AR-15s: Iron Sights vs. Optics

For the purposes of this post, I am mostly going to focus on AR-15 style rifles, but the same can be applied to other platforms.  But, if I started straying from that lane, I could have an almost endless blog post, so I will try to stick with AR's.  By the way, "AR" does not stand for "assault rifle," it stands for "Armalite rifle."  Armalite was the company that first produced Eugene Stoner's direct gas impingement rifle, and the name is now used to describe civilian, semi-automatic versions of the rifle, regardless of manufacturer.

So, one of the first things people want to know when they get a new AR seems to be: "What optic should I put on it?"  And honestly, my answer to that question for a new user is usually not to put one on.  As I will outline below, I am not anti-optic.  I do believe, however, that you should always learn iron sights before you move on to other aiming techniques.  That applies to lasers on pistols, as well as optics on rifles.  99% of pistols you pick up will have iron sights.  For rifles that percentage is lower because a lot of rifles meant to have scopes mounted don't come with sights.  But, if given the chance, you should still learn them, and you should have them on your rifle.

So, what are some advantages/disadvantages of iron sights?  First the good, when it comes to the traditional AR set-up.  They can be very accurate, in Marine Corps boot camp recruits shoot out to 500 yards with iron sights, at human sized targets, and most get a high percentage of hits.  They also are generally easy to make adjustments on for different ranges, and for the wind.  Once you get the sights zero'd, you can mark their positions, and it is easy to return to that zero after making adjustments.  It is also generally very hard to break your iron sights, they are rather robust, and can take a good amount of abuse.  The bad is that with the standard set-up, there is no contrast between the color of the sights, which can make proper sight alignment hard to achieve.  Also, since it is a peep style sight, it is hard to shoot accurately with both eyes open at distance, which reduces your field of view.  Also, there is no magnification to assist in aiming and target identification.  Below is a picture of a typical AR-15 with the standard iron sights and carrying handle

In the last decade, the U.S. military began issuing optics to everyone in combat arms, and in my humble opinion as a former infantryman, that is one of the biggest technological leaps in infantry small arms post World War Two.  Particularly the Marine Corps ACOG, which doesn't require batteries, is very rugged, easily compensates for range while helping you judge distance, and has a low power of magnification.  For general use, I like the 3-4 power range for most rifles.  If you are trying to enter into precision competitions, that probably isn't going to be enough magnification, but, for general use inside 600 yards or so, that should be plenty to get you on target.  It is powerful enough that it is useful, but not so powerful it detracts from what modern optics do so well.   My rifle currently has a no magnification red dot sight on it made by Aimpoint, however, if I wanted to, I could buy a 3 power magnifier with a flip to the side mount to use in conjunction with it.

So, what is it that they do so well?  The first thing is they help with quick target acquisition.  Not only do many of them have some sort of illuminated reticle, it means you only have one focal plane to focus on, so there is no sight alignment that you need to take time to line up.  You can also usually adjust the brightness and size of the dot, for different conditions or more precise shooting.  And in low/no light conditions, the illuminated dot is much easier to use that black on black iron sights, allowing for faster, more accurate shots.

The next advantage has to do with something that is known as the Bindon Aiming Concept.  I am not going to even attempt how the concept actually works inside our body, but with a red dot sight the advantages are quickly obvious.  With a low magnification red dot or holographic optic, like 0-4 power, if you have the optic in front of your dominant eye, and have both eyes open, you don't really see the optic itself.  Your sight picture is basically the dot or reticle floating in the air in front of you, and your hits go where you place the dot on the target.  It is hard to explain in text, but very easy to show students, and it is very easy to tell when it clicks for students using optics.  The faster target acquisition, better target identification abilities, and full use of peripheral vision are some of the main reasons I believe the military went to issued optics.

