Hybrid sights for an AR

[PastorOfMuppets]

Comrades,
Hi, I just purchased my first AR. I'm thinking of investing in a sight for it. Initially I was looking at a red dot (EoTech maybe), but I keep reading about reflex sights. I'd love to try a flip up magnifier and a red dot. First question: is this a practical sight solution (i.e. does it work?). Secondly, what's a good, well priced reflex sight solution and where can I get one (hopefully in Canada so I can support the fine sponsors on this board?)

 

[Pr589]

What are you going to use your AR for? General plinking (what range)? CQB? 3-Gun? IPSC? Hard to give a good answer without more information.

In general the red-dot plus magnifier is heavier, slower and more cumbersome than other solutions like an offset red-dot plus a scope or a 1-x variable power scope. Also, the magnified red-dot can be quite large and fuzzy at the edges - which doesn't help with precise aiming at distance.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

What are you going to use your AR for? General plinking (what range)? CQB? 3-Gun? IPSC? Hard to give a good answer without more information.

In general the red-dot plus magnifier is heavier, slower and more cumbersome than other solutions like an offset red-dot plus a scope or a 1-x variable power scope. Also, the magnified red-dot can be quite large and fuzzy at the edges - which doesn't help with precise aiming at distance.

Thank you for the advice, this is exactly what I was looking for. I'm planning mostly on plinking at ranges no greater than 100 yards, maybe 3-gun if I can ever get around to giving it a try. Essentially looking at a versatile optic that gives me some up close functionality and a good sight picture at mid range. Investing in optics is expensive, and with a half dozen black rifles, its worse still. Given this, any suggestions on optics would be hugely appreciated before I drop 1k on something that is inadequate.

 

[Pr589]

For just plinking at fixed range, any scope will do in the short run. I like scopes that can zoom to 9x or 12x to make it easy to see your bullet holes. I suspect however that you're thinking a dynamic shooting scenario with mixed range targets including point-blank.

In the latter case, where there is a dynamic situation 1X and a big field-of-view becomes important. Here the new crop of affordable 1-6x and 1-8x scopes from Vortex and Primary Arms are hard to beat. The glass isn't as clear and the reticles aren't as fine as higher priced options but they work really well for casual competition use out to 200+ yards. If your budget is bigger you can look at similar big-budget scopes from Vortex, Leupold, Trijicon, etc. (but many of these are $2k plus).

I also would not discount a mid-power scope and an offset red-dot or iron sights. Canting the gun is faster than manipulating a zoom switch and you can have the sights zeroed for different distances (e.g. 25 yards for the offsets and 100 yards for the scope). I'm experimenting with this set-up now for a competition rig.