Am I the only one starting to prefer iron sights?

[Five_Point_Five_Six]

I've been shooting since I was a kid, and I've owned about a dozen red dot sights over the last 15 years or so. My not being able to see the dot in bright light isn't my imagination and isn't me "using the red dot wrong." If you read through this thread, you'll find others who have had the same experience.

Shooting since you were a kid means absolutely nothing. So have I. I didn't really know what I didn't know until I started taking classes from people who did. The worst shooters I've ever encountered are the "I been shootin fur years" types and are usually the ones who are almost unteachable. Nobody likes to admit that they've been doing something wrong their whole life. Pride gets in the way of a lot of things.

No one has said there will never be a time when the dot can be washed out, but you're making it sound like red dots are all but unusable anytime the sun is peaking out from behind the clouds. It just simply isn't the problem you're making it out to be. Don't wanna listen to me? That's fine. Listen to the dudes in this thread who've cleared mud huts in Afghanistan and war torn buildings in sunny Iraq who are telling you that you're wrong, why you're wrong, and what you can do about it.

You keep bucking against the idea that you're using the RDS wrong, but you state that you're able to make it through a couple mags before realizing it's not turned on. If that truly is the case, you are absolutely not using it correctly.

[dirkmagurk]

RDS on a rifle is definitely a force multiplier. The only reason I could understand someone preferring irons would be related to cost.

[okie]

Anecdote: I remember once upon a time, when I was taught to shoot at yay fun summer camp at Ft. Benning, that the DS and cadre told us to keep our dots—CompM4s—turned just high enough to where we could pick them up without being so bright that it blooms and obscures the target. So that’s always been my school of thought and how I’ve gone about my shoot ‘em up business.

And so yeah… I find myself checking and tweaking my dot every now and again, depending on wherever my AR and I might find ourselves. But I also feel like that should be normal. Maybe it isn’t. Maybe everyone else has their shit blazin’ ass sunshine bright all the time and I’m abnormal.

Thoughts?

As soon as that red halo shows up is when I start to have problems with it. I'm not saying it's unusable by any means, but it's more than distracting.

[okie]

How does one not realize they are using iron sights over a dot? They are two completely different sighting systems that are used very different and have different head positions.

Not if you cowitness them.

[georgeib]

Not if you cowitness them.

You're doing it wrong, bro. Not sure why you're so resistant to this fact.

[HKGuns]

So is the punch line to this, sometimes contentious, thread that yes, he is the only one starting to prefer Iron sights?

[okie]

Shooting since you were a kid means absolutely nothing. So have I. I didn't really know what I didn't know until I started taking classes from people who did. The worst shooters I've ever encountered are the "I been shootin fur years" types and are usually the ones who are almost unteachable. Nobody likes to admit that they've been doing something wrong their whole life. Pride gets in the way of a lot of things.

No one has said there will never be a time when the dot can be washed out, but you're making it sound like red dots are all but unusable anytime the sun is peaking out from behind the clouds. It just simply isn't the problem you're making it out to be. Don't wanna listen to me? That's fine. Listen to the dudes in this thread who've cleared mud huts in Afghanistan and war torn buildings in sunny Iraq who are telling you that you're wrong, why you're wrong, and what you can do about it.

You keep bucking against the idea that you're using the RDS wrong, but you state that you're able to make it through a couple mags before realizing it's not turned on. If that truly is the case, you are absolutely not using it correctly.

Well just a few years ago I would have said that irons were a serious handicap, impossible to use as well as a red dot, etc. So here I am admitting I was wrong, and now I have a far different opinion. And somehow, despite saying the exact opposite many times throughout this entire thread, almost everyone responding seems to think I'm an old fuddy duddy refusing to learn a new trick.

[okie]

Shooting since you were a kid means absolutely nothing. So have I. I didn't really know what I didn't know until I started taking classes from people who did. The worst shooters I've ever encountered are the "I been shootin fur years" types and are usually the ones who are almost unteachable. Nobody likes to admit that they've been doing something wrong their whole life. Pride gets in the way of a lot of things.

No one has said there will never be a time when the dot can be washed out, but you're making it sound like red dots are all but unusable anytime the sun is peaking out from behind the clouds. It just simply isn't the problem you're making it out to be. Don't wanna listen to me? That's fine. Listen to the dudes in this thread who've cleared mud huts in Afghanistan and war torn buildings in sunny Iraq who are telling you that you're wrong, why you're wrong, and what you can do about it.

You keep bucking against the idea that you're using the RDS wrong, but you state that you're able to make it through a couple mags before realizing it's not turned on. If that truly is the case, you are absolutely not using it correctly.

Only in bright sunlight. I guess at some point my brain just started using the irons because they were more visible and offered greater contrast. Naturally on cloudy days or when the sun starts to go down I miss it immediately.

[Inkslinger]

Well just a few years ago I would have said that irons were a serious handicap, impossible to use as well as a red dot, etc. So here I am admitting I was wrong, and now I have a far different opinion. And somehow, despite saying the exact opposite many times throughout this entire thread, almost everyone responding seems to think I'm an old fuddy duddy refusing to learn a new trick.

Well, I guess you’re just in a class of your own. An anomaly so to say. I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess most members of this forum have never felt either iron sights or RDS as a handicap. You just simply need more training and more time behind a gun.

[okie]

We were taught to turn the dot down for zeroing but to have it pretty high for normal use. That way the dot wouldn't wash out in sunlight or with a white light indoors. If we were going specifically on a night op then we might turn the dot down a little. Maybe.

Ive never needed an Aimpoint to be turned all the way up to be seen. It was always set a couple spots below max. Same with the RMR on my duty Glock, two below max. Easily seen outside and it isnt insane in the dark.

In the mid-day sun, I need aimpoints turned up to the highest setting, and even then the dot gets washed out on light backgrounds. And then if I tried to use that same setting indoors at night, even with the lights on, the whole tube will just be solid red.