A step-by-step guide to sighting in a red dot on your AR. Connect with Vortex Optics: / vortexoptics / vortexoptics / vortexoptics / vortexoptics www.vortexoptic...
Considering I'm one of those idiots who bought a red-dot without knowing anything about them, this was extremely helpful. Now I have something to do at the range today. Thank you!!
When I first bought my AR, I went to the shooting range. Had notes in my phone and tried to be as prepared as possible to zero my magpul flip ups. I was there for an hour, went through 2 mags and I was somehow like 6 feet below the target. I was frustrated, but the nice RSA asked if I needed help, he grabbed his spotting scope and then told me to disassemble my gun. So I did, I thought it was going to be a “pack it up and go home.” situation. But he then told me, look through the receiver and down the barrel. Taught me how to boresight. From there he helped zero me in 5 shots. Forever grateful. Will always remember it. Have even taught friends to do it as well. Every time I watched zeroing videos, each one was like 15 minutes long and was usually just some shitty lazer the RU-vidr was paid to promote and done at an indoor range, which there are none around me. Shoutout to the good people in the gun community.
Dude, major props for this vid. -clear and uncluttered speaking/instruction -just the info, no extra filler content etc. -sound ballancing on the shot noise, I didn't need to raise and lower the volume on my TV. Watching RU-vid videos can be rough with all the song and dance, but your clear even keel style has definitely drawn me in and I will be checking out all y'all's other videos. Thank you!
I just got my AR recently with a red dot and this is by far one the best video breakdown on zeroing a red dot now I just got to get those items you have to rest my AR on and go to the outdoor range
Normalizing sound levels from all the clips is definitely not something most content creators even think about but separates the professionals from that amateurs
Glad you mentioned that iron sights are independent from red dots, that's exactly how I zeroed my sight and I was wondering why my groups were still off. Thank you!
I have always used a laser bore light to sight in my red dots. I have the Strikefire, Strikefire II, Venom, and Viper red dots. All sighted with a laser bore light in less than 3 mins. All still hold zero and pattern stays true and tight. I LOVE Vortex Optics.
Extremely helpful. Makes zeroing a red dot straight forward and simple. Next time you should add zeroing a magnifier in the process as well. Thank you!
I used a bore laser and depending on ammo, was barely on paper at 100 yards. I had to do quite a bit of adjustment to get zeroed in-and I’m still only able to put together 3 inch groups. Not sure if the problem is the barrel or me, lol
Excellent opening instruction to initially bore sight the red dot by looking through an unobstructed barrel from the breach. No other presenter had suggested that from other videos I have viewed. Makes common sense, a technique since there have been breach loaders. And a method of beginning the process with a "mechanical zero" of the red dot.
Hear is the response I got from Vortex posting the same thing. "Laser bore sights can cause a number of problems and are often use improperly. Due to machining tolerances if the laser is slightly smaller or doesn't sit just right on the end of the barrel it could give you skewed results. The other important concept to remember is many people use these laser bore sighing tools in their basement at extremely close distances. You are then asking the optic to align with the barrel of your gun in a very short amount of time which will not help once you go to sight in at the range" It might not be good for precision shooting but it will be good enough for hitting an assailant in their center mass. You can fine-tune at the range if you wish.
I went with the long term investment when sighting in my scopes and red-dot's. I bought a laser cartridge for an additional $20when I bought my Strikefire II. With the Vortex set to green, I just look through the sight and match the red and green dots together. The Strikefire is now sighted in and no bullets spent. Can use this method over and over when sighting in my buddy's AR's as well. A lot less fumbling at the range. :-)
Got a vortex 4 x 12 on my bolt gun haven’t shot it in a year threw it in the truck this morning. Drove down at 4 mile bumpy dirt road to the range and shot 3 inch groups at 50 and 100 yards. Hell yeah I love Vortexx and I want one of those shirts.
Just got your Spitfire prism optics (dang astimatism lol) and very helpful info here. I feel ready to go out and zero mine in now, as a first time AR platform owner this was invaluable.
