PhotoEscape Aperture Ring Kit

First topic message reminder :

I’ve been experimenting with the Aperture Ring Kit for the last several months. I initially was only interested in the rear ring (rubber band ring) and was skeptical of the aperture rings.
I was skeptical because of my being set in my ways and not as flexible as I really should be.

I think the Aimpoint 9000 is the best bullseye optic made. The red dot is nice and round and bright even when using a small MOA setting (which I like) and the lens clarity is near perfect. Only thing I do not like about Aimpoint optics is the very fine windage and elevation adjustments.

My first experience with the rubber band ring was positive. I prefer shooting using the red dot as the front sight and the optic tube as the rear sight. So I strive to keep the red dot centered in the optic tube as much as possible. What I immediately noticed about the rubber band ring is that I had less eye bounce as I call it; eye darting from red dot to the optic tube. The optic tube becomes more clear peripherally for me. When I shoot matches I normally show up on minimal amount of sleep and tired right out of the gate. I found that shooting with the rubber band ring I had less felt eye fatigue. At this point I can’t imagine shooting without it.

The aperture rings took some open mindedness on my part. I’ve always liked using 30mm optics and always thought that the extra field of view was an advantage. I initially experimented with the aperture on the rear of the optic tube only because that was our first test parameter. I was here nor there about it and most likely wouldn’t have used it alone. But after getting a prototype front aperture it was like the optic came alive. In other words, I think the combination of the front and rear aperture is the way to go. It seemed to visually help keep the red dot more centered. I found I liked it mostly for slow fire and would change to a larger diameter front aperture for the short line to open up the field of view. I’ve been battling with my eye drifting from/off the red dot on my 5th shot on the short line and throwing a shot in both timed and rapid fire. The smaller field of view has helped to keep my focus on the red dot and not look at the target.

I have tried both bare unfinished aluminum and the red anodized apertures. The bare aluminum is a little bright and the red anodized surface seems to have just the right contrast to keep the red dot the primary objective visually. I’ve shot both with and without overhead cover and find that the red color works well.

The front aperture will appear black when looking through the optic, so the anodizing is purely ascetic. The front aperture size should appear slightly smaller than the rear aperture when looking through the optic. This aids in keeping the red dot easy to find as well as its really the right way to use it. It gives a feeling of a more centered red dot which could for some people lead to better accuracy/grouping. I think it could also be a great training aid as well. When you’re working on grip and wrist consistency with a smaller aperture it will show you inconsistencies better than a large 30mm optic tube.

I found that I had no problems losing the red dot during recoil with the apertures. I found that I preferred a middle ground aperture size from the kit.

I don’t look at the apertures as a gadget or gimmick. They truthfully have merit that I believe can help a shooter be more consistent or grow as a shooter. At a minimum, I would highly recommend the rubber band ring. I will point out that if you do not have a grasp at the fundamentals that using a smaller aperture could be a detriment due to limiting the field of view.

The Aimpoint Micro has a slanted/angled projection inside the optic for the red dot projection. It has always bothered me. I have used the aperture rings on it and like that I can make that disappear.

I have been shooting bullseye since 1989 and at one point was shooting high master 2650 scores. So I have mastered the fundamentals fairly well. I’m saying this because I believe shooters at or near this level probably will not gain as much as a lower classification shooter. But I do believe the rubber band ring to be a huge assist on keeping the optic tube concentric on the red dot.
So I’m interested to see how they continue to work for me in the future.

Jon

Ed Hall wrote:Part of the rotation issue with the original filter set is that the actual filter material is held in the plastic rings poorly.  After a little weathering the material becomes free to spin within the rings, so locking the two rings so they can't rotate with a band, tape or such, isn't enough.  However, Super Glue is NOT an answer!  It can fog the lenses in a permanent fashion.  I use a small dab of silicon to fix the filter material to the rings and then a rubber ring to hold the two rings stationary.  I also use the filter set quite sparingly nowadays, but do have it in my box, in case it is of use.

