Optics or irons?

[Ken Ford]

I'm curious to the public view, which do you prefer and why optics red dot or magnification or trusty iron. I use irons as my current go to is a A2 with a permanent carry handle. My reasoning and comfort is night or day my sights are there and not easily nocked off. At the range my buddies red dot was useless BC the battery died and even cowitness buis are not as clear in my experience. I see the beauty of the red dot as I used his with multiple rapid hits out to 100yds. I'm not asking what's better because that depends on who you are, I'm just curious who uses what and why. I will always use irons or a scope a dot to me is irons that will fail, but that's me.

Both, cause my eyes aren't that great.

 

[biker_bill]

Valid point. I'm still clinging desperately to my youth though

Edit - the obvious solution is just have more than one rifle ready to go

With regards to losing your eyesight as you get older
It's usually the near vision that goes first. I noticed that, when I noticed I was reading less and I had to have stuff at arms length just so I could read it. I knew I was in trouble the day I had a map in my hand and realized I was still lost, because I couldn't read it. Lol
Reading glasses solved that.

Then came the day the Doc said I lost a click of far vision, then 2 clicks, Lord knows where I'm at now.
But thank you to those guys that said I didn't have to quit, just adapt.
I don't have any fancy expensive scopes, maybe $250 is the most expensive, but it makes all the difference in the world.

The only 2 guns I really hated putting a scope on was the lever action .30-30. The gun feels totally different now and the BP gun. The old trusty Hawken is hanging on a wall now and an inexpensive in-line with a 3x9 scope has taken it's place. I'll say this about the BP gun swap. The new gun has much less recoil and can hold a 2.5 to 3" group at 100 yards, the Hawken's best was about 5".

 

[1gunsnotenough]

Use red dots with etched reticle in case batteries fail. And backup irons.

 

[slick]

Since I am close to 79 yrs old, I need a little help. I shoot with irons, red dot and scope. The setup I have for this Ar is Magpul F&R and a Holosun red dot which is awesome

 

[Plinker66]

I like my pistol with an long eye relief 2-7 scope dialed down to 2, sitting 1/2" higher than standard, with fixed 45 offset iron backups, and a great big green laser up front, for all those times when I need to shoot from the hip. No brace, just a Home Depot rubber cap on the back.

And some paint to make it too ugly to steal. Lol. Seriously, i do recommend the long eye relief scopes for the pistols. And the fixed 45 degree sights. IMO the 45 degree roll makes the gun more ergonomic for the right hand grip when cheekwelding with no brace or buttstock.

 

[ngcsugrad09]

Red dots or variable magnification optics for me on serious guns. The capability enhancement is too much to ignore.

The key to anything is quality. For me that's Aimpoint for red dots and Nightforce for optics.

 

[Sigo]

I always use the iron sights first. Once they are zeroed and I am comfortable with the platform, I add a scope and zero/practice with it. Just in case the scope fails for whatever reason, my iron sights are still on the rifle, so all I need to do is remove the scope.

 

[GAgunLAWbooklet]

I am OK with iron sights (open sights, or military-style peep sights) on battle carbines that are expected to hit a man-sized target out to 100 or maybe 200 yards, but...

But I PREFER to have optics on any shoulder-fired weapon that I want to be able to use with any decent accuracy beyond 75 yards.

So most of my rifles and carbines are scoped.
Even my M1A, with which I've shot a lot of NRA and CMP sanctioned rifle matches, gets a scope on it when I'm hunting with it or doing my own shooting for fun out to a couple hundred yards. I take the scope off and go with the National Match iron sights for the matches, though.

Also, as CMshoot said, I always see better in low light through optics than with iron sights.
Even a cheap rifle scope, a conventional hunting scope like a $40 Bushnell or Tasco or Simmons, set to 3X or 4X magnification, gives me better low-light sighting ability than irons.

Naturally, a red dot optic or variable-brightness illuminate reticle scope is better, but even a non-illuminated 4X scope is better than most rifle's iron sights.

I've tested this a number of times, shooting in the evening and continuing the shooting after sunset and up to full darkness, working by flashlight or a campfire.

 

[H2O MAN]

I love iron sights, especially those found on a 22" M14/M1A. However, I prefer a good RDS (Aimpoint / EOTech) with BUIS... I have found one scope that works for me, it's a Leupold VX•R 1.5-5x33mm Scout. Low power, clear glass, illuminated 1 MOA dot, and generous eye relief.

 

[rockyfatcat]

fixed 45 degree offset sights Work when everything else falls