Astigmatism?

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • OLM-Medic

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    May 5, 2010
    6,588
    I guess I have mild astigmatism, because my dot with correction is mostly a dot, although pixelated and not perfect like in the pictures.

    Uncorrected though, the Eotech reticle is just a giant 65 MOA ball of fuzz.
     

    pilot25

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 13, 2016
    1,822
    Just went to the eye doctor since the first post and he said glasses and contacts that he prescribed me should correct the astigmatism. He said glasses should fully correct them. They don't.

    I looked through an ACOG at the Chantilly gun show and would like to get one of them. Price tag has me balking however.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    I recently discovered just using the rear back up sight with the dot greatly reduces dot flares and disortions. Just saying. On this rifle the sights cowitness so for longer range it has proven an asset.
     
    Last edited:

    woodline

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 8, 2017
    1,947
    I recently discovered just using the rear back up sight with the dot greatly reduces dot flares and disortions. Just saying. On this right the sights cowitness so for longer range it has proven an asset.
    This does help somewhat, but I've found it causes problems. A main benefit of a red dot is that it puts your target and your aiming device on the same focal plane. You look at your target, put your dot on it, and squeeze the trigger. Running around with the rear sight up isn't really ideal for utilizing that benefit. Maybe it is doable with more practice, but I didn't have much luck with it when I tried it. I just ended up being faster with iron sights for close range.

    I suppose at close range you can just live with the distortion and then flip up your rear iron sight for longer range, but it still seems slow and definitely feels like you'd be losing situational awareness. That said, I'm not exactly clearing rooms and then getting into ranged firefights these days, so I guess it doesn't really matter so much for my junky eyes.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    I am in the same boat you are. I just recently stumbled on that so I haven’t tried it in three gun or anything like that yet. I use irons as you do for longer range unless I am using a low powered variable scoped gun. I am still playing the low power variable scope set up...not completely sold on it for practical shooting. But when the eyes change their mood from day to day every little bit helps.
     

    woodline

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 8, 2017
    1,947
    I am in the same boat you are. I just recently stumbled on that so I haven’t tried it in three gun or anything like that yet. I use irons as you do for longer range unless I am using a low powered variable scoped gun. I am still playing the low power variable scope set up...not completely sold on it for practical shooting. But when the eyes change their mood from day to day every little bit helps.
    It's always great to try new things. The more those of us with astigmatism try things out and report our experiences, the better off people who have that problem will be. Right now my eyes aren't a good candidate for surgery, so I'm stuck making the best of it. I'm doing pretty well with EOTechs and the Trijicon MRO, actually. Not perfect but very usable to 350 yards or so. Aimpoint line doesn't work as well for me. I like the 1x Prismatic options as they are the clearest, but that limited eye relief and parallax are annoying once you are used to a "real" red dot. For competition shooting I am using a low power variable or irons at range. Low power variable is not my preference, though it does seem to be the "least bad" option. I should probably focus on non magnified to keep things more in line with my minimal requisite work proficiency, but Peacemaker keeps throwing up those 400-500+ yard targets in their competitions. It is real addictive using my 1-6 to make those ring.

    Hopefully I'll be able to get surgery someday and I can look back on this thread and laugh at my troubles.
     

    gslenk

    Member
    Mar 24, 2018
    70
    I never heard about it, until after I bought my trijicon MRO. My "dot" is more like a banana. Still haven't taken it to the range to see how bad it is in action. Lowering brightness, focusing on far targets, and glasses help, but its not perfect. That bumped up the priority of eye surgery from non-existent to maybe I'll think about it.

    Its "fun" to take a picture of the red dot with a camera, only to find it is indeed a perfect dot and the problem lies with yourself.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    I have on older Tasco Pro Point (?) which has a true red dot, large, was built mostly as an open class handgun optic back in the day. Great dot when the other had flates. Recently looked through it to shoot and there was that flare...}^+^%#*++^^%@&$

    Yep, we gotta communicate this...
     
    Last edited:

    gslenk

    Member
    Mar 24, 2018
    70
    The information is well documented and out there, but it isn't very forthcoming unless you know what to look for. I stumbled across it by chance. It would have been nice if the retailer or mainly the manufacturer wrote a disclaimer along the lines of... "If you have less than perfect vision (astigmatism) the dot may be distorted and you may consider another type of optic or fixing your eyes". I believe I found out about this AFTER I bought the red dot.
     

