Gentlemen,
Forget all that expensive glass to cover up a problem that needs to be fixed. If you have cataracts, get 'em fixed. If your eyesight is failing because of old age, get 'em fixed. Lasik with wavefront technology is the answer and in the long run far cheaper than buying optics for all your guns. Best decision I ever made. 20-10 both eyes. Literally, in and out in 5 minutes, both eyes. I never saw this good before. Here's the gratuitous pic.
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Even with 20-20 vision, iron sights accuracy falls off quickly at distances greater than 15 yards. Many studies confirm (google). With the OP shooting .22 rimfire and .44 mag, I would guess that 25 yards would be near a minimum, and 50 yards or longer may be common. Red dot or scope will improve this distance better than any eye doctor correction could.
Of the dozen or so friends of mine that had Lazik done, all have had additional issues as they aged, and while Lazik is great, does not stop eyes from aging, and they too now need reading glasses 5 years or so later.
With my 20-20 eyes mysteriously getting worse as I hit 50, light reading glasses of 1.0, then 1.25 helped a lot. Still, great accuracy was limited to the 30 foot range. Unlike a scope, Red Dot allows you to look through the red dot device, and only need to focus on the target. One focal point, the target. To me, one focal point is the largest advantage. Both eyes open naturally, and dominant eye automatically picks up the red dot displayed on Target. Also, holding a heavy 8 3/8" S&W 500 steady is made much easier, and much faster, if all you need to is focus on target.
I choose the Ultra-Dot 1" version so that it would sit lower and is shorter than the 30mm version. Only adds a few ounces of weight. One of only a couple that can hold up to recoil. Getting the low profile QD rings was the best thing done, and in a couple seconds I can remove Red-Dot from the 500 and toss it onto a Ruger Mark II 22/45, or my 4095TS Carbine.
An MOA of 4 doesn't hurt accuracy. Yes, it covers 4" of target at 100 yards, but you still have 1/4" click adjustments at 100 yards with MOA of 4. You could get 1/4" groups at 100 yards with a 4 MOA red dot properly adjusted, if you and your gun are also that good. At 50 yards, something more pratical for handguns, that becomes 2" of target covered, and 1/8" fine tuning per click.
