Are Red Dot Sights Good for Self-Defense

What is a red dot sight?

A red dot like Olight Osight 3 MOA with magnetic charging cover is an electronic sighting system used on firearms to help shooters target more accurately and rightly. It utilizes an LED to project an illuminated reticle, generally in the shape of green or red dot, onto the target plane. This illuminated reticle permits the shooters to easily hit the target and maintain a clear sight picture, even in low-light situations or when the shooters eye is not rightly aligned with the sights.

Red dot sights are unmagnified, meaning they do not blow up the target like traditional scopes, permitting for an unhindered field of view and better situational awareness. They come in different styles, including prism, open, and tube, each with its own set of pros and cons.

These sights have become increasingly famous among recreational shooters, law enforcement, competitive shooters, and military personnel due to their ease of use, quack target acquisition, and reduced parallax.

Types of red dot sights

Open style: With a more compact form factor, red dot open-style sight exposes the LED and lens components. This outcome in a smaller and lighter optic, these sights is generally favored for their minimalistic look and reduced weight.

Tube style: Resembling traditional rifle scopes, red dot tube-style sights encase the LED and lens elements within a cylindrical body. The design provides better durability and protection against the elements.

Prism style: utilizing a prism to target the reticle, prism-style red dot sights provide better sharpness and clarity. While typically bigger and heavier than open-style sights, they can give extra features such as etched reticles for use in battery failure.

Benefits of red dot sights

The benefits of red dot sights are quicker and easier target acquisition. Red dot sights get this by removing the need to align the front and rear sights. They also include illumination to the point of aim.

Traditional sights need focus to 3 points of focus: the front sight, the rear sight, and the target. The human eye can just focus on one point at a time, and traditional sights need a focus on the front sight, aligning it with the rear sights – and placing both onto the target.

The red dot sight changes the need for these 3 points and permits the user to focus on the target, placing the one projected dot where the round is intended to strike. This is an easier job and it mirrors the treat focus that happens in defensive conditions, permitting right targeting while completely focused on the threat.

How to use the red dot sight

The 3 largest problems with the red dot sights are learning to draw to the dot, making sure zeroing in the dot, and not chase the dot. Like any new equipment, to reap the benefits, you need to practice.

Draw to the dot

Drawing to the dot is essential to get the accuracy and speed benefits of a red dot sight. Traditional sights give a clear guide to aligning the sights on the draw. My suggestion to any person considering adding an optic to a carried handgun is to practice you draw dry until every time you present the gun, the dot is capable to be seen and ready to be acquired.

Don’t chase the dot

When the sight picture is a one little dot, and it becomes difficult to not notice the little variations in the right location of the point of aim, matched to traditional sights. These variations are a natural outcome of mirror muscle movements, breathing, and eye movements. The problem when become more noticeable is we are more likely to try and prevent the mirror movements resulting in chasing the dot.

Zero it in

Finally, optics need to be zeroed in not just to a particular distance but also where the dot will be zeroed at matched to the remaining iron sights. The options for this contain:

• Zero the dot absolute to the iron sights, the dot will emerge directly over the front sight when the iron sights are aligned.
• Lower 1/3 – the dot is in the bottom window third when the iron sights are aligned.
• No iron sight alignment

What size red dot is best for self-defense?

When picking a red dot sight for self-defense, the perfect reticle size depends on the shooters preference, specific firearm setup, and intended use. Generally, a balance between fast target acquisition and sufficient precision is desired in self-defense conditions.

A 2 MOA rd dot is a famous choice for self-defense applications, as it provides a best balance between accuracy and speed. The 2 MOA dot size permits for relatively quick target acquisition while maintaining sufficient precision for right shot placement at short to medium ranges.

Larger reticles, such as 6 MOA dot, or 3 MOA dot, like Olight Osight with magnetic charging cover may provide even quicker target acquisition, mainly in close-quarter engagements. Anyway, they can obscure little targets at longer ranges, decreasing precision. These larger dots might be better suited for subcompact or compact firearms used in concealed carry, where quick target acquisition at close distances is prioritized over long-range precision.

Should I put a red dot on my pistol?

The decision to put a red dot sight on your pistol depends on your personal preferences, shooting goals, and aim to use. If the advantages of a red dot sight align with your requirements, it can be a precious addition to your firearm setup.

End words

The future is not going away. Every day more American police departments are adopting optics onto their duty weapons. Additionally, more firms are making optic-ready or even optic-added versions of their famous carry guns.

The red dot sights does give benefits to traditional iron sights in most conditions, but right practice drawing and acquiring the sights are required to really make use of these benefits. That said, Murphy rules still apply and if something can go bad, at some point it will go wrong. The potential problems of a red dot sight not working can be mitigated by practically immediately adjusting back to point shooting or co-witnessed iron sights.