Vortex Viper red dot

Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
I have a Vortex Viper Red Dot mounted on my pistol. When sighting it in, I ended up with the dot skewed left & high in the window in order to get center hits at POA. The position of the dot is distracting in use because I have to look elsewhere rather than the center of the window. After 50+ years of looing at the center of the slide and seeing the sights, lining up the a dot high/left is not natural to me. Co-Witness is a joke this way. How can I get the dot into the center of the window and still get POA hits ?
 
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Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
You know the old saying, something like "as a last resort, read the instructions". Well, after posting this question, I've been reading various write up's on RDO's and have concluded that I am just not using the RDO correctly. Old dog learning new tricks.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I pondered it a bit but figured it had to be a mounting issue or defective unit. The only experience I have with a slide-mounted reflex optic is a Leupold Deltapoint on an M&P 45, and it hasn't been a happy one either (it kind of has the same issue yours does, plus the "delta" is skewed a little compared to the optic frame and the whole pistol). One thing about these types of optics that's both annoying and helpful is how clearly it shows your wiggles and trigger-finger input.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Been using reflex type sights for better than 20 years...............so I'm use to them. Had a full size Trijicon mounted on my BH for a while. Worked fine but a little too large, now that they have come out with the mini's. Using the full size on my carbines and X-bow.

Recently, purchased a Sig P320 RX compact.

8827

Specifically, bought it because it was completely set up for a mini reflex..............included by Sig. The set up includes suppressor height night sights that are co-witnessed to the reflex, fully apparent in the lens.

I prefer fully automatic reflexes, sans battery, but the Sig come close. Battery has a long life and activates on movement.............shuts down after no movement is detected. Most red dots are too bright for my taste but the Romeo has settings as low as night vision compatible. Price was right and I got to try their reflex.....if it doesn't last/hold up I will switch to a Trijicon.
 

Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
I'm going to need more range time with the gun/RDO. In a way, its like shooting with a laser, the wobble is really obvious and takes getting accustomed to vs regular sights. One thing I have noticed with the RDO is most of what I was perceiving as wobble was really the effect of recoil when the shot went off. I haven't been perceptive enough to pick out my trigger finger input...but I'm sure its there.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
I have CT laser grips or CT laserguards on all CC pieces.................best thing since sliced bread. They do teach trigger control.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I haven't been perceptive enough to pick out my trigger finger input...but I'm sure its there.

That's probably because your trigger input is a lot better (less disturbance) than mine. I'm still learning to shoot pistols that don't have a crisp 2-lb SA trigger like my 1911s do.
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
The issue with the SIG Romeo1 has been that the "shake awake" feature is a little too sensitive, and the sight never shuts off if you carry it on your person. It simply never shuts off, and vampires the battery. You might watch for this, and check your batteries often. A friend had one, and SIG pissed him off by telling him not to carry it daily if it bothered him so he sold it at a loss after SIG inspected the sight and gave it a clean bill of health. I have heard that not all Romeo1s do this.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Sounds reasonable, if motion activated. Mine serves as a house gun, sits most of the time. Too heavy for daily carry. My carry pieces are all under 20 ounces, unloaded.
 

Cherokee

Medina, Ohio
Ian - I too have great 1911's with 2-2.5# pulls that I really enjoy, it has been an adjustment with the XDM platform and this new Canik with the RDO.
 
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358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
Sounds reasonable, if motion activated. Mine serves as a house gun, sits most of the time. Too heavy for daily carry. My carry pieces are all under 20 ounces, unloaded.

Thank you. I wasn't criticizing your choice, but trying to explain a shortcoming in SIGs design. I didn't want you to be relying on a specific feature that could let you down without notice. SIG seemed astonished that somebody would actually carry one daily.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I have a green laser on one of my Ruger 1911 house guns. It workes really well, and far easier to see in
daylight than red, IMO.

Bill
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
The green lasers are much better and consequently, more expensive. However, not many are offered in that configuration. I have a CT Railmaster in green, that I picked up really cheap, from Optics Planet, IIRC.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Thank you. I wasn't criticizing your choice, but trying to explain a shortcoming in SIGs design. I didn't want you to be relying on a specific feature that could let you down without notice. SIG seemed astonished that somebody would actually carry one daily.

Optics are a trade off. Can't have every base covered. Battery life is quite long, in my case. Same battery in use for going on two years. Battery failure isn't a problem...............the backup night sights are visible through the lens.

Another reason I bought this particular firearm, is because it had a rail. None of my others handguns had a rail, at the time. I wanted to be able to attach a weapon light. Purchased Sig's Foxtrot 1..................which I don't recommend. Great light but the ambidextrous switch was too stiff for my trigger finger to operate. I was resolved to activating it with my off hand. Until, CT came out with theirs..................which I happened to get for free. They were offering it as a promotion if you purchased one of their other products that cost at least $99 or greater. Been wanting a Laserguard for my Kahr CM-9 so that was the deciding incentive. The CT light is almost identical to the Sig's but the switch is easier to activate., with my trigger finger.
 

david s

Well-Known Member
I dont know any thing about the Vortex Vipers but I have a J Point red dot on a Ruger MK II. If I make an effort to center the dot the pistol will make hits where they should go. If I move my head/eye alignment and the dot goes high right the pistol still hits correctly and if I then readjust everything so the dot is low left in the sight it still hits properly. As long as the dot is on target it doesn't make any difference where in the sight field the dot is it hits properly. It is a bit counter intuitive to learn after using open sighted hand guns and worrying about alignment for so long. I still find myself making an effort to center the dot even though I know better. Old dogs and tricks.
 
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Pistolero

Well-Known Member
The first red dot I ever got to shoot, beyond the old Quik-Point (IIRC) was one of
the Bushnell Holosights, a large version of what became the EOTech sights. The
first thing I did was to shoot one head shot at 25 yds on a IPSC target, making an
aiming point. Then I moved the dot to the extreme upper right corner of the screen,
just barely visible, and fired again. Then bottom right corner, and so on, one shot from
the most extreme "non-centered" positions possible. The result was a nice small
cluster of hits in the center of the head. WOW! It sure worked well, and no sweat where
the dot was in the screen, for sure.

Bill