A drop of Superglue would be too much.  I have used the tip of a pin to apply a fraction of a drop to glue down the Polaroid filters.  After 15 years, there has been no fog (frost?) buildup.  Perhaps the material was better back then?  Silicone sounds like a good idea though.

Norman

I’m thinking this for testing

Thats for the rear lobster claw for my inexpensive Simmons dot on my conversion.  All one piece and slip on for 30mm.  It’s pretty tight and is going nowhere especially on a rimfire. Also made a front slip on one color with smaller aperture.

Well I like the way this works.  May be placing an order with photoescape.  Also made a front aperture

I used 2 different colors on my printer to get a higher contrast with the ring

joy2shoot wrote:Thanks for the write up Jon.  I don’t own a 9000 but I do own several Aimpoint Micros.  So I posted a question to PhotoEscape asking if the Aperature Ring Kit would work with Aimpoint Micro's that have Jon Shue's (aka Black Mass Custom) shades on them.

Any word on whether it will for on Jon Shue's shades?

Val

valbern67 wrote:
Any word on whether it will for on Jon Shue's shades?

Val

Short answer is No.  The threads on Jon's shades are close to the threads of a 30 mm Ultradot tube, but they do not match.  A step ring would have to be made.  The male end of the step ring would screw into Jon's shades and the female end would allow a 30 mm Ultradot tube to be screwed in.  (Can I still use male and female vernacular?)  Once the 30mm tube is attached, you could then attach PhotoEscape's aperture rings.  To install PhotoEscape's rubber band ring, there would be one more step.  You would have to first screw the Ultradot's trim ring (that allows for the use of Ultradot's polarizing filter) into the Ultradot 30 mm tube and then screw the rubber band ring into the trim ring.

Dr. Wong submitted review of his evaluation of Rubber Band / Aperture Rings.  You can find it here - http://www.photoescapeinc.com/products/aperture-rings-kit.html at the lower portion of the page. 

Dr. Wong verbalized with great precision the reasons for my 50+ hours struggle at the range.  Only the fact of being an amateur photographer and understanding how aperture works made me keep going.  With exception of one gun with 1" UD, I do not shoot anything nowadays without combination of Rubber Band / Aperture rings.  I believe, rings helped me with expediting of the development of the fundamentals, although I still struggle with consistent grip of the gun.  Very often I shoot 5-7 10s/Xs, couple-three nines, and then have one shot "mile" away from the bull.

AP

Sounds like someone needs to make an attachment that holds apertures like the globe sight inserts for rifle

In recent Desert Midwinter match two top in the class shooters used Aperture Rings on their guns.  Post-factum there is a review posted on my website - http://www.photoescapeinc.com/products/aperture-rings-kit.html

I'm very happy and proud that my hardware was helpful in achieving the results.  But I also have very clear understanding that there is no substitute for the skills both shooters possess!

AP

I won a NJ Indoor Sectional 2 weeks ago using PE's aperture rings!

valbern67 wrote:I won a NJ Indoor Sectional 2 weeks ago using PE's aperture rings!

WOW!  I didn't know that.  Congratulations, Valerie!!
AP

Sorry to bring up an older thread but I recently bought a 3D printer and decided to give making some aperture rings a go for my Sig Romeo 5 dots. How small of an opening is preferred for the front aperture?

All fascinating, the mousetrap I came up with went about the "problem" a different way. I have front and rear shades on both Aimpoint Micro and 9000SC. So I thought, unscrew the shade and insert an aperture with an outside diameter which would fit in the tube, yet the shade would friction fit, hold it in place when the shade was threaded back on. Then drill, cut or punch the actual aperture eye hole to suit.

I started with gasket material as it was easy to cut to a round shape, then I used a .32, 9mm and .45 piece of brass to punch holes. It didn't take long to figure out, for me, the .350 - .390 hole was what I liked. Actually, at one time I had a .45 in and it was pretty good for sustained fire, but enabled me to see too much at 50. So I added one of the smaller holes on the other end of the scope. So leave both in for 50, take the little out for sustained firing.

