Do I keep my iron sights , or do I splurge and upgrade to a red dot? If I choose to get a red dot, which brand and model do I go with? Whether you are an experienced shooter or new to the game, you have likely had these questions at some point.
Thankfully we live in a day and age where product reviews are unlimited, but with that so are opinions. It can be difficult to cipher through the material and determine what option is best for you. If you see value in what we have to say at Force Frontier, carefully read this entire article and make the best decision for YOU.
First we must understand human vision and how it works. We have three different types of vision depending on our focus: foveal, parafoveal and peripheral.
Foveal/Focal Vision
The central part of your vision, specifically the area perceived by the fovea, a small depression in the retina that provides the sharpest, most detailed sight.
Foveal vision is what we encourage students to focus on the most while training. For a majority of the drills we teach we encourage students to focus on the smallest part of the target first before anything else. For example we tell students to focus on the letter in the center of each target.
By hard focusing on the letter in the center of each target (for preferably 3 seconds or more), it can create a small tunnel vision effect. Oftentimes tunnel vision is used in firearms training as a negative side effect to stress, however it can be used as a useful tool to maintain focus on a threat at a hyper vigilant level. Once the event is over, it is of course favorable to break that tunnel vision to take in the information around you. All of this is to say, if we train our vision to focus on a small part of the target (even when we cannot pick out a specific spot) it can set us up for success when we raise the dot into view. Once we break that foveal vision and lose focus of the task at hand, we start to see a breakdown in consistency.
Parafoveal Vision
The visual information perceived in the area surrounding the fovea, which is the central part of the retina responsible for sharp, detailed vision. It’s the region extending up to about 5 degrees of visual angle around the fovea. While not as sharp as foveal vision, the parafovea plays a crucial role in reading, recognizing patterns, and processing visual information before the eye moves to fixate on a new point.
This idea of ALWAYS being threat focused in the police academy in my experience missed the mark on how our vision actually works. The example I like to use is when I reload my gun do I need to focus on the threat (how I was taught) or do I focus on the problem (reloading the gun). Frankly the answer is quite simple, both. I can focus my attention on making sure the new magazine is seated correctly using foveal vision, while also being aware of what is in front of me using a less focused but still useful parafoveal vision. Two things can be true at once, I can be focused on a task and still be aware of my surroundings all at the same time.
Using parafoveal vision is something we also use to transition from one target (focal point) to the next.
Parafoveal Vision
Side vision; what is seen on the side by the eye when looking straight ahead.
The purpose of peripheral vision is not to keep things in focus, but to detect movement. Used as a survival instinct, we can pick up on movement out of the corner of our eye and direct our attention in that direction if need be. This type of vision is less important for training purposes, but is very useful should we find ourselves in a life and death situation.
Vision with Iron Sights vs. Red Dot
Now that I’ve bored you enough with detailed descriptions of different types of vision the human eye uses, let’s talk about the process for which we align iron sights vs. a red dot.
Iron Sights
If you’ve been shooting for more than a few years you likely have some time behind iron sights. While iron sights are a useful tool to ensure accuracy on the target, they create three visual planes that we ultimately have to focus on. This causes visual delays, more information to process and in my opinion, creates bad training habits.
- Target
- Front sight
- Rear sight
The bad training habits I am referring to are based around common phrases you will hear, especially in a CCW or first shots course. “Speed is fine, but accuracy is final” and “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” While these quotes are catchy, I don’t find them useful when we are promoting performance driven curriculum. Speed and accuracy need to be balanced of course and we would never want to miss a target and potentially hit an innocent bystander, but there are certainly examples where it is acceptable to miss and to be as fast as you can manipulate the gun. Accuracy means very little when you are well behind the eight ball. An overdeveloped draw, like we discussed in our last article, is never a bad thing. This is why we promote throttle control drills in courses like our Threat Focused Pistol course or our Target Tracking course.
Because there is such an emphasis on accuracy for newer shooters, oftentimes they are held back from their potential for years. They are told to hold equal height and equal light, with a front sight focus. All the while the target is “blurry”. This process should be the exact opposite, given we discussed so much earlier about how our eyes work.
Red Dot
Switching gears, let’s talk about the process for using a red dot sight on your pistol. Instead of worrying about three visual planes, we now only have to worry about one, the threat. Many reading this may be confused and think now there are two visual planes, one being the threat and the other being the dot, but this would be a mistake. Of course we want to be aware of the dot, but by staring at the dot and making the target blurry, you are committing a major error. By staring at the dot you for one will see it bounce all around as opposed to settling within the target area. The other side effect to staring at the dot, especially as your gun recoils, is the gun won’t settle to the point in which your intending to hit (ie. the letter in the center of the target). Instead your hits will typically rise with the recoil and as you walk down range to check hits, you will notice a pattern of high follow up shots.
So if we know how to use the dot by staring at the target and super imposing the dot on the portion of the target we are focusing on, then we should see the following benefits.
- Faster and more accurate shots, especially at distance
- Track movement easier
- Positively identify threats much faster
- Engage multiple targets/threats by using foveal vision as the driving force
- Track your recoil in real time, by seeing a flash of red in the intended target area
MOA?
The question of which MOA to go with is definitely a new one you have to start asking. Given so many brands are offering different size dots and even different shapes now begs the question, which one should you pick?
What is MOA? MOA or “minute of angle” refers to the angular measurement your optic will perform at within different distances. For example if you have a 2 MOA dot (the most common for red dot optics) you will have a 2 inch diameter area covered on the target or 1 inch at 50 yards and so on. Some folks, especially in the competitive world may prefer a larger MOA dot because they can be easier to acquire for faster fields of fire.
Some of the more common options that will be out on the market are going to be 2, 3, 6 and 8 MOA. There are other sizes offered as well but this is the majority. I personally prefer a 2 MOA dot. It is consistent with my rifle optics I use and with a slight astigmatism, I feel like I can still focus on the dot enough to be precise when I need to. To be honest though, most everyone could shoot anything between a 2 and 6 MOA dot and see minimal change in their performance. Find a dot that works for you and go dry fire!
Open vs. Enclosed Emitter
Depending on your context the debate between open vs closed emitter may not matter to you. I tend to favor closed emitters because they give me peace of mind that no environmental factors (rain, dirt, debris) will obstruct the emitter while carrying on or off duty. However, I have been shooting a Holosun 507 Comp for competition shooting and really like this optic as well.
Open Emitter
The dot projects onto the glass and is not enclosed in the glass.
Closed Emitter
The emitter is enclosed in the housing in between the two pieces of glass.
You really can’t go wrong with either option, but you can go wrong with make and model. The brands I have experience with and prefer can be found below, but do your research!
Micro Red Dots
I love aimpoint for my rifle optics, but haven’t personally used the COA or the Acro, so I can’t speak to those. It’s hard to go wrong with Holosun, Vortex, Trijicon or Aimpoint.
Final Thoughts
Nothing replaces shooting proficiency. Even though I’ve outlined several reasons on why I think you should buy a red dot, it will not automatically make you a better shooter. You have to dry fire frequently in order to find the dot on a consistent basis. What the dot does for you is it gives you a single focal plane to acquire the site and make an informed decision to pull the trigger. Simple tends to be better when we talk about firearm proficiency and the dot is simpler!
more After Action
