Red dot vs German #4

[Demos]

Hi,
I've been building up an AR for a while, and I finished my lower and am working on 2 uppers. The first is a 20" barrel for precision work, and I'm also going to be working on a 16" m4-ish upper. My biggest question on the latter is what to do about the optic. I like the quick acquisition of red-dot sights, but when I've tried to use them much past 100 yards, even with a magnifier, I feel as if the dot covers everything. On the other hand, all the scopes I've ever owned have had a duplex reticle and ≈3" of eye relief, but are great at shooting past 100 yards. Do you think a variable low-mid power scope with an illuminated German #4 reticle would be the best of both worlds (quick acquisition of targets w/ the ability to see things past 100) or would it be a bastard child that fails at both?

Thanks,
Demos

 

[henschman]

In my experience, red dots are effective on man-sized targets out to at least 300 yards or so. I don't know what your issue was -- one thing to pay attention to is that you don't want to have the dot turned up so bright that it "blooms" and makes sight picture difficult. Red dots aren't any worse than iron sights as far as the ability to see the target goes, and we all know irons can be plenty effective out to much longer distances than 300 as long as you have spotted the target first.

That is the main advantage of magnified optics -- they aid in actually detecting the target in the first place, which, in the field, is a much harder job than actually firing the shot. As a downside, they have eye relief and parallax issues, which make them slower than a red dot no matter how you slice it.

A 1-4x scope is a good compromise between speed and available magnification.

 

[jmr40]

Pick your poision. A red dot is easier to see in low light, but the target is harder to see. With a quality scope the crosshairs are harder to see, but it is much easier to see and identify the target. If you have the money, and don't mind some extra weight one of the 1-4X scopes with an illuminated reticle might be the best all around choice.

With a good low powered scope, such as a 1-4X you can pick up targets just as quickly as with a red dot for fast up close shooting and with can also shoot much better at distance. I have both, and much prefer a 1-4X with a thick reticle.

red dots are effective on man-sized targets out to at least 300 yards or so. I don't know what your issue was -- one thing to pay attention to is that you don't want to have the dot turned up so bright that it "blooms" and makes sight picture difficult. Red dots aren't any worse than iron sights

This depends on the dot sight. Most cover 5 MOA even on the lowest setting. That dot will cover 15" at 300 yards and many have adjustments that are 1 MOA. which makes precision zeroing difficult. If you get a red dot with a 2 MOA dot this is very possible.

I don't know how much you want to spend, but of the Red Dots the Vortex SPARC sells for around $200 and is the least expensive that I've found that actually works. The Leupold VX-1 in a 1-4X20 sells for the same price and with one of the thick reticles works fine. If you can afford more the sky is the limit.

http://swfa.com/Leupold-1-4x20-VX-1-ShotgunMuzzleloader-Scope-P51851.aspx

http://swfa.com/Vortex-SPARC-Red-Dot-Sights-C2988.aspx