So, now for the downsides on optics.  First, quality ones are expensive.  The top holographic sights are made by EOtech, the top red dots by Aimpoint, and then Trijicon has their ACOG line, which are kind of fiber optic.  You can look through their catalogs, but you are looking at spending at least a few to several hundred dollars for one of these optics.  Next is that they can break, especially the ones from lower tier manufacturers.  Also, the batteries in them can die, although with some it isn't too much of an issue.  The Aimpoint I have on my AR-15 has a 50,000 hour battery life on some of the lower settings.  And they add extra bulk and weight to your rifle.

Now, the good news, is that as you can see in the picture above, you don't actually need to choose between the two. Many people run both an optic, and what is know as a Back Up Iron Sight (BUIS).  A BUIS is a stand alone rear sight, some of them fold, some of them don't, that replaces the rear sight in the traditional carrying handle.  I prefer non-folding for most applications, because it is one less moving part to break, and I can transition instantly from the dot, to iron sights.  This option really is only available if you have a removable carrying handle.  If you have a rifle with a permanent carrying handle, I would recommend sticking with the iron sights.  While they do make mounts that allow you to put an optic or scope on the carrying handle, that generally places the sight too hight above the bore axis of the rifle to work well.  It also is generally to high to get a good solid cheek weld, and can make shooting a bit uncomfortable.  But, back to removable carrying handle rifles, you can have both a BUIS, and an optic.  If you want to run a full sized scope, you can still find a folding BUIS that can fit under the rear of the scope, so that you can take the scope of and use it if you need to.  But I am of the opinion that you should always have a BUIS in case your optic fails, which also means you need to know how to use irons.

One of the great things about the AR family of rifles is that they are very versatile, and you can adapt them to fit a lot of different roles.  From hunting, to target shooting, to high power competitions, to defensive usage.  There are hundreds of different sight options for them, and you need to find the one that works best for you. But hopefully this post shed a little bit of light on the options, and will help guide you along the way to selecting the right one for you.
 

Selecting a Home Defense Shotgun

For well over a century now, one of the go-to firearms for home defense has been a shotgun.  Over that time, a large number of myths have developed about shotguns, and their effectiveness and use.  I am hoping in some of my future posts to address some of those myths.  This post is going to focus on some of the characteristics you should look for in buying or assembling your own home defense shotgun.



Shotguns generally have two main uses in modern times.  The first is for different types of hunting, and different types of clay pigeon shooting, like trap, skeet, and sporting clays.  The second is for defensive use, either by law enforcement and the military, as well as by civilians.  While you could take a shotgun suited for hunting and use it for defense as needed, that is not ideal, and neither is the reverse.  Hunting/sporting shotguns can be any style of action, semi-automatic, pump, and break actions including side by sides and over-unders can all be found to fulfill this role.  You can also on occasion find bolt action shotguns designed for deer hunting, which are kind of odd-balls, and don't really fit in with the rest of the types of shotguns.  Common features on these shotguns regardless of actions include long barrels, usually over 26 inches, interchangeable choke tubes, and a small magazine capacity.  Many jurisdictions limit the number of rounds a  hunting shotgun can hold, often to three rounds.  So, even though a standard Remington 870 pump action shotgun can hold 5 rounds, the magazine tube needs to be plugged in order to legally hunt.  Be sure if you intend to hunt, you know the firearms laws and restrictions for the jurisdiction you intend to hunt in, because they vary throughout the nation.  They also usually have simple sighting systems, like a plain bead front sight.


Defensive shotguns have different traits that make them more suitable for the role.  They generally have shorter barrels, usually between 18.5 inches, and 20 inches.  The shorter barrel makes the shotgun more maneuverable indoors, as well as helping clear doorways because there is less out in front of you for someone to grab, or for you to accidentally have sticking into a room, giving away your position.  They also have larger magazine capacities where allowed by law, sometimes up to 8 rounds for a tube magazine, or 10 rounds for a detachable box magazine.  The larger capacity does add some weight at the front of the gun, but doesn't add much bulk, and allows you to stay in the fight longer before reloading.  They often do not have interchangeable choke tubes, and generally have a fixed choke, which has one of the more open patterns, like Improved Cylinder.  There isn't a need for different chokes on a shotgun like this, because their intended use is usually at very close range.  They can have more complex sighting systems, like rifle sights, night sight beads, or ghost ring sights.  They also may have a weapon mounted light, and some way to carry spare ammunition on the shotgun.   Below are some examples of home defense shotguns, a semi-auto Mossberg 930 SPX, pump action Remington 870, and a side by side Stoeger Coach Gun.

