My eyes are getting old (well, I guess /I/ am getting old). I am near-sighted, and need corrective glasses to see things far away. When pistol shooting with iron sights, that works out okay: my shooting glasses are not corrected, and I can focus pretty well on the front sight, making the rear sight and the target blurry, but that works. With my 15-22 and BUIS, it's pretty much the same (although the rear peep is rather oval shaped - probably some astigmatism).

Anyhow, I have only looked through a red dot with a pistol once (couldn't see much of anything, but didn't play with it long), and shot once with one on a friend's rifle. I did not do well. Part of the problem, I think, is I wasn't using corrective lenses, and therefore could not see the target clearly.

My (silly) question is: When using a red dot sight, should I be focusing on the target (meaning I'd need my corrective glasses)? And when doing so, is the dot then going to be out of focus, as if it's at the location of the sight (in which case I'm going to have a problem)? Or is the sight, visually, at the target location?

For those with young/good eyes, this whole dialog probably makes no sense. But I don't want to spend $100-200 on a sight and not be able to use it.

Focus on the target, not the dot. The dot will appear to be right on on the target. I need to wear my corrective distance glasses or the dot will look funky like a cluster of grapes.

With a red dot, you should always focus on the target regardless of vision issues. I'm almost blind in my right eye(lefty shooter) and I still use this method. For me the dot shrinks and gets more crisp when I'm perfectly focused on the target and not at all on the dot. It takes some time to get use to it, but eventually it becomes natural. I don't know what the dot will look like for you, but it should be fine. My friend has terrible vision and coke-bottle glasses and he uses a dot just fine.

I have myopia (near-sightedness) and severe astigmatism. When sighting with a red dot, I must tilt my head/eyeglasses slightly to right or left see a sharp dot. Otherwise, the dot is a large blur. I guess the head-tilt corrects the astigmatism. This makes my cheek weld a little less comfortable, but the results are worth the discomfort.

Thanks all. That makes sense.

I notice that there are basically two VERY different red dot designs: One is an Open sight, with basically just a piece of glass in a frame sticking up, and the other is Enclosed, like a short telescopic sight. Both types are made by the same company, oftentimes about the same price.

What type would be best for me? I'll be mostly shooting outdoors, in sun, at targets at 25 and 100 yard ranges. So I know brightness is important, and I've heard green can be more visible on targets than red. I'd like to get a good quality "red" dot with quick disconnect, but don't need overkill for my use and my rifle.

If you decide to go with a tube-type dot, I have a Bushnell TRS-25 brand new in the box, never out of the original packaging. This is a very nice little sight, compact and lightweight with an integral Weaver mount. 3 MOA dot would be good on a rifle. I will take $75 shipped. Read about them here:

Trophy TRS-25 Red Dot Sight 1x 25mm 3 MOA Dot Integral Weaver-Style Mount Matte

I had given up shooting because of detached retina's . The lenses of both eyes had to be removed to reattach the retinas and a lens implant was impractical so my vison is through tri-focal glasses ( coke bottle lenses ). shooting pistols with iron sights was impossible.
But a chance encounter with a Ruger MKII set up with a Millet SP-1 compact red dot sight changed all of that. It was on a dealers table at a gun show and he was kind enough to explain how it worked and let me sight through it. I bought it on the spot and was back shooting again. I absolutely LOVE it.
I have no experience with the small sights the Millet is A-1, it is red 3 moa dot and have no trouble shooting in the sun , it has 10 brightness settings. 25 yard shooting is not a problem. Shoot with your distance correction, the target and dot will both be in focus. It appears that the dot is in the same plane as the target. Put dot on target, squeeze trigger and its a hit, love it!
I purchase a Tasco Pro point with a larger 30 mm dia. ( Millet is 1 inch ) but because of its size ( too bulky for handgun mtg. ) I would like to trade it for 1 inch Millet. I have a 38 spcl. S&W that I enjoy shooting but it is too large for it. Would be fine on a rifle.
I like the red dots they keep us with eyesight problems shooting.

gary

I have the same problem here.
For the longest, I thought my Aimpoint Red Dot was out of whack, when in fact it was my eyes. LOL

When you add 3x magnifier is even worse for me.

