Carry optics, green dots?

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

waiting...
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
2A Bourbon Hound OG
Charter Life Member
Benefactor
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
Messages
29,301
Location
Wake/Harnett
Rating - 100%
14   0   0
Now that S&W has come out with a M&P 2.0 Performance Center with the slide cut for an optic I’m thinking about diving in.

I haven’t been shopping for optics yet, but I recall that everyone I’ve seen to date had a red dot. Does anyone make a green? I prefer green FO in front sights, and illuminated rifle reticles, so why not in a pistol optic?

Discuss.
 
Last edited:
Red was industry standard.
Green is slowly coming out.
The basic theory-
Humans evolved to see more shades of green than anything else. Why? Because of spotting predators amidst the leafy foliage.
So, theoretically, a green would be seen faster than a red.
Makes sense. Except, that both are illuminated, which is an artificial stimulus.

Either way, I have used both and do prefer green.
 
I actually got to shoot a red and a green holosun yesterday, both clear and visible, but the green Seemed easier to acquire when I brought the fire on up.
 
Spartan01 said:
Red was industry standard.
Green is slowly coming out.
The basic theory-
Humans evolved to see more shades of green than anything else. Why? Because of spotting predators amidst the leafy foliage.
So, theoretically, a green would be seen faster than a red.
Makes sense. Except, that both are illuminated, which is an artificial stimulus.

Either way, I have used both and do prefer green.
Click to expand...
When I was with Sylvania a lifetime ago the guys in the lab told us green is the easiest color for humans to see. I was discussing this with a shooting buddy recently who was formerly a military helo pilot who recalled when they changed Instrument clusters from red to green. He described the actual anatomy of the human eye and why this is so. It certainly is for me, especially as my sight has deteriorated.
 
May just be me but I have used optics with green and red reticles and I much prefer red. Not sure if it’s because I live out in the sticks and the back drop has a lot more green than red. I know it’s not a pistol optic but I picked up a 1-4 accupower with a green reticle a month or two ago and while it’s usable I’d really rather have the red version by far.

My carry gun has a rmr with red reticle. Good luck op.
 
Pbj ak said:
May just be me but I have used optics with green and red reticles and I much prefer red. Not sure if it’s because I live out in the sticks and the back drop has a lot more green than red. I know it’s not a pistol optic but I picked up a 1-4 accupower with a green reticle a month or two ago and while it’s usable I’d really rather have the red version by far.

My carry gun has a rmr with red reticle. Good luck op.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. My typical targets are brown cardboard or white steel and red just seems to pop more for me. Also, the ranges I frequent often have grassy backstops and green washes out.
 
Have used green and red dots fairly extensively on carbines and .22 pistols.

Red is better for me and pops way more.

No right answer. It’s whatever works best for you. Holosun comes to mind for green.
 
Doesn't it depend on the background some in addition to the anatomy of the eye? For carry optics on a brown or white cardboard target, I guess background doesn't matter much but in the field, green dot on green background seems like it would be harder to see than red.
 
I find even out on the road, I see green traffic lights in the distance a few blocks down the road in town much more easily, when the red lights are not nearly as apparent to me. This assumes similar brightness, which may or may not be.

That said, I’ll be pointing this thing at paper targets if I decide to pursue it.

Another component, what is easiest for you to focus on. As you get older and your eye’s lens don't flex to focus up close as well as they once did I found green easier to focus on, at least for me. This is a very routine part of aging regarding the eye’s lens, and started happening to me around 40. Back then the digital clocks in our house twenty five years ago were all red LED numerals. I could not see them well at all at night with the unaided eye. The red LEDs gave way to blue/green numerals in digital clocks, and kitchen appliances and I can see those crystal clear. Likewise with a 2007 vehicle in the family that had all red illuminated instrumentation. I couldn’t see it well at all at night whereas the blue/green of other vehicles was much more clear to me.

I probably need to go to the LGS and just eyeball some of them.
Pun intended.
 
Climberman said:
Doesn't it depend on the background some in addition to the anatomy of the eye? For carry optics on a brown or white cardboard target, I guess background doesn't matter much but in the field, green dot on green background seems like it would be harder to see than red.
Click to expand...

Yea I was thinking about this last night and kept thinking back to one of liberal studies art classes. There is anatomy going on here, as in what the eye is most sensitive to. There is also some color theory going on. What I mean by that is complementary colors, like an orange construction sign against a blue sky.

In reality, this isn't one of those things to overthink and just use what you like. We are fortunate to have so many options nowadays.
 
fieldgrade said:
I find even out on the road, I see green traffic lights in the distance a few blocks down the road in town much more easily, when the red lights are not nearly as apparent to me. This assumes similar brightness, which may or may not be.

That said, I’ll be pointing this thing at paper targets if I decide to pursue it.

