bunch of different red dots on both rifles and pistols, i have switched to Prism optics on many of my rifles.
 
Distance to target is a factor. As others have said, under 100 yds the POA/POI shift should be negligible.

A less budget friendly red dot will generally have less shift.
 
Tip: Don't look at the dot. Do look at the target. Both eyes, wide open.
Then it'll "click" in the brain - instinct kicks in, and the few MOA of parallax will become irrelevant (for offhand shooting under 100).

Benching? Want more precision at the cost of speed? Suffer with astigmatism? Narrow the FOV with a rear peep sight ahead (closer to eye) of the red dot.
 
timandkimandshea said:
I understand that the bullet should strike the same place even if you aren’t centred behind it, but if I put the optic on a stable base, like a table, and move my pov around, the red dot is NOT staying in one place.
Click to expand...
'in one place' ? in the window or on the target?
once you have it set for a particular poi , angles are going to change as you move your pov, it has to in order to maintain poi
 
They are relatively parallax free. No sight I have ever seen has truly "zero" if you put it on the table and move your head around. It won't affect you at the range when you are actually using your firearm though.

Fun history note on this topic...

Early red dots (like the old “Occluded Eye Gunsight”) didn’t use a transparent lens at all. You just had a blacked out housing with a glowing red dot inside. Your dominant eye saw the dot, while your other eye saw the target. Your brain would merge the two images, lining the dot up with what you wanted to hit. It worked surprisingly well, but it wasn’t as intuitive as the modern transparent designs that let you see both dot and target through the same lens.

If you want to train your brain/eyes how to do this more naturally, you can cover the front of your optic and switch it on. Once you are able to shoot that way I can almost guarantee you won't be thinking about or affected by parallax in your dot.
 
timandkimandshea said:
Just looking for help with a red dot optic. I really want to make this work, but have struggled and given up in the past.
I dug one out today, and played with it, but it sure seems like if my pov isn’t centred behind it, the dot does not stay on target.
I understand that the bullet should strike the same place even if you aren’t centred behind it, but if I put the optic on a stable base, like a table, and move my pov around, the red dot is NOT staying in one place. The red dot in question today is a TRS 25, which is definitely budget oriented, but it’s supposed to be parallax free ??
Am I missing something, is it a case of quality ?
Thanks in advance
Tim
Click to expand...
The dot is supposed to move with your head. They all do that. Trust me that point of impact will not change.
Like okayshooter said, the optic works by shining a laser on a reflecting surface. It moves with your point of view on purpose in case you're shooting from an awkward angle or stance, but as long as you don't change the rifles position, your point of impact won't change.
 
jparent said:
Are you keeping both eyes open? I have often seen people close one eye as if looking through a scope. You should be target focused.
Click to expand...
joemanco said:
Tip: Don't look at the dot. Do look at the target. Both eyes, wide open.
Click to expand...

These guys got it right. Focus on the target and overlay the dot. You're not finding the dot quickly because you haven't trained a repeatable point of aim. Check out the video below...

 
Last edited:
timandkimandshea said:
The red dot in question today is a TRS 25, which is definitely budget oriented, but it’s supposed to be parallax free ??
Am I missing something, is it a case of quality ?
Click to expand...
A. The TRS is not "budget oriented" it is a cheap POS. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe try something better.
B. Red dot sights are not meant to be precision optic for accurate shooting. If you are looking for accuracy you have the wrong type of sight.
 
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