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Posted: 12/3/2010 9:45:54 PM EDT
| I just got my first optic thus being a CompML3 today. I noticed that I cannot see the red dot on the first 4 settings and when the dot is finally visible it appears to be several dots joined together / or lines almost a star pattern and not a very crisp or clear dot as I imagined. I am not sure if this optic could be defective or is this the way they are supposed to be. I have seen other Aimpoint optics previously and have not noticed these issues. I do not want to mount it in case it is defective as it will void the return policy from LaRue Tactical. Anyone have any experience with these optics that could lend a helping hand? |
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Common first look. Take it outside and look at a distant target with both eyes open. Focus on the target not the dot. Aimpoint has a FAQ about this it comes up so often.If you wear glasses or contacts they need to be on. In very rare cases a astigmatism can cause what you are seeing. The brightness settings sound right.
Don't worry it is not defective but if it were LaRue would take good care of you. Marshall |
| I tend to believe you but my gut is saying don't put it on because it may be defective. The dot almost looks like a spider web and not a clean crisp dot. I do not know if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what. It is a 2 MOA sight. I know I have checked this sight out on some other officers rifles before and did not notice this effect. I guess ill have to wait to go back to work and see if the other officer's rifles that have this optic appear this way too. Maybe I just have to get used to it. |
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Quoted:
I tend to believe you but my gut is saying don't put it on because it may be defective. The dot almost looks like a spider web and not a clean crisp dot. I do not know if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what. It is a 2 MOA sight. I know I have checked this sight out on some other officers rifles before and did not notice this effect. I guess ill have to wait to go back to work and see if the other officer's rifles that have this optic appear this way too. Maybe I just have to get used to it. Why don't you bring it to work so you can compare it side by side with theirs and also have them look through it to see if they see the dot or the web. Compare against a known good so to speak. |
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Quoted:
I tend to believe you but my gut is saying don't put it on because it may be defective. The dot almost looks like a spider web and not a clean crisp dot. I do not know if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what. It is a 2 MOA sight. I know I have checked this sight out on some other officers rifles before and did not notice this effect. I guess ill have to wait to go back to work and see if the other officer's rifles that have this optic appear this way too. Maybe I just have to get used to it. Go to Aimpoints web site and read the FAQs. There is one that tells you how to tell if it is defective. You will know right away. When you checked out the other officers rilfes you probably sholdered the weapon and looked at a target. You don't have to mount it just take it outside and hold it away from your eyes and look at something in the distance. This comes up all the time and I don't remember a case that the optic was defective. |
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I had a similar issue and like Marsh said, turns out I have a mild astigmatism. I have really good vision (I don't wear any correction) and I had never noticed this till I looked down an aimpoint.
Anyways - a good way to check is to use a digital camera. I set my rifle out flat and used my digital camera set on the picitanny rail with time delay (so I wouldn't introduce any blur to the shot) to take a picture right down the shooters perspective. To me the dot looked like a check mark... to my camera, it was a crisp period. 
That's when I knew it was me and not the aimpoint T1 ... |
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Had the same problem as you .Taking it outdoors made a big difference in the way the dot looks.Even now if you look at the dot just to look at the dot and not aiming it does not look perfectly round to me.But when you are shooting I don't notice it at all.
Another "problem" I had when I first got my ML3 was I seen red lines in the sight when I looked through it ,so I posted on here and people told me to take the sight outside because the lines were reflected light from being to close to light sources (light bulbs) and they were right ! After having my Aimpoint for around a year ,I think its a great sight. 
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Quoted:
I had a similar issue and like Marsh said, turns out I have a mild astigmatism. I have really good vision (I don't wear any correction) and I had never noticed this till I looked down an aimpoint. Anyways - a good way to check is to use a digital camera. I set my rifle out flat and used my digital camera set on the picitanny rail with time delay (so I wouldn't introduce any blur to the shot) to take a picture right down the shooters perspective. To me the dot looked like a check mark... to my camera, it was a crisp period.
That's when I knew it was me and not the aimpoint T1 ... Same thing for me, great vision but when I look down an aimpoint i see a little cluster.  I took it off and went back to iron sights. I'm gonna try an Eotech and hope its better.
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I had a similar issue and like Marsh said, turns out I have a mild astigmatism. I have really good vision (I don't wear any correction) and I had never noticed this till I looked down an aimpoint. Anyways - a good way to check is to use a digital camera. I set my rifle out flat and used my digital camera set on the picitanny rail with time delay (so I wouldn't introduce any blur to the shot) to take a picture right down the shooters perspective. To me the dot looked like a check mark... to my camera, it was a crisp period.