The problem with the gasket material is that it was not easy to remove, since it got disformed when the shade was tightened. Then it would not drop out because it got hung on threads. Then I figured it must be a firm, hard rubber or plastic material. Voila, a trip to the hardware looking for plastic or hard rubber "fender washer" that had an acceptable inside hole, and the outside big enough, but not too big so I could reduce it to be drop free fit in the tube.  I found such washers for about $.90 each. The inside hole was about .385 and the outside diameter didn't require much reducing to get it to drop in the tube. They are white, but once inside (behind) the shade cover you don't see color, only darkness. Nice "cheap" easy to remove aperture, which can be done with sandpaper and a little time. Works for me.

Downside is that if you toggle between different platforms or grips it can be a challenge to find the dot, until you get the stance grip and position to target as it should be. After that is resolved, no problem. Hint. I like it best on the Micro, because if you are struggling to find the dot, simply tilt muzzle up slightly to see the muzzle end of the slide (or front sight if one there) then bring muzzle down slightly and the dot is there. With the 9000, the objective lens does not let me see the muzzle end of the slide at all, so you lack that type of a reference. Of course, the larger the aperture hole, the less of a problem this is.

The PhotoEscape rings are the cats meow….you will not regret the purchase. I recently purchased a set and absolutely recommend using them. I have bags of red and yellow lobster claw rubber bands so I know very well the concept works! Alex’s rings make it painless……

AP's shade tubes and rings are really, really excellent. I have tried them on UD 30mm and Matchdot's - I then switched to Aimpoint H1's and I have fitted the tubes and apertures to all of my set.

I personally did not find the coloured "rubber band rings" to be helpful (but I know that many others do). I prefer all of the aperture rings to be flat black (I had a local guy Cerakote some of the red rings, but simple flat black spray paint also works). My preference is to have a large aperture ring at the back of the sight and use different size smaller aperture rings at the front (smallish for SF and slightly larger for TF/RF). I had to experiment with different front sizes to find the best sight picture that suits my peculiar eyes. I use an iris on my (Champion) glasses, but am careful to open it up enough to let in sufficient light so that I am not "straining" to get a clear sight picture. I like the series of concentric "rings" which frame the target black and make it easier for me to maintain good alignment (inside of iris + rear aperture outside and inside + front aperture inside + target black).

One thing I discovered with UD's is that on some units the red dot was not projected absolutely in the center of the tube - on such units my approach with front/rear apertures does not work. One of the reasons why I gave up on UDS's.

An interesting discovery when shooting sustained fire is that the apertures actually make it easier to find the dot during the recoil impulse - the red dot shines brightly against the back of the front aperture when the gun is mis-aligned. Very helpful.

The only problem that I have had is with the front shade tube creeping forward under recoil - you need to keep an eye on that. Those tiny, tiny socket head grub screws can back out and, surprisingly, they are important for keeping the shade tube in place. If you are on the road (e.g. The OH/IN Tour) I advise you to take some green loctite and a clamp of some kind with you. If the tube starts to creep, unscrew the grub screws, take off the tube, clean both surfaces, re-apply green loctite, position the tube and use a clamp to hold it securely in position, cinch up the grub screws, leave it clamped overnight. I found that 32ACP recoil impulse was particularly bad, I am not currently shooting that, but if/when I get back to it I intend to use a sharp needle file to create a small "divot" on the flange of the sight for the grub screws to bite into.

I am a total convert to the tubes/apertures for red dots - excellent product and customer service.

Ray Dash wrote:Sorry to bring up an older thread but I recently bought a 3D printer and decided to give making some aperture rings a go for my Sig Romeo 5 dots. How small of an opening is preferred for the front aperture?

Ray,

ID for the front aperture is individual preference.  I personally use 0.200 and 0.350 at the front depending on the pistol, distance and light conditions at particular event.  Sometimes even 0.500 if light is bad.  It is not "one size fit all", especially taking to account that it will take time to acclimate shooting with abstraction in front of the dot.  Be prepared for "hell, where is the target...." reaction, especially if you start with small ID right away.  So be ready for a lot of printing, trying, printing again, trying again......

AP

AP thanks for the reply, I got a nice press fit on my second attempt off the printer. Now I just need to play with the Aperture sizes and see what works best for me.