Aimpoint red dot dot shape...

[f.2]

Greetings. I never noticed this until some slow fire zeroing at 50 yards, but the dot on my CompM2 4MOA is not a "round" circle. And the other weekend I was sighting through this guys Aimpoint 5000 2MOA (older version replaced by the 7000, and now the 9000) on a Buck Mark Silhouette .22 and the dot was a nice clean circle.

So I put the battery in my CompM3 2MOA and the circle is very similar to the M2, only 2MOA.

Is this the norm?

I'm not worried as the Aimpoint does it's job well. I'm just wondering if there is some focus issues with my eyesight (nearsighted). I know that you have to adjust the eyepiece of a scope for your eyesight to focus the reticle. And I know the Aimpoint dot is a misshapen mass of red when I sight in without my glasses.

[gotm4]

None of my Aimpoints reticles appear as a perfect red dot either. More like a red blob/orb.

When I sight them in I use them on a very low setting, so that I can just barely see the dot. In actual use I have them much brighter.

[Submariner]

I, too, am near-sighted. You may also have astigmatism issues that are not corrected completely by your glasses. When I remove my glasses, the "dot" is a mass of separate dots, due to astigmatism.

[Lumpy196]

From Aimpoint's FAQ on their webpage:

The dot in my Aimpoint sight doesn't look round. Is it defective?


If your dot does not appear to be perfectly round, the distortion is probably caused by the way that your eye perceives the dot, rather than by some mechanical defect. Due to differences in the lenses in different individuals' eyes, round objects that subtend areas near 3 minutes of angle may appear distorted in a variety of ways depending on the individual and other environmental influences. Inexpensive red dot sights sometimes have manufacturing defects that can cause the dot to be an odd shape.

A simple test that can be easily performed will allow you to determine the cause of the apparent distortion:

Turn the sight on and look through as you normally would. (This test is easiest when the sight is not mounted on a firearm, but can be performed with the sight mounted as well. Just make sure that the firearm is unloaded and pointed in a safe direction.)

While continuing to look through the sight, roll the sight on its optical axis.

If the dot's irregularities seem to revolve around the center of the dot like the spokes of a wheel, there is a mechanical defect causing the distortion.

If the dot does not roll with the sight, the distortion is caused in the way your eye perceives the dot. This is not to say that you don't have good vision. You can see clearly and still see a distortion in objects this small.

This effect is less pronounced in sights with larger dots. More people will see the dot in a sight with a 10 minute-of-angle dot as being perfectly round than will be able to see a 3 MOA dot as round.

[rob_s]

I have an astigmatism in my right (dominant) eye that also causes a "bloom" in the dot. It's one of the reasons I have gone with Compact ACOGs on my carbines.

With that said, I had no trouble hitting an 8" steel plate at 200 yards with a 4 MOA Aimpoint on an 11.5" "pencil" barrel a few months ago in a carbine class.

I think that most people that see the distortion only really notice it when focusing too much on the optic when handling it indoors or when trying to sight in. When actually shooting the distortion seems to go away.

With that said, the test in Lumpy's post is a good one to see if it's your eye or your optic. If the distortion rotates with the optic, it may be defective. If the distortion stays put as the optic rotates, your eye may be defective.:D

[Gunfighter13]

Look through the small aperture on your rear sight. If the dot is round it’s most likely your eyes. I sent a 2MOA back to aimpoint for repair with this complaint and received it back as being within specification. When I told my eye doctor and showed him the scope he just laughed and told me I was getting old and needed to update my glasses. New glasses and now it looks round again.

[markm]

I, too, am near-sighted. You may also have astigmatism issues that are not corrected completely by your glasses. When I remove my glasses, the "dot" is a mass of separate dots, due to astigmatism.

Same here. Which is another reason I like irons. (in addition to simplicity)

Using irons improves my target vision at distance. Especially on the rifle sight radius. For whatever reason, it brings the target into focus without straining my eye.

[f.2]

Good stuff guys, thanks. I did Lumpy's [Aimpoint's] test and no rotating spokes. My eyes must have good days and bad days because the 2MOA dot does not look bad at all this morning. That was before the coffee too.

[Lumpy196]

At 3am, my Aimpoint dot is not a dot at all ;)


Interestingly enough, its always round and crisp through my 3x magnifier.

