Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns What is your objection to red dot sights?

Exactly! I always think of all the stories and quotes of people who said decades and decades ago that riflescopes were big, clunky, unnecessary pieces of junk that didn’t belong on top of a rifle. Guess the whole “scope thing” kinda caught on. Sure, some would never need, or want one, but millions of scopes have made millions of farther, more accurate shots possible for millions of people. If you are against dot sights, cool. Your call. That surely doesn’t make their realized advantages for shooters that use them, any less real than the advantages of using a scope on a rifle. Any minor shortcomings scopes or red dots/reflex sights may have, I’m pretty sure neither product is going away any time soon. I like em, I use em, I’m cool with it if you don’t. 😎

Doc_Holidude

Over the decades, I've owned enough flashlights to never trust a battery-powered object. Add to that, TV remotes, cars, and who knows what else, and how can anyone trust a battery?

Besides, they look funny on a good pistol.

Batteries in the Holosun that I have last a year, also I can use the co-witness sights if necessary

I have more than one handgun and less than thirty. All have open sites. Not willing to say never but not yet. Hasbeen

This could be the most internet thread of all time.

No objection here. In fact I now enjoy shooting handguns again. When I was 40 something my eyesight for near vision declined markedly. It's really not fun shooting when all you see is a blury sight or you clean up the sight and the target is blury. Red dots cleaned up the sight picture and are extremely easy to use. Only thing that I don't like is finding a holster that works well with a red dot.

I guess if you're too cheap to replace batteries on a schedule instead of when they go dead, that can be a problem.

Quality night sights are good for 7-10 years and if care is taken to zero them, plenty good for 50+ yards. I personally don't want anything, between my front & rear sights, that might catch rain/dirt/snow etc.

Personally?

They cost money.
When I've tried them, they were awkward.


I'm cheap and too lazy/cheap to learn to use them.

The rain-dirt-snow-etc issue is an exaggerated issue. The enclosed emitter optics solve the issues, but they were never that bad.

If the crud your pistol falls in his bad enough to obscure the lens, it’s also bad enough to clog up your read sight and stick to your front.

I’d add that although iron sights can be very accurate for some shooters, the dots make those shots easier.

I can hit at 50 with irons. With a dot at 50 I can get hits in sub 2 seconds with a lvl3 holster. Drawing to an A Zone at 50 is the normal practice.

I just feel the need to ponder off topic,(yet related to reply content) for second…

I wonder if any poster on here has a fire alarm or smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in their homes? Seems these are small, technologically advanced objects that are mostly run by batteries, that make our lives safer and our minds more at ease. Also pacemakers come to mind as a NEEDED battery operated device that people literally trust their lives to.

To me, the not trusting batteries point carries little water in this discussion…especially when the irons are co-witnessed. Just my opinion, of course. 😎

Doc_Holidude

Well, there's an honest answer.

I suspect that's satire.

Maybe. But it's hard to argue with.

Cowboys never use Red Dot sights - They don't showup on Redskins.

Small batteries, if they haven't run down first, get changed every 12 months at my house. The type doesn't matter.

Being an avid and gullible gun magazine reader, I wondered what I’ve been missing not having a red dot on one of my handguns? Now after adding an RMR to my 1911 on a plate to replace the rear sight, I can report that I’d like to have my rear sight and $400.00 back. We have some friends visiting here from Australia where they don’t have handguns, so I took Steve shooting over the weekend. We started with a m43 S&W .22 and were hitting pretty well at about 20 yards. Next up was a CZ PCR 9mm with the fiber optic Dawaon sights and WOW shooting in full sun they really pop. Steve wondered where the battery was, they are that bright. Then came the 1911 .45 ACP with the RMR. Steve couldn’t find the red dot and finally after lots of coaching, he pointed it down far enough to see the dot. That handgun was sighted in for 10 yards, so my turn at 20 and the group wasn’t even on the 8.5x11 piece of paper, but below it several inches! Back at 10 yards it was right on again, wtf. Add to that we were shooting with a slight wind in our face and the blow back from the ejection port and muzzle was accumulating in the red dot lens and the image was getting more speckled with every shot.

I asked Steve what he liked best and felt most comfortable with. The CZ PCR and our targets confirmed that. The m43 was too light, the 1911 with that red dot was not even an honorable mention.

Maybe at a given sighted in longer range with muscle memory for finding that red dot more quickly a red dot might have some redeeming value, but for sure not on a CCW handgun for this shooter. Handguns are strictly short range defensive and expensive hole punchers for me and a red dot sure didn’t make that 1911 into a precision instrument.

I just want to send another big thank you to Waders.

"Steve couldn’t find the red dot and finally after lots of coaching, he pointed it down far enough to see the dot."

You know they make RDS plates for 1911's that have a rear sight... Would've taken the challenge out of finding that red dot though.

It's not rocket science... set it up right and spend a little time working with your pistol, or not, as it's your gun, your RDS, your choice.

Jerry