Red dot sight V. Holographic sight

Erik Hamburger

Well-Known Member
The more I look into this as an option for an optic on a stalking rifle, the more confused I get.
Three questions:
1. What is the difference between a red dot sight and a holographic sight? (I can't quit grasp the technical difference)
2. Which of the two is better for typical UK woodland low-light (dawn and dusk) stalking situations?
3. Which Brand and model has the largest possible sight picture?
Thank you for any feedback.
 
Why do you want one? Have you ever used one? The sight picture is whatever your eyes can see. I don't really see the difference either other than one has a dot and the other has a dot with a ring around it. Low light is up to what you can see with your eyes I guess. The sight will have an illumintated something to put on the target if you can see it. If you haven't used one, you may want to borrow from somebody with one mounted and see if you like it first. I don't like them myself. I think you get more out of a low mag scope. I can't get myself in with the thought/practice of shooting with both eyes open.
 
I have one on the air rifle (red dot) an I like it, toyed with the idea of putting it on the rimfire, but not sure how good it would be lamping, I would imagine for woodland stalking at short distance it would be good on a stalking rifle, and you could keep both eyes open if you wished, it would certainly make for a fast shot.
 
With a holographic sight, an aiming reticle is produced by the clever bit of the electronics and is visible on a glass screen within the sight frame.

You use the aiming mark as you would a crosshair by looking through the device as you would a telescopic sight. One eye closed or both eyes open.

A red dot sight (or occluded eye sight), on the other hand provides a dot for you to place on the target but requires both eyes to be open. They can be battery powered or use ambient light gathering - remember Singlepoint.

Your brain interprets the image from both eyes and you "see" the dot on your target. If you close the non-sighting eye you will see the red dot in the middle of a black area.

Both have their uses but are not precision sighting devices.
 
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I'v used both at speed in the pistol days heads up in very bright light was a pain still . i use/have pdp3 Aimpoints and are still very good, you just need to look passed the dot and be lieave that the bullet will be its on target after scope has been zeroed shoot with both eyes open they are quick and nice to use. I still use one on my .22 for rat shooting and have use of one on a m4/ ar15 out to 300 yrds fig 11 no probs.
ps at 100 mts i can place all rounds in a 2" target so if you can see it you can hit it ,with a 38 super i could and was able to hit 4" head box's targets on the move no probs.
 
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I recently put one on my Win 94 underlever 22LR for plinking and it's ok for shooting cans at 30-40 yards but nowhere near as good as a scope, Id you move your head side to side while looking through it you can see the error margin on the dot. I'd stick to a low mag illuminated ret scope....

Regards,

Gixer
 
I recently put one on my Win 94 underlever 22LR for plinking and it's ok for shooting cans at 30-40 yards but nowhere near as good as a scope, Id you move your head side to side while looking through it you can see the error margin on the dot. I'd stick to a low mag illuminated ret scope....

Regards,

Gixer

Gixer, with a Red Dot you zero as normal. Thereafter the bullet goes where the dot is. You can have a bad mount/no cheek weld etc. and the bullet still goes where the dot is. If you move your head around you will see the dot "move". It doesn't it's your eye that does. Bullet still goes to the dot.

Aimpoint and Trijcon are the only two makes that are parallax free. I use one for driven boar.

Stan
 
Gixer, with a Red Dot you zero as normal. Thereafter the bullet goes where the dot is. You can have a bad mount/no cheek weld etc. and the bullet still goes where the dot is. If you move your head around you will see the dot "move". It doesn't it's your eye that does. Bullet still goes to the dot.

Aimpoint and Trijcon are the only two makes that are parallax free. I use one for driven boar.

Stan


Stan, I understand, but the parallax still puts the dot slightly left, right, up or down as the head is moved, the dot is sually not as forgiving as the reticle on a scope on the ones i've seen (although these have been low end models i would say)

Regards,

Gixer
 
Gixer,

Red Dots are graded from 0.5 MOA to 4 MOA. You takes your choice for the type of shooting you are doing. They are not replacements for scopes. They are designed for rapid target acquisition of moving/multiple targets. More suited to driven game than stalked.

Stan
 
Gixer,

Red Dots are graded from 0.5 MOA to 4 MOA. You takes your choice for the type of shooting you are doing. They are not replacements for scopes. They are designed for rapid target acquisition of moving/multiple targets. More suited to driven game than stalked.

Stan


Correct....no arguments here!
 
used an early aimpoint for a while, accuracy was never a problem. what was a problem was that my eyes look parallel,I think?
This means , if using sight looking through sight, point of impact will be spot on, using it as a single point, poi is 6 inches left.
Caused a bit of consternation till i worked it out

On a shotgun it feels like cheating, once you get your eye in
 
As has been indicated above, unless shooting driven game, you are better off with a low-powered variable riflescope (e.g. 1.5X-6X) with an illuminated reticle, preferably one that only lights up a dot or small cross at the centre.

Keep the scope set on the lowest power to give you the largest field of view if anything pops out close by (and the adjustable parallax -if present- wound in tight to 10 yards or so). With the reticle lit the scope will offer most of the features of a "red dot" sight set up like this.

However, if you see something further out, take a second (you should find you have at least one!) to wind the zoom (and the parallax) right up, and the scope will give you a more detailed view and a more precise aiming point than a red dot.

Select a scope that is also forgiving as regards eye relief and parallax, and therefore easier and more consistent to shoot with quickly, and you'll be ready for pretty much everything.
 
The original aimpoint i have appeared to be completely parallax free, what was strange though was that my eyes were not?
what ever, when aiming through the aimpoint it was spot on, when used with both eyes open as a reflex? sight the shot would be offset by about 4 inches
 
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