Red dot or laser question?

[CHCRandy]

This is gonna sound really silly but I don't use none of this stuff. I have regular scopes on my rifles and nothing on my handguns. If someone tells you they want a red dot for their AR are they talking like a Sparc AR? A Sparc doesn't throw a beam from the front does it? Whole idea is not to be seen from the front?

And then my other question is we all see red laser beams on movies and such.....what are those? Just lasers on handguns and do they not care if they are seen from the front?

You would think I would know this stuff but I just don't use it. I do own a Strikefire but dont think I have ever used it, went to see if it throws a beam and battery is dead.

Thanks

 

[Sigblitz]

A red dot is sighting through glass with a red dot in the middle, unseen by others. That's what I generally think of when talking about red dots.

 

[churchmouse]

This is gonna sound really silly but I don't use none of this stuff. I have regular scopes on my rifles and nothing on my handguns. If someone tells you they want a red dot for their AR are they talking like a Sparc AR? A Sparc doesn't throw a beam from the front does it? Whole idea is not to be seen from the front?

And then my other question is we all see red laser beams on movies and such.....what are those? Just lasers on handguns and do they not care if they are seen from the front?

You would think I would know this stuff but I just don't use it. I do own a Strikefire but dont think I have ever used it, went to see if it throws a beam and battery is dead.

Thanks

A red dot does not throw a beam and to my knowledge is not seen from the front.
A projected laser will throw a beam. My terminology may be off but that's how I see it. I have both.

 

[Sigblitz]

A leser projects a beam. This would be a benefit if for some reason you couldn't get eyes on the sights.

 

[CHCRandy]

So would a laser be more for a pistol and a red dot more for an AR? Or does it matter? Where do lasers usually mount, underrail? Thank you guys for your replies....my son in law told my daughter he would like a red dot so I figured he means like for his AR.

 

[churchmouse]

So would a laser be more for a pistol and a red dot more for an AR? Or does it matter? Where do lasers usually mount, underrail? Thank you guys for your replies....my son in law told my daughter he would like a red dot so I figured he means like for his AR.

I have lasers on a couple of Home defense AR's. They are actually green. Those same rifles also have red dots and Eotecs on a couple.

 

[d.kaufman]

Find out if he's looking for something for a pistol or Ar. That should help determine what he's wanting. If an Ar and still not sure what he's wanting you could go with this

https://www.opticsplanet.com/holosun-red-dot-laser-hs401r5-black.html

 

[chef1231]

It must be early and I do not understand the question. I have a red dot sparc on my Sbr and have had crimson trace on handguns in the past. I really like the laser on the handgun. Red dots are just a dot you can only see by looking though the scope. A laser usually something crimson trace is button, switch, or grip activated and puts a red or green laser down range where it can be seen by others too.

 

[CHCRandy]

It must be early and I do not understand the question. I have a red dot sparc on my Sbr and have had crimson trace on handguns in the past. I really like the laser on the handgun. Red dots are just a dot you can only see by looking though the scope. A laser usually something crimson trace is button, switch, or grip activated and puts a red or green laser down range where it can be seen by others too.

Yeah, I didn't phrase that well....mainly because I didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't know if a "red dot" was a scope or laser......I think I now understand though.

Appreciate you guys not flaming me. Thank you all.

 

[Usmccookie]

Yeah, I didn't phrase that well....mainly because I didn't know what I was talking about. I didn't know if a "red dot" was a scope or laser......I think I now understand though.

Appreciate you guys not flaming me. Thank you all.

Id rather ask a stupid question than be a stupid person. If you get better details on what it will be mounted on, I'm sure we're can give you some great recommendations.

 

[jek]

If you're also interested in some of the specifics:
Red dots and holographics are sights with 1x (about) magnification that you use in the same place as a magnified hunting optic. The lasers you see dancing everywhere in action movies are basically just laser pointers.
So looking at red dots/holographics, they do have some differences. They operate differently in design, but the primary difference to you as a shooter is battery life. Red dots, like the Vortex Sparc, can last thousands of hours on a single battery. A holographic sight, like an EoTech, will last ~300 hours. The discrepancy is how the sight fundamentally operates. A red dot, as far as I understand, is just a LED shining on a glass lense, this doesean that you can see a red dot from the front as well as the back, but if someone is close enough to see it then it will be the least of their worries. A holographic sight is significantly more complex, but simply put that complexity requires multiple emitters which suck power. The upside is you can get a fancier reticle than just a single dot. Again see EoTechs with their BDC's (bullet drop reticles). Also, and likely more importantly, holographics don't suffer as much from something called parallax. Parralax occurs when the reticles seems to shift point of impact depending on exactly where your eye is behind the optic. Since your real point of impact doesn't shift this can inducer some error just from any inconsistency in how you pick up the gun.
The visible lasers that snipers often use in movies (emphisis in movies only) are an aiming aid primarily if you happen to be in a situation where you can't be properly behind your optic. To your point, unless you use an IR laser everyone can see where you are. But to see an IR laser you need night vision goggles(which don't pick up regular optics, typically. Some EoTechs are rated for use with night vision, but the cast majority of sights can't be seen through night vision). Honestly I've never been super impressed with lasers in any shooting... I find it distracting and especially with pistols really bounces out at 25-30 yds. But it may work for you, so it's just an excuse to buy more stuff! Uh, I mean do testing and stuff...
This is probably more detail than you wanted, but I can explain more about them if you'd like!

 

[Spike Jones 5 2002]

In simple terms.
A laser pointing red dot.
It is like a very narrow beam flashlight.
A red or green dot is projected out to the target.
You have to adjust your shot just like looking through a scope.
You HAVE to adjust for elevation.
Not like the movies.
The target is 10 miles away and the red dot is exactly on target.

A red dot sight is a red or green dot projected on a transparent view glass.
Instead of lining up your front sight into back sight notch.
You see a red or green dot floating in front of your weapon on target.
ONE word of warning. They take a bit of getting use to using.
You do not have the benefit of seeing down the slid to quickly line up the front to the rear.
You must find the dot.
Then when you have the dot in front.
You should be dead on.
Some red dots you can vary the brightness.
A nice feature.
During the day you have a bright red dot to see.
At night you lower the brightness or you are blinded by the bright red dot.

Just last week I was shooting a night course.
Instead of holding a flashlight in my hand.
I mounted a forehead mounted work light on me.
When I turned on the flashlight.
It reflected off the sight's glass and all I seen was glare.
When I looked down the sight I could not see anything.
I turned off the flashlight.
I looked down the dim range at the target.
I lowered the brightness of the dot.
I see a H-LL of a lot better than I ever did with iron sights.
I shot very small grouping on most every target (6 target course).
The next dim light course was varying distant targets.
I was able to spot the targets a lot easier.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Should I tell OP that red dots use lasers? Or not?

 

[jek]

But red dots don't use a laser... They use an LED. A holographic uses a laser (multiple really).
About a third of the way down this page is a diagram of the difference. It may be semantical, but if OP was unsure to begin with I'd hate to leave him with conflicting messages.

https://www.pewpewtactical.com/red-dots-vs-holographic-sights/


If I'm wrong I'd like to know, but I'm fairly confident on this.

 

[DadSmith]

If you have astigmatism it's better to go with a prismatic sight. Red dot and astigmatism dont mix. Astigmatism causes the red dot to be distorted. I just gave my red dot and 3x magnifier to my nephew because my astigmatism has gotten worse with time. I put on a prismatic scope 1-4x24 and it's much better for me. They also have 1x prismatic sights as well.

 

[churchmouse]

If you have astigmatism it's better to go with a prismatic sight. Red dot and astigmatism dont mix. Astigmatism causes the red dot to be distorted. I just gave my red dot and 3x magnifier to my nephew because my astigmatism has gotten worse with time. I put on a prismatic scope 1-4x24 and it's much better for me. They also have 1x prismatic sights as well.

Mine do this if I am wearing my glasses. But not the Eotechs.

 

[jek]

If you have astigmatism it's better to go with a prismatic sight. Red dot and astigmatism dont mix. Astigmatism causes the red dot to be distorted. I just gave my red dot and 3x magnifier to my nephew because my astigmatism has gotten worse with time. I put on a prismatic scope 1-4x24 and it's much better for me. They also have 1x prismatic sights as well.

Why does it work better for an astigmatism if you know? Does the etching prevent distortion? Not sure why that would make a difference since the distortion is in the eye.

 

[DadSmith]

Why does it work better for an astigmatism if you know? Does the etching prevent distortion? Not sure why that would make a difference since the distortion is in the eye.

Yep the etching stops the distortion for me. I dont understand why I'm sure an Eye Dr could explain it.

Found this. It explains it.
https://loadoutroom.com/thearmsguide/36247-2/

 

[jek]

Yep the etching stops the distortion for me. I dont understand why I'm sure an Eye Dr could explain it.

Found this. It explains it.
https://loadoutroom.com/thearmsguide/36247-2/

That's interesting. I wonder why the etching makes a difference, vs why two non etched sights (red dot vs holo) would function differently. Eyes are weird...
In other news, I'm now paranoid about my eyesight, because red dots are fuzzy and I figured that it was just scattering from the optic... Although I did use one a couple weeks ago that was remarkable clear... I wonder if it was etched...

 

[russc2542]

That's interesting. I wonder why the etching makes a difference, vs why two non etched sights (red dot vs holo) would function differently. Eyes are weird...
In other news, I'm now paranoid about my eyesight, because red dots are fuzzy and I figured that it was just scattering from the optic... Although I did use one a couple weeks ago that was remarkable clear... I wonder if it was etched...

Etched reticles are different than holographic or red dots. It comes down to light intensity, the red dot is a point source, the others are not. The more smaller the light source, the more the astigmatism streaks are apparent. The more intense the source, the more the streaks are apparent. The holosight spreads the light over more area rather than a small, intense point source.

An etched reticle is different than either a red dot or holosight in that it's there whether it's illuminated or not. Red dots and holosights have nothing to look at if they're off because the light source is the reticle. Etched sights have marks in the glass that the sight shines a light on to illuminate... think of it like looking at a barn with a utility pole in front of it. Illumination in just shining a flashlight at the pole, it's there whether it's illuminated or not. because of that, it can be illuminated VERY minimally (or not at all) to show up (because it's not just a light overlay, it's occluding the object behind it) without being so intense as to be a problem for astigmatism.