![\"Bushnell](\"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/thumb_IMG_8377_1024.jpg\" "\\"Bushnell")
<\/a>Red dot and Magnifier, less than $600 street price. Combined.<\/p><\/div>\n
Red dot sights have become the de facto weapon of choice for AR-15\u2019s following the huge successes in military use for the GWOT. Whatever you may have thought of this when it started, red dots for rifles have proven to be durable enough for combat in some of the worst environments on earth. They have changed things to the point even the USMC no longer teaches iron sights in basic training, a day I thought I would never live to see.<\/p>\n
Why has this shift happened? Well, the reasons are many. Red dots work in any light, without a need for specialized tritium inserts that are still sketchy in mid light. With only a dot to track, the need for rapidly shifting focal planes is negated. In simple terms, that means it is easier to use under combat conditions. On a range, against static paper targets, the advantage is hard to grasp. But in the real world, targets tend to move. A lot and fast, if tactical Darwinism has already been at play for a while. Focusing on a front sight means lack of focus on the target, which often translates to a miss. An electronic red dot makes it much easier to use “soft focus,” overlaying the dot on a moving target while keeping the target in focus.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Big D, with its 37mm Objective<\/p><\/div>\n
The last point that the rifle purist among us don\u2019t want to hear is that learning is easier with a red dot. I believe in irons, and I think a man is missing out by not learning to use them. Like a standard transmission in a Jeep, it is just something you should know how to use. (For our younger readers, standard means a stick. And a clutch pedal. That you have to use in combination to make the vehicle go. You can\u2019t just press the gas. The car won\u2019t shift gears on its own. Paddle shifters don\u2019t count. Rant over.) But I cannot deny it is easier to teach a new shooter to use a red dot. You still need all the rifle fundamentals to make a reliable hit at any kind of range, like trigger control and breathing. But taking sight alignment and head position out of the equation does shorten the learning curve significantly. Having taught a large number of third-world troops to use one, I can assure you this is true. Just the thought of trying to make them competent with real irons still keeps me awake some nights.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Transition magnifier<\/p><\/div>\n
So, moving on to our new Bushnell package<\/a>. I will also be the first to admit that a red dot sight has some advantages and some drawbacks over other sighting systems. The first thing that comes to mind is a red dot against a mid-range magnified scope, such as the excellent Bushnell <\/a>SMRS 1×6.5. At close range, inside 100 meters, a red dot is faster. Because a red dot is truly parallax free and doesn\u2019t have an eye box, a trained shooter can almost always sling it faster. If I were doing CQB for a living again, it would be all red dot all the time. Past 100m, a magnified optic is usually better, and really starts to blow the doors off a red dot at around 300m.<\/p>\n Yes, you can shoot a red dot past 300m. People shoot irons at 1000 all the time, I get that. But a magnified optic does make it easier. And when targets start getting smaller, that matters even more. And this is really where the Bushnell 3x magnifier for the red dot comes it. It helps bridge the gap between a red dot and a scope.<\/p>\n