While you can use a hunting shotgun for defense, or a defense shotgun for hunting, it is not ideal to do so.  It is possible to have one shotgun, and modify it for either use.  This is easiest accomplished with a pump action shotgun.  The two main contenders on the market today are the Remington 870, and the Mossberg 500.  If I was only going to own one shotgun, it would be one of these two.  As they come from the factory, both usually have a 26 or 28 inch barrel, and a 5 shot capacity.  Both companies also have different grade shotguns, which get more expensive with the upgrades.  The biggest difference between the base model 870 Express, and the 500, are the locations of the controls, including the safety.  So, if you are looking for a shotgun, try to get your hands on both, and see which controls work best for you.

The base model is already set up pretty well for most kinds of hunting.  The barrel is long enough to swing well and provide good patterns, and the shotgun often comes with a magazine plug to reduce capacity for hunting.  You can also find 18.5 inch barrels for both of these shotguns readily available.  By removing the plug, and swapping the longer barrel for an 18.5 inch barrel, you have a good choice for a home defense shotgun.  That way you have one shotgun that can fill pretty much anything you need it to, with just the change of a barrel, which can even be accomplished without tools, in under a minute.   If I was going to own just one shotgun, the above set up is what I would use.

There are a plethora of accessories on the market today for defensive shotgun, but I like to keep mine rather simple.  I add a sling, a light source, and some way to carry extra ammo, and leave it at that.  I covered weapon mounted lights in a previous post, but I think they serve a good purpose on a home defense shotgun, and are a good investment.  You do need to ensure you buy a quality light and mount that will be able to withstand the recoil from a shotgun.  And position the light in a place where you can activate it using your normal hand position during firing.  They do make some excellent fore-end replacement units for pump action shotguns that allow you to operate the light with your forward hand, while cycling the weapon even.

For holding extra ammo you can add a side-saddle, which my 870 has, on the side of the reciever, or an elastic buttstock sleeve.  Both work relatively well, and the elastic sleeve is not model specific.  The slings that are designed to hold extra shells generally don't work, because they prevent proper sling use, as well as adding a swinging pendulum of weight under the shotgun that disturbs your aim.  But, a quality sling that allows you to use your hands while maintaining control of the shotgun is a good idea.

I prefer the standard style buttstock on my shotgun.  Most of the folding stocks I have encountered don't have a very tight lock up, and make noise and don't provide a good cheek weld.  Similarly, I don't like pistol grip only stocks.  You lose the ability to properly sight the shotgun, and it intensifies recoil.  They look really cool in the movies, and have limited real world use for breaching shotguns, but for home defense, I like an actual buttstock that allows me to get a good cheek weld, distributes recoil throughout my body, and lets me use the sights on my shotgun.  And fore-ends with pistol grips tend to feel a bit awkward to cycle, and add extra bulk to the shotgun.

I also don't like lasers on shotguns.  With most shells, a shotgun fires a pattern of pellets, which spreads with distance.  Unless you are shooting slugs, which have major over-penetration concerns for home defense, a laser is just going to give a general idea of where you will hit.  Keep your home defense shotgun as simple as possible, it doesn't need a whole lot of bells and whistles.  In fact, bells and whistles may detract from it's usefulness.

Which brings me to my next point.  In the picture above, one of the shotguns doesn't look like the rest.  That shotgun is a Stoeger Coach Gun.  Some people may say that it is obsolete as a home defense shotgun in the 21st century, I would disagree with them, but there is a caveat.  The advantage of a coach gun is that it's overall length is short, even shorter than my pump or semi-auto with their short barrels.  It is also much lighter weight than either of the other two.  And, since it has dual triggers, if you want or need to, you can shoot both barrels at once.  Which brings me to my caveat.  The reload of this style shotgun is rather slow, requires fine motor skills, and it has a very limited capacity of two shots.  So, if you are going to use a shotgun like this for home defense, have something to back it up, like a defensive pistol, so after the first two rounds are fired, you can transition to something with more capacity if needed.  This is a technique that goes back to at least the post-Civil War era in America, with a short side by side shotgun to begin an engagement, backed up by a handgun.

