Consensus on BUIS / Iron Sights

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Duncan71

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Calgary AB
Hey all,

I have about 3 rifles I need to outfit with backup iron sights. As noted in the acronym they are only backups... main optics will be decent scopes to RDS. Is there a consensus on cheaper variants / knock offs? I’ve heard the magpuls aren’t great and are about $120 or so. Other brands far more expensive, and some (looking at Chinese made / TNA stuff) are way cheaper. Can a guy get away with the $46 dollar sets from TNA? Or if you go that direction are you better off buying the $35 dollar sets from amazon or $20 dollar sets from Ali express? I guess I’m trying to find the Vortex Sparc / Bushnell TRS of iron sights - something function that will get me by and not shatter into a million pieces first time out, but also lacking features and inexpensive?

Thoughts and thanks!
 
Don't need em, they add weight and cost to my rifle. I rock a 1-4x24 Trijicon Accupower and it's all the sight you'll ever need, and you won't have to worry about it going down or to engage them. Just get a quality optic and that should be it for your top rail real estate.
 
Do you need them? What’s the activity? Range, competition, small game, large game, predator protection?

I like MBUS Pros, they’re small, metal, and work. Low price for what you get. I have them on all rifles simply because I like irons at the range somedays. My dad also ingrained 2 is 1, 1 is none into my brain at a young age.
 
No. I guess I don’t need them. I do want them, because I just feel the rifle is naked without and I like the capability. MBUS pro is definitely more than I need though.
 
Duncan71 said:
No. I guess I don’t need them. I do want them, because I just feel the rifle is naked without and I like the capability. MBUS pro is definitely more than I need though.
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If it’s for looks then just buy mags or ammo. And if you buy a cheaper set (knockoffs) for actual use then they will possibly fall apart under recoil, although airsoft parts have went up in quality I’ve heard. It’s up to you at the end of the day, for the $50 try it out.
 
Duncan71 said:
No. I guess I don’t need them. I do want them, because I just feel the rifle is naked without and I like the capability. MBUS pro is definitely more than I need though.
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There's zero capability if you're like everyone else at the range or a 3 gun match, or anyone with a good optic in general... people just don't use them at ALL.
 
Yeah there's really no sense or logical reason to have cheap ####ty somethings, just for the sake of having those somethings, especially if you never really intend to use them.

Me, I run a set of Troy irons, as well as 3 sets of KAC micros but I train with them enough to remain proficient.

Buy once, cry once.
 
If you have a red dot then a decent set of iron backups are nice. Get a 1/3 cowitness.

Now if magnified then get the 45” off set backup irons. Works best with an A frame stock like the lmt sopmod or b5 stock.

Do you need them? Depends. Police/military yes. Hunting I would have them just in case. Competition, if it could save a lost competition then might as well. If not then it’s just more cost and weight. However it should be mandatory to know how to use iron sights before going to red dots or magnified optics.
 
Don't bother for the most part. You'd be better off just buying one nicer set and putting it on one rifle. People never use them anyways. I was at a course, and the instructor made everyone turn off or remove their Red Dot Sights, you would not believe how bad the targets looked.
 
Magpul MBUS.

We sell a lot of them to LE for patrol carbines. Nothing negative about them.
They go on the rail nice and snug and don't come loose. They function as they should.

For the $$$ they do what they are supposed to do.

MAG248_Hero.jpg
 
I like the idea of co-witnessing between BUIS and optic.

It saves time and rounds fired if you switch optics.

It's great right down the middle with a zero magnification red dot, but that wont fly with a magnified scope.

With a magnified scope, you'll want the sights angled off on a 45 degree angle. You cant exactly co witness but you can peek between the optic and irons and make sure they are both pointing at the same place.

Have you ever dropped your rifle while hunting? I have and it did bump my scope. I did have BUIS and that's how I re-set the scope. So it saved my butt on that hunt.

I do not care for the plastic magpuls, heard lots of complaints about them especially for the price.
 
Personally I'd just skip them, a quality red dot or low power variable will not fail you. If you run Bushnell or Vortex glass you probably need BUIS but if you go with Aimpoint or other quality products you'll be fine without them.

Worried about batteries going dead? Carry a spare and change it every year even if it's still working and it will never let you down. An Aimpoint can run continuous for more than a year on a single battery so it's not something you really need to worry about.

We don't shoot on a two way range so since your life will not be in danger they are not really needed unless you think you need them.

Co-witness? Why the F would anyone want to clutter up their red dot FOV and complicate things further. They'll do nothing but slow you down trying to look through both.

If you compete and feel you must have them then spend the money on quick detach optics mounts so you can get it out of the way if the BUIS are needed.

I think that only you can really determine if you need them and also if you really need them on all three rifles. I have five sets of BUIS and only one rifle has a set mounted, the rest sit in the parts box for some unforseen situation I may need them some day.

Maybe just buy one set and see how often you actually use them, if you find that you enjoy removing your optic and using the irons then buy more and try some more expensive ones.

In the end I can't tell you what you need but in my experience so far I've never come across a situation where I've needed them. I typically take more than one rifle with me so if an optic failed I would just grab a different rifle and sort out the optic at a later time.
 
I have a set of Magpul MBUS Pro sights on my 10.5" 300 Blackout SBR. The sights are low profile and extremely well built. They are my primary sight on the rifle.

https://www.magpul.com/firearms-accessories/sights/mbus-pro

I upgraded the front sight with a luminescent green spike post from Blitzkrieg Components. Can be more accurate than the stock post with the spike, and is very visible in daylight and at glows at night.

