Massad Ayoob - Red Dot Sights on Carry Guns? Pros and Cons of Carry Optics - Critical Mas EP46

What is your opinion? Should a carry gun have a red dot?

Mr. Ayoob, I am Andy Cannon's eldest daughter, Kat Cannon Hobza. I remember all the articles you wrote about Dad's work, I have several of them framed :) It's so nice to hear Dad's name mentioned still in the gun world -- if I have one regret in life, it is that I never had Dad teach me how to pistol-smith! (He did teach me how to shoot competitively, however!!) My sisters and I miss Dad a lot, and it's nice that his skill and legacy are remembered!

My father is an older man in his 70's, and a red dot sight really helps him out while aiming his pistol. As a younger whipper snapper myself, I prefer the old iron sights.

After shooting iron sight for over 40 years, 30 of those years with both iron sights on my duty pistol and later my duty AR15, I finally had to go to a red dot (green in my case) optics on both because of my diminished eye sight. WHAT A GAME CHANGER!! Definitely a learning curve for us old dogs, but well worth the time and effort. Thank you for the video Sir!!

Different strokes for different folks as we used to say. I love red dots on rifles, but I’m not there yet on handguns. Mas is awesome and truly a 2A treasure. Thank you for having him on this channel.

I’m almost 52. I won a gun raffle back in December and I decided to get a couple of pistols with a red dot and suppressor iron sights. After acclimating myself to the new system I must say I absolutely love them. Yes I still draw the same way and I look for the front sight. I have found that if you set the brightness of the red dot to the appropriate amount of ambient lighting, brighter in the daytime, the red dot will pop into your vision before your iron sight is fully on target. Also to keep the lenses from fogging I just rub plain unscented barbersol shaving cream on the lenses then buff off with a camera cloth. The shave cream works well on motorcycle helmets with face shields too:)

I love the Old Fart reference since I'm one of them. But honestly I'm quickly becoming a believer, especially since it works very well with my astigmatism. Thanks for the perspective and your views on this subject it's much appreciated.

I have always had a non-prescriptive approach in life, and I spent 28yrs in the Army. How can that be? Surely you are a lockstep guy Mike. NO! Everyone is an individual. What motivates one may not motivate another. Let us go to firearms. Sure, we trained to standards, but I always looked at the guys who were really good shots and darn it, several of them had variations in positions, whatever, just doing it their way. I NEVER messed with them, given the fundamentals were present. I remained results oriented. I had a kid that did not want the ACOG. He shot expert time and time again with open sights. He grew up shooting open sights and had better than average eyesight and was a natural. Give him more reins, an old Texas term for let the horse do what the horse does. Those guys are not the "average". The Army was designed for average folks. Myself? On my personal carry gun, I am not adding an optic. I have a laser in my grip and iron sights. That works for me. We all face Mother Nature and Father Time in our WWE match called life and at anytime one of them can come and piledrive you from the turnbuckle. I spent a good 2 years trying, very hard, even seeking professional instruction twice with different people, to do the red dot. Rounds, time, effort, I wanted it to work. I realized it was not to be. With the laser and irons, I have no issues. My shooting is decent. You are an individual. You decide what fits you. I can tell you wear this boot because I said so, or you can figure out what boot works for your foot, the width, the length, arch support yes or no, etc. Only you can determine that. I would say if a dot works for you use it. For the guys who like the iron sight, yes, use them. At the end of the day, we all have to be honest with only one person for this question: do you feel ready right now to place your life on the line with your system? If you are sure, rest easy. If not, get to work and fix it.

As a retired Range master/armorer for a southern California sheriff's department I have ( for years now ) enjoyed your expertise. Recently I have observed my ex department changing over to red dot sights on their duty Glocks which for the most part mild conditions is a very good match in mt humble opinion. I however have moved out of that state to one where the firearms mentality is not so restrictive and am finding the carry red dot sights great for my seventy six years as a proud American - thank you again for your expertise and thanks to Wilson Combat for sponsoring your series .

I'm 63 with severe astigmatism (as well as the presbyopia that comes with age!). Adding a green dot optic to my pistols and AR's was a game changer. But it DID take time to make the transition from iron sights. And all of my guns have iron sights that co-witness with the green dot, just in case!

I've personally carried with a dot for a couple years now. I find they work great personally, but I understand why some people would be hesitant about using them.

Massad I love your channel. I would never use an optic on a handgun. My opinion comes from 5 years working as a private contractor for the US government. I worked the border of Mexico to the near tip of Tierra del Fuego. I have been in dozens and dozens of gunfights, more than Id care to admit. I have personally seen two men killed on seperate occasions using optics on their pistols. Both times they went dry on their primary and had to resort to their backup handgun. One gentleman was wounded and blood covered his optic and he was killed trying to wipe it off. The second had his optic lens cracked by shrapnel from stucco bursting from a building hit with automatic fire. In a gunfight with automatic weapons I cannot describe how much shrapnel is flying around, its everywhere. He was last seen trying to knock the optic off on a windowsill. Optics are fine if your aging and have tired eyes and/or in competition. They make you look like a pro on the range. But in the field Im a hard no on optics and personally would never use one. Far too many unseen forces can cause those things to fail. Practice with iron sights you find best to acquire the target and then practice some more. Thats my humble opinion Massad. I love your channel and wish you and all viewers well.

Awesome video and info. Love listening to Massad, one of the true great mentors of the gun craft

Personally I think there is a place for both. Just as I have different weapons I carry for differing occasions. Definitely have to put in the time for using a red or green dot. If I’m at church or somewhere I might need a longer shot,I carry the dot. Thanks for all the great videos and as for some of the detractors in these comments, wow. Lol

Good discussion, Mas! Always appreciate your level-headed and fair approach.

As an older shooter, I find that a red dot is extremely useful. I did have to, and still do, train myself to pick up the dot quickly. Just like all tools, we have to learn how to use them properly.

Solid points. I have red dots on most of my carry guns and still can’t say they’re totally worth it for concealed carry. For duty or competition pistols, I’m more pro red dot. I can say (for me) that when things get “dynamic” is where dots shine. I recently took a advanced pistol class and I was a bit slower with the dot from within 10 yards where neither the target or myself were moving. However, when we started to move, shoot from awkward positions, or shots beyond 10 yards, the dot was a big help.

Tried red dots and three different pistols, and didn’t like them. I think it’s a solution in search of a problem. Generally most people are not much faster at finding the site and when it comes to combat shooting I think it’s very little game for a lot of potential problems. The red dot on one of my cherry guns fogged up daily and every time I took it out of the holster I had to clean the red dot off if I needed it to depend on my life. I would’ve been in a lot of trouble.

Quicker site acquisition and being able to focus on the target were good enough reasons for me to switch to red dots. Just make sure you buy a quality one that will be durable. If you're going to cheap out on a red dot, you should probably stick with your irons.

From a teacher to you…excellent teaching. Thank you)