Shooting Sports Retailer - July/August 2010

emerging of the AR tactical rifle which brought with it not only long gun competition shooting and accessorizing, but a whole new mindset. Red dot optics were not, in themselves, de- veloped recently. They’ve been around in various
identities for 30 years but
only finding mass shooter accept-
ance among Middle East-deployed
military whose need for quick tar-
get acquisition at short range be-
came essential to survival.

Since then, the reflex sight took red-dot technology to even greater heights when Bushnell developed its popular holographic HOLOsight. From there, combinations of red dots, holographic sights, lasers, and reflexes have come to wide acceptance as a shooting necessity, especially to recreational tactical shooters.

Can’t decide which red dots to stock? Here, from our menu of red dot goodies, then, are a few samples. Most of the mainline optics companies include red dots in their line. While they, by no means, reflect the entire red dot manufacturing army, and are not listed here as a good-better-best variation, they will hopefully provide the retailer with the same thing given to recreational shooters everywhere: Choices.

Aimpoint Red Dot

•Aimpoint

Generally regarded as the father of red dot scopes, Aimpoint targets (‘scuse, please) all shooters with their series of small lightweight 1x scopes: Micro H-1—Designed with the hunter in mind, these sights are the lightest red dot sights yet small enough to be used anywhere that you could put iron sights, Micro H-1 mounted on it remains a lightweight rifle. A hunting revolver with Micro H-1 installed remains as easy to carry as with iron sights and is much quicker to aim. On a bow, the parallax-free Micro H-1 eliminates the need for a peep, allowing

you to shoot accurately in lower light.

The Micro R-1 is de-
signed and built with the
competitive handgunner
in mind. With its silver
metallic finish, it’s per-
fect on pistols and revolvers
for NRA Action Pistol or IPSC
competition. The Micro T-1 is
the tactical member of the Micro
family and is compatible with all
generations of night vision devices
and is even more submersible than
the Micro R-1 or Micro H-1 sights.
www.aimpoint.com

•Barska

While most (but not all) red dot scopes are based on 1x power, Barska includes in its lineup a 2x magnification red dot model aimed at the tactical shooter.