Red dot: where in the window?

[randyflycaster]

I just put a red dot on my Ruger 22/45 pistol. I am curious, when I sight the red dot in, where should it be in the window, in the middle or towards the bottom, just above the vertical bar on the back of the sight.

I am going to use the pistol for steel challenge shooting.

Thanks,

Randy

[HCM]

While nothing is truly parallax free, one of the advantages of the red dot is at any practical distance for a 22 pistol bullet should hit where the red dot is regardless of where it is in the window. Assuming it’s zero’ed of course.

[ASH556]

One of the interesting things @Mr_White has students do in class is check for POI shift relative to imperfect sight picture. This can be done with both irons and dots. In my most recent class using an RMR equipped G45, I found even the extreme limits of the window to yield roughly the same POI. Gabe did mention he sees different results in that regard with different optics and while the RMR's are among the least shifting, those with larger windows tend to exhibit larger shifts at the extremes.

I would recommend zeroing with the dot in the middle of the window. That way you minimize shift due to glass curvature at the extremes.