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Posted: 10/26/2011 6:55:55 AM EDT
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Is an Aimpoint/Eotech RDS practical for HD use or better suited for competition and such?
Tomac |
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This past year I have seen quite a few students using red dots on their shotguns and they swear by them. Up close at most common home defense distances you probably won't see much of an advantage. Once you start expanding that range they start to become more useful. Especially if using slugs and firing from awkward positions.
Honestly I think for the 5 yards or so that you would be working with indoors I would say that a white light and high visibility sight of some sort would be more useful. |
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Watch someone shoot skeet doubles. A traditional dot sight can be extremely fast to acquire and use. They can hit clay birds moving at 40 mph that are 15 yards away, so considerably slower bad guys at much shorter distances shouldn't be an issue. A plain bead, fiber optic, or tritium dot can get this accomplished without the expense, weight, durability, and reliability concerns that optics have.
For long distances with slugs, I could see the advantage of a red dot over rifle sights. For HD with buckshot, I'm inclined to stick with the simplicity of a dot. |
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An RDS makes a rifle aim and shoot like a shotgun. Only one focal plane instead of two. A shotgun already aims and shoots like a shotgun. Beyond HD ranges, an RDS is great to about 125 yards with slugs. It is also good for sloppy shotgun shooters with bad form.
If the same gun will be used for HD and competition, yes you may like it but using a typical shotgun stock means you will have to lift your head and have a poor cheek weld when using the RDS. The aftermarket stocks, like Mesa, that give proper cheek weld for use with the RDS will cause you to shoot high with a plain bead. So you need to decide before you start spending money and stay with one or the other. In the end you spend an additional $750 or more to make an HD shotgun with an RDS shoot to the same POA as a plain shotgun at 7 yards. Besdies that, you may not even like using an RDS in the dark. At that point you could have justifed buying a new Benelli with dedicated Surefire stock. Try before you buy. |
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All I can say is that I have a cheap RDS on my shotgun and I can hit every thrown clay I shoot at. I don't know what it is but I cannot use bead sights. My friends were the same way. But when I installed the RDS, no one misses now? I don't know what it is. It's funny, because I don't use an RDS on any of my AR's.
But for HD, I don't really see a use for it. I dunno, but it seems at close range the bead would be quicker? |
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I have a Supernova with an Aimpoint, one of my friends has an 870 with a bead. I am faster with mine, he is faster with his. It is all a matter of what you are used to, and what you train with. There is no searching to find my dot. I bring it up to my shoulder, tuck my head to the stock, and there it is. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
Using a red dot is much easier for me to pick up quickly. I'm right-handed and left-eye dominant, so when looking down the barrel at a bead my eyes get confused and I loose the correct sight picture. I'm working on trying to overcome this, but for now I'll stick with what's working for me. This shotgun it loaded for HD and I just leave the Aimpoint on. I shoot it at least once a week, so if the battery ever dies I'll know pretty quick.
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