[f.2]

After reading this article on parallax (http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Parallax.asp) (at the bottom of the article, how to set up the scope, adjusting the eyepiece), I was thinking, why doesn't Aimpoint have an option of an adjustable eyepiece that will focus on the reticle, in this case the red dot? If you wore glasses, you would adjust until the dot was a perfect red circle with your glasses on. It could be a pop on attachement with it's own flip up cover.

This certainly would help out those without perfect vision and especially with medium range shots.

[gotm4]

I guess I'm just weird I don't focus on the dot or the target, I just sort of 'see' what I need to 'see'. :D

[WasatchAR]

I look at a lot of sights here at Aimpoint, and depending on time of day or how my eyes are I see all kinds of things. We install the LED emitter under a fixed 25X CCTV and on the screen it is very easy to see how round the dot is. By design it is impossible for the dot not to be round, but the human eye has its limitations epically when it comes to detecting shapes at such small sizes.

[edwin907]

I could go on about how my ML3 has a "star" with "radiating spokes" and so forth, but in reality I don't notice it at all when shooting and when I flip up the 3X on the LT mount it becomes a very slightly elongated circle (star & spoke effect gone) depending on how much my glasses have slid down on my face (even if it's just a few mm).

Wearing an eyeglass sports strap to hold my glasses tight really improves my "combat" style shooting, not so much on the bench.

[ArmaGlock]

Look through the small aperture on your rear sight. If the dot is round it’s most likely your eyes. I sent a 2MOA back to aimpoint for repair with this complaint and received it back as being within specification. When I told my eye doctor and showed him the scope he just laughed and told me I was getting old and needed to update my glasses. New glasses and now it looks round again.

Looking through the rear sight on my irons clears the dot up good for me too, it's distorted all the time other than that. My eye varies day to day on what it will make my Aimpoint dot look like. Sometimes it looks like a star, other times it looks like there are two dots. The more I focus on the dot the worse it looks. But it hits every time and holds its zero.

[Kalash]

When I first got my M3 from LaRue,I thought my 2MOA optic had a defect.I called them and they sent a replacement next day.The replacement was exactly the same as the first.I felt bad for costing them some money for shipping.Kudos to LaRue for their great CS.There was nothing wrong with the original M3.I discovered instead of looking at the dot to look at the target and the dot was fine.:eek:

[SuicideHz]

Mine is a bit odd-shaped and doing the test shows that it's my eyes.

If I flip up my KAC 300m rear, the dot is perfectly round. I wonder what causes that?

[PushPull]

The longer you stare at the dot, the worse it gets. Scan for more targets.:)

[Sam]

Mine is a bit odd-shaped and doing the test shows that it's my eyes.

If I flip up my KAC 300m rear, the dot is perfectly round. I wonder what causes that?

Astigmatism? I have the same problem. So adjust the dot as small as possible and still visible for your application and ambient lighting condition, that would help.

[militarymoron]

Mine is a bit odd-shaped and doing the test shows that it's my eyes.

If I flip up my KAC 300m rear, the dot is perfectly round. I wonder what causes that?

same phenomenon as looking through a pin hole. it focuses it better.

[markm]

Same thing happens to me when I look thru A2 Irons. My target becomes clearer to me than just looking at it without the rifle... I'm near sighted.

[Submariner]

I could go on about how my ML3 has a "star" with "radiating spokes"...

Do you have an astigmatism as well?

[sff70]

Buddy loaned me his T1 to play with. Love everything about it except the dot is a blob. The dot shape drove me crazy.

Then, I remembered this thread.

So, now that I understand what's going on (it's my eyes, not the optic, and simply focusing on the target makes things better), I'm definitely going to buy a Micro when I get the funds to do so.

[noops]

I have bad astigmatism and a CompM4. I've found that I can't really use Eotechs because the reticle blurs for me, although they do have a dot-only model that works.

They key for me is that if I focus my eye on the dot, it gets all funky. But when I focus my eye forward beyond the optic it becomes a nice clear dot.

[b_saan]

although they do have a dot-only model that works.
I haven't been able to figure that one out. Seems to me the only reason to buy the Eo is if you like the reticle set up better, why would anyone buy the single dot Eo over an AimPt?

[razors]

I haven't been able to figure that one out. Seems to me the only reason to buy the Eo is if you like the reticle set up better, why would anyone buy the single dot Eo over an AimPt?

Everyone i know who purchased an Eotech did so because of the larger FOV and the reason you dont need a mount with it.

[CarlosDJackal]

FWIW, I found out that I can reduce the "distortion" of MY T-1's red dot by cleaning the lenses.