fly Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Why did I not know this?????? I bought a red dot scope for my shotgun and am doing well with it. One thing I always wondered about was how I could be sure the dot was in the center of the reticle? Perhaps I'm placing the red dot a little low, perhaps a little to the right or left of center? An article I just read indicated it doesn't matter! Just as long as the red dot is on the target it doesn't matter if the dot is near the bottom/top/right/left or dead center in the reticle. Just wanted to be sure I'm interpreting the article correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganHunter Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I whould assume that if the patern is holding true and shooting good than I whouldn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 I've been shooting a red dot scope on my shotgun for 14 years. What you are describing is called red dot parralax. When you look through the scope and move your head, the red dot moves also. All red dot scopes have it. Now it depends what brand of red dot you bought as to whether it affects your shooting. Lower end scopes have problems and higher end scopes don't. My first red dot that I bought in 1995 had parralax problems (they all did back then). I trained myself to make sure that I practiced good form whenever I shot that gun. Like a trap shooter who makes sure that the gun comes to his face the same way every single time. As long as I practiced good form it rarely bothered me and I harvested my biggest bucks with it. Now my new Aimpoint red dot is sweet. No matter where the red dot is in my scope, that is where the slug is going. The Aimpoint scopes are completely parralax free. I would contact the company that made your scope and ask them if they are also parralax free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csualumni21000 Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 YEs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 (edited) I've been shooting a red dot scope on my shotgun for 14 years. What you are describing is called red dot parralax. When you look through the scope and move your head, the red dot moves also. All red dot scopes have it. Now it depends what brand of red dot you bought as to whether it affects your shooting. Lower end scopes have problems and higher end scopes don't. My first red dot that I bought in 1995 had parralax problems (they all did back then). I trained myself to make sure that I practiced good form whenever I shot that gun. Like a trap shooter who makes sure that the gun comes to his face the same way every single time. As long as I practiced good form it rarely bothered me and I harvested my biggest bucks with it. Now my new Aimpoint red dot is sweet. No matter where the red dot is in my scope, that is where the slug is going. The Aimpoint scopes are completely parralax free. I would contact the company that made your scope and ask them if they are also parralax free. Great explanation Joe thanks! I went to the TruGlo web site and this is the explanation listed: PARALLAX Parallax is an unavoidable optical phenomenon where the image of the reticle (the dot) and the target are in two different image planes (locations). This phenomenon presents itself as an apparent change in the position of the reticle against the target when the shooter’s eye is moved significantly away from the center of the field of view. Your Truglo red dot has been carefully aligned to have minimum parallax at a specific distance. (30 yards for non-magnification models and 60 yards for 2x models) At distances greater or less than this, some parallax will be observed. To reduce the possibility of a point of impact shift caused by parallax, try to keep the reticle (dot, cross, or other pattern) in the middle 2/3 of the field of view. So according to this as long as the red dot is close to center of the eye piece I should be good. Next time I sight in I'll test it and see. Ya know the article I read in North American Hunter is a little misleading.... It made it sound like it didn't matter at all. Edited September 21, 2009 by fly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 (edited) PARALLAX Parallax is an unavoidable . That is a lie! Here is a quote from the Aimpoint web site, NO CENTERING OF THE DOT NEEDED….. Among red dot sights, only Aimpoint sights are truly parallax-free. This means that you never have to worry about centering the dot inside the sight. Once you see the dot on your target, you’re ready to shoot. Other brands of red dot sight can cause you to miss by as much as 12 inches at a distance of only 50 yards. That can mean the difference between a clean kill and irresponsibly wounding an animal or missing it completely. Fly, if you decide that you like shooting the red dot sight give an Aimpoint red dot scope a try. The average battery life is 50,000 hours!! http://www.aimpoint.com/hunting Edited September 22, 2009 by RangerClay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 That is a lie! Here is a quoate from the Aimpoint web site, NO CENTERING OF THE DOT NEEDED….. Among red dot sights, only Aimpoint sights are truly parallax-free. This means that you never have to worry about centering the dot inside the sight. Once you see the dot on your target, you’re ready to shoot. Other brands of red dot sight can cause you to miss by as much as 12 inches at a distance of only 50 yards. That can mean the difference between a clean kill and irresponsibly wounding an animal or missing it completely. Fly, if you decide that you like shooting the red dot sight give an Aimpoint red dot scope a try. The average battery life is 50,000 hours!! http://www.aimpoint.com/hunting I'll second that. Never had a problem with either of mine. Shot both for about 8 years or so. Aimpoint red dots are very user friendly scopes. We played around with where the dot was in the scope and it really didn't show any noticeable differences in 3 shot groups at 75yds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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