Down Range with non magnified optics

[trinity30]

Always have used my irons sights so optics are new to me. Just wanna know how far down range without magnification will either of these get me EOtech or Aimpoint

Thanks Vicki

[Nevermiss]

Welcome to the forum!

There are many others here more experienced than I, but here is what I have noticed. Since you will have no magnification, your accuracy at distance will probably be about the same for these red dots as it is with irons (although this depends on what type of iron sights you are using as well). Because you can focus on the target and have the dot in focus as well, it may be slightly better than with your irons.

There are many shooters who practice a lot with iron sights who shoot better at distance than I can with my aimpoint or eotech.

[Alex V]

I would imagine that being non modified optics that will all depend on your eye sight.

You will get to a point where the dot may obscure the target entirely, for instance a 4MOA dot in an Aimpoint on a 12" plate at 300 yards, but I have seen reports of people here being able to hit a steel plate with those optics at those distances, I have not tried with my Aimpoint since all but one long distances ranges here are private.

[TOrrock]

I would imagine that being non modified optics that will all depend on your eye sight.

You will get to a point where the dot may obscure the target entirely, for instance a 4MOA dot in an Aimpoint on a 12" plate at 300 yards, but I have seen reports of people here being able to hit a steel plate with those optics at those distances, I have not tried with my Aimpoint since all but one long distances ranges here are private.


With a minimum amount of training, it's very easy to make those hits with a 4moa Aimpoint at 200 yards/meters or more.

I've moved this thread to optics so you should get more hits on it.

[newguy]

i have a aimpoint comp m3 the book says you get about 50,000 hours on setting 7. setting 7 washes out on light colors when tactical light is on.setting 8 seems to work all around for me . I m wondering how many hours you can get on setting 8. advice needed

[Failure2Stop]

What target and under what environmental and lighting conditions in what kind of timeframe?

They all make a big difference when it comes to identifying a material suggestion.

[Belmont31R]

That "depends" quite a bit. At a new range that just opened up they have LaRue steel targets which are torso sized, and with a T1 off a bench I can hit the target most of the time @ 250 yards. The hit probability will go down depending on the position you are shooting from.


With a magnified optic hit probability is almost 100% unless I screw up. The hard part with an RDS is that the dot covers a lot of target at longer distances, and it can be difficult to actually make out the target to ensure you are putting the dot on the right spot each time. Then throw in a 10MPH cross wind, and the round will drift about a foot at 300 yards. Add in a "rack grade" AR w/ cheap FMJ, and you need to be shooting pretty good to get consistent hits at 250/300 yards.


With a 4X my range for a probable hit is extended to about 500 yards with an accurate gun, and decent ammo. I shot out to 1k yards with my Mk12, and it took around 5 shots to get on target, and even then with the wind and my lack of skill I only hit an 18" gong once in about 10 tries. So to sum this up Id say with a generally capable shooter, favorable weather, a decent gun, and decent ammo for a probable hit an RDS is around 300 yards, 4X around 500, and larger variables out to 750. The 556 just doesn't shoot a heavy enough bullet to cope with the wind at longer distances. A .30 cal bullet at 170-220 has a lot more weight behind it so there is less wind drift, and retains more energy.

[shootist~]

Sighted in at 200 meters with an ML3, I can make hits on an 18" gong at 300 meters by putting the half the dot over the top edge. And fairly consistently, but this is shooting known distances on a square range from supported.

Due to my astigmatism even the 2 MOA dot I use will cover the entire target at that distance (300M). I'm actually faster past ~200 meters with the OEM irons on the FAL this sight was previously mounted on; plus the FAL/Irons works to 500 meters on 18" steel.

I'm waiting on the Vortex 1-4 PST to see if it's a better general purpose sight for my eyes.

[ucrt]

I love my Aimpoint T-1. My old eyes, with my astigmatism, make the Red Dot look like an "Red-Comma" but (for me) I still get good groups with it. I shot a 100-yard sandbagged 25-round group yesterday that measured right at 5" with PMC cheap ammo.

For 50-yard sight-in, the 6" Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C targets give a good contrast. For shooting my T-1 at 100-yards, I make a large 10" white bullseye with a 3" black band around it. With this "donut target" it is easy to center the RD on the white inside the black ring.

[usmcvet]

I am glad it is not just me with the astigmatism! My dot actually looks like a bunch of dots almost a triangle.

[atlantaguns]

I am glad it is not just me with the astigmatism! My dot actually looks like a bunch of dots almost a triangle.

I have finally said to hell with it and ditched all my aimpoints for acogs. I just spend all my time running my ta33.