4 Things to Know About Your New Red Dot Sight

If you just bought a new red dot sight and think it’s broken, read this article before returning your optic. Nothing is more infuriating than opening that red dot you’ve been waiting for and finding out it doesn’t work properly. However, some of the most commonly reported red dot sight issues can be easily explained or fixed, including fuzzy reticles, crooked lenses, glare on the inner edges of the optic, and broken night vision settings. In this guide, we’ll answer four of the most frequently asked questions about red dot sights to help you figure out if your red dot sight is defective or not.

Astigmatism and Red Dot Sights

When you look through your red dot sight, your reticle should be crisp and clear-cut. If your red dot reticle seems blurry, fuzzy, or looks like a starburst, there may be nothing wrong with your optic. Instead, this occurrence is most likely caused by astigmatism. 

What Is Astigmatism?

According to the National Eye Institute, astigmatism is a common eye condition that affects how your eyes focus light. This can cause blurry vision, especially when viewing bright objects like an illuminated reticle. Astigmatism is not a serious health concern, and there is no need to be alarmed. Even if you’ve never been diagnosed by an optometrist for it, astigmatism can develop throughout your life or as a result of certain eye procedures like LASIK. 

How to Check for an Astigmatism 

Here’s the easiest way to test if you have a defective red dot sight or astigmatism. Use a camera (a smartphone camera will do) and take a picture of the reticle. Cameras cannot have astigmatism and will show a true image of the dot. If your reticle still appears blurred or looks smudged, then your optic may in fact be defective. However, if you see the dot just fine, then you most likely have astigmatism. 

How to Fix Red Dot Astigmatism

The best way to fix this issue is to visit your optometrist and get tested for astigmatism. Your first and best option is to fix the problem at the source. You can correct astigmatism with eye contacts, glasses, or laser surgery. Understandably, this may not be an option for everybody, but thankfully, there are alternative solutions you can try.

Prismatic red dot scopes can help shooters with astigmatism because they usually have etched reticles unlike reflex red dots. While some prismatic sights offer illumination, you can use the sight without it. Remember, astigmatism affects how your eyes focus light. By reducing the amount of light, you reduce the blurred effects of astigmatism. 

Holographic sights are also worth a try if you have astigmatism. Unlike reflex red dots, holographic weapon sights use a laser emitter to illuminate the reticle, which reduces the amount of light exposure. You can also simply try turning down the brightness level of your red dot or opt for a larger MOA dot, which can reduce the fuzzy visual effects. 

Canted Objective Lens and Red Dot Parallax

The second item on our FAQ list is about canted red dot lenses. People often open their brand new optic and think it’s broken because the lens is tilted. If your objective lens is slanted on an angle, this most likely isn’t a defect – it’s intentional by design. 

In fact, all red dot scopes have tilted lenses to some degree because otherwise, they wouldn’t work properly. The LED emitter inside a reflex red dot needs to bounce off the lens and reflect back to your eyes so that you can see the reticle regardless of your positioning. If the lens wasn’t tilted, the light wouldn’t reflect properly, and you would experience parallax. Parallax is when your head movement seems to shift the reticle’s positioning off target, even while the optic remains still.

Angled lenses result in a parallax-free red dot sight. Holosun red dot lenses have a notably steeper tilt, and that’s a good thing. Why? The sharper lens angle allows Holosun to use a more compact LED emitter that won’t obstruct your vision, and it also reduces reflection to your target.

Red Dot Sight Glare

Another popular question we get involves people seeing glare inside of the optic, mainly around the edges. This bright, unwelcome halo of light can obstruct your view and cause frustration while using it. If you’re experiencing red dot glare around the inner edges, try lowering the brightness intensity. In most cases, this should fix or greatly reduce the glare inside your red dot sight.

If the inner glare persists even after trying different brightness settings, check the optic’s features and specifications. A good red dot sight will have anti-reflective lens coatings that greatly reduce or completely eliminate glare. Some lower-quality red dots may not have any type of lens coatings, which can lead to glare throughout the sight. If your red dot sight has lens coatings and still produces glare after lowering the brightness, it may be defective and require a return or exchange.

Red Dot Sights and Night Vision Settings

The fourth and final most frequently asked question is about night vision settings on a red dot sight. Some red dot scopes with adjustable brightness feature one or more settings for night vision (NV). Novice firearm owners sometimes mistake NV settings for actual night vision, but this is not the case.

If your red dot has night vision settings, this means that it is compatible with night vision devices. People often activate these settings and think their red dot is broken because the reticle doesn’t appear. However, if you threw on a pair of night vision goggles with that setting activated, you’d see the reticle clearly.

NV settings on a red dot are mostly used by tactical operators and some nighttime hunters. You don’t need to worry about night vision settings on a red dot unless you own a night vision device. Now, if you use night vision goggles and the setting doesn’t work, then you may have a defective optic.

Solving Your Red Dot Red Flags

We hope this guide answered any questions you came here with and helped you fix your red dot sight. You learned that a fuzzy or starburst reticle may be caused by astigmatism, that tilted lenses eliminate red dot parallax, how brightness settings and lens coatings relate to glare, and what night vision settings do on a red dot sight.

Make sure to check out our guide on How to Choose a Red Dot Sight if you’re in the market for a new one and browse our wide selection of red dot sights when you’re ready to upgrade your optic.