Game-Changing Red Dot Sight and Holographic Sights

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Red Dot Sight and Holographic Sights 101

The first red dot sight was first marketed in 1975, but it was not until the early 2000s that the United States military began to use them regularly. Red dot and holographic sites are excellent tools during close-quarter combat situations and home defense.

Red dot and holographic sights continue to dominate the many AR platforms. It is rumored that this segment of the electronic sight market outnumbers all of the other scope types combined.

Countless red dot and holographic sights are equipped by law enforcement, military, competitive shooters, hunters, and target shooters across the United States, and the world. This popularity has grown due to the advances in optical quality and clarity as well as battery life.

Before you purchase your next electronic firearm sight, let’s educate you on a few features and brands that you need to consider.

What is a Red Dot Sight or Holographic Sight and how do they work?

We thought we would start by defining some of the basics. These electronic sights are pretty simple to operate and understand. As you can guess, the dot is the sight used to and is designed for close to moderate ranges. Holographic and red dot sights are only a 1X magnification and do not have magnification.

A red dot sight creates a reticle by reflecting light at the focal point of a lens that appears steadily before the shooter’s eye that is focused at an infinite distance. You can adjust your view within a large area behind the reticle, and if you can see the reticle in the sight window and place it over your target, you will have reasonable accuracy.

Why You Need a Red Dot or Holographic Sight

The success of this weapon site is simplicity. Although the design may be complex, everything else is relatively simple. Red dot optics are easy to use, easy to acquire, and relatively easy to stay on target.

This electronic firearm sight is a great option for younger or new shooters. Once the sight is zeroed, it is easy for an inexperienced shooter to acquire their target; set the dot on the target and pull the trigger.

Another reason red dot sights are highly popular among AR platform gun owners is speed. Target acquisition with a red dot sight is extremely fast. No matter your angle, if you are shooting in a rush and you can see the dot, you can hit your target.

These weapon sights are extremely versatile. A red dot sight can be easily mounted on an AR, a shotgun, or a handgun making them ideal for sports shooting, competitive shooting, and home defense.

Top 7 Benefits of a Red Dot Sights:

Allows the user to shoot with both eyes open

Versatile use: hunt, compete, target, self-defense, CQB

Quick target acquisition for better accuracy

Great for those with poor eyesight

Unlimited field of view (FOV)

Great in low light conditions

Can be mounted on various firearms: rifles, shotguns, and pistols

Best Red Dot Sight Brands to Consider

Trijicon Red Dot Optics

Trijicon Optics stems from the combination of two words: “Tritium” the key element in the company’s innovative illumination technology, and “icon” meaning a picture or image. The “j” was added to combine both words to form Trijicon.

Additionally, the “iji” in Trijicon mimics the “three-dot” design of the Bright & Tough™ Night Sights being manufactured. The most notable red dot sight is the Trijicon ACOG.

The Trijicon ACOG was launched in 1987 and has been the go-to red dot scope for the military for the last four decades. It’s no secret as to why we chose this exact sight for our Rooftop Arms RECON model rifle.

To this day, Trijicon continues to produce some of the most innovative electronic firearm sights on the market. The ACOG is still a formable leader making transitions to the public sector.

Newer models like the RMR Reflex sight are stellar options for handguns and are widely used for self-defense, military, law enforcement, target, and competitive shooting.

The Trijicon MOR (miniature rifle optic) is a sealed, miniature reflex sight used primarily on rifles, carbines, and shotguns. This sight is used on the Rooftop Arms RUBY model rifle.

Sig Sauer Red Dot Optics

Dating back to 1864, Sig Sauer has been producing quality firearms and came to the United States in the 1980s. Although new to the optics market, launching fully into the optics, ammo, and suppressor market in 2015, Sig Sauer is an industry leader in electronic firearms sights.

Sig Sauer uses its world-class firearms knowledge and unparalleled design expertise to produce some of the highest quality red dot sights in the industry.

Vibrant and crystal clear, Sig Sauer has developed a large selection of precision red dot sights and micro red dot sight options. The Romeo series offers a wide variety of red dot sights to make you fast and accurate for close range due to their compact and lightweight size.

A new addition to the Sig Sauer red dot sight line-up is the Juliet Micro Combo. The Juliet3 is an ultra-compact and lightweight magnifier to the extremely accurate Romeo Series of red dot sights.

EO Tech Optics

EO Tech is considered to be the “gold standard” of red dot sights by so many. Since 1996, EOTECH Holographic Weapon Sights (HWS) have been designed, developed, and manufactured in the US. EOTECH is defined by the quality of high-performance red dot sights and world-class service.

The U.S. Special Operations (USSOCOM), select elite Army units and the US Marine Corps use the EOTECH HWS as the preferred close-quarter combat optic of choice. The EO Tech optic is also used on the Rooftop Arms COMPETITION model rifle.

EO Tech produces a variety of red dot sights and magnifiers that reach beyond military and law enforcement uses. EO Tech red dot sights are ideal for custom AR builds offering an easy-to-use, high-quality, weapon sight that will greatly enhance the accuracy and dependability of your weapon.

How We Help Customers Choose the Best Red Dot or Holographic Sight

At Rooftop Arms, we believe that optics should never be an afterthought when building a custom firearm. In most cases, we believe the optics should be discussed before the conversation about the features of the firearm.

We help you walk through the purpose of the gun build, pick a great optic, and then begin selecting firearm components. You can build a great gun, but if you choose lesser quality optics, the performance of the gun diminishes significantly.

Interested in learning more?

Rooftop Arms specializes in custom gun builds with protective coatings. Call us today at (360) 559-6210 or visit our custom gun build tool for additional information.

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