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Check out the Holosun HS503C Red Dot Sight:
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Check out the Primary Arms 1-6 Scope:
Red dot vs scope…Which is going to be best for your rifle? If you’re new to AR 15s, and you’re thinking about mounting an optic on your rifle, might be debating whether or not to go with a red dot or a scope. And I think they are both great options, but they come with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. And it really depends on what you want the primary strengths of your rifle to be. So we’re going to compare these two styles of optics, and to do that we’re going to be looking at 4 different categories: Speed, Accuracy, Weight, and Reliability. And hopefully, by the end of this comparison, you’ll have a clear idea of which optic will be best for your rifle. Alright, so the first category is Speed, and I think the advantage here has to go to the red dot sight. Red dots are simply built for speed. By design, they have no eye relief so they are really easy to see through. They also have an extremely high visibility reticle and sometimes those reticles are designed for extra speed like the circle dots reticles you find on some holosuns and eotechs. Additionally, red dots have no magnification which is beneficial if you intend on shooting with both eyes open. Now, on the other hand, scopes tend to be a little bit slower, and there are really two main reasons for this. First, scopes require eye relief. So unless your eye is placed at the correct distance away from your scope’s rear lens, you’re not going to be able to see clearly through and you’ll probably be slowed down a bit. Second, scopes have magnification. Now, I’m really talking about scopes with a low power of 1, but the problem is, the 1 power on most of these scopes isn’t actually 1 power. It’s usually something like a 1.1 or something along those lines. So using them with both eyes open may end up being a little tricky for you. However, it should be noted that you can be pretty fast with a scope on 1 power. Alright, the next category is Accuracy. A major part of being able to shoot accurately is seeing, and magnification allows you to see small at distance, So the advantage here has to go to the scope. Just imagine how much easier it would be to make a 200-yard shot at 6 power rather than on 1. Now obviously, with no magnification red dots are gonna be at a disadvantage at distance. Especially if you’re like me and don’t have great eyesight. But before moving on, I will say that there are some amazing shooters out there who are capable of really stretching out the range of their red dots. The third category is Weight. Now, there are so many different brands of scopes and red dots that it’s really hard to make generalizations about them. However, a micro-sized red dot is going to weight about 4 ounces and a 1-6 scope is going to weigh about 16 ounces. So its pretty clear that the red dot has a big advantage in weight savings, and if you’re looking to shave off a few ounces from your rifle, a micro red dot is definitely the way to go. Last we have Reliability. Once again there are many brands of optics out there and they all have different price points and differing degrees of reliability. However, just to generalize the comparison, I’m going to give the slight edge in reliability to the scope. The reason why is simply because the reticle of the scope doesn’t rely on batteries. And even though there are some red dots out there with amazing battery life, you still have the possibility of a battery going dead or some other type of problem happening with the electronics. However, with a scope, the reticle is etched into the glass. So, it’s going to be there regardless of whether or not it has a battery powering it. So, to bring everything to close, here’s my conclusion. If you intend on having a lightweight carbine that’s fast into action and best from 0-100 yards, put a red dot on your gun. If you’re willing to sacrifice a little bit of weight and a little bit of speed up close for more capability at 200, 300, or 400 yards, go with a low powered variable scope. And if you want to best of both worlds, just get two rifles and have one of each!
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There is another consideration here, the environment where one shoots. I live in open country where 500 yards is a chip shot. And I'm old and my eyes aren't that good. That rules out the red dot. If I lived in the forest I'd be inclined to go with a red dot. Get what's best for YOU, not what's best for the rifle. Love your vids, thank you very much.
Thank you, very detailed and well
explained.