Hopefully this answered some of your questions about selecting a home defense shotgun.  In future posts I hope to explore some related topics, such as shell selection, as well as addressing some of the myths surrounding shotgun usage.  If anyone has any questions or comments, feel free to post them, and I will try to address them as soon as possible.

Thoughts On Taking Cover

I realize that it has been a couple of weeks since the last post, but hopefully things have settled down for me enough that I can get back to my post a week goal.

In this post I am going to go over something that needs consideration relating to having a defensive mindset and situational awareness.  And that is the difference between cover and concealment.

Concealment is a barrier that obscures you from the threat.  If you are hiding behind a bush, or an interior wall, then you are behind concealment, not cover.

Cover is a barrier that protects you from the threat.  If you are behind a mound of packed dirt, a cinder block wall, or the engine block of a vehicle, then you are most likely behind cover.  Now, take note that I said most likely.  That is because firearms come in a wide variety of powers.  What provides you cover from a .22LR, may not be able to protect you from a 12 gauge slug.

So, what constitutes cover is a changing concept, and also cover can deteriorate with repeated hits.  But, generally speaking, if there is a threat trying to shoot you, you should get behind the most solid piece of cover possible, and then evade or engage accordingly.

What I am not advocating is to sit there and try to determine what type of gun you are being shot at by, and then looking for appropriate cover, because there isn't time for that.  But, a lot of what is used as cover in TV and the movies, is actually concealment.  A car door is really just a couple pieces of sheet metal with some trim and glass, and can be penetrated with many handgun rounds.  A wooden table or couch are definitely concealment, as is an interior wall, and most doors.

Some things that generally make good cover are packed dirt (there is a reason the military still uses sandbags), concrete, thick gauge metal, and thick trees and pieces of wood.  Be aware of the threat of ricochet with any of the hard surfaces as well.

Pretty much the worst thing you can do if there is a lethal threat, is stand still.  It can greatly increase your chances of survival  if you move, especially towards cover.  Concealment is better than standing still, but not as good as cover.

So make sure you understand the differences between cover and concealment, and learn how to recognize what cover is.  If you have the opportunity, you may want to run some tests to see what kind of things qualify as cover, just make sure you do so in a safe manner.  Also, you can check out the link to the "Box O' Truth" he has a lot of tests on penetration capabilities of different rounds, that may be rather eye opening.

Weapon mounted vs. handheld light sources

As a civilian, it is very important to be able to identify a threat before you engage your target.  The majority of civilian defensive conditions occur in low-light or night time settings, so having some sort of illumination device handy is important.

Night sights and lasers can both be great additions to a defensive sidearm.  Night sights contain a small amount of a substance called Tritium in them, which glows in the dark.  That allows you to obtain proper sight alignment, even in the dark.  Another added side effect is that if you have them on your nightstand gun, you can use them as a reference point in the middle of the night to know where the pistol is, without the need to fumble around blindly.  The main downside is cost, but usually for $100-150 you can get a set installed on your pistol, and they also make rifle front sight posts and shotgun beads with tritium.  The other downside is that they don't last forever.  Tritium has a relatively short half-life, and so the sights dim over time, and need replaced after 10 or 15 years or so.

Lasers can also have definite advantages for defensive use.  They make a very visible aiming point on your target, and you don't really need to worry about sights.  In target range practice, you should work on mastering aiming with sights before you rely on the laser, but, in at the average ranges in a defense scenario, a laser is a definite advantage.  They also have their downsides.  They are more expensive than night sights, and run off batteries, which can fail when you need them most (which is why you should know how to use your iron sights too).  Also, due to the trajectory at which a bullet travels after it leaves the barrel, which is some variation of a parabolic arch, the laser is only truly on target at a set distance.  Aside from that set distance, some sort of Kentucky windage is needed.  


