Turn on a red dot, look through it. Now move your head without moving the rifle. The dot moves around in the optic, and that’s because of physics and complicated stuff. BUT the rifle hasn’t moved, the point of impact hasn’t moved, and that’s because the red dot has corrected for angular parallax. The video below shows this better:
Now just nod sagely, and move on like I did after researching this, because we are going to show you a few parallax-free red dots. Dial them in, and afterwards, the dot does not have to be in the center of the lens to hit the target. Just trust me on this, it works and there is math and science and stuff to prove it. Anyway, check out what we consider the 4 best parallax-free red dots below!
EOTech Holographic Sight
You can’t say “red dot” and not think of EOTech. Of course after the instinctive wallet-clutching period passes, and you look closer you realize that this is one heck of a red dot. Likely the top parallax-free red dot on the market (see full specs), it is not only compact, but effective. Designed to be parallax-free, along with lightweight, water and shock proof, and featuring a proprietary holographic technology, and a two year warranty, you’ll be hard pressed to get a better compact red dot. As an added bonus, it is made in the USA, and is designed specifically to work with AR-15 type rifles. If you’ve got the coin, look no further folks, this is the best parallax-free red dot on the market.
Lucid Red Dot
Another tiny parallax-free red dot, only this time with a much more budget-friendly body! The Lucid Red Dot is packed full of features like a built in rail mount, water and fogproof construction, seven brightness levels, an ability to cowitness the lower 1/3 of standard AR-15 iron sights, up to 1000 hours of battery life on a single AAA battery, and an incredible lifetime warranty. Suitable for handguns or long guns, this is one of the better deals on a compact, parallax-free red dot out there, and with such a reasonable price, there is absolutely not reason not to own one or even two.
Vortex Strikefire
This is my personal favorite, partly based on cost, and partly because for some reason I just don’t like the aesthetics of micro red dots. The cantilever throw lever mounting mechanism is also a personal favorite, so this combines to give a neat looking red dot that is also supremely affordable. This parallax-free, feature rich red dot (see full specs) includes a generous 30mm tube, 6 hour auto shutdown, red/green color modes, is compatible with night vision devices, and of course is water, fog and shockproof. It’s an incredible amount of bang for the buck, and unless you are literally going to war, this will serve you well for any home defense or even law enforcement work. Hands down, this is one of the best parallax-free red dots for the money.
Holosun 403 Mini Red Dot
Who likes a mini parallax-free red dot with a lifetime warranty, 50,000 hour battery run time, and a waterproof and submersible-to-100-feet body? I know I sure as heck do. The Holosun 403 is an insane optic and is also sold at an insane price. Quite frankly, this is an incredible bargain made possible through modern automated manufacturing. A few years ago, you couldn’t touch this kind of tech for less than a rich-man’s price. Take advantage of industrial progress and the free market and stick one of these bad boys on your favorite evil black rifle. This should be on anyone’s list of the top parallax free red dot sights.
So Why Parallax Free?
Because you want to hit what you aim at. While no optic can ever be truly parallax-free and lose all optical distortion, it can be nearly parallax-free at various ranges, which will be specified with the dot. You want this because it makes shooting easier. Sight the dot, pull the trigger. If the dot is on the target, you are on the target, even if you are hanging upside down from a tree or participating in a gangland drive-by shootout while riding a unicycle. Red dot on target, bullet on target.
Great, so what do you want from parallax-free red dots? Well cost is an obvious. You can go crazy high end, but for mere mortals who don’t run around buying four-figure optics, you can get some great red dots for a reasonable price. It rarely, if ever pays to cheap out on your optic, so if somebody is offering a whiz bang, golly-gee-willikers amazing red dot for under a hundred bucks, chances are, it’s ok but not fantastic. Stick with middle of the road here, or as I like to put it “buy once and cry once.”
The best parallax-free red dots have battery life rated in the thousands of hours. Some, so high that it’s more likely the battery will expire before it runs out of juice, which leaves battery life somewhere on the low side of what I want in a red dot.
Go for warranty, waterproof construction and a size/weight configuration that is compatible with what you want most out of your rifle. A parallax-free red dot sight will make your shooting experience easier, more fun and will let you quickly acquire targets, and is such basic technology now, there is no reason not to buy a red dot that isn’t parallax-free at some range. Good luck1