This was SO so helpful. As a dumb kid with his first red dot, this was exactly what I needed. Hell, I might have to get a vortex red dot as a thank you.
Total of 6 Vortex scopes/ red dots now. I'm more than happy with them. All my self-defense guns have them as well as my hunting rifles. Now to figure out which Vortex to mount on my 22" AR coyote gun.
I just purchased a red dot and magnifier. I absolutely love the quality. I am new and still learning on sighting in my optics. How do you suggest I do this on a range? I don't have a dark enough place to use a laser bore sight at 50 yards.
Hey the video helped me understand the process of sighting in my redot .just have to pick up on the click adjustments more and ill bet good to go..so thanks alot!
Excellent training video. Even for old farts like me. Some of us have been shooting for 30, 40, 50 years but red dots are new to us. When I owned my first handgun (38 SW revolver) the concept of red dots wasn’t even there.
Keep in mind Vortex appears to be some no name Chinese company from a quick glance on Amazon. These guys are the real deal spec ops contractors. Ty for the awesome video.
I always bore sight 1st. I shoot 3 shots. Keep my sight on target and adjust bore sight to where the bullet hit. Bring sight back on target and fine adjust from there.
I love vortex own a few 1x and have a couple 3x magnifiers,,,, for me it's the lifetime warranty, and the etched reticle so amazing so even if your batteries fail u still are good to go 🤟🤟🤟
Get a flat level surface. Make sure your upper is leveled on that flat surface. Use a laser bore sight tool (a dummy shell that shines a laser). This allows you to see where the barrel is aimed. Then, turn on your red dot and line up the dots from the bore sight tool and the optic. The only thing that will vary is the distance you are wanting to sight the optic at. (36 yards, 50 yards or 100 yards). Dont waste your ammo when you can use technology to zero your optic.
the best method is first identify the size of the kill zone, then the max distance you want to hit the kill zone, then pick the flattest trajectory that hits the most kill zone targets out to your chosen distance, i myself perfer a no hold over trajectory for the simple reason that front sight can block view of where you need to hold, especially at long ranges but what really matters is what ever zero you choose its if you hit your kill zone wether you hold under or over knowing where to hold to hit your kill zone, shooting air rifles also for most of my life having a dozen different velocities, over 100 different pellets with different ogives and profiles and over 25 different grain weights, we air gunners know trajectory well because we have to, we have much more drop, lots of wind drift, we make more ballistic calculations for targets of many sizes, and other variables to deal with far more then center fire rifles wich gives us vast experience because we shoot alot being the cost is cheaper to do more tests, at the end of the day its all about hitting your kill zone out to your prefered distance despite your zero, if kill zone target gets hit every time with using more then one sight in then it doesnt matter, its all about making hits on kill zone never missing any out to your disired distance you choose, combat, plinking, competition and even extreme long range are all different from each other. in a imperfect world you can have flat shooting with out hold over nor long range shooting with out hold under, some where in a trajectory path you will have hold under and hold over depending on distance
A small recommendation is to make sure people read the adjustment info on the knobs. Some would probably just start twisting never getting anywhere. For example some are scaled at half an inch per click and others are an inch. Otherwise it's good info.
No need to take the gun apart to sight in a AR red dot at all. 1 shot. and follow the MOA. If you didn't bore sight it. @ 50 yards with a red dot you can clear a quarter size hole. I did the same thing on my 20" scoped AR. Warrior Poet Society and T Rex Arms have amazing videos on the AR platforms and much more.
Hey Matt - that adjustments are actually the same. With both a red dot and a riflescope you will want to think about adjusting to move your POI. The red dot or crosshair will always move in the opposite direction in which you dial. You can certainly use your method of adjusting the red dot/crosshair to the initial point of impact.
So it's that easy? No talk about "lower third" or "co-witnessing" (even though you did touch on lining up the red dot with the iron sites)? You simply follow the steps you laid out--shoot, adjust, shoot, adjust--until things line up? Awesome. Can't wait for my new red dot to arrive (the cheap-o Firefield Reflex Sight I purchased fell apart during the second outing).