That's when I knew it was me and not the aimpoint T1 ... Same thing for me, great vision but when I look down an aimpoint i see a little cluster. I took it off and went back to iron sights. I'm gonna try an Eotech and hope its better.People give up too quick and say it won't work for them. It is really very rare that it won't clear up with a little practice focusing in the target not the dot. |
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Quoted:
I tend to believe you but my gut is saying don't put it on because it may be defective. The dot almost looks like a spider web and not a clean crisp dot. I do not know if my eyes are playing tricks on me or what. It is a 2 MOA sight. I know I have checked this sight out on some other officers rifles before and did not notice this effect. I guess ill have to wait to go back to work and see if the other officer's rifles that have this optic appear this way too. Maybe I just have to get used to it. The easiest way to check and satisfy yourself is to take a piece of cardboard paper, use a small pin to poke a small hole through it. Now set the Aimpoint to when you see the spider web and look through the small hole at the red dot. If the sight is bad, nothing is going to change. If it is your eyes, the dot will sharpen up to a nice rounded red dot. Now for practical use, since you cannot run around with a piece of cardboard paper between your eyes and the gun, turn the dot down a little for close engagement, any spider web that is still there is not going to make any difference if you have to try to hit something at 25 yards or less. If you have to shoot longer distance and need the refinement, flip up your rear BUIS up and look through the small aperture at the red dot, it will be much better if it is your eyes. The reason this works is because the small aperture you are looking through act as a pin hole camera. The pin hole increases the depth of field of your eyes – which is the fancy word to mean the distance your eyes can see things that are in focus increases, so all a sudden the red dot which is close to your eye that you can’t focus (thus the spider web) on is now in focus – PRESTO! Good luck! |
| Thanks for all the advice. I have never had problems with my eyes or noticed it while shooting with iron sights on my AR or pistols. I guess my eyes are not as good as i thought. I did notice that Aimpoint uses a series of lenses to produce the red dot and if i focus on the first lens at a different angle it seems like several dots that make up the final one i see at the end. I took the sight outside and when i focused in on a target I did not notice the spider web anymore. I am not giving up on the aimpoint as I feel it is a great sight and as a LEO I like the extended battery life. Don't get me wrong I think the EoTech is also a good optic especially for fast on target acquisition, however at this time I prefer the single 2 MOA dot. I think ill try a EoTech on my next AR just for a variety. And after that maybe even a ACOG. But I have to win the lottery first. LOL...Buying and outfitting this one was hard enough without my wife freaking out and divorcing me. I have learned that getting an AR is just like getting a tattoo. Once you get one, you want another one right away. |
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Quoted:
Anyways - a good way to check is to use a digital camera. 
The camera doesn't lie. Not only will it show you if your dot is really round or not... it'll show how concentrating on the optic will cause the dot to blur. Focusing the camera downrange will magically sharpen it right up. Same brightness setting, same 4MOA dot. 
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i have the exact problem. i have astigmatism. if think aim point dots are bad.. you should try Eotech and see how those small dots look with.. :(
i noticed that smaller dots are much better in this regard.. but what really works for me is actually going with big game scope 1x4 on my AR.. i noticed that when i use a nice 1x4, i don't see any of the blur red dot thing happening.. Quoted:
I just got my first optic thus being a CompML3 today. I noticed that I cannot see the red dot on the first 4 settings and when the dot is finally visible it appears to be several dots joined together / or lines almost a star pattern and not a very crisp or clear dot as I imagined. I am not sure if this optic could be defective or is this the way they are supposed to be. I have seen other Aimpoint optics previously and have not noticed these issues. I do not want to mount it in case it is defective as it will void the return policy from LaRue Tactical. Anyone have any experience with these optics that could lend a helping hand? |
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I have a somewhat unique situation. I will explain, with the hope that this might help further understanding of this problem.
I have astigmatism in my dominant eye. Consequently, the dot of my Aimpoint Comp M2 appears tear-drop shaped and somewhat blurry when looking through it with the dominant/astigmatism-affected eye. However, my other eye has had the astigmatism corrected with PRK (refractive surgery, similar to LASIK). Consequently, the dot looks nice and crisp when viewed with this eye. And I second what others have said... Concentrate on looking at the TARGET, NOT the dot. It's probably a natural inclination when one gets their nice new Aimpoint, to concentrate on looking at the dot. Try to resist that. And also, consider getting a vision exam. |
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Like others have mentioned it is probably astigmatism. Without contacts I cannot use a red dot at all. For that reason I have considered getting a 1-4x scope so I can use it without contacts if need be.
Focus on the target and try it outside. I'm sure the optic is fine. |
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Quoted: I had a similar issue and like Marsh said, turns out I have a mild astigmatism. I have really good vision (I don't wear any correction) and I had never noticed this till I looked down an aimpoint. Anyways - a good way to check is to use a digital camera. I set my rifle out flat and used my digital camera set on the picitanny rail with time delay (so I wouldn't introduce any blur to the shot) to take a picture right down the shooters perspective. To me the dot looked like a check mark... to my camera, it was a crisp period. That's when I knew it was me and not the aimpoint T1 ... Do this. It will show you that the aimpoint is fine, it's just your eyes that are bad. My gf has astigmatism and a dead spot in her eye. Eotechs are completely useless to her but the aimpoint is fine. Not a perfect circle but effective. |
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the 1st few settings are not very noticible because the ml3 and m3 use the same led diodes.
the m3 is NV compatible because the lens uses a different coating than the lens on the ml3's. but internally they are the same, thats why the lower settings are not noticible. but if you take it into a dark room you'll see a dot start to appear on setting 2. |
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