Red dot mounting, forward or rear?

[hardlyworking]

Just purchased a pair of PA red dots to stick on a 10/22 and a shotgun (slugs).

Right now I have them mounted at the farthest front of the rail that I can get full engagement of the sight/mount. Being my first exposure to any RDS I was blown away by 2-eyes open and how the sight housing just kind of melts away in your vision.

Where do you guys mount your RDS, and why?

I didn't try middle/back of the rail as I was pretty happy with forward, but if there are compelling reasons to put it closer to my eye I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you gents (and ladies!)

[Munny$hot]

Far enough forward so it doesn't block your field of view.

[hardlyworking]

Groovy.

I do like the placement, in both cases its far enough forward that its about level with the charging handle which means I'm not going to bang into the windage nob when I rack the bolt. Any further back and that could be an issue.

Now to get out to the range and choot with em!

[NGunsWeTrust]

I mount my red dot as far forward as possible on the upper receiver.

[caliberetta]

For a Full Size Red Dot sight, as far forward as possible will probably work for most everyone.

It's a bit different with the Micro. By pulling the Micro closer, you can closer emulate the larger Opening/Sight Picture of the Full size.

Also Cowitnessing is important to me, so I find that the best position is about 6 rails back at approximately the T8 position for the Micro. Because its closer to your eye, the opening is larger, and thus there is more space to cowitness. This is especially true for 1/3 cowitness, and even more true when the Red Dot emitter is located somewhere in the bottom - the farther forward you put the Sight, the more a low emitter can interfere with cowitness (depending on what kind of Back up sights you use, this can vary).
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[hardlyworking]

THanks for that caliberetta!

good stuff to consider

[Jimi Jah]

I mount my Aimpoint as far back on the carbine as I can. I leave just enough room for fingers to grab the charging handle. I don't use BUIS sites so I want the best resolution with a 2 moa dot. Moving it forward lessens accuracy.

[tnlrat37]

Farthest forward on upper receiver, out on the handguard and now ur front heavy especially with a full size

[caliberetta]

I mount my Aimpoint as far back on the carbine as I can. I leave just enough room for fingers to grab the charging handle. I don't use BUIS sites so I want the best resolution with a 2 moa dot. Moving it forward lessens accuracy.

Moving it forward does not lessen accuracy.

The Red Dot acts much like a front sight post. There is therefore larger margin for error if the Dot is further back. A small change in windage (left/right) or elevation (up/down) movement sweeps a larger area of the field, thus increasing the margin of error for any one movement. A larger margin of error translates to less accuracy.

[ocabj]

I keep it as far forward on the receiver just before it gets to the handguard. Red dot sights are not like rear iron sights. There's no worry about sight radius with a front sight.

My concern with red dot placement is how much reliance there is on looking through the tube for the target. That is to say, I don't want the red dot optic so far back that I'm relying on having to look through the tube to see my target. This intuitively causes the shooter to go one eye closed more often than not, and if anything, causes the mind to block out the recessive (non-shooting) eye, losing peripheral awareness.

Keeping the RDS forward as possible makes keeps my recessive eye open and maintains both eyes open during dot acquisition, and allows the image in my recessive eye to project naturally, and ensuring that my overall vision is maximized.

I loved using Aimpoints on A2 carry handles with a forward mount:



This is how I run now on a flat top:

[caliberetta]

That's the biggest advantage of having it as forward as possible, the field of view is huge. Between that and it being easier to aim, it's a trade off as the weight is transferred forward.

Nice rifles ocabj -- never seen a mount like the one with the aimpoint. What are your impressions of that set up versus the one you have with the micro? Is the trade off really worth it?
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[Fate]

Further away from your eye. Don't look "thru" the tube.

[ocabj]

Nice rifles ocabj -- never seen a mount like the one with the aimpoint. What are your impressions of that set up versus the one you have with the micro? Is the trade off really worth it?
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That forward carry handle mount is old school (late 90s), back before flat tops became 'standard'. It worked great and kept the cheek weld at a respectable height vs trying to mount it on top of the carry handle. It still cowitnessed with the sights, albeit very low in the tube.

Is it necessary to place the red dot that far forward? I don't think so. I think the amount of offset of the forward mount design for the A2 was merely due to limitations (size of CompM-series body).

[drifts1]

The rail on a 10/22 isn't that long so i found out it didn't make much difference, so we went for looks and balance, put a PA micro as close to the middle of the rail.

[MauserMike]

yeah if you have a large rail and maybe continuous top rail on your handguard, further from your eye is supposed to be better, better field of view, and i find its easier to center the red dot inside the optic when its further from your face.