TargetTalk

This is probably going to be a stupid question, so please forgive me.

I have been shooting Bullseye for about a year using a Bennelli 22 and 32. I have enjoyed it, so I bought a used 45 so I could complete the match. I have been using the iron sights for the 22 and 32.

The gentleman who built the 45 didn't but iron sights on it. It has a red dot sight. I have been operating on the assumption the dot gets centered in the opening. The sight doesn't have cross hairs so centering is an approximation. Is my assumption correct? Do more recent red dots have cross hairs or are they illegal? Is there a better way to set up the sight to take out some of the approximation?

Thanks

You are basically correct. the red dot should be in the center of the scope (and in the center of the target) when the gun fires If the dot is not reasonably well centered in the tube you will get parallax errors with most red dots that will cause the bullet to not quite shoot to call. Some red dots have less parallax than others. The difference that most shooters notice when they switch from irons to a red dot is that the dot never holds still. It won't. You have to learn to trust your hold and pull the trigger smoothly disregarding the bouncing dot. A lot of shooter find that looking at the target and seeing the dot against the bull rather than focusing on the dot itself helps with this. (Brian Zins recommends this.) You can also use a scope with cross hairs if you like but I think you will find that the dot is much easier to acquire quickly in the rapid fire stage of bullseye. Darius (Doc) Young is a famous bullseye shooter who used a scope but the accuracy of the red dot is not the significant factor here. That factor is you. Your hold and your triggering are much more important than any inherent lack of precision in the red dot which is good enough for both Jim Henderson and Brian Zins and most of the other top shooters. Isabel

I think to answer you question on the basic operation of the red dot:

The point of impact is where ever the dot is. It does not need to be centered in the tube.

What Isabel is talking about is parallax error that can come from having the dot not centered in the tube. This error is not substantial, and better red dot sights like the ultradot have very little parallax error.

So centering in the tube is ideal, but you don't have to center it in the tube like you have to line up iron sights. The dot follows the point of impact. So try not to shoot with the dot on the very edge of the tube, but don't worry if it's not perfectly in the center

Thanks guys, that was very helpful.

Try this simple experiment:

Prop the gun up on a sandbag and get the dot on a target at the proper distance. Without touching the gun, look through the tube and move your head around and you'll see the effects of parallax.

If the gun is on target with the dot in the center of the tube, you can see how far off it is at the edge. Try different distances too, my dots are farther off at 50' than 50 at yards.

I do this to adjust scopes with adjustable objectives, it's obvious when you get it right.

Steve.