__________________
It's a celebration!!!

For outdoors I would go with a tube style. Two very popular are the Primary Arms MicroDot and Bushnell TRS-25. Primary Arms sells both, and they have a selection of risers to choose from, including QD.

A lot depends on what you expect the red dot to do. I also am near-sighted and have astigmation, not to mention a lot of floaters in my eye fluid. Still it has not prevented me from being a decent competition shooter. I shoot with my normal corrective glasses with most setups except when shooting non-FO iron sights. Then I have a special pair that has a short focus in my dominant eye to get a sharp front sight picture. With fiber-optics sights I find I can use my regular specs.
If you are just shooting then the type of red dot will not make a real difference. If shooting for speed then a reflex type has a slight advantage over a tube type because the both eyes open method of speed shooting is slightly easier to do that way. Most outdoor competition shooters use the C-More reflex sight. Bright enough to flare in high daylight and stone reliable, plus the ability to buy modules with different dot sizes for different types of shooting. The cheapest red dots I use, when not using a C-More, are the ones from TruGlo. Specifically both the tube and reflex dual red/green models. I have used lots of sights and the TruGlos are the only ones I still use that are not C-Mores. The green is plenty bright enough for daylight and the reticles are very sharply defined which I like. Many are not however, especially ones that are 3 MOA and below. The TruGlos are around $60 while my C-Mores run around $210.

I second this... I have the TRS-25 on my Ruger 22/45 and love it.

i have the astyg and floaters also. wear bifocals all the time but when shooting/hunting i have a plane pair of distance glasses that work perfect w/o affecting the dot. I also use C-More railways on my .22 rimfire challenge guns, decked out MKII and a S&W 22a-1 and have no issues shooting steel. 15-22 has a Vortex bright dot w/3x magnifier, no issues if using the distance specs. same with the S&B Short dot 1-4 first focal plane and Weaver 1.1-5 first focal plane i use on my coyote hunting AR's.
speed is open c mores without a dot on both rifle and pistol. if you get the railway it can be mounted on both in about 2 minutes. very versatile unit, changeagle size moa modules is great, all the way up to 16 MOA.
but for hunting and zapping a dog right behind the ear i want a 2 MOA dot in a 1-4x24 FFP and they are DRT everytime with a .223 TAP.

I have all the same eye problems. I went with the red dot for pistol shooting and love it. I can wear my "distance" prescription glasses and focus perfectly on the target with the red dot falling in line. It does not have to be perfect visually.
With your eye situation you would probably benifit from the red dot. I have not used one on a rifle but for pistols I won't go back to metal.

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Ted
Les Baer , Wilson CQB

Old fart here, too (just turned 64 a couple of weeks ago!). I normally use progressive bifocals everyday for near-sightedness (I'm Asian, after all) with serious astygmatism (sp?) in my right (sighting) eye. As all of my shooting buddies will tell you, I can't hit ***** with my iron sights any more (not that I was that good before).

After watching Tom Yost shoot his M&P 15-22 in Steel Challenge matches, I bought one and mounted my old EoTech Holosight off of my AR15 9mm carbine. Re-learned how to shoot with both eyes open, focus on the target, and was amazed how nice it was to hear the pings of hits. The dot magically appeared as I looked at the steel and slapped the trigger when the dot hit the leading edge of the targets.

I'll never be a great shot, but I did have three (3) sub-3 second runs in a recent 4-stage Steel Challenge match. Boy, is shooting fun again or WHAT?

Get a good red dot sight for your new firearm and get ready to have a smile on your face all the way home.

HTH,
"Point Blank" Frank
8-)

I am near sighted and have astigmatism. Before you purchase a red dot take a good look through it to make sure you are seeing a circular dot rather than multiple images. The red dots whch work well for me are:
Leupold-Gilmore
Tasco Pro Point Big Dot- Old Model ca 1990's
Docter
C-More Railway
C-More STS