Is the Meprolight FT Bullseye a Red dot killer? UPDATED
Carry Optics are all their age right now, but what if red dots could be replaced?
If you could create an aiming device that was as bright as a red dot, didn’t obscure sight picture, was fast to shoot as a red dot, but also did not utilize electronics or batteries, it would most certainly kill red dot optics. At its core, red dots are popular not because they are more functional then traditional iron sights, but because they are faster to deploy and faster when transitioning between targets.
Is the Meprolight FT Bullseye front sight an premonition of something big to come? Let’s find out.
Is the Meprolight FT Bullseye a Red Dot Killer?
The Meprolight Bullseye is a revolutionary new sight system that is designed to enhance the accuracy and speed of target acquisition for shooters. Overlapping with the main reason you’d want to mount a red dot on a pistol.
This sight system is specifically designed for use with handguns, and it offers a number of unique features that set it apart from other sights on the market.
Where to buy the Meprolight FT Bullseye?
Meprolight FT Bullseye
The Meprolight FT Bullseye is an interesting concept. If you want to try it out, amazon is a great place due to their amazing customer service in the event the FT Bullseye isn’t the product for you.
Features of the Meprolight FT Bullseye
Innovative Design (5 out of 5)
One of the most notable features of the Meprolight Bullseye is its unique “dot within a dot” reticle. This reticle consists of a large red dot in the center, which is surrounded by a smaller green dot.
This design allows the shooter to quickly and easily acquire the target, even in low light conditions.
It sort of acts like a mini ghost ring sight in a sense. This is an incredibly unique design that honestly is specific to the FT Bullseye. For creativity and innovation, we have to give Meprolight props.
Speed Between Target Transitions (4 out of 5)
In the video above, you’ll see a 2-2-2 drill that I ran (note that this footage was taken with a low profile rear sight attached which I’ll talk more about later in the review). As you can see, this setup can be pretty fast.
It’s not as fast and precise as a red dot, but with practice and at close ranges you can get pretty good at this setup.
Extremely Bright (5 out of 5)
The meprolight FT Bullseye is almost a hybrid of tritium and fiber optics, the sight is extremely bright in both daylight and night time scenarios. In daylight, the brighter it is out, the brighter the optic gets. It really is as crisp as a red dot on its highest setting. I have other brand name fiber optic sights and this is by far the brightest that I own.
The tritium is as bright as any of my other high end tritium sights. In daylight, it’s as bright as the brightest setting on my holosun red dot. This is a very bright sight, which is true of meprolight products in general. Big thumbs up here.
The lack of electronics or batteries means this thing will work well for as long as the tritium lasts, which is a slight pro over modern red dot sights that you need to change the battery on typically annually.
Low Light Usage with Flashlights (3.5 out of 5)
Let’s talk about low light usage with flashlights. This is an important consideration for many professionals, especially Law Enforcement Officers. Some of you have said that in testing, with a spot light behind you during routine traffic stops at night, on the rear sight version of the bullseye, the glass was reflective and could be problematic at certain angles making the sight difficult to use. For this reason it may not be a great solution in law enforcement contexts because of the glare.
Holster Compatibility (5 out of 5)
It is designed to be compatible with most holsters out of the box. It doesn’t require any modifications to the slide outside of removing factory sights and replacing with the bullseye sight.
Areas that Can Be Improved
No product is perfect, and the meprolight does have some problem areas that I hope can be ironed out in future product offerings.
Price (3 out of 5)
Again coming in at around $130, its comparable in price to the low end of pistol mounted red dots, but quite a bit more expensive than typical iron sights. Used on ebay, you can find them for bit cheaper still if you just want to try it out.
Installation / Fitment (3 out of 5)
Meprolight makes this sight in specific configurations for specific pistols. I purchased the glock one, so I can only mention fitment on Glock pattern slides. I tried it on two after market slides as shown in this footage. The fit wasn’t tight enough out of box with the front sight hole in the slide. I tried this on two after market slides, but it wobbled significantly on both in a way that no other front sight I’ve tried does.
The Meprolight had a small amount of left to right play, which is important as this product is effectively a front and rear sight combined if you don’t keep the rear slide. I had to put a thin layer of glue on the left and right to hold it in place. It stayed secure after doing this.
It actually is extremely tight and doesn’t wobble at all on my Agency Arms 417 front sight post hole, so I currently have it mounted there with a threaded barrel.
So overall it seems that the meprolight is slightly undersized and largely depends on slide tolerances. It’s important to note that other iron sights installed in the other slides I’ve tested did not have this problem.
Short Sight Radius makes Accuracy incredibly difficult at longer distances (2 out of 5)
This is the biggest issue with the meprolight. The short sight radius means that if the front dot isn’t perfectly centered in the rear ring, your shot could be a bit off, if not aided by a rear sight. Even the slightest deviation will cause shots to be several inches off at 15-20 yards. To be clear, the meprolight is not marketed for this use case, it is not a competitive shooting sight system, but in comparison with traditional irons or red dots, the meprolight bullseye falls short.
Note, adding a rear sight fixes this shortcoming
By adding a low profile rear sight and using the meprolight bullseye essentially as a front sight, I was able to make much longer shots again consistently. The combination actually does work to an extent in this way. In this sense, I am able to use only the front sight for targets at closer ranges, the way the Meprolight FT bullseye is intended to be used, and then use the rear sights like more traditional, front and rear iron sights at distance. So I currently have one of my pistols configured this way.
Conclusion
I like the product overall. It’s a unique concept and it gets a lot of attention at the range, so I don’t mind keeping it on one of my pistols. I’m also at the same time not running out to replace my iron sights universally on all my pistols, and this certainly does not kill red dots for me.
Given the price tag, I don’t think this is necessarily a product that I’d recommend to every shooter, but if you want to try something different this is certainly an interesting product. If meprolight comes out with a new take on this concept that addresses some of its short comings in the future, I will definitely be open to giving it a try.
Meprolight FT Bullseye
The Meprolight FT Bullseye is an interesting concept. If you want to try it out, amazon is a great place due to their amazing customer service in the event the FT Bullseye isn’t the product for you.
