In the tactical shooting world, accuracy in shooting determines how badass shooter you are. It makes the big difference between an amateur and a skilled shooter. For your firearms, you need either a red dot sight or a holographic weapon sight. For instantaneous target acquisition and shooting precisely, they are second to none.
How To Shoot With A Red Dot Sight?
In this article, I will be talking about shooting with a red dot sight for precise shooting. You will find the ultimate guideline on how to become a ninja from a noob. Along with your newly purchased red dot sight scope, gather the following items to get started:
- Allen Wrench: In almost all the cases, the Allen wrench will come along with the red dot you bought. More so, your red dot should come with the Picatinny rail attachment. You will be needing them to mount your sight.
- Firearm: Red dot sights or holographic weapon sight can be used on any bigger firearms like a rifle, shotgun, handgun, etc. Some models can be mounted on a pistol too. So, gather your favorite firearm.
- Target: Your sight need to be zeroed-in. So, you will be needing a target to do so. Let me clear something first. Any sight (red dot or holographic), they are meant for the close distance target. So, I recommend you to set the target at a distance of not more than a 100 yard.
Mounting Guide For The Red Dot
Now that you have everything necessary at your hand, it’s time to set up the sight. It’s a little bit tricky, so pay attention. Like I said above, your sights should come with the Picatinny rail attachment and other necessary tools to mount it. Now, if your favorite weapon is a rifle, mount it on the top of it. Find the receiver on the top of the rifle and mount it.
Some people like to use a magnifier along with sight. For that, you have to make room for the magnifying scope. Mount the red dot as far as possible on the receiver to make room for the magnifier. For the handgun, you have to buy a mounting plate and make sure to remove the rear iron sight.
Whatever the firearms you prefer, make sure there is no movement after you attached the sight. To avoid any movement, tighten down the sight hard. Use blue Loctite to hold the screws tight. Over time, they tend to loosen up because of the recoil. Don’t use the red Loctite, because they are permanent and you can’t remove them when you need to do so.
I believe you should not have any trouble mounting the sight now. If you are still facing trouble mounting it, watch the video on mounting a sight on your gun.
Zero Your Red Dot Sights
Now that you have successfully mounted your sight on your firearm, the next step is to learn how to zero it. If you have previous experience of using rifle scopes, you already know most of it. However, if you have backup iron sights, you have to zero it too. To zero the iron sight, make sure to keep the optic switched off and pretend it’s not there!
There is a pretty good reason why you should do that. You see, the iron sight and the red dot sight are not related to each other at all. They do not zero to each other. Once you zeroed the iron sight, flip them down if possible. Then switch on the red dot and zero it as per manufacturer’s instruction.
Step By Step Guide On Using A Red Dot Scope
So, everything is in place now. You have mounted it and zeroed it. Now it’s time to use it in practice. Follow the step by step guide:
- The Target: In hunting or just any sort of target shooting in the range, you should know your target very clearly. Not just the target, get a better idea of what beyond the target. If would be great if you set the target up to about 25 yards initially. That’s a pretty close sight and it will be much easier to zero-in.
- Focus On Target: Bring your firearm to the shooting position and focus on the target carefully. Keep your eyes open (both of them!). Yep, you heard me right. Some red dot sights and all the holographic sights let you shoot keeping both of your eyes open!
- The Reticle: The reticle will keep moving as you bring up the gun. You have to watch for the reticle on the target. Once the reticle meets the target, you are ready to shoot! The beauty of the reticle is that it corrects itself and they are parallax-free. So, it should not be trouble when you move your head.
Yes, the above 3 steps are all it takes to shoot precisely with a red dot scope. Now, if anything is still confusing to you, here is a video guide on shooting with a red dot mounted.
Getting Efficient With The Sight
Alright, so you just learned how to shoot using a red do. It’s now time to become comfortable and efficient using it. Follow the following tips to take your shooting skill to the next level with a high-quality red dot scope:
- Keep Practicing: At the range, you have to keep practicing. There is no alternative to a lot of practice. If you are totally new using a dot, this is something mandatory for you. Try practicing at the long-range distance shooting.
- Get Comfortable With Brightness Settings: Do a lot of target transitions to get a hang of the dot brightness. From 10 yards to 100 yards, keep changing the target transitions. This will help you figure out what brightness level works best for you under different target transitions.
- Safety First! Don’t be a fool shooting unprotected. Shooting gear like a red dot enables you to shoot precisely but never shoot without ensuring your OWN safety. Make sure you protect your eyes and don’t forget to wear your earmuff to protect your ears.
Once you are done with enough practice and become comfortable with the different target transitions, you have just learned the art of precise shooting. Congratulations! Pretty soon you will discover that target acquisition becomes too fast as well. That’s the beauty of using a red dot sight.
Conclusion
The modern red dot sights have made it super simple for the tactical hunters to have precise target shooting. They are much improved now than they were in the past. But will not work out for you unless you know how to use it properly and keep practicing.