Positioning a red dot
 

I was wondering if there was any legitimate, empirical info concerning the positioning of a red dot, i.e. whether it works best closer to the eye or farther away on the rail, or if it's all down to preference?

I came to this question debating whether or not I should buy a side mount for my AK74u or just leave the red dot on my RIS. I have noticed that many just place it on the RIS and I thought that made sense since iron sights on AKs are often near the middle/middle-forward part of the body.

What say you?

Personal preference, for my set up, I positioned my red dot as far as rails space allows to, i find that I have better target acquisition because it seems to have a brighter and slightly bigger dot but all in all, do what you want to do

In my opinion, preference, but I like to run it farther up on the rail because I feel it's much easier to get my dot on target, though there may be some advantages of different positions.

The general consensus is you want to mount the red dot as far forward as possible. This is because the image produced by the red dot is an oblique display, therefore mounting a red dot closer to the eye will not lead to a larger sight field of view and will obstruct the peripheral FOV.

That being said, you are usually limited by the weapon system or balance issues. For example, on an AR-15 style gun it is usually mounted on the receiver where it meets the hand guard because the hand guards are known to shift or loose zero. On an AK, They usually don't mount it any farther forward then the rear sight due to mounting options or proximity to the gas system. Some people mount them farther back to keep weight off the front. So personal preference has some say.

^That

Also, cantilever mounts were invented for those who mount their RDS at the front of the receiver, and want it even further forward.
It's a pet peeve of mine to see people with cantilever mounts but they're mounted just in front of the rear sight -_-

anything with a reticle will also appear larger the farther it is from your eye, so if you want a bigger circle to fill to represent your cone of fire, farther from your eye can be more representative of your firing pattern.

closer to the eye and you will loose visual environment FOV because the red dot will looks bigger. Farther away is more difficult to find the dot quickly so my advice is try to achieve a good balance between that. also try to adjust with your full gears on (goggles, helmet, hat, ear phones, etc) while also having a good shooting position is a must.

Personal preference and depends on the play environment.

Further forward and you have snappy target acquisition as having the sight forwards on the weapon allows your eyes to pick up the sight quicker from a low ready when sighting in on a target. This system works best for close to medium range.

Far back usually is reserved for medium to long range sighting as the reticle will be more sensitive to directional deviation. What I mean is moving the muzzle left, right, up, or down you will have more movement of the reticle to your eye with the sight further back than with the sight further forwards. This means little movements in the direction of your muzzle will be more apparent while aiming allowing you to compensate a little more accurately. This however is not used often with red dots as most people shooting medium to long ranges will use powered optics of some kind.

The general placement is a compromise between the two, with many mounting the red dot above or just slightly ahead of the mag well on the top rail.

Again, personal preference above all.

When you say further forward how far forward are you guys mounting it? Right now I have mine mounted at the end of the upper receiver (M4).

That's generally where most people mount them on an AR. Sometimes you'll see it even further forword, on the handguard which seems to be common in many photos featuring the JTF2

I've taken mine just past the mag well on my Masada as per Zack and it seems to be easier to pick up the dot and have more vision of what I'm pointing at. I have a 3x magnifier and I kept that to the rear and surprisingly you pick up way vision away from the red dot instead of right behind it, only thing is the dot is low in the magnifier but no biggie.

Can you get a higher mount for your dot sight? Or a lower mount for your magnifier?

I have a riser on the Aimpoint-replica already, I guess I could attempt to find another that is slightly higher. When I go into Airsoft Depot I'll ask Charles to see what he has.

Although it does seem to be an issue with the T1 and a 3x magnifier...

http://www.laruetactical.com/sites/d...ionships_2.jpg

I have another version of the 3X magnifier. Similar problem originally with the centering of the dot in the magnified view. Wasn't in the center. My fix was pretty simple. Basically unscrewed the optic, and shimmed it with a little bit of electrical tape and put the scope back on the mount. I look through it now and I have it pretty well centered. Its also pretty durable and doesn't seem to lose center even as I flip it back and fourth.