@darthhodges
I wasn't a fan of backups until an unusual experience I had one range trip. I live in Missouri and that particular day it was in the 90s with high humidity. I got my rifle out of my air conditioned car after driving most of an hour and the exterior of my optic immediately fogged the way people's eyeglasses do in winter. I could wipe it off but it would promptly fog again, it took almost 15 minutes (in the sun) for the optics to become warm enough not to fog. I could see a cop who keeps his rifle in the trunk of a car having similar problems moving into a heated building in the winter. So I now I have offset irons that can't become obscured by condensation like that. Obviously where you live and how and when you use your gun will determine whether you EVER see that happen.
@jackjmaheriii
For what it’s worth… I’m an active duty SERE Specialist, I have read literally thousands of stories of military survival from across time and around the world, and I have never come across anyone whose ever said that quick-deploy backup sights were the thing that got them home. I have however interviewed two men who are very clear that tape switches on white lights got them shot at by being stuck in the on position, and one was hit.
@toddinfl
Socko says, "stop following me around the apartment complex like some fucking creep."
@smacfe
I have a red dot on top of the ACOG, offset iron sights, an mounted bayonet, a holstered sidearm, an ankle gun, a fixed blade hunting knife, a folding knife, brass knuckles and a garroting wire. And if I’m doing more than just grocery shopping, I really get serious about equipping properly.
@RolandtheThompsonGunner
I didn't hear the rock call no punch backs. So then I am returning immediate fire.
@homeinthewhiteoaks
As an Ex-LEO a lot of us liked the 45 degree sights because the most common issue the we saw was the rifle being stored inside a patrol vehicle with the AC cranked!! When you got out and grabbed the rifle in a humid summer night the rifle would get quickly become wet with condensation. and you just could not see through the scope. Anti fog helped but not always enough. the option to have something (when you pointed the gun and saw only grey wall nothingness) made sense.
@KidCorporate
"A very, very bad day that 99.999% of us will never have."
@zlink8
Glad you made this point. Some kind of secondary sighting system of your choice, irons are just the lightest, cheapest ,and most out of the way generally.
@RhulkActual
0:02 Chrisky lives on in the minds of the people
@BullMooseFox
I broke an ACOG on my Afghanistan deployment. The rifle was leaning up against a wall and fell on the ACOG and must have messed up a lens inside or something because it was blurry and unfocused after that. I spent the rest of the deployment using my backup rear sight. I was a POG so it didn't matter but I still broke an ACOG with just day to day use. I will always have back up iron sights on any rifle I own because of this experience. I really like that I can use the back up irons through an EOTECH or red dot without taking it off as well. Just in case the batteries die or something. They are always there if needed and the Magpul pros don't even take up that much space.
@nosidenoside2458
Offset secondary magnified optics are where it's really at. If you drop your gun and your lpvo breaks, you'll have a second lpvo at a 45 degree angle from the first. You could also put one on thenother side, in which case you have double the optic damage security.
@kaz6916
I too am a “torx in the pistol grip” guy. Your rationale for backup irons is essentially the same as mine. Having a set of already zeroed backups also speeds up the zeroing process when adding a new red dot or other non-magnified optic because you can just line the dot up with the irons to get pretty close and then fold them down to get a good unobstructed sight picture for the actual zeroing
@Ammotax
Half the guys I meet that have back up irons sights 1 don’t know how to use them or 2 never zero them
@ThePirateCasey
I keep a set of Troy M4 backups on my main rifle as I mainly keep an eotech on it, but if I decide to swap to my nightvision or thermal sight, all I have to do is zero them to the irons. And when I put my eotech back on, I can confirm my zero has not shifted without having to go in the back yard and fire a few shots. It's also nice to know you have a pretty much 100% reliable set of sights at all times, every optic can fail and it usually happens under unusual circumstances.
@IcyReaper
Thanks for the vid. BUIS discussions are about the same level as 9mm vs .45 . Its a personal decision based on how you use it. BUT, as a retired military guy and with another 21 years as a DOD trainer, I always have them. I have seen things happen in bad places where a optic goes down or is damaged and your life may depend on them. I had a running argument with a squad leader for several years about them. Then he had a incident when deployed where his optic took a shrapnel hit and was put out of action and he had to do the walking dead type shooting down the barrel. After that he did a modified version where he sighted a set in then took the back sight off and kept in a pouch on plate carrier. I ran into him a few years later and he told me he had to give the BUIS to a private that somehow actually broke a ACOG (that's why mil stuff is tough, it has to be Pvt. Snuffy from Alabama tough) while on a long patrol. Just 2 times in 3 deployments shows it isn't common but when you need it you need it now. For most people who will never go to bad places or do bad things, maybe not needed. But if the collapse comes there wont be repairs or anymore available or made so I don't leave home without them😉
@thealchemist9025
One of my favorite uses of iron sights is to sight in a new optic. Just put the red dot/reticle at the top of the front post and like magic you are on paper on the first shot. This method is likely to require some follow up shots for some fine tuning.
@buff34x
My primary reason for running BUIS is due to weather. We have pretty severe winters where I live and humid summers which results in a lot of fogging and freezing issues for lenses. Any time I come in from shooting in the winter my optics are completely useless for 10-30+ minutes depending on how cold they got, and in the summer when I go outside, they are fogged over for about 1-5 minutes depending on how much hotter it is outside, and the humidity. The Elcan has been the worst offender so far for this. For those reasons I've started adding more offset irons to any scoped set up I have and appreciate the unity fast riser for my red dots even more sense I can use the irons underneath the optic. It hasn't caused me any real life issues so far as I haven't had to use a firearm in self defense yet, but in a TEOTWAWKI, SHTF, Red Dawn, and etc situation I want to have optics that will work regardless of the weather I'm in.
@vwtyty
With regards to your point about switching optics, if you have BUIS that are zeroed, as long as you can cowitness your irons through whatever red dot/holographic sight you put on the rifle, then you can easily zero the optic using the irons as a reference.
@thesickhorseranch
I have this conversation with friends every time one of us sets up a new rifle. I'm the only one of us with military experience and I'm sure that's the main driving factor but also my first real (expensive, to me) rifle scope fogged internally after about ten years of Western Oregon weather and my lack of consideration for temperature swings. I would bring it right inside from the cold so I am actually surprised how well it lasted. Given our rain, fog, mud, and generally short, brushy firing distances I will backup every scope with irons. Our weather alone can render a scope, and thereby the rifle it's mounted to, completely useless.
@hawksnake3372