A very large part of this going to be based on the individual and their level of training and commitment to do so.
Being proficient in presenting a weapon takes thousands of repetitions. When you have done it literally tens of thousands of times, as some competitors have it becomes a matter of unconscious competence. In other words, a person does not have to think about it they can simply perform the act.
Much like an individual who has been driving a stick shift for a few decades does not think about what it takes to run a stick and clutch while shifting and going through the gears and maybe negotiating an obstacle, an experienced shooter does not think about a weapons presentation.
Red dot optics for a person who has put in 10s of thousands of reps are exactly the same. If the RDO is taped up like above, based on the previous thousands of reps, the weapons presentation is still going to be the same. You can present the weapon and perform the same trigger press and you are going to get a hit on a reasonably sized target within a reasonable range.
It is not "instinctive shooting", it is merely muscle memory built in through untold thousands of reps.
Guys who complain about bringing an RDO up and not being able to find a dot, have simply not put in the time and effort to learn a new skill set. Learning iron sight shooting is no different. Nobody instantly was a Grandmaster class shooter the second the fired their first shot with a handgun.
The comments in this thread about inability are indicative of lack of training and ability and unwillingness to learn, Not of any mechanical shortcoming of the equipment.
I was talking with Rob Leatham one day when he was visiting a mutual friend John Shaw. We were going to dinner. Leatham is a professional shooter for Springfield armory and a very accomplished shooter. John Shaw used to compete on the national and world level as well. Long story short, we were talking about the topic of older eyes and shooting. Leatham had said that (paraphrasing, and this is a number of years back) you don't need to get a perfect sight picture as long as you have a great draw/solid grip and excellent trigger control.
