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Hi all

I've been considering one of the Ultradot products for use on one of my Ruger Mark III pistols. The question is which one. One of the guys at my local range strongly suggested the Matchdot over the 25 or the 30. He is a bullseye shooter and claimed that the vast majority of bullseye shooter in North America are now using the Matchdot.

I went to Ultradot's website and looked for info on paralax and didn't find anything, but I'm pretty sure I've read something concerning paralax in Ultradots, somewhere in the past.

So, what do you guys think? Any comments on the strong points or weak points/ or an info on the paralax issue?

Thanks
Y

John Dryer has a informational piece on parallax in his website http://www.bullseyepistol.com/dotsight.htm

The only plus of the Matchdot over the other Ultradots is the variable dot reticle sizes. I have several UD30's and am very happy with them for my bullseye shooting firearms.

R,
Bullseye

Now I wonder why I couldn't find that article on my own. Thanks Bullseye for providing the link. Interesting information on paralax.

I'm going to spring for the UD 30.

Thanks again
Y

I have a Ultradot 30 on my Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt and have had no problems. Cataracts growing on my eyes forced me to put a red dot on the Ruger.

Have no problems hitting the targets now.

I have 7 of the 1" UD's mounted on my Rugers, High Standards and on a slide mount on my 1911.

I tried a friends match dot, but just didn't like the larger dots. Your experience may be different. I started with a 30mm Tasco PDP3 but learned it had a lot of parallax. I've never had a problem with parallax on any of my UD's.

FWIW

Regarding UltraDots. What location on the Ruger Mk III do you find is best.

• As far to the rear as possible
  As far forward as possible
  centered over the gun.

I like them centered (balanced) over the grip but that is a personal preference.

R,
Bullseye

perazzi wrote:Regarding UltraDots. What location on the Ruger Mk III do you find is best.

• As far to the rear as possible
  As far forward as possible
  centered over the gun.

I have recently moved my .22 pistols Ultradots rearward so the back end is even with or slightly behind the rearmost part of the gun. Might be silly but I think my eye likes to see the dot tube without having to look over any other parts of the gun. On some guns it requires the rings to be both on the front with the UD extension screwed on. Also seems to help the hold with the dot right over the wrist. Not sure I would put both rings on front with the wad gun slide mount. With the full length of the Clark rail probably wont be necessary. All the 22 guns get 1" UD. Wad has a match dot. But I have used 1" on the 45 quite well. I actually do not like a big diameter window in the dot sight.

I have the dots pretty much centered on all mine. Rugers, High Standards, and 1911's.

Next question...

I thought you focused on the target with the Dot.

I've read you continue to focus on the Dot...

If you focus on the dot, one will tend to get muscle tremors as they try to keep the dot centered on the target. By looking at the target the dot is easier to keep centered as it is in the peripheral vision and causes the shooter to not get stressed as the dot moves around the target with the shooter's hold. When the shooter relaxes and focuses on the target and not the dot, it will just freeze in one place, and this is the optimal point for having the shot break. Otherwise the shooter's adrenalin kicks in and causes the muscles to twitch or quiver and the dot seems impossible to get settled down. Many folks experience this effect and cannot get used to using an optical dot sight. It is not until the shooter learns to relax that the dot's true capability will reveal itself.

R,
Bullseye

Ah, so, grasshopper.....

I was surprised to read "watch the dot" as what happens is as you describe...

otherwise, it's like watching that "bouncing ball" on the old movies... lol

perazzi wrote:Ah, so, grasshopper.....

I was surprised to read "watch the dot" as what happens is as you describe...

otherwise, it's like watching that "bouncing ball" on the old movies... lol

Exactly!

See what useful things you can learn here!

R,
Bullseye

I have learned to shoot open sights that way (focus on target), since I can not see the sights any way. It does make you relax, when you do not see all of the movement.... Now if I only had 10/10 vision to see farther and sharper. I'm going to the range this morning, this will make the second time I have shot with the Mueller quick shot reflex dot. See if I do better this time.

The mechanics of marksmanship do not typically lend itself to better performance by focusing on the target with iron pistol sights. Unlike the dot, iron sights have to be aligned between the two focal points. The target adds a third focal point to this situation and must always remain in the peripheral vision. If one focuses on the target, any subtle misalignment between the forward and rear sight blades will go virtually unnoticed and shot inconsistency will result.

The other part of the problem with iron sights is the human eye cannot focus on two or more points at the same time. This means the eye must focus on the mid point (i.e. the front sight blade) and the rear sight and target ball are the peripheral vision planes. Since the rear blade is only about five or six inches from the front blade it is only mildly out of focus making alignment far easier to maintain. However if one is focusing yards downrange, the subtle alignment between the blades is impossible to maintain and alignment errors are induced into the aiming process.

Of course as our eyes get older their ability to focus in the near plane become less and less. Enter the great equalizer - the LED red dot sight! No alignment between two points necessary here. Just keep your head in relatively the same position, the dot centered in the lens, and you have consistent shots with little error. But shift your head positioning around and parallax errors can be induced through this optical sight.

If one has vision problems then adaptations are often used. Like the one mentioned in a previous post. The shooter is having difficulty focusing in the near plane and by focusing on the target is performing better. But while the presbyopic individual's performance has increased, it is no where near ideal. The performance is merely improved for that particular situation. Special corrective lenses or an optical sight are the best remedy if your eyesight is diminishing due to progressive aging.

R,
Bullseye