The distance between the red dot and magnifier doesn't really matter as long as the red dot magnifier sight picture is clean and the reticle is centered.
A significant gap between red dot and magnifier placement doesn't matter as long as the top rail setup doesn't look too sloppy.
Let's take a look at some configurations below:
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Red Dot Magnifier Sight Picture
Dot Size Doesn't Change
Features Holosun 3X Magnifier
Red dot magnifier sight picture basically look like a magnified prism scope. The magnifier doesn't feature a reticle, but the shooter with can see see the dot with much better clarity.
It helps with shooters with astigmatism, and finer zero.
The red dot reticle remains the same size when looking through a magnifier scope. 1 MOA will still be 1 MOA. 2 MOA will still be 2 MOA.
If the reticle looks blurry through the magnifier you should try the followings:
- Correct eye sight or wear glasses for shooters' with astigmatism
- Adjust the diopter to focus the reticle
- Clean red dot or holographic sight's lens
- If reticle still looks blurry, then it means the red dot sight inherently have emitter refraction error, try another one (Check out our best red dot sights guide here on our site)
Dot Brightness Setting Affects Sight Picture
If the dot brightness is too high, the emitter glare will fill up the FOV, and it can obscure targets downrange.
Just dial them down when appropriate to see a clean sight picture.
Can't see IPSC steel target (68 MOA EOTECH Reticle)
It's easier to see now after dialing down the brightness
The same applies to a single 1 MOA dot
Red Dot Magnifier Setup - Distance Between Them
Mount Too Close
