A red dot on top of scope combo…
“What do you use it for?” “Should I really get a red dot mounted on my scope?” “What can I get from it?”
Yep, I totally get all your questions.
I was curious about this too, so I was done hypothesizing and decided to try it myself.
I mean, WHO ENJOYS wasting money on something that turns out to be not even worth the risk, right?
Well, don’t you worry because I’m going to erase all that doubt in your head.
Today, I’ll talk about its purpose and whether a red dot rifle scope is really worth buying.
Contents
What Is a Red Dot Sight?
Basically, a red dot sight is a small optic that has a visual illuminating red marker on the center.
How does it work?
Red dots are my optic of choice when I want to shoot from short distances. Target acquisition is so easy that I can get land it in a matter of SECONDS!
Here’s the basic process of equipping your red dot sight on top of your AR 15 rifle scope:
- Mount your scope with a red dot sight to the rail system of your rifle.
- Mount the optic on top of the scope. With that, you’re done already.
Simple enough, right? But that’s not all.
There’s more to learn about red dot sights and how they can be PRACTICAL choices for hunting or shooting.
TAKE NOTE: Red dots do not have a magnification range. They just have one magnification level — the same level that we see with our eyes.
This is the main reason why a red dot sight is only GREAT for short-distance shooting.
Advantages of Red Dot Sight on Top of Rifle Scope
1. It Offers Versatility
When you have a red dot sight mounted on your rifle scope, you will be able to easily adjust to different shooting situations.
Your rifle scope is responsible for long-range distances while on the other hand, the red dot sight performs the best in short-range distances.
This is perfect for any event that requires a quick and precise reaction.
Whether it’s for home defense, hunting, or target shooting, the red dot sight will work flawlessly, giving you a flexible shooting capability.
2. It Provides Unlimited Eye Relief
Most of the rifle scopes offer limited eye relief, whereas the eye relief for a red dots is UNLIMITED.
For better understanding, let’s give a sample situation:
You head outside to go hunting. While red dot sight scoping, you caught a target. You’re ready to aim and fire.
HOWEVER!
Before you can even PULL the trigger…
You worry about whether your eye is in the right distance as RECOIL may hit your eye.
And yes, that is exactly what happened to me.
In this case, you would have a SLOWER REACTION because you are minding the eye relief.
Whereas in the other situation where you are using a red dot sight, you won’t worry about the eye relief as much.
Your eye can be anywhere as long as you can see the marker of the red dot sight.
3. It Gives You a Full Field of View
When using a rifle scope, you need to close your other eye to see the view better.
This would mean that half of your sight will be more or less “blind” to you and you won’t be able to see the whole scenery.
A scope with red dot sight on top allows me to use BOTH of your eyes to look through the reflex red dot scope without affecting your best view at all.
This way, you will be able to see the FULL 180 degrees of your sight or in short — a full field of view.
4. It’s Great for Low and High-Light Conditions
The mini red dot sight you see on the optic has a high illumination intensity level.
If you’re in a dark place, you’ll be able to easily pick up the red dot. Ever wonder why those spy action movies show guns with red dots?
Put simply, it’s 2x EASIER to see your target in low-light conditions!
If you are in a place where the light condition is almost blinding, the dot will still be crystal clear.
Unless, of course, the lighting in the environment is red-colored…
Furthermore, some reflex sight models offer various dot colors as well, though the most common one is just red.
5. It is Parallax-Free
Well…almost.
You still have to consider moving targets or extremely close distances which may throw you off.
Red dot sights have JUST ONE magnification level.
Parallax is typically present in higher levels or farther distances so you won’t have to worry about this error that much over short distances.
Still, that doesn’t mean your optics is COMPLETELY illusion-free! You still have to focus to a certain extent to get an accurate shot!