    DraKhen99

    Professional Heckler
    Sep 30, 2013
    2,320
    With my astigmatism, I can see the dot and surrounding circle on my Sightmark red dot optic. I ordered the Bushnell TRS-25, and it showed up today, so when I get around to opening the package and putting a battery in it, I will report back on how well it works with my eyes. Here's to hoping it's just fine!

    -John
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,561
    Harford County, Maryland
    Here's a kicker for ya. Reading several years back an article on aging vision the subject of iron sight shooting. An optometrist indicated regular shooting which involves focusing on the front sight tends to keep the lense more supple...but wouldn't be a fix all. May be true, for awhile my eyes have actually been improving in visual acuity, but the astimatism hasn't been helped.
     

    StantonCree

    Watch your beer
    Jan 23, 2011
    23,932
    Anyone with Astigmatism have better luck with a Vortex UHD or Eotech?

    I’ve got a Sparc2 and i like it but it’s blurry. Cuz of me not the sight
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Anyone with Astigmatism have better luck with a Vortex UHD or Eotech?

    I’ve got a Sparc2 and i like it but it’s blurry. Cuz of me not the sight

    I ditched the Sparc2 and 3x Magnifier because of Astigmatism.

    I do have a vortex UHD and it's a different type of image so it doesn't appear to be distorted. However I'm not using a 3x magnifier with it.
     

    CroftonBilly

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 26, 2011
    1,177
    Crofton
    I did some research on this recently and got a Holosun HS510C based on this video below and associated videos/reviews/articles.

    With my Astigmatism, the HS510C reticle is very crisp especially compared side by side with my fuzzy-to-my-eyes Eotech XPS2. It's a win for me so far. Price wasn't bad with one of the many 10% opticsplanet promo codes either.

     

    StantonCree

    Watch your beer
    Jan 23, 2011
    23,932
    I ditched the Sparc2 and 3x Magnifier because of Astigmatism.

    I do have a vortex UHD and it's a different type of image so it doesn't appear to be distorted. However I'm not using a 3x magnifier with it.

    I pretty much use EoTech exclusively for this reason. Well, that, and I like the reticle. Works great for me with the magnifier as well.

    I’m an admitted vortex fan boy. I’d love to compare side by side.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,733
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Anyone with Astigmatism have better luck with a Vortex UHD or Eotech?

    I’ve got a Sparc2 and i like it but it’s blurry. Cuz of me not the sight

    I have astigmatism and went through many expensive sights that did not satisfy me. The problem is that the 2 MOA dots just star too much.

    I found the Vortex Strikefire II and the Sightmark ultrasight R spec reflex sight work 100 times better and they don't cost and arm and a leg. The strikefire has a 4 MOA dot and the sightmark has a 5 MOA. I use strikfires on my rifles and the sightmark on my CMMG banshee.

    If you want to come to Annapolis, I would be happy to let you try them.
     

    F-Stop

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 16, 2009
    2,484
    Cecil County
    Adding to the data, I also found the Strikefire II works well with my slight astigmatism. For reference my aim point 2 moa dot looks like a small cluster. Maybe a 4 moa cluster so it’s not bad. Maybe bigger dots are less prone. Not sure. I tried a Sig Romeo 2 today and it was same as my aim point but again very usable.

    If I need to be very precise with a rifle, I just flip up the rear sight and I am back to a crisp single dot.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    motorcoachdoug

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    I had astigmatism really bad and was very very near sighted so I had to wear glasses if I wanted to see any distance at all. I ended up having surgery at the Wilmar Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins with follow up in Columbia on both eyes. My BCBS fed employee program paid for the surgery except $250 for the doc who put me to sleep. I could not stay awake during the surgery due to back problems laying still that long so off to that great target land in the sky while they worked on my eyes. They did both my eyes where they ended up putting a lends into each eye to correct my astigmatism and now I have 20/20 in both eyes. They did both eyes but one eye at a time so my surgeries were 3 weeks apart and now what a difference. I even went to the DMV and had my glasses restriction removed as well.
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    I’m an admitted vortex fan boy. I’d love to compare side by side.

    I have both. Vortex is darker than Eotech. I would not use the Vortex in less than daylight conditions, whereas the Eotech is better through the whole day. My Eotech is not NV capable. The Eotech is also lighter than the Vortex. I will be sending my Vortex back as the mount is loose and I can't tighten it any more.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,922
    Messages
    7,259,125
    Members
    33,349
    Latest member
    christian04

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom