Whether you’re a casual shooter, sport shooter or just making your entry into the world of hunting and firearms, chances are you’ll be looking to purchase an optic that can be paired with your firearm. A red dot sight is an ideal solution for close-range targets; it is a non-magnifying sight that projects a red dot reticle on the target in your field of view and enables the user to take perfect aim without worrying about parallax adjustment or eye relief.  

While red dots have been in the market since the late 1970s, holographic sights have been gradually rising as an advancement in technology over red dot sights. But it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the definitive answer to getting the perfect shot. 

What is a red dot sight? 

A red dot sight is a type of optic and is normally used at closer ranges. This sight is extremely easy to use and assists first-time shooters with more simplified aiming. Red dot Sights have a red dot as the reticle when you look through this device. A reticle is a dot or line on an optical device that is used as a measuring scale.

Red dots come in two variations, prism sights and reflex sights, which differ in their internal construction but use the same technology and have the same advantages. Generally, “reflex” red dots refer to smaller red dots for pistols and “full size” red dots refer to larger red dots for shotguns and rifles.

        Prism Sight                                                            Reflex Sight

Such optical aiming devices were originally mainly used by armed law enforcement and military units however their use later steadily spread among sport shooters and hunters. 

You can use red dots on almost all weapon types, including pistols, rifles and shotguns. Long-range rifles also very often have a red dot accompanying the rifle scope as an alternative for quick close-range shots, either canted on the side or on top of the rifle scope itself.  

Consider these essential factors before buying a red dot to make sure it’s compatible with your firearm and can help improve your aim:

• Size – the size of a red dot needs to correspond to the size of your weapon. Your sight needs to be bigger when working with larger weapons such as rifles, this factor can affect your shot’s accuracy too, so it's crucial to find the right size. The size of the optic will also determine the size of the window, which determines your field of view and is also very important as the bigger the window the bigger your field of view and the bigger your field of view the better.
• Runtime – consider the battery specifications of a red dot sight before investing in a specific model, there is a big contract in battery life between various makes and models.
• Can the battery be replaced without removing the red dot requiring you to re-zero the optic, many newer models allow you to remove the battery without removing the entire red dot thus saving you the time and effort required of re-zeroing the optic as many older red dots require you to the remove the entire optic from the weapon to replace the battery.
• The size of the Red dot displayed in the window of the red dot measured in minutes of angle or MOA is also very important, the smaller the MOA the more accurate you can be at medium to long distances for example a 2MOA or 3MOA is ideal for higher accuracy as the dot is smaller and thus covers less of your target where a 6MOA or 8MOA would likely cover most of your target at a range of 30 to 50 meters.
• Reticle Shape, traditionally the red dot is exactly that of a red dot, but as time has passed there are many more options now, a red triangle, a green dot, a blue dot, and a circle with a red dot inside. These options come down to personal preference just as is the case when it comes to a reticle for a rifle scope.
• Buying an additional magnifier to extend your range enhances the distance of targets you can engage and thus makes your red dot a much more flexible option, Magnifiers on the market include a 3x and 5x unit from SightMark as well as EOTECH. The brand of the magnifier does not need to match the brand of your red dot. These magnifiers are only traditionally relevant to rifles and not suitable for shotgun or pistol platforms.

Aiming accuracy and how quickly red dot sights can focus on targets are two of the key perks of using them and can help make your hunting and sport shooting process easier and way more efficient. 

Practice and muscle memory are essential, as at first a common problem people endure is the “missing dot” scenario, where the person aims at the target but can't find the dot in the window of the optic thus not being able to shoot accurately. One needs to practice dry firing to build muscle memory and bring your weapon and sight up to the exact correct height in relation to your eye to make it easy to find your dot or reticle each time.

One last very important topic to discuss is mounting your red dot. The modern new pistols and rifles are built “optics ready” which essentially means that the gun has been manufactured with the capability to accept an optic such as a red dot reflex sight. Many older pistols, rifles and shotguns are not optic ready and thus you have one of two options. Firstly, mounting a base plate and secondly milling your slide or modifying your pistol to have a Picatinny rail so that you can then mount a base plate and mount the red dot on the base plate or directly onto the Picatinny rail. 

                  Base Plate                     Pistol with a milled slide (without a base plate)

You can buy all your favourite red dot sight brands; Trijicon, Bushnell, Hawke, Leupold, Lynx, Rudolph Optics, Vortex, Sightmark and many more with Futurama! Feel free to contact Estiaan on 076 990 6022 and ask for our optics specialist to make sure you buy the right dot for your needs and weapon platform.

What is a holographic sight?

A holographic weapon sight is a non-magnifying weapon sight that allows the user to look through a glass window and see a holographic reticle image superimposed at a distance on the field of view. The hologram of the reticle is built into the window and is illuminated by a laser diode. It appears very similar to a red dot sight, however, the technology that produces the reticle or horseshoe works very differently. Holographic sights such as Eotech are slightly larger than reflex sights but very reliable and partnered with a magnifier which can be bought additionally can be a fantastic flexible option for close and medium range targets.

In the realm of firearm optics, the pursuit of enhanced accuracy and target acquisition speed is a never-ending quest. One remarkable innovation that has revolutionized the shooting experience is the holographic sight magnifier. This mounts behind your holographic sight and allows the user to acquire a target from a further distance. Using a magnifier will enhance the accuracy of the user, especially at a longer distance. The most common holographic magnifiers are the 3x and 5x magnifiers. They enhance the holographic sight target by 3x times or 5x times, this will depend on the distance and field of view the user desires. 

EoTech G45 magnifier (x5 magnification)          EoTech G33 magnifier (x3 magnification)

Bibliography

Optics, X.-V. (n.d.). Red Dot Sights Explained – What You Need To Know!

Kruger, S. (2023, July 24). Red Dot & Holographic Sights.

Wikipedia. (2023). Holographic weapon sight.