Red Dots and Astigmatism

nortatoga

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What are astigmatisms and why does it matter? Shooters everywhere are affected by "starbursts" or "clusters of grapes" in their red dots, but why? In this quick 10 minute talk, we talk about what an astigmatism actually is and how to avoid negative effects from one while shooting. Listen here: https://bit.ly/2JVog5E

 
Saltwater60

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I see the lower left. Looking to get something like this, but not sure what to buy since I have an astigmatism. Any suggestions.
 
kev74

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Saltwater60 said:
I see the lower left. Looking to get something like this, but not sure what to buy since I have an astigmatism. Any suggestions.
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In mine, I see a boomerang shaped bunch of grapes. If I turn the power down low and put the brightest part over the target, things work well. Depending on how my eye, glasses and red dot line up, the dot can get fuzzier or clearer.

Fun fact... All that stupid stuff that you should have worn safety glasses for and wound up picking crap out of your eyes afterwards leaves little scratches on your eyes that make things a lot worse.
 
Jem45472

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Saltwater60 said:
I see the lower left. Looking to get something like this, but not sure what to buy since I have an astigmatism. Any suggestions.
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A 1x prism sight would work. If going for a red dot, holosun has a very crisp dot. Most people with astigmatism are minimally bothered by holosun even when compared to aimpoints. You're in my neck of the woods, let me know if you want to check mine out sometime.
 
Saltwater60

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This looks fun. 1x or 3x. One is probably fine for what I’m doing. I just punch holes in paper. Maybe a varmint here or there.
 
Jem45472

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BDinPutnam said:
I never went too far down the road with them- what's the executive summary on prisms?
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Haven't used one myself, but they are very durable, have an etched reticle, and are good if you have astigmatism. Just like a red dot at 1x, or you can go with a fixed 3x or 6x.
 
MikeyCNY

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BDinPutnam said:
I never went too far down the road with them- what's the executive summary on prisms?
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Very clear for those with astigmatism (etched reticle), however bulkier than traditional red dots. I have a Vortex 1x prism scope that I got on sale and I really like it (has the circle with dot in the middle, have it on my Ruger PC9 right now). Wish I had gotten the 3x but didn't know which I'd prefer.. The 1x seems to be more of a "0.95x"..
 
gun_slinger_boy

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This is a non issue really. You adjust to shoot with whatever pattern you see. But if it bothers you that much you can co-witness your rear BUIS with the dot and it will clear it right up.
 
Jem45472

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Saltwater60 said:
Just curious what made you go with holosun.
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Combination of crispest reticle on the market, 50,000 hour battery life, solar powered, choice of 2moa dot, or eotech style circle dot, shake awake. They can't be beat for the money, and if you didn't know, they make primary arms dots, and also Sig's.
 
Podmonkey

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BDinPutnam said:
I never went too far down the road with them- what's the executive summary on prisms?
Click to expand...
As has been mentioned before, compared to many red dots a prism sight will be larger and heavier. The prism will often alleviate issues related to having astigmatism but not in every case. Some prism optics have an etched reticle that can be seen in the absence of illumination.
The ACOG is the most famous example of a prism optic but Primary Arms, Vortex and Burris are some other manufactures that offer this style of optic. Unlike red dots many of these optics, but not all, offer magnification typically around 3x. Burris has a model that is 6x.
The Eotech is not an example of a prism sight, it uses laser projection to form a holographic reticle that is projected onto a glass window. Holographic sights usually suffer the same issues related to having astigmatism but again, it depends on the individual.
 
MikeyCNY

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Jem45472 said:
A 1x prism sight would work. If going for a red dot, holosun has a very crisp dot. Most people with astigmatism are minimally bothered by holosun even when compared to aimpoints. You're in my neck of the woods, let me know if you want to check mine out sometime.
Click to expand...

I've heard as this... been meaning to pick one up - I know they are coming out with a "heavier duty" line soon, so their current line will drop in price. I'll pick one up there... I really like the circle option but don't want to spend $$$ on an EOTech..
 
Podmonkey

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MikeyCNY said:
I've heard as this... been meaning to pick one up - I know they are coming out with a "heavier duty" line soon, so their current line will drop in price. I'll pick one up there... I really like the circle option but don't want to spend $$$ on an EOTech..
Click to expand...
Keep in mind the Eotech has a 1 MOA center dot so you can get pretty precise with those things.
 
Saltwater60

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gun_slinger_boy said:
This is a non issue really. You adjust to shoot with whatever pattern you see. But if it bothers you that much you can co-witness your rear BUIS with the dot and it will clear it right up.
Click to expand...
My issue is the dot is so fuzzy that I couldn’t get a good sight picture or probably even see the bullseye. I know these aren’t long range bullseye shooters, but it’s probably more of a mental thing, but I like to hit the center of what I’m aiming at.
 
gun_slinger_boy

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Saltwater60 said:
My issue is the dot is so fuzzy that I couldn’t get a good sight picture or probably even see the bullseye. I know these aren’t long range bullseye shooters, but it’s probably more of a mental thing, but I like to hit the center of what I’m aiming at.
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Does this happen to be mounted on an AR? If so does it have a rear peep style BUIS? If it does flip it up on it's smallest setting and co-witness it. That will sharpen the dot up. Besides that I don't know that there's anything else you can do short of some special glasses or surgery.
 
Marine Cpl

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For me in low light on a 4MOA Aimpoint, the dot was fuzzy. It looked like a cluster of grapes. Outdoors in bright sunlight it was perfect However. After getting a 2 MOA Primary Arms red dot, the issue went away.

I don’t know if it was a difference of glass that corrected it or if just cutting the dot from 4MOA to 2 MOA that did the trick. I’m guessing it was using a smaller dot that fixed the issue with my eyes.
 
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