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Thread: HD&SHTF: Iron vs. Scope

  1. #1
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    HD&SHTF: Iron vs. Scope

    Since I was a kid I have always shot iron sights.
    I recently bought a 6920 to have as a home defense and SHTF weapon.
    I am very comfortable with the irons and luckily still have very good eye sight, what are the definite reasons that I should get a sight?
    And if it is for those kind of scenarios I am assuming that I should hold out and spend real money on a sight for the sake of durability, would that point me to the milspec M68?
    Thanks for your time and thoughts.

    (I'm sorry, I should have posted this under optics but missed that step in my brain till it was too late.)
    Last edited by gdubyacobb; 03-28-11 at 00:53. Reason: apologize for idiocy
    "Don't ever trust a man who doesn't like John Wayne. A man's opinion of John Wayne is a good rule-of-thumb test of his character and moral values. To admire John Wayne is to admire the heroic and the morally noble. To sneer at John Wayne is to admire the opposite."
    So I ask, are you a John Wayne man or a Woodie Allen guy?

    Colt HBAR - Colt 6920 - M1 Garand(SA) - 92FS

  2. #2
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    Home defense can be broken into: Inside and Outside. It can also be broken into daylight and night time. One thing I decided on; just in case I am using the AR indoors; whether night time or daylight, I don't want to be looking through sights. I bought a laser sight for the AR. I do not like "Pimiping" out my AR's. This one is an M&P15OR (No sights). I put a set of iron sights on it; a Red-Dot; and a laser. I modified a marlin 336 picatinny rail and mounted it on my hand guard. This allowed me to mount the laser and a vertical grip on it. If it's night time and dark inside my house, and I happen to use this weapon, I prefer to use a laser. I can handle open sights on a pistol and a shotgun indoors; even if it's dark. But a set of rifle sights is to difficult to look through in the dark. Laser is my choice.
    "Born Wild; Raised Proud"

  3. #3
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    You already have "sights", those are your irons.

    The reason why red dot optics are good for HD/SHTF is they're much faster and easier to use under stress. Instead on lining up your front sight with the rear sights on the target you're only putting a dot on the target. Also they're designed to be used with both eyes open, so you have greater situational awareness. In low light scenerios it's almost impossible to use irons accurately but obviously not the case with a good red dot.

    I'd get an Aimpoint ML2, ML3, M4 (basically a M68) or T1/H1. They're bulletproof, hold their zeros, and have a long battery-life. M3 and T1/H1 last about 5 years of being constantly on, M4's last up to 8 years (!!!).

    Check out the optics forum down below and spend a few days reading up.
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  4. #4
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    Thanks for the input.
    The night situation makes sense. Even with a light it would be hard to deal with getting a sight picture in the dark, let all alone under stress.
    I'll read up on the red dots.
    Thanks again.
    "Don't ever trust a man who doesn't like John Wayne. A man's opinion of John Wayne is a good rule-of-thumb test of his character and moral values. To admire John Wayne is to admire the heroic and the morally noble. To sneer at John Wayne is to admire the opposite."
    So I ask, are you a John Wayne man or a Woodie Allen guy?

    Colt HBAR - Colt 6920 - M1 Garand(SA) - 92FS

  5. #5
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    Obviously the distances that you will be shooting in also make a big difference. I have a Sure M952V on my SBR. I can easily obtain a good sight picture at night with my irons.

    I also know that I will be not be getting a true sight picture but more a quick flash sight. This is of course assuming that something occurs indoors. If it's outdoors then the ACOG will do it's magic.

    Do you really need a red dot? No. But, if you can afford a good one then by all means give yourself another tool.

    Quote Originally Posted by gdubyacobb View Post
    Thanks for the input.
    The night situation makes sense. Even with a light it would be hard to deal with getting a sight picture in the dark, let all alone under stress.
    I'll read up on the red dots.
    Thanks again.



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  6. #6
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    For sake of completeness M68s are Aimpoint CompM2s but Aimpoint has developed some much better products since they came out.

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    I pray I never have to use anything for the 2 legged creatures. For SHTF my AR runs a TA31TRD. The Trijicon red dot (TRD) is for close and personal encounters. The ACOG it self is for med to long range. I prefer my bedside Beretta 90-Two 9mm with night sights and Streamlight for basic home defense.
    I know the piggy backed red dots on ACOGs may not be popular here, but I have spent enough range time with it to feel comfortable.
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  8. #8
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    A quality red dot and the same for BUIS. Learn to use both for all situations, home or SHTF.

    Bill Tidler Jr.
    **************

    ...We have long maintained that the only accessories that a 1911 needs are a trigger you can manage, sights that you can see, and a dehorning job. That still goes.
    ~Jeff Cooper

  9. #9
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    I wouldn't feel terribly bad about using an AR with just irons for HD. At inside a room distances Im point shooting anyways...IE not using any sights.



    Where an RDS comes into real advantage is speed and longer low light situations. Case in point...at one point I was the only person in my unit with an RDS, and we were doing some pre-deployment training. We taped glow sticks to green ivans at 25 meters, and shot at them at night. 20rds each. I hit all 20 using my RDS. I forget the exact numbers but I think the next highest score was around 10 with most hitting around 5/20. A few zeros.


    Last...despite what some people say irons are not infallible, either.

  10. #10
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    Two options.

    Get low light training class and run Irons + Flashlight and see how comfortable you are with it.

    Get a red dot.

    I would go the former, as a red dot doesn't do anything for me.

    I don't own any optics anymore, and that's after owning ACOGs, and a few Aimpoints.

    (However, when S&B 1-8X gets released, I WILL get three.)
    We miss you, AC.
    We miss you, ToddG.

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