Reply #181: MANY MANY people who shoot pistol competitoins use red dot sights... [View All]

Namely Aimpoint Micro, C-More, or DrOptic sights. They drastically improve target aquisition SPEED... they do not MAGNIFY or Enhance long rage shooting. The parralax free nature of the sight means the shooter does not have to take TIME to line up the posts and notches. They simply make shooting precisely MORE QUICKLY easier.

The fct is... with most long guns (Winchester, bolt action, AR15, AK47...) the iron sights will shoot point blank accuracy out to about 250-300 yards. At those distances, given a properly sighted rifle and a steady hold, there's no reason to be missing 12" targets. You don't need Red Dots to shoot far, only more time to focus on the posts and notches of the traditional iron or peep sight. So Red Dots don't enhance long range shooting anymore than short range shooting - they just make aiming quick.

In contrast, a telescopic sight (scope) literally magnifies an image that is small (far away) and has enhanced reticles for accomoodating drop and windage at longer distances.