Vortex sparc AR, moving point of aim?

[glockrex]

I just received this brand new optic. I mounted on top of my SW MP Sport II. However, I notice the red dot moves (point of aim) depending how my head is oriented on the stock. The point of aim will change every time unless I have my cheek oriented exactly the same on the riser each time.

Anyone have experience with this issue?

 

[LoonWulf]

Yeah its a normal issue with ANY optical sight. Best to just keep your head properly centered behind the sight, but, being a little off should cause to much of a parallax error.

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

Glockrex, instead of just looking through the sight and moving your head around to see the dot move, actually aim the dot at something. As you move your head around, the dot will move in the sight, but it should stay on what you were aiming at. The farther away to object being aimed at, the better the dot should stay on it. This is one of the advantages of a holographic sight. As long as you can see the aim point, it is going to be reasonably on target.

 

[JO JO]

As long as you can see the aim point, it is going to be reasonably on target.

exactly red dots are good for fast point of aim they are not accurate like a good scope, the dot alone is 2moa meaning it covers 2in of the target at 100 yrd
4in of target at 200 yards , you can be center mass accurate but wont shoot tiny groups, now if your talking the dot is moving/bouncing around if you shake the sight or fire the rifle then it may be defective

 

[glockrex]

Ok thanks for the input. I'll try it out at the range. What everyone describes sounds like parallax. It's just not as pronounced on my eotech or aimpoint I think.

 

[wally]

I had a SPARC sight that did this. I send it back to Vortex they said it was fine, so I asked them to send me a StrikeFire, which I had several of that didn't do this, instead. I lost a few bucks on the deal but got a sight that works a lot better for me!

I assume its either an issue with the distance for which it was set to be "parallax free" or the apparent viewing distance of the dot that made it not work for me. Basically if you aim at a reasonably distant target and then move your eye position so the the dot is "off center" in the aperture the dot's relationship with the target shouldn't change, if it does either your target is too close or you've got a problem!

I've only had this issue twice, once with the SPARC, and once with a cheap Barska (other models of cheap Barska red dots have worked fine for me) and I returned it to Sportsmans Guide for a refund.


One other potential red dot issue is you need to focus your vision on the target and "look through" the dot to align it with the target. If you focus on the dot as if it were a reticle or a front sight you will swear the "damn thing don't hold zero". For precision shooting turn the brightness down as far as you can and still see it -- it be slower to acquire but you can better see the target to position the dot more consistently.

 

[imashooter]

I agree with minimal brightness for any given distance / light conditions. I recently purchased a Sparc AR for my BiL. Zeroed at 25 yds followed by 50 yds. No parallax issues over two days firing approx 10 magazines (I was also checking out his new M&P Sport I). Nice rifle. Though I've never owned a high end red dot, my experience with several others is a bit of parallax when viewing within confined spaces; especially with low light conditions. I've seen complaints regarding the distracting visibility of the emitter located in the lower right corner. Never noticed it til I went looking for it. Don't know if that's because I was totally focused on the task at hand or I need to be more observant. I was very impressed with the Sparc AR. Good glass, HIRES and very bright dot. And a good deal through PSA for 139.99 shipped.

 

[glockrex]

Yup, it was the PSA $139 deal. Thanks for the replies. Waiting for some time off to go out to the range!