Paging Docter Noblex

I notice most BE shooters use dots that are large and presumably heavy - with long scope format, rings, pic rails, etc.  Why no love for small/light/unclunky dots like on CCW pistols?  If more mass needed (inertia, etc), why not use a light dot setup with the gun barrel weighted?

Thanks

My take is the reflex type sights are harder to find the dot and not as round where the Ultra Dots you just look down center of tube and dot is there and generally a better dot.

Assuming you're talking about reflex sights, I can think of three reasons:

1. Reflex sights don't work well in the rain (ie Camp Perry)

2. It's easy to lose time acquiring the dot in Sustained Fire if your recoil recovery isn't perfectly consistent

3. Many reflex sights don't have distinct "clicks" when elevation and windage are adjusted. This is an issue for shooters who adjust their sights when changing from 50 yds to 25 and vice versa. Not insurmountable, just a little annoying

My comments are based on competing with a 1911 with a Trijicon RMR. It's wonderful for Slow Fire when rain isn't an issue but it can be unforgiving in Rapid Fire.

Also, the tube sights help keep the glass clean.

Non-tube dots are hard to pick up in bright light.
The tube style optic usually has a filter which helps a lot.

The holo / reflex sights I've seen had no discernable clicks, coarse adjustment and backlash. I used one when I started shooting bullseye on my 22. Adjusting the sight was an exercise in frustration as I would just touch the adjuster back and forth until it got to where I wanted it. Fortunately the 22 didn't need adjustment from 50ft to 50 yards, at least not enough to matter when I was a Marksman. More recently I tried a Trijicon SRO on a spray-and-pray gun. It was a little better, but not something I would want on a bullseye gun.

Thanks guys these are all good explanations.

A related question: Instead of pic rails / rings are there good ways to mount tube dot sights to noblex or similar mounts in order to decrease weight, bulkiness, distance from bore, etc?

"good ways to mount tube dot sights to noblex or similar mounts in order to decrease distance from bore"

Very much depends on the gun you intend to use it on. Take a look at KC's site (on the top banner of this forum) for Kodiak mounts. Also he has several pretty 1911's pictured on his site with dovetail cuts at the back of the slide - absolutely the best way to get an Aimpoint H1 (or similar clone) mounted very low on the gun.

If you use a conventional rail on the slide/frame or an adapter in a rear sight dovetail you inevitably have the height of the rail/adapter + the height of the mount.

There are some peculiar cases. Aimpoint make a very, very low mount for an H1 to fit on a Ruger - like this:-


Compared to a conventional rail + mount on the same gun like this:-

I shoot both reflex and tube dots.  Both are good options.  I’ve found that the dots are just as recoverable in sustained fire tho it does help to shoot a large reflex.  The clicks or lack thereof are not too hard of an issue as many competition scopes I’ve used on rifles have indefinite clicks too.  So I marked the sights.  A small set of dots of paint was enough.  They are open and dirt and rain can get on the emitter, but those can affect tubes too.  A reflex can be cleaned a bit faster and they never really fog.  I do use lightweight tubes on my bullseye guns but the advantafpge of tubes isn’t that much.

RoyDean wrote:"good ways to mount tube dot sights to noblex or similar mounts in order to decrease distance from bore"

Very much depends on the gun you intend to use it on. Take a look at KC's site (on the top banner of this forum) for Kodiak mounts. Also he has several pretty 1911's pictured on his site with dovetail cuts at the back of the slide - absolutely the best way to get an Aimpoint H1 (or similar clone) mounted very low on the gun.

If you use a conventional rail on the slide/frame or an adapter in a rear sight dovetail you inevitably have the height of the rail/adapter + the height of the mount.

There are some peculiar cases. Aimpoint make a very, very low mount for an H1 to fit on a Ruger - like this:-


Compared to a conventional rail + mount on the same gun like this:-

Who makes the carbon fiber tubes on the Romeo 5 in the second picture?

Buy CF tube from Amazon. Cut to length with a Dremel (careful - shards of CF are very sharp). Fix with green loctite.

There are previous threads on this.

I've grown to prefer reflex sights for the light weight and also the wider view. Yes, I know these are the opposite of what others seek, but these properties suit me best these days.

Regarding the click stops, I've found two sights, the Vortex Venom and Leupold Deltapoint Pro, are quite accurate, with predictable steps and very little backlash. I've had no issues adjusting them, although they are not at all as precise as mt Aimpoint H2. The H2 is a 1/2 MOA step however, while the others are 1 MOA.

Lately I've experimented with a Sig Romeo Zero which is a flyweight (14g!) optic that is super-rugged. It has no click stops, but the elevation moves very precisely without backlash. And it comes in a 6MOA dot size which lands just about half the size of the black. For the purpose (mounted on the slide of my X-esse), it's fantastic too.