1-4 vs Red Dot? What am I missing?

[christcorp]

The main advantage I find with a RDS is eye relief. Basically unlimited. To go along with that, shooting with both eyes open. After all, the primary purpose of an AR/AK/etc.. and such optics like eotech and aimpoint, "Which is what they were originally made for", was to simply shoot people at short distances. <100 yards. And when you'r walking with a rifle in your hands, anticipating that there might be someone coming up that you might have to pull the trigger on, you do this with both eyes open. You aren't hunting, and you aren't a 500+ yard sniper. In those cases, closing one eye, resting the rifle, taking your time aiming, and pulling the trigger on a single round is perfectly fine. But in using the AR/M4 or similar type rifles, for what their main purpose is; "Shooting people quickly at less than 100 yards", you need to be able to do this as quick as possible, and as natural as possible. That means both eyes open, raising the sight up with out repositioning, overlaying the optic reticle on your target, and pulling the trigger. It's pretty difficult to do all that with a traditional scope. Not unless your objective is bench rest target practice and long range marksmanship competitive shooting, where real world targets aren't the goal. Then a regular rifle scope would be just fine.

[seb5]

For me, coming from the knuckle dragger side of the house I find that the RDS is always smaller, lighter, simpler, and a bit faster. For many years I was assigned as a law enforcement precision marksman so am not unfamiliar with high quality optics. Even after twenty years I still prefer RDS for entry work on search warrants and really anything out to about 50 yards.

I've used TA44's and TA33's and think they're a great combo. When I use the TA44 I can be almost as fast as a RDS but it seems to have a longer learning curve and requires more training time to stay proficient. With a timer I'm still faster with a simple RDS. I've also observed at carbine classes that at 50 yards the RDS guys generally do better than the RDS+3X magnifier or ACOG's. At 100 yards the magnified optics start to dominate, no surprise there.

I've tried several 1X4's and my favorite is the Nightforce. I've always stayed away from the Trijicon because of the triangle's lack of precision. This may just be my past of trying to shoot little groups with a larger optic. It could be a bias that I need to overcome and buy/try one.

[Sam]

Gents:
Please play nice. Don't post anything you're not willing to say to the other person face to face.
Thanks.

[WBAR]

I like my 3x9 Redfield equipped Spikes middie for longer range, "precision" shooting; but my go-to Spikes carbine has an EOTech to acquire targets fast at close range. It has a flip up BUIS should the scope go down. WB

[Failure2Stop]

If your primary use of the weapon is at distances under 100 meters, save money and weight and go with a good RDS.
If you want to push to intermediate range with precision while retaining 98% of an RDS's close range capability and 75% of it's durability, at 3x the cost, the 1-4(+) is the way to go.

Which is why I run a MRDS on top of my 1-4. The few added ounces ad a metric sh*t ton of capability in unconventional positions.

Rick

I'm playing with this concept right now and am still undecided if my best solution is the mini reflex or offset irons.

[Clarkm]

Easier to use with a gasmask.

Easier to use weak side such as when shooting around a corner or if your strong side is injured.

Better for really close stuff like across a living room.

Better for seeing as much of what is going on around you as possible. There might be something outisde the field of view of that 1-4x which is a threat.

[bp7178]

Better for really close stuff like across a living room.

For stuff that short range I much prefer irons and a white light. I can shoot irons w/o my glasses or contacts.

[Claren]

]

Forgive the derail, but why are you using the KX3 supressor with that rifle ?

[seb5]

It looks as if it's a 13.7" barrel, thus the pig makes it non NFA.

[manderson2228]

Which is why I run a MRDS on top of my 1-4. The few added ounces ad a metric sh*t ton of capability in unconventional positions.

Rick

Not sure I understand what you mean MRDS? Magnified red dot? Which one to you mean? You have a red dot mounted on top of your 1-4? Thats an interesting idea. Best of both worlds.