Question has any one or does anyone one  think it's probable to complete a carabine class with a 3x9x40 scope and offset redot

Wouldn't be my first choice due to size/weight etc, but sure you can do it. Esp with the offset rds. At 3x mag I guess it'd be kinda like an acog/rds setup in a way, then depending on the ranges you shoot at you'd have a nice option for the longer distance stuff.

The other question is durability. Obviously acogs and some of the often recommended LPVOs are highly regarded for that, and you'll have to decide if you think your optic can handle a beating. Getting dropped, banging on barricades, etc.

Having done a few carbine classes I'd personally just do the red dot alone. You'll appreciate the light weight and small form factor by the end of a day or two of shooting.

Ditch the scope and properly mount the red dot.

Thank you to all and I am taking everything in and still learing

As others have said, unless the class is orientated toward a SDM training evolution I would NOT take a 3-9 optic.  Ironically I do like 3.5x and 4x fixed ACOGs, but every class I have attended were set up for RDS distances and scenarios.  Some did stretch to about 100M but that's an easy hit with a RDS.  I would like to attend a class that highlights a wider range of engagement evolutions to include those that would capitalize on the perceived benefits a LPVO (say 1-6x or 1-8x).

Short answer: no 3-9x40 unless you want to hate the class.

Most carbine courses don’t do very much work past 25yds.  Sometimes they push to 50 or 100, and on occasion you go longer distance, but better than 80% of the courses tend to be inside that 25yd distance because many courses emphasize the fundamentals of handling, operation and marksmanship beyond just hitting the bullseye.  These are things like recoil management, movement, reloads, sling use, target transitions, etc.  

I instruct with a civilian firearms training group and have had plenty of students show up with inappropriate setups for courses.  It doesn’t take long for them to figure out that what they brought was inappropriate.  We have loaner rifles with RDS, and on most occasions they will take us up on using a loaner after they spend enough time hating their personal setups.  There were things like hunting scopes, magnified gunsights without mounted RDS, and various accessory configurations.  If I had someone show up with your setup to a standard carbine course, I would make it a point to get you behind a rifle with a more appropriate setup at some point to let you see the difference, and I guarantee you’d notice it.  If you showed up to our patrol rifle marksman course where most of the course is 100-600yds, you’d be setup appropriately.  Offset RDS are good for quick use, but prolonged use is beyond problematic because it doesn’t jive with the fundamentals that shooting courses are designed to build.  Recoil management, transitions, reloads, positional shooting, etc will all be challenged and much more laborious to figure out.  In some positional shooting, you can’t even use offset RDS.  Point being, the rifle needs to match the training.  Don’t try to make the training match the rifle.  If you’re taking a close range course, you shouldn’t be using a long range setup and vise-versa.  It’s a good learning experience to see what works and what doesn’t, but there is a way to flatten the learning curve by doing some research and changes ahead of time; kinda like what you’re doing now.  So Kudos for looking into the issue.

Since I started this post I have done 2 rifle classes it wasn't to bad for me. not really to heavy but getting use to the difference between scope and redot.

How is it going now @Bsemler?

Wasn't to bad had 2 more since than  then and 2 individual classes and  I think did well.

For whatever context it's worth, here is an 8 year old video from Sage Dynamics.



In hind sight, I think with the advent of secondary mrds(Offset or twelve o'clock) this is a much more reasonable setup for your average prepared citizen in 2024.