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problem adjusting to red dot


Boy

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I just got my M&P core a week ago and I am having trouble adjusting to it. This is my first red dot. Does it usually take a long time to transition from iron to red dot? To day I got frustrated and turned it off and actually shot better. Any suggestions? 

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It's only been a week. Dryfire more. A lot more.

If necessary, bring the gun up from the holster with the front sight elevated and centered in front of the rear of the slide, then roll the muzzle downward as you press out until the dot appears.

 This way you know your dot will be centered L to R in the glass as you finish your draw - you just need to find your elevation.

Obviously, you'll want to remove that extra "muzzle high" step in your drawstroke as soon as you develop a good index with the new optic. It's wasted motion, but it's more consistent and faster than hunting for the dot in random directions.

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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A whole lot of practice, and not all dry fire as Scottie outlined. 

With my first "dot" I practiced, from high ready, extending my arms out and aligning the dot on the target ( in slow monition). I did so until I could close my eyes, push the gun forward, open my eyes and the dot would be on target. My starting distance was just 5 yards. Master this and I believe you will find the dot every time, at speed. 

Now, do the same, drawing from the holster. Again, preform the exercise slowly. Once you can open your eyes and see the dot on target, speed up. And, don't credit me for these drills . . . I read it in a book. ;)

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I have been there. A key for me was in getting the 'grip' in the holster and the proper grip angle to bring the dot center screen when drawing and presenting the gun to a target. Dry Draw practice can do this. I also found that I was sometimes still 'back focusing' on where the iron sights where, instead of using a total target focus and allowing the dot to super impose itself on the target. Steel Challenge was an excellent practice to overcome that.

For long time iron sight shooters transitioning to a dot can take a bit of time... but it will happen. 

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4 hours ago, Hi-Power Jack said:

What trouble are you having?

I seem to shoot slower. I know it should be the opposite that is why I ask for help. Maybe I am trying to see the perfect sight picture as the red dot dose seem to drawn more attention to itself than the iron sights. So far practice seems to be the best advice. Thanks for any help you can give....

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3 hours ago, Boy said:

I seem to shoot slower.

Any idea why you'd shoot slower, placing a single dot on a target, as opposed

to lining up front and rear sights, and then lining them up on the target?

Are you taking the time to line up your metal sights?

Have you tried any shooting at 20 yards - dot should be faster ...

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I was shooting at 25 yards. And no I dont have an idea why....thats the point of the post LOL. I have 4" diameter stickers I use for bullseyes and I shot with the red dot and only put 1 out of 5 in the bullseye. I turned off the red dot and put 4 out of 5 in the bullseye. Its a mystery to me what Im doing wrong.

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6 hours ago, Boy said:

I was shooting at 25 yards. And no I dont have an idea why....thats the point of the post LOL. I have 4" diameter stickers I use for bullseyes and I shot with the red dot and only put 1 out of 5 in the bullseye. I turned off the red dot and put 4 out of 5 in the bullseye. Its a mystery to me what Im doing wrong.

Transitioning fr irons to dot and shooting accurately are not the same animals. But I agree in your observation that  your experience above is not logical. The dot is more precise than irons so the hits should be more precise, but be aware that being precise is not the same as being accurate. There might be something in the dot sight pic that subconsciously affects your trigger pull which is not visually obvious in irons.

Just my opinion. 

Eta. My guess is the common error of snatching the trigger when the sight pic is "perfect". The dot could show us lots of "movement" unlike the irons that we may be tempted to accelerate our trigger pull once the dot settles on target. 

Edited by BoyGlock
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  • 1 year later...

What helped me was bringing the pistol up to where I could find the dot taking note to my body position because for me it changed and just bring the pistol up and down slowly ( kinda like the bowling technique) until I could stare at the target and bring the pistol up and dot be on target then I practiced from the holster. There are diff techniques out the this is just the one that I found that helped me the most

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I find that breaking the draw into a straight press out then a small lift at the very end of the extension helps me line the dot up everytime.

