Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Red dot vs Green dot sight question

I am considering trying a green dot sight. I have a question for anyone that has actually had experience using premium red and green dot sights. The question is about the tinted color that you see looking through the sights. I am relatively sure that the red and green use different lens coatings to reflect the dot. Is the red dot lens tint darker than the tint of the green dot lens or vise versa or no difference at all, This is considering both sights being compared are high quality sights. Thanks. RJ

The only thing I’ve tried is an ACOG and I don’t see green near as well as I pick up red. Same with FO sights. But a buddy of mine is just the opposite so it all depends on each individual.

Are you younger? I've read (and experienced firsthand) that the older you get, the more that you can see green better.

I'm a 64 model

I guess I should add that I can see green on certain backgrounds and I thought it was great when I bought it but outdoors in real use, against many backgrounds it blends in too easily for me. I tried yellow/amber too and red is best for me.

64 as in 1964 or as in 64yo? I'm a 1959 model, myself. I like green and I've never met anyone who likes the amber ones.

1964 model

Yes, I am an old guy (72) and I've also heard old eyes see green better. But my question is:

Is there any difference in the darkness of the tint caused by the lens coating that reflects the dot, comparing the green dot sight to the red dot sight? RJ

I have a ACOG with green horseshoe. Cool on paper, but for the field shooting groundhogs red seems better to my eyes. Green gets blended a bit for me in the vegetation.
Maybe green for winter and red for summer?

That's what I had the green horseshoe TA33-G something or another and I guess it really isn't an LED red dot, it's a fiber optic so maybe I ain't being fair. I just know my buddy has green sights on his pistols and I have red. He's a year or two younger than me but he prefers green, I like red.

https://panthaera.com/reflex-sights-the-red-vs-green-dot-which-is-better/

This is interesting

I've been tempted to get a green ACOG until I saw that and they mentioned the leafy background problems. You may have saved me some money.

I remember reading about a class taught by Pat Rogers at LaRue Tactical and he painted all the targets red. Either the same class or another one he turned the sprinklers on the students while they were trying to shoot. It taught the value of iron sights as backups.

I saw an Aimpoint guy explaining how to use a red dot and he said to adjust the dot to where you think it’s perfect, then turn it up one more setting. You want the dot to pop and be immediately identifiable without taking a second look. Red works best for me.

I imagine it depends on the background conditions..
But you can get a cheap scope with a reticle that lights red or green.
I am surprised red dots are not similar.

Last year I mounted a "green" MRO on my Rifle Dynamics AK47. The battery was dead in a month. Figured something was wrong with it. Called Trijicon CS and they said that the green burns up 5x the energy needed for the red to work. Seems the coating used to make the green work needs more energy burned from the battery. Now, wish I had the red.

GSSP In most everything that I have read, it says just the opposite, green uses less power than red. Maybe you do have a problem in that MRO.

Power Saving

"The human eye is far more receptive to green light than red. This is because green light stimulates two of the three kinds of cones in the human eye almost equally. This means that if you were to look at two dots of light – red & green – at the same power level, the green dot will appear much brighter. This means that lower power levels can be used for green, saving battery power."

This was taken from the link that TWR posted. RJ

https://www.trijicon.com/products/details/mro-c-2200028

From their website;
Battery life
Red = 5 years
Green = 1 year

I've read it takes more power to reflect off the lense with green. I've also read that green is easier to see on our eyes but needs more power to appear as bright as red.

Well, either the info is false on one of the links or there is no difference in power consumption between the red and green.. RJ

So, are you saying the experts, at Trijicon, the people who build some of the best combat optics in the world....are wrong....lying to us.....or what????

False info on the internet? No way