Red Dot and Reflex Sight

There is no need to pay a gunsmith to mount a scope; it is easy enough to do it yourself if you have the tools and time.

Focusing on acquiring clear shots and perfect target aims, firearms and other devices that require aiming have been designed in a way that they have an illuminated red dot sight.

The red dot sight, which is a non-magnifying reflex, improves the aiming skills of both skilled and amateur shooters.

Red dot light – Light emitting diode (LED) helps in the focusing of the target as it is aligned with the weapon hence sighting the target and ensuring minimal or free parallax regardless of the eye position of the shooter.

Also, Optical devices which enable the shooter to see illuminated projections of an image have been developed.

They superimpose images on the lens’s field of view when the shooter is looking through a reflecting glass element. This device is the reflector sight or the reflex sight.

How does a reflex sight and a red dot sight work?

First and foremost, the optical reflector sight device gives a projected illuminate of an aiming point thus producing a reflex sight. It works on the optical principle rule.

The optical principal rule of lenses is that an object at the focus of a curved mirror or any given lens (like an illuminated reticle), appears as if like, it is sitting right in front of the viewer even if it is at infinity from the viewer.

Since the reticle is very far away (at infinity), it is held in alignment with the device as the sight is firmly attached to, regardless of the eye position of the viewer.​

The reflective overlay or luminous or the reticle at its focus is the one now used by the reflector sights.

This image gets reflected off the angled beam splitter helping the observer as he looks through the mirror or the specific beam splitter to see and locate the image at the focus of the optics. This image has now been superimposed to the sight’s field of view in full focus as the object even ranges at infinity.

The red spot sight should not be confused with the laser sight as it is configured with spherical mirror reflector with an LED in its off-axis focus in.
The mirror is a multilayered dielectric dichroic coated partially with silver for just reflecting the red spectrum allowing it through a passage from other lights.

The LED in use is of 670-nanometer wavelengths and works best with the dichroic coating as it is near the other end of the visible spectrum. The size of the red dot sight generated is regulated by an aperture hole in front, made from coated glass or metal.

This eliminates sighting errors and also parallax error as found in most sighting devices.

When to use Red dot sight ?

In both bright and dim conditions as they have active or passive adjustments.
In speed shootings or competitions circles.
When you want to quickly allow visual target acquisition and its placement within your parameter of firing.
When using a long barrel, “26.
When you do not have to concentrate on your target and a pair of iron sights.

When to use Reflex Sight?

When don’t you have to use iron sights.
When the user needs simplicity in a quick acquisition of a target in nature of the sight.
In training a mediocre, average and expert shooters remove aiming problem.
When you need not position head aligning the sight line precisely as a must in two-point mechanical sight.
In different lighting conditions cause active or passive adjustments.

Conclusion And Recommendations

This article is based on a detailed discussion of both the reflex sight and the red dot sight, disclosing information about how the red dot and airsoft reflex sight works. Also, when to use the two types of sights.

These modern advancements made for the new generation of shooting lovers has proven to be more advantageous and less tedious compared to the traditional techniques used in both World War I and World War II.

I personally highly recommend the use of the two devices in training and aiming skill perfection for both skilled and poor shooters.

The optical principal rule of lenses is that an object at the focus of a curved mirror or any given lens (like an illuminated reticle), appears as if like, it is sitting right in front of the viewer even if it is at infinity from the viewer.

Since the reticle is very far away (at infinity), it is held in alignment with the device as the sight is firmly attached to, regardless of the eye position of the viewer.​

Leave a Reply