SRO Dot size

[Gio]

Should I be able to see a visible difference in SRO dot size between 5 moa and 2.5 moa? Does anyone have both to compare? I had never looked at both side by side until today.

I originally bought a 5 moa SRO, but it faded out and stopped being visible in bright sunlight, so it went back to Trijicon for repair. They repaired it (rather than replace).

I just picked up a 2.5 moa SRO, and to my surprise, I cannot tell a difference between the two. I looked at them on bright and dim settings, indoors and out in bright sunlight. I am now wondering if Trijicon replaced the emitter in the 5moa SRO with the wrong emitter.

Here are some pics for example at varying intensities (ignore the bottom red dot on the optic mounted to the gun, it is a fiber optic front sight):

[JSGlock34]

I'm curious to hear thoughts on this; my 5 MOA SRO dot looks smaller and crisper than my supposedly 3.25 MOA RMRs...

[GJM]

We have six here, between my wife and I, but all are 5 moa, so I can’t go look.

[SoCalDep]

I have a 2.5, recently finished testing a 5.0, and have a 1.0 mounted (for a week or so) but haven’t fired yet.

I can definitely tell the difference between the three, but with my astigmatism the biggest difference I see is between the 1.0 and everything else. I think dot size preference is personal and very dependent on physiological, environmental, and psychological factors.

Eyesight, age, And astigmatism are all physiological factors that affect how we see the dot.

Lighting, weather, shooting fast or slow, brightness of the dot, size of the optic window, etc., are all environmental factors that may affect how the dot is percieved.

Many report that small dots increase percieved movement while large dots reduce precision. For most this is not a truly realistic concern and is more dependent on our pre-conceived notions based on someone else telling us what is “right” or what we believe is right than what actually works best for us. These are psychological factors that may bleed onto other categories, but we have some time yet before we reach any consensus that pushes perception past psychology and into more consistent physiological or environmental reality.

I have pictures of an SRO 5.0 MOA, DeltaPoint 2.5 MOA, and a Holosun 3.0 MOA and I can’t tell a difference. I should probably try other dot sizes too... That said, it reinforces the need for the individual to see the dot and decide what works best for their physiology, environmental needs, and current psychology.

[Gio]

I have a 2.5, recently finished testing a 5.0, and have a 1.0 mounted .

Can you take a pic of them side by side at the same intensity setting?

[Xhado]

I use to own both a 2.5 and a 5.0. I could tell the difference when side by side.

Sold off the 2.5 so I can't take a picture for you.

are they marked correctly on the circuit board under the battery cap?

[Dr_Thanatos]

I have a 2.5, recently finished testing a 5.0, and have a 1.0 mounted (for a week or so) but haven’t fired yet.

I can definitely tell the difference between the three, but with my astigmatism the biggest difference I see is between the 1.0 and everything else. I think dot size preference is personal and very dependent on physiological, environmental, and psychological factors.

Eyesight, age, And astigmatism are all physiological factors that affect how we see the dot.

Lighting, weather, shooting fast or slow, brightness of the dot, size of the optic window, etc., are all environmental factors that may affect how the dot is percieved.

Many report that small dots increase percieved movement while large dots reduce precision. For most this is not a truly realistic concern and is more dependent on our pre-conceived notions based on someone else telling us what is “right” or what we believe is right than what actually works best for us. These are psychological factors that may bleed onto other categories, but we have some time yet before we reach any consensus that pushes perception past psychology and into more consistent physiological or environmental reality.

I have pictures of an SRO 5.0 MOA, DeltaPoint 2.5 MOA, and a Holosun 3.0 MOA and I can’t tell a difference. I should probably try other dot sizes too... That said, it reinforces the need for the individual to see the dot and decide what works best for their physiology, environmental needs, and current psychology.

I completely agree with your assessment of the numerous factors.

But I'd still like to know, which do you find the best for your use?

[SoCalDep]

I completely agree with your assessment of the numerous factors.

But I'd still like to know, which do you find the best for your use?

First, I can take pictures of the 1.0 and 2.5 but I don’t have the 5.0 available any more for pictures. I can try with my 6.5 RMR but I know that’s not the same thing.

As for my preference, I can definitely state I don’t like the 6.5 and 5.0 as much as the smaller dots, but that’s partly because I think my eyes (and my eyeglass prescription) has changed over the past three years I’ve been shooting a dot extensively. It used to be opposite.

I have RMRs in 6.5, 3.25, and 1.0, SROs in 2.5 and 1.0, an ACRO 3.5, RomeoZero 3.0 and a Holosun 2.0 (I don’t use the circle dot).

I shot the SRO 1.0 for the first time today. Not a lot of shooting at all (~100 rounds including zeroing) but I shot a 94 (10 rounds) on a B8 at 25 yards in about 10 seconds (I only had my watch because I packed my timer for a training trip).

I also shot some close range 5rd burn-down strings and found that tracking the dot was decent but I definitely think I need to shoot it more to compare it to larger dots.

Overall I think I favor smaller dots over larger ones. Time will tell.

[GJM]

A few thoughts. It is pretty well accepted that the way to shoot a red dot is to focus on the target and not the dot. Related, for action shooting as opposed to bullseye, if you are stopping the dot rather than shooting a streak of red within your target zone, you are wasting time.

For these reasons, I really can’t say whether my dot is crisp, fuzzy, concentric or something else, and if I can describe my dot accurately, I need to change my focus from the dot back to the target. A reason I prefer larger dots is I can turn down their intensity compared to a smaller dot, so they don’t draw my attention from the target, but still quickly pick up the dot in my peripheral vision.

[GJM]

My wife’s contribution to this topic is she does like a concentric crisp dot for zeroing, when she brings the dot to a complete stop and is trying to shoot the smallest possible group. However, after her zero is set, she doesn’t care about a concentric dot, even for shooting heads at 25 yards, as long as the intensity is set correctly, meaning the dot is visible but not beckoning you.