The company also makes excellent upgrades for the regular MBUS sights as well.

https://www.blitzkriegcomponents.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MPSFS08LG
 
cr5 said:
Co-witness? Why the F would anyone want to clutter up their red dot FOV and complicate things further. They'll do nothing but slow you down trying to look through both.
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They do fold down you know.

Seems like you missed the point... You can zero one sight off the other and re-confirm after you swap out the sight.... then fold them down and enjoy the view.
 
Maple57 said:
They do fold down you know.

Seems like you missed the point... You can zero one sight off the other and re-confirm after you swap out the sight.... then fold them down and enjoy the view.
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I understand how that works, I am talking to the guys who look through both at once while shooting. Yes, people do it and I don't see any point to it.

The process you describe works quite well when switching from one dot sight to another but I can also typically zero a dot sight in less than 5 rounds and a set of BUIS are about $100 or more depending on quality, so since I could buy 200 rounds of ammo for the cost of the cheapish BUIS are they worth buying for that purpose?
Like I said, I own sets of them as well, I just don't see the point in spending $100 on them if you plan to buy a quality optic. The $100-$200 saved not buying BUIS allows someone to skip the Bushnell and go to an Aimpoint PRO.

If a guy likes shooting irons from time to time I say go for it and spend the money on decent ones but if it's just for some mall ninja look tacticool crap or paranoia about an optic failing then don't bother. When was the last time someone on here had an optic fail when it actually mattered? If you buy cheap optics you run a higher risk of failure. Worried about batteries? Buy one that doesn't use or at least doesn't need batteries to function, there are options.
 
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Nordic Marksman said:
Magpul MBUS.

We sell a lot of them to LE for patrol carbines. Nothing negative about them.
They go on the rail nice and snug and don't come loose. They function as they should.

For the $$$ they do what they are supposed to do.
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The patrol rifles I've seen use Troy rear BUIS and a Colt Canada front sight. The magpul Pro ones might be decent but the regular are kind of bulky. I have a set that came with a rifle. I prefer the Troy, and even the cheaper polymer Fab defence ones. But.. I haven't checked out the Magpul pro yet. Also I like the 45 degree offset if you have magnified optics. Last but not least a red dot reflex sight on a 45 degree angle mount with magnified optics is pretty nice too but even more money.

cr5 said:
I understand how that works, I am talking to the guys who look through both at once while shooting. Yes, people do it and I don't see any point to it.

The process you describe works quite well when switching from one dot sight to another but I can also typically zero a dot sight in less than 5 rounds and a set of BUIS are about $100 or more depending on quality, so since I could buy 200 rounds of ammo for the cost of the cheapish BUIS are they worth buying from that purpose?
Like I said, I own sets of them as well, I just don't see the point in spending $100 on them if you plan to buy a quality optic. The $100-$200 saved not buying BUIS allows someone to skip the Bushnell and go to an Aimooint PRO.

If a guy likes shooting irons from time to time I say go for it and spend the money on decent ones but if it's just for some mall ninja look tacticool crap or paranoia about an optic failing then don't bother. When was the last time someone on here had an optic fail when it actually mattered? If you buy cheap optics you run a higher risk of failure. Worried about batteries? Buy one that doesn't use or at least doesn't need batteries to function, there are options.
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They usually aren't looking through both. With the lower 1/3 cowitness you don't notice the iron sights until you look down to use them. It works great. You aren't lining both up. You are using the red dot on it's own. Now that being said I do use both sometimes at the same time when I'm going for groups. I find it works well along with turning down the dot. But for CQB, it's one or the other, with the red dot being the fastest and the irons only as backup.

1/3rd lower cowitness with an Aimpoint PRO. Backup sights are kept up while shooting. Although you can fold them down if you wanted to. You don't notice them when up and shooting due to being in the lower 1/3rd of the optic, unless you go to use them. But... that setup is on a rifle that is a clone of a fighting rifle.

Lb62kAt.jpg


Below is full cowitness. Sorry about the older iphone photo. The backup sights are right in the middle of the optic when up. I shoot with them down and they get popped up when required, or when zeroing stuff etc. They are only up for the photo. With the Hensolt RSA the backup sights do fill the lens and would be in the way. The 308 to the right of the 5.56 has 45" iron sights that came with the rifle. If you had to transition from magnified optics to CQB, then you could do it very quickly by going to the irons.

LZ7nZAo.jpg
 
Kratos said:
Do you need them? What’s the activity? Range, competition, small game, large game, predator protection?

I like MBUS Pros, they’re small, metal, and work. Low price for what you get. I have them on all rifles simply because I like irons at the range somedays. My dad also ingrained 2 is 1, 1 is none into my brain at a young age.
Click to expand...
YES!
Kratos said:
If it’s for looks then just buy mags or ammo. And if you buy a cheaper set (knockoffs) for actual use then they will possibly fall apart under recoil, although airsoft parts have went up in quality I’ve heard. It’s up to you at the end of the day, for the $50 try it out.
Click to expand...
YES!
Conscript said:
There's zero capability if you're like everyone else at the range or a 3 gun match, or anyone with a good optic in general... people just don't use them at ALL.
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Not everyone sucks with their gear, some of us actually know how to set it up and use it. You are however correct in that most people have BUIS as simply window dressing on their rifles.
FoxAlpha said:
Yeah there's really no sense or logical reason to have cheap ####ty somethings, just for the sake of having those somethings, especially if you never really intend to use them.

Me, I run a set of Troy irons, as well as 3 sets of KAC micros but I train with them enough to remain proficient.

Buy once, cry once.
Click to expand...

YES
 
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