Sights: when to bother, when to not

It's so nice that everyone is honest about it in this thread.
I chuckle so much when people get all fussy about their scopes.

 
I find that I can honestly snap shoot just about far enough to get away with move, mount, shoot style with a primary.  But throw in darkness, adrenalin shakes or glare and a set of irons is useful.

That said, I do enjoy an annual weekend with the DMR and period Tasco Wide Angle.  Enjoyment is tempered when younger players ask what the 'cool finish' is on the glossy scope.  

 
I got a magnifier to see where my bbs were truly going and never looked back! Granted I play the sneaky role, hiding in a hedge and popping people through tiny gaps in the foliage ? But even playing assault I find a red dot invaluable to landing the bbs right away. You say they are pointless given the "ballistic properties" of bbs, but honestly a bb's relatively flat trajectory makes a sight pretty ideal. So long as you account for height over bore you can put a zeroed scope on a fairly consistent shooting pew pew and you can be hitting targets with the first bbs 10/10 times. No need for good light conditions to know where you're pointing. 

 
For my aegs I tend to run a red dot sight, although it's partly for looks tbh. 

For cqb I don't really have a choice about point shooting as I tend to use as this is my primary. No rear sight and the front bead sight is obscured by the shock chordView attachment 90994

 
I’ve only played airsoft since 2018, and always had some sort of red dot thing mounted to my RIF’s 

My latest aeg has nothing on it and I’m quite happy using the iron sites (I can’t find something that suits it (Tart I know))

Having played Paintball in my younger years, for circa 20 years , it was all about muscle memory and snap shooting

Its put me in good shape, I can genuinely pop out and hit a target probably up to 30 meters quite accurately without the use of any optic or iron site at all

I find it just down to practice

Getting comfy with my rif and it’s feel, balance, and where it will hit

Try it

Get a barricade that you can stand and hide behind , and lean out to the side to shoot at a target then get back in

do this 100 times doing it faster & faster and eventually your muscles learn how far you have to move out to get to the “learned” position to shoot

Once you have done this for a few dozen times, you can actually just snap straight out, pull the trigger, get back into cover  , and hear the “HIT” 

Massively satisfying 

My optics are fitted 80% for fashion factor ?

 
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I generally do just fine with iron sights, though it depends on what situation I'm in:

if I'm setting up an ambush, then yeah I do aim down my sights, if I'm the one being ambushed I mostly point and shoot, I still shoulder whatever gun I have but getting a sight picture is at the bottom of my priority list, at least for the first two/three bursts.

 
Skara said:
...if I'm setting up an ambush, then yeah I do aim down my sights, if I'm the one being ambushed I mostly point and shoot...
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See I'm coming from the viewpoint that ideally you should see your opponent before they see you, and that's where a optic (ideally magnified) comes in very handy.

Obviously it all goes to shit if you get bounced - I'm not going to sit there and try and get a sight picture if I get ambushed - but then I'm likely dead already...

 
I love sights on basically everything outside of pistols (because I crawl along the floor a lot and would probably break lots of pistol red dots...) and think that if you take the time to zero a sight properly they are a massive help on pretty much any gun. Personally, I am a big telescopic sight fan because I like my bolt actions and long guns. I think bolt actions and DMRs benefit from having a 3x and upwards variable scope, as you take the shots with 3x, but can use higher magnification for reconnaissance purposes. If you're going to play the sniper role, at least play it right ;)

This does extend to normal rifles; I love LPVOs! 1-6x scopes are fantastic for any rifle, as you can use it like a red dot on 1x, but if you want to take some longer range shots or want to see where your shots are going you can put the magnification up to wherever you need it. I only run a red dot on my MWS because 1. I had it, and 2. I don't want to remove the front sight and the front sight very much interferes with using an LPVO. I also think that red dots are great on rifles and SMGs as if you set up a red dot and zero it properly, it's a great aid for lining up those shots quickly and accurately.

 
Very true.   A decent 1-4/6 covers pretty much all.   

Not many budget options compared to 4x40 as far as I know.   Anyone have a wallet friendly suggestion? 

 
Tactical Pith Helmet said:
Very true.   A decent 1-4/6 covers pretty much all.   
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the problem i have with those is the "1" isn't really 1 in the same way as running a dot would be (ie zero eyebox if you see the dot you're good).

i found with the stacked setup i ran for a while the lpvo stayed stuck on 4x constantly with the stacked dot being used for 99.9% of engagements, but it was just a shift from chin to cheek weld if i needed to use the magnification.

 
Cheap LPVOs are crap, good LPVOs are stupid expensive.

LPVOs are heavy and often lackluster in either 1x performance (in terms of 1x not being a true 1x) or shit tier eyebox when magnification is applied.

A more cost effective way would be a micro dot stacked on top of a fixed 4x, half the weight, a quarter of the price and very comparable performance with, often, better glass quality.

 
Skara said:
A more cost effective way would be a micro dot stacked on top of a fixed 4x, half the weight, a quarter of the price and very comparable performance with, often, better glass quality.
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pretty much my feelings, given even with the variable i left it set on 4x all the time anyway.

didn't really feel any need for less than 4x as you'd just use the dot, and even at 4x it was mostly for checking "am i hitting or has this guy got plot armour on?"

found the same with the pso on the dragonuv- i was so often tempted to pull the optic and just run irons....

 
Never used any kind of optics for over 10 years, then got an Eotech at a bargain price and haven't looked back since. I'm honest enough to admit the perceived improvement in my shooting probably isn't all that great but that, added to the cool factor has definitely made it worth it.

The 68moa circle I'd say is definitely more beneficial in airsoft than the dot.

I have since bought a Vortex viper for my glock, mainly for the looks, though I've found that the main benefit is when engaging targets over 10m away, especially if they are ducking in and out of cover.

 
My 1-4 is actually a 1.4-4.  I can snap shoot with it fine both eyes open.   I certainly don't see the insides of the scope (is that eyebox?) unless I badly fuck up mounting the rifle.  The frame around the image is not an issue for me, but now that @Adolf Hamster has mentioned it perhaps it will be when I fit the dot I bought a few months back to a rif and start using it.  If it does, I'll blame him.  ? 

Out of interest, has anyone on here mounted a pistol scope scout style on a long gun?

 
I'm slightly short sighted, so need glasses to see in sharp focus past about 15m. But I find what works is no glasses and a 3/4X sight. means I can see perfect detail up to the 50-60m range of my rifs and watch the BB's bouncing off the non hit takers and can see the snipers who think they are invisible. All my Rifs either have Vortex Spitfire 3x (great sight), or the cheaper £60 amazon version (far less eye box, but OK)

Pistols I just do fixed sights and that works fine for me out to 25m of so

 
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