 

Also you can diagnose your grip by just doing draws and seeing where the dot lands and adjust accordingly, for example if you present and the dot is showing high left in the window you know what side you favor with your grip and how you need to adjust your draw stroke and grip to center the dot in the middle of the window.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The dot has taught me that my grip needed some change. When I first transitioned to the dot I couldn't draw and find the dot to save my life. After several thousand draws it has gotten better. There are still sometimes that I cannot find the dot on the draw but it is getting better with time. 

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  • 2 months later...

couple things you might be doing.

You're shooting the dot. Like trying to look at the dot like iron sights. And trying to refine it too much. Or expecting the dot to look perfect. Make sure youre target focused when shooting. You should really only be seeing a blur of the dot from time to time. But the difference with shooting irons is some of the variations in grip and all that or sight picture (sight focused), you may not be able to notice it because the variation is such a minute amount (in equal height equal light). So visually you cant really tell s#!t is off kilter but it is. With a dot this is much more apparent. So to fix this, don't expect perfection, just learn over time to realize whats acceptable.

Practice target transitions while sitting flat footed. And make sure you're maintaining the target focused visualization. Only barely picking up the dot when it comes into your line of sight as necessary.

And then practice position transition. breaking grip and then coming back into a position and regaining the dot.

With the draw, I know a few guys that had a lot of issues picking up the dot off the draw. Especially if it involved a step or two, or a draw to a lean. So id practice the clock method or the box method. So draw while stepping to the positions of a clock and then work your way around the clock to ensure you can pick it up while stepping into any position.

 

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Getting used to the new Trijicon RMR installed on my G17C, 2nd gen.  A bit frustrating. I’ve shot maybe 350 rds. so far and am struggling to pick up the red dot quickly. Need lots of dry firing I’m told. Check back in a month ...

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If you are having trouble adjusting to the dot and you still have irons on the gun, TAKE THEM OFF. Without them you can't cheat yourself even if you think you aren't I can promise you that you are. This made a huge difference in learning to index the gun and the dot be where I was looking. People don't like to hear that but it is the truth. 

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I have heard this suggestion a couple of times and it may be the answer. But I don’t want to lose the co-witness “just in case,” and I’m happy to report after two 30 minute sessions of dry firing practice I’m beginning to pick it up more quickly. I’m guessing but I think after a couple thousand presentations I’ll get it down. Thanks for the advice!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would be in the court of take off the irons.  The idea of the red dot is to have an infinite focal plane.  Usually when I give it to people who have no experience with them and only irons, I tell them to open both of their eyes and look at the target, now bring the gun up without looking at it and put the red over the target with your hands.  

Switching to red dot is a mental thing for sure.  You cannot focus on the red dot at all.  You need to be focused on target always and just moving the red dot over where you want to shoot. 

Having the sights there automatically brings that focal plane to your hands and is counterproductive to learning the speed of the red dot. 

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On 12/22/2018 at 8:47 PM, LEJ said:

Getting used to the new Trijicon RMR...

 

Also be aware that no one runs an RMR in competition because the window is too small and lacks clarity.

 

Deltapoints and RTS2s are the order of the day.

 

So if you run an RMR expect it to be slightly frustrating to acquire compared to something brighter, clearer, and with a larger field of view.

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Dry fire practice has improved my draw and fire time with the RMR to approx. 1.7 sec. I’m not sure what it should be at my age and experience but I’ve cut it down from 2.25.  I’m going to keep practicing with it for now since I invested $$ on the RMR, milling, and suppressor ready sights. I’d like to see how I do once I get some competitions under my belt. Thanks for the advice!

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I just tried to reply to two posts from “helloOoOo” and “MemphisMechanic.”  Not sure what I’m doing wrong cause my replies don’t follow the post I’m replying to. New to forum ...

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9 minutes ago, LEJ said:

I just tried to reply to two posts from “helloOoOo” and “MemphisMechanic.”  Not sure what I’m doing wrong cause my replies don’t follow the post I’m replying to. New to forum ...

 

Click the word “Quote” below the post you want to reply to, and start typing in the text box. Should be rather straightforward

 

The RMR is extremely popular in defensive use because it’s incredibly durable compared to most other dots. But it’s not as popular in gaming circles. 

 

Edited by MemphisMechanic
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