Having established that Ye Olde Eyes were no longer up to the task of using a rifle’s iron sights to actually hit anything, I decided to quit fooling myself and accept that Time Marches On, and leaves one’s eyesight in the rearview mirror.
I had an old Firefield 1×22 red-dot scope lying around, so I mounted it onto the Savage 94F wot my kids gave me for the latest birthday, thus:
…and headed off to the range. I decided to try the Aguila ammo this time:
(Note the price… ugh.)
I first messed around at the pistol range, simply to get the bullets “on paper”, then moved to the rifle range, which can accommodate things like rests and such to get the job done properly.
Now the Firefield, as its description indicates, has 1x (i.e. no) magnification (which really doesn’t help Men Of Failing Eyesight such as myself), so I wasn’t sure just how precisely I would be able to zero the thing. Nevertheless, I persevered. In order of shooting, 25 yards at 3″ targets:
Played around a bit (two 5-round strings):
Then I got a little more serious, shooting the smaller 2″ targets at 15 yards (because at 25 yards, the red dot was almost larger than the 2″ target):
But try as I may, I couldn’t get groups to tighten up any more than that — always four decent rounds and a flyer. So I started to get irritated, and got really serious — except that I was getting worse, not better:
I gave up, and did two “torture tests” — rapid fire, one shot per 1″ target, then repeated the exercise in the same order:
I’ve done better with a damn pistol, shooting offhand. I was getting seriously angry at myself.
I was done for the day but I had five rounds left over, and I hate having loose rounds rattling around in the gun bag — you know what’s coming, right?
I loaded them up, put one round into some white space on the target, then shot off the last four as quickly as I could pull the trigger, using only the first bullet-hole as the aiming point:
Okay, I have to admit that I felt a lot better after that.
Afterthought: I forgot to mention that this Aguila variant is consistently accurate in pretty much all my rimfire guns. All flyers are therefore very definitely the result of “operator error”…
Your red dot sight reminds me a lot of the Bushnell TRS-25 I picked up a few years back. I recall that I found it on sale for about $60. I mounted it on a very low end AR range toy and it seems to do a decent enough job. When it falls apart from recoil or just dies from old age I’ll pick up another and go on my way.
All of the lower end red dots pretty much look the same and I wonder if they come from the ” Generic Red Dot Sight Factory Number 17″ out in western China someplace. The last step in manufacture is to slap on a brand name sticker just before the product gets loaded into a shipping container.
I’d wonder if the high mount under that Firefield sight might have been part of the problem. The Bushnell TRS 25 might work well for you, they can be had quite cheap nowadays. If you want a decent magnified scope Mueller Optics gives a lot of bang for the buck. A lot of their scopes have adjustable parallax for rimfire work. Look at their 2-7×32 APV:
https://muelleroptics.com/
Maybe this one, their 2x7x32 APV:
https://muelleroptics.com/products/mueller-2-7×32-apv/
Great post! I imagine that most of us here are in the same place, eyesight-wise, and we appreciate the research. If it were me, I would be slapping a low-power rimfire scope on that thing to see if that worked better than the red dot. I am sure you’ve already thought of that, so please just consider this encouragement.
I used a vortex strike fire at my first Appleseed attempt and had much the same results. The instructor pointed out that the 4 moa dot complete covered the sighter target they use at 25 meters making precision shots difficult. He had me start using what they called a pumpkin on a post sight picture with the target just touching the top of the dot. My groups did tighten up but not to the point I could earn their rifleman patch. I later put a UTG bug buster scope on one rifle and a BSA Sweet 22 on another. One for me and one for the grand son and have qualified for the patch with both. Both scope are inexpensive. Both my scopes are 3-9×32. BSA has a 2-7×32 that I find interesting. https://bsaoptics.com/product/sweet-22-ao/
Ah yes, Ye Olde Eyes. Eye appointment yesterday in preparation for cataract surgery. Nope. Referral to specialist for retina in my left eye. Joy.
Perhaps you were battling a lack of contrast? Red dot on orange. Better when you shot at white paper? I have always had the same problem shooting at a black bullseye with iron sights. Have to use a 6 o’clock hold (pumpkin on a post sight picture) as mentioned. You might take a look through a Holosun product some time. They run led’s. The reticle is very sharp and precise. I have one on my front line AR.
Nah, the Firefield has a green-dot option (see the link). Made no difference.
definitely the result of “operator error”…
Did I just read that from the “Viceroy of the Veld”?
Oh, My, what has the world come to.
I’d wonder if the high mount under that Firefield sight might have been part of the problem. The Bushnell TRS 25 might work well for you, they can be had quite cheap nowadays. If you want a decent magnified scope Mueller Optics gives a lot of bang for the buck. A lot of their scopes have adjustable parallax for rimfire work. Look at their 2-7×32 APV:
https://muelleroptics.com/products/mueller-2-7×32-apv/
PS I posted this early this morning, got hung up for moderator fixing…
I like the higher sight because of the thing fails or the battery goes phut, I can still see the iron sights through the gap (like that will help me any…).
Prismatic sights are good for that, they show a reticle even if illumination fails.
Everyone has an off day occasionally. Don’t sweat it.
My recent rimfire range shoot I swore blind someone had knocked my sights out of zero, went home frustrated and angry.
Two days later, same settings, same rifle, scored 98/100.
I blamed the poor performance on the Chink virus.
No, it was the Government’s reaction to the Chink virus that did it too you.
Call it like it is. Don’t give the cowards an inch.
I’ll be out tomorrow or Saturday to test my Savage Mk II with a newly installed Techsight.