Aimpoint Micro vs. Ultradot

[James Morman]

At my last match I quizzed a few good shooters on this subject and wanted to post it here as well to get as many opinions as possible. 

I spent the money on an Aimpoint (2moa) last year and have it mounted on my .45.  I love it.  I am now looking for a new red dot for my High Standard which currently has an older ProPoint (4moa).  I have never used an Ultradot before. 

Here are my questions:

For those of you who have used both of these red dots, do you feel the Aimpoint is more accurate than an Ultradot? (Putting cost aside). 

Do you use the same model red dot on your bullseye guns?

If you use a different models for your .22 and CF/.45 does it bother you or do you notice a difference?

Any other information would be helpful.

I am deciding whether to suck it up and buy another Aimpoint, buy an Ultradot for my .22, or sell my Aimpoint and buy two Ultradots so I have the same model red dot for both guns.

Thanks,

James 

[Jack H]

I believe one can adapt to either.  I am getting quite used to the UD 4 dot 1" model and using the dot that all but covers the black.  I think the concept with the big dot is to "superimpose" the dot and black rather than to "center" the dot.  Thanks Fred! With the shorty Aimpoint add that without tube extensions, finding the dot takes perfect position.  That could be an advantage.  Truthfully I do not have experience with the Aimpoint.  But I do with the similar and cheaper SIG model.  It sits on the shelf. Jack H --- On Wed, 3/13/13, James Morman <sixf...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Ralph Wilson]

I'm in the midst of a several year long similar exercise.

.22 has an Aimpoint mounted on it - love it. light; small; distinctive
click adjustment;
good optics; good dot; phenomenal battery life; expensive, so for
CF I tried.....

CF (S&W M52-2): mounted a Docter sight; light; good battery life;
automatic intensity
(seems to work ok, haven't had too much trouble); NON-click
adjustable. I really like
this sight other than this last item. I sight in for 50'
(indoor/winter) / 25 yards
(outdoor / summer) and then have to use Kentucky windage for 50
yard slowfire.
I just picked up a Barska Red/Green dot to try on this gun, but
need to find a way
to mount it w/out drilling the slide or frame.

.45: First had an old C-more. Worked reasonably well, but like the
Docter it was not
click adjustable. Kentucky windage on this was too much, so I
decided to try an Ultradot.
It was "ok", buy my particular copy did not have distinctive clicks
- I called it
"grit adjustable". I've replaced it with a Nikon Monarch VSD. It's
physically larger; sits
noticeably higher off the bore centerline. Being a Nikon it has
excellent optics. It's new
enough that I haven't used it outdoor yet to see how repeatable the
change between
50 and 25 yards will be.

Observations?
1) I've had to mount a cheat-sheet to my gun box to remind me the
MOA/click and
which way to rotate the adjustments
2) I like dots closer to the centerline of the bore - both from an
ergonomic/consistent
perspective and I'll claim it leads to less adjustment between 25
and 50 yards
3) Given no $$ concerns, I'd go with all Aimpoint Micros
4) If you shoot at only one distance (exclusively indoor, for instance),
the Docter's work
very well
5) The Nikon is a nice unit, but larger/heavier and sits high; not yet
fully convinced
about its robustness for pistol (no problems yet, just not enough
experience with it)
6) Looking forward to trying the Barska; also curious about the BSA - a
little skeptical
about both - inexpensive, so too good to be true?
7) Personally, I won't buy another Ultradot
8) Yes, I do notice a difference having different scopes on different
guns - each time I
raise a gun to aim I end up spending a moment or two initially
finding the dot.
With the different heights between line of sight and bore
centerline the
guns do not hold the same. I do not think this is a good thing.

Ralph

[Steve Anderson]

I use an Aimpoint R-1 (30mm with custom shades) on my .45 and UD 4MOA 1" (25mm) with the rubber shades for my .22 and .32CF. The UD only cost $150, so for the money the UD is a much better value. I love the Ultradot because of it's long battery life and lighter weight, but I can't say there is a noticeable difference in the quality & accuracy (at least not $400 worth). For me anyway, I love the rubber shades on the front of the 1" UDs. I had 30mm UDs and replaced them with the 1" for that reason, plus it seemed like the 1" created an "aim small, miss small" in my brain. I know some people make their own shades for the UD, but I like the way the factory rubber shades work. 

As you probably know, unless you have shades made for your Aimpoint, depending upon where they are mounted, they can get dirty (oil, powder, etc.) The 1" UD have both front and rear shades included in the price. Bottom line though - you can't go wrong with either brand. 

Steve

[Pauley, Dan (RR Energy Systems)]

I would suggest you keep the same dot on all guns. I have a friend who
uses the aim point. I've shot his gun with it ant it works pretty well.
Not sure I could justify that expense.

You mentioned accuracy. Unless you are talking about a malfunction they
all should be accurate. Parallax can be an issue on any dot. The cure
it find a grip where everything comes back to the same spot every shot.

I choose 1" ultradot because I like the long tube. I've owned and used
a 30mm match dot as well. I found the longer skinnier tube worked best
for me. I want them to all appear the same to my eye.

I like the UD because I normally use intensity at 1 indoors, but
sometimes bring it up to 4 or 5 outdoor. I want the dot to appear as a
ghost. I look through the dot to see the X.

So what would I recommend? Spend money where you think it will net you
higher scores. Keep in mind most of your shooting budget should be
spent on match fees, ammo and gas money traveling to/from matches. So
if getting another Aimpoint would cause you to miss a match, I'd suggest
iron sights.

R. Dan Pauley

[Jack H]

On the rubber rear shade for the UD, color the edge with a silver elmarko.  Just the edge so yo see a ring that might help the sight picture. --- On Thu, 3/14/13, Steve Anderson <lake...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Steve Turner]

There is no difference in accuracy.

All Aimpoints I have felt (admittedly only a few) have had nice crisp adjustment detents. Ultradots are inconsistent. Some are good, some are mushy.

My 3 Aimpoints are very consistent and linear in their adjustments. Ultradots are inconsistent. I've never seen a terrible Ultradot, but some will move very little for a few clicks then jump. Cheap dots are consistently terrible.

The coatings on the lenses of Aimpoints are better. There are fewer reflections and less flaring. I've never seen a really terrible Ultradot, but they are less constent. This is offset to a very large degree by the extension tubes which eliminate much of the light that causes the reflections. Cheap scopes are consistently terrible in this regard.

Yes the scopes look different. I am ambivalent about it. On the one hand I don't have the same setup on each gun. On the other hand, my guns are not exactly the same so a different sight picture triggers my subconscious to be in the correct mode for that gun.

I have less experience with Aimpoints, but they seem to be much more reliable, however when needed, it is very difficult to get customer service from Aimpoint.

I have 3 Aimpoint Micros that are about 3 to 5 years old, I have yet to change a battery.

Ultradot sits at a sweet spot in the cost-quality curve. They are MUCH better than the cheap dots, but not perfect. Aimpoints are MUCH more expensive but also much better.

Best regards,

Steve Turner