Another component, what is easiest for you to focus on. As you get older and your eye’s lens don't flex to focus up close as well as they once did I found green easier to focus on, at least for me. This is a very routine part of aging regarding the eye’s lens, and started happening to me around 40. Back then the digital clocks in our house twenty five years ago were all red LED numerals. I could not see them well at all at night with the unaided eye. The red LEDs gave way to blue/green numerals in digital clocks, and kitchen appliances and I can see those crystal clear. Likewise with a 2007 vehicle in the family that had all red illuminated instrumentation. I couldn’t see it well at all at night whereas the blue/green of other vehicles was much more clear to me.

I probably need to go to the LGS and just eyeball some of them.
Pun intended.
Click to expand...

You likely understand this already, but will throw it out there in case you dont:
You don’t focus on the dot like you do with a front sight. Rather, you use a target focus. The dot is superimposed over what you actually focus on.
 
NKD said:
You likely understand this already, but will throw it out there in case you dont:
You don’t focus on the dot like you do with a front sight. Rather, you use a target focus. The dot is superimposed over what you actually focus on.
Click to expand...
When it comes to carry optics, I don’t know what I don’t know, although I’ve read a lot.

I looked at a Holosun 2moa green dot today. I think I like it. I also got to handle the new M&P 9 2.0 MOS today. It’s pretty sweet for a plastic pistol.
 
Last edited:
So far I am really liking this green dot in the Holosun, but I haven’t really had it outside much, or to the range yet.

I went ahead and ordered the Apex FSS trigger for the M&P. The 2.0 trigger is a heck of a lot smoother than the 1.0 triggers, but it still has a lot of take up, more than I like, so I figured I’d throw more money at it. I had an Apex FSS in an M&P 1.0 a few years ago and it is one great trigger.

7358BAE9-0FE5-43F7-B991-4BBD3EF096C9_1_201_a.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Just put an Apex FSS Flat Faced trigger in it.
What a pita.

This thing better make me proud at the range. I coulda bought a nice 1911 in 9mm to screw around with for all this dough.
 
That Holosun optic is the bomb. Especially with the circle dot.

The 65 MOA circle around the 2MOA dot makes for acquiring the dot MUCH faster. My son figured that out and he was right. I normally don’t like the circle w/ dot. I have a Holosun on a rifle. I always thought the circle would obscure the target, but it makes target acquisition with a pistol, especially on draw, then transitioning from one target to the next, VERY fast.
 
fieldgrade said:
That Holosun optic is the bomb. Especially with the circle dot.

The 65 MOA circle around the 2MOA dot makes for acquiring the dot MUCH faster. My son figured that out and he was right. I normally don’t like the circle w/ dot. I have a Holosun on a rifle. I always thought the circle would obscure the target, but it makes target acquisition with a pistol, especially on draw, then transitioning from one target to the next, VERY fast.
Click to expand...
That's curious, I love the EoTech circle dot on a rifle. Yet I saved a few bucks by getting the 407 Holosun because I couldn't imagine it being useful on a pistol. Maybe I should find one to look through.
 
Beef15 said:
That's curious, I love the EoTech circle dot on a rifle. Yet I saved a few bucks by getting the 407 Holosun because I couldn't imagine it being useful on a pistol. Maybe I should find one to look through.
Click to expand...
The first problem it solved was sorta of intuitive. It’s harder to lose a 65MOA circle than a 2MOA dot.

But even when shooting an array of steel and paper targets, we made better groups shooting as fast as we could with the circle dot. I never would have predicted that..
 
65 MOA on a rifle dot, 32 on a pistol dot, circles that is (are?). We had been discussing the merits of Holosun with the larger circles and dot inside and there was some confusion about the size of the circle. You had to be there, seriously.

But I'd drink beer with you anytime. Just ask @fieldgrade. Good old chats would be had.
 
Last edited:
fieldgrade said:
The first problem it solved was sorta of intuitive. It’s harder to lose a 65MOA circle than a 2MOA dot.

But even when shooting an array of steel and paper targets, we made better groups shooting as fast as we could with the circle dot. I never would have predicted that..
Click to expand...
dmarbell said:
What's 33 MOA among friends?
Click to expand...
dmarbell said:
65 MOA on a rifle dot, 32 on a pistol dot, circles that is (are?). We had been discussing the merits of Holosun with the larger circles and dot inside and there was some confusion about the size of the circle. You had to be there, seriously.

But I'd drink beer with you anytime. Just ask @fieldgrade. Good old chats would be had.
Click to expand...
Yep. I have a Holosun rifle optic on a Barnes carbine, and a Holosun Pistol optic on an M&P 2.0 CORE. Both have circle dot reticles. I wouldn’t have guessed that the rifle circle reticle was that much larger than the pistol optic, even after looking at one right after the other. I just run the red dot on the rifle optic and the smaller circle dot on the pistol optic.
 
MDude25 said:
Plus I think green is more likely to stand out under sunny conditions. What's been your experience in sunlight?
Click to expand...
Indeed, green was much easier for me to see in the sun.
 
Thing I’ve noticed with green dot: shooting against foliage with NC sun behind it can make green harder to pick up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom