Old, nearsighted with astigmatism Beware Red Dots

[not-fishing]

I was lucky enough to score a Sig 365SL Romeo Zero for Christmas. I took it out for a spin and was not real happy.

Distance glasses on (which I only need for driving) and I see a nice little red dot.

Distance glasses off (95% of the time) because I can read fine without and I see multiple dots (3 major and about as many minor) along with flares.



So just like with ear aids (I have reverse slope hearing loss) Red Dots are not in the cards for me.

Luckily I can put a Sig Accessory rear sight set on my 365XL with a decent "U" sight because the original sight on the 365SL is barely a gutter.

So those of us looking to buy a pistol red dot we need to actually look through one and see if it's a 3 MAO dot or 9+ MOA Constellation.

[dousan]

A different dot may have better results. Try others at a range or in a class is the easiest way.
Total bummer though.

[Scotty]

Red dots are focused at infinity so if you are nearsighted, you are not going to be able to see it clearly without your glasses.

[Dirtlaw]

Red dots are focused at infinity so if you are nearsighted, you are not going to be able to see it clearly without your glasses.

Thanks Scotty,


That's very useful information.

[Dirtlaw]

A different dot may have better results. Try others at a range or in a class is the easiest way.
Total bummer though.

I don't know if it will help you or not, but red dots with a circle enclosing a small dot are helpful to some of us old guys. I think Sig makes one. It's similar to what Eotech has.

[Scotty]

All red dots including ones with circle dot will have the same problem for someone who is nearsighted and not wearing glasses. The dot is focused at infinity so if you are nearsighted and can't see far objects clearly without glasses, you won't be able to see the dot clearly. That's why old guys who can't see their front sight love red dots.

Astigmatism is a whole another problem. I've never had an issue with red dots with my astigmatism until shooting a Trijicon with a magnifier, the dot looked like Mickey Mouse.

[Peahi2]

This is nothing new...this is a well known issue with people with Astigmatism using dot optics. It seems we discuss it here on Calguns frequently. Can you return that optic that you "scored?" As others have said, there may be other dot optics that are less problematic for you, but you will have to try them out.

I get it. I am nearsighted...and now I am starting to need reading glasses. I too look at the constellations. It is tolerable however for me on my trijicons and holosuns. Turning down the down the brightness may help a lot.

Its a bummer for me personally, because I enjoy shooting irons on my pistol as well as using a dot.