To red dot or not to red dot...

[JohnKSa]

“Assuming the front sight is the standard 1/8" wide, at 24" from your eye it would represent @ 18.75 MOA”

I get about 18 MOA (17.90489...) when I do the calculation to determine how large 1/8" is at 24", so yes. Close.

 

[old lady new shooter]

Here is some good information for training to use a red dot:

Review of a study on RDS sights and vision with Paul Howe

https://www.ialefi.com/red-dots-are-we-training-to-use-them-best/For target quotes email Mark at [email protected]

youtu.be

Here is a link to the article referenced in the video:

Red Dots – Are We Training to Use Them Best?

This article is intended to speak to two training implementations for pistol mounted Red Dot Sights (RDS) that we believe are in line with evidence-based principles.

www.ialefi.com

I've got no personal experience with a red dot on a pistol, but I have a lot of experience with the training methodology discussed. It's the same for learning every new piece of equipment.

The ialefi article is VERY instructive. I urge everyone to read it.

 

[Old Dog]

Flame on peeps!

No flame coming from me. My department went to red dots near the tail end of my tenure as a firearms instructor.

What I saw was that qual scores went up and even the poorer shooters tended to get more scoring hits at 25 yards.

Yet, what I concluded was that no one was really developing substantially better shooting skills. They were just able to better game the very soft requirements to qualify on the range against paper targets with generous time limits.

We did not teach our officers how to better react under stress, adrenaline dumps or while moving. We simply provided them with a better sight picture so they could shoot more accurately on the range.

This in no way translates to better results in real-life situations where one has to deploy a handgun, quickly, at a threat that may be moving, under severe stress.

 

[trackskippy]

If you arent teaching them to shoot under more realistic conditions, it doesnt matter what the sights are. Iron sights arent going to do any better if you arent accustomed to shooting with (or without) them under those various conditions.

This is another one of those things too, where you are in the learning progression of things, whether or not youre fighting it, or just accepting it, and your brain only knows what it knows and isn't in a position to think to fight it.

From most of what Ive seen posted here and elsewhere when there is resistance to the dots, it comes from those who learned on iron sights, don't have any experience with the dots, and from the sounds of it, dont want to have any, or make the effort to learn. Those who start with just the dot don't know any better, dont have to fight things ingrained with something else, and don't tend to fight things. This same sort of thing usually goes on with any kind of changes or advancements, stances, grips, etc..


Im a firm believer though, that if you're one who has been around awhile and come up through the different "improvements" over time, have experience with them, and are open-minded and willing to continually move forward and learn as much as you can about the "new stuff" as it shows up, you will be WAY ahead of those who are only just learning the "new stuff" and know nothing of the old, "outdated" ways.

And if you know who Bruce Lee was, and his thoughts on things, and are willing to embrace that line of thinking, you'll be even farther ahead.