Now that I have covered some basics on those sighting aids, back to illumination sources.  You have two main options, a weapon-mounted light (WML), or a handheld flashlight, both have advantages and disadvantages, which I will cover.  I am not going to attempt to convey proper methods for using/holding flashlights in this post, that is something best covered in actual training.


The handheld flashlight is the simpler of the two.  Some traits that you want to look for if you are going to buy a flashlight for defensive use are a momentary switch, something durable, with a long battery life.    Surefire, Streamlight and Fenix all make suitable flashlights.  You want something small and light enough to carry and conceal, but not so small that it isn't bright enough to use.  For reference, I often carry a Surefire 6P LED, or a G2.  I prefer flashlights with tail end on/off switches, I find them easier to manipulate properly.  I like them to have a temporary on/off, and as well as a constant on/off capability. That way I can use light sparingly if needed, or leave it on without my hand cramping up from holding it too long.  The main disadvantage of a handheld light is that you need to modify your grip on whatever firearm you are using, be it a handgun or a long-gun.  It is also one more thing that you need to carry and control.  But it can also serve as an improvised weapon in your off-hand, for using hammer-fist strikes or a similar technique at close range.  Also, with the brightness of modern hand held flashlights, you can use them to temporarily blind/disorient the threat.  

WML's seem to be more en vogue these days, sticking with the current "tacti-cool" craze in the firearms industry.  The advantage to them is that they let you keep both hands on your firearm for a more solid grip, if they are set up properly, you don't even need to modify your grip.  And it keeps everything contained in one package, there is nothing additional you need to grab.  One downside is that if you mount a WML on a pistol, it adds bulk and weight onto the sidearm.  If you are carrying the pistol concealed, that is a big consideration.  Make sure that you function test your sidearm with the light on, it order to make sure that it operates properly with the different balance and weight distribution.  You also need to get a specially made holster in order to fit the combo, because you aren't going to have time to put the light on the gun in a lethal situation.  This adds cost, as well as makes concealment more difficult.  For long-guns, WML's make more sense to me, mounted far forward to reduce barrel shadow, and in a position where I can either operate the tail switch with my forward hand, or with a pressure switch running back to where my hand normally is, or both.  Pressure switches can be great, but they can fail, the wiring can go bad, and they have a higher likelihood of getting bumped accidentally when you don't want them to.  However, either on a pistol or long-gun, you need to make sure you buy a quality light that is capable of absorbing repeated recoil without damaging the bulb and internals.  This is especially true for a light you are going to mount on a gun with a high amount of recoil, like a 12 gauge shotgun.

But, the major difference between the two, and biggest disadvantage of the WML is this:  you have to point your gun at something in order to illuminate it.  If that thing is a threat, then that is okay.  But if that thing isn't a threat, then it is a major issue to muzzle someone or something with a loaded firearm.  A cardinal rule of gun safety is "don't point the gun at anything you aren't willing to destroy."  And if you are searching into dark corners with a WML, you are almost certainly violating that rule.  A handheld light can be used independently of the firearm, you can scan the whole area while keeping the gun pointed in a safe direction.  You can illuminate an area in a non-threat scenario, without pulling out your sidearm.   Or by using proper technique, you can use a handheld light to illuminate the area your muzzle is pointing.

I do believe that both systems can serve an important role, but you need to be cognizant of which one is proper for your situation.  When I am out and about, I usually have some sort of handheld light on my person, and use it fairly often for simply illuminating something.  But, at home, my defensive long-guns have WML's on them, which I have trained to use during my time in the Marines, but I also keep a handheld light handy, and which one I will use depends on the situation.

Being able to identify your target, and also being able to control your muzzle are both very important in a high stress threat situation.  I think that having some sort of light source handy, at least during low-light or night time is a good idea, for more reasons than just defensive use.  I hope this has been informative, as always, if anyone has questions or comments, please feel free to contact me.  Shoot straight.