Darkness vs The Dot

More and more pistol users are transitioning to reflex sights.  They aren’t new by any means.  Invented in 1900, reflector sights were used on (in a limited way) World War I fighter bi-wing aircraft.  World War II saw more extensive use of reflex sights in crew operated weapons and in fighter planes.  These units were not small and it isn’t until recently diodes and manufacturing technology have made reflex sights small and rugged enough for use on personal armament.

With the ability to focus on the red dot superimposed on the target, target scores have improved.  Finding the dot during the draw stroke is a steep learning curve, but not any worse than learning to align the front and rear sight and center them on the target.

Critics express concern about battery life, mechanical damage and reliability.  Many of the systems sip electricity so lightly a coin battery can last for over a year, and other systems have circuitry that require motion to remain activated still further extending battery life.  The overall performance seems to be getting a thumbs up from the shooting and self-defense community.  A recent news report showed US Marshals on the training range and everyone was shooting a reflex sight.  I suspect they are here to stay.

The basic night gun, Glock 17, Trijicon Dot, Streamlight gun light

This is not to say there are not issues.  But there are issues with fixed sights as well.  I recently took my Trijicon reflex sight out on a rainy evening to practice only to have the rain stop.  It still continued to get dark and I quickly discovered that even with enough ambient light to see the target, the reflex sight was useless.

The red dot blinded me with intensity and glare and the reflective dichroic glass became opaque. 

I could see the steel targets at 10-12 yards, but not through my reflex sight.

The reflective dichroic surface in the red dot or reflex sight also absorbs some of the light from the target.  At some ambient illumination level, insufficient light will be transmitted to your eye.  This same eye is also contracted by the diode.  It shouldn’t be a surprise you can’t see anything.

I checked my Truglow Tru-Tec 20mm red dot and found the same thing.

But there is a simple solution: the gun or tactical light.  Add some light to the situation and the illumination comes up enough where the dot functions as it should.  I use a Streamlight TLR 1 gun light and that functioned fine.  So does my little Nextorch K3T penlight.

I found when it becomes too dark to read a paperback book, it’s too dark to use only the dot.  This illumination level worked for me.  If I could read, I could see the dot on my target.  If I couldn’t read, I need some amount of extra illumination.  Your mileage may vary.