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breamfisher
Senior MemberPosts: 13,518 Senior Member
AR Off-set BUIS... useful outside of competition?

Idle musing....
Are off-set Back-Up Iron Sights (BUIS) of any real use outside of competition? Seems to me they could be a bit "snaggy" Yeah, irons are snaggy in their own right, but they're also in-line with the optic, so if it'll snag on the irons, it'll probably snag on the optic. OTOH, offsets are to the side of the optic "relatively speaking, off course) and seem like they'd increase the potential for snagging. They seem like a good idea if you want an AR with a higher-powered optic that's also usable for a close-range snap shot. On the other hand, depending on your lower end, are they still needed for that "snap shot?" You can get 2-7x and 1-8x optics nowadays that work pretty good in close.
Images to illustrate what I'm talking about.


Edited to add: I'm not against BUIS. I have them on one AR, and they actually came in handy when the battery died on my red dot and I still wanted to keep shooting, or when I forgot to turn the red dot on before a stage of a match. They're a fixed A post on the front sight, and a permanently up rear sight: can't fold it down. OTOH, my AR with the scope has no BUIS because... that's not its mission.
Are off-set Back-Up Iron Sights (BUIS) of any real use outside of competition? Seems to me they could be a bit "snaggy" Yeah, irons are snaggy in their own right, but they're also in-line with the optic, so if it'll snag on the irons, it'll probably snag on the optic. OTOH, offsets are to the side of the optic "relatively speaking, off course) and seem like they'd increase the potential for snagging. They seem like a good idea if you want an AR with a higher-powered optic that's also usable for a close-range snap shot. On the other hand, depending on your lower end, are they still needed for that "snap shot?" You can get 2-7x and 1-8x optics nowadays that work pretty good in close.
Images to illustrate what I'm talking about.


Edited to add: I'm not against BUIS. I have them on one AR, and they actually came in handy when the battery died on my red dot and I still wanted to keep shooting, or when I forgot to turn the red dot on before a stage of a match. They're a fixed A post on the front sight, and a permanently up rear sight: can't fold it down. OTOH, my AR with the scope has no BUIS because... that's not its mission.
Overkill is underrated.
Replies
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and politician
I guess offset irons would have worked as well
-Mikhail Kalashnikov
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and politician
You just cant the rifle when you zero it at whatever yardage suits your fancy...
As long as the center of the sight is the same distance from the bore as the cross hair of the scope and you shoot it like the lady recommended, Gansta Style! Should hit the target very close to the same place.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
That makes no sense. The distance from the bore being the same as the scope has no bearing at all. The two sighting systems are completely independent of each other. They are each adjusted as required - totally independent of the other.
- George Orwell
1 tube, two sets of sights. If you had a barrel with a set of sights on the top that were set to hit at 100 yards, then you rotated the bbl to a different set that was set to hit at 100 yards, the angle of the bbl from the plane of point of aim POA would be the same.
With offset sights on a AR, the recoil is minimal at best so you cant the rifle so that instead of being in the pocket of your shoulder it is more on the ball. Never used them but the stock weld would be different and the whole mounting of the rifle, so I would hazard to guess that a set would be of best use as a short range alternative and for quick shots.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
You're ignoring those ARs set up for long range shooting....my coyote rifle had a 24" barrel and wore a fixed 10X optic....the Fastfire riding in the off-set accounted for more than a couple of short range coyotes popping out of the brush..,
Not at all.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
Yeah, but up here it will be opposite.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Whatever, ok let's try this. Sight in both sights, the scope and the iron to the same POI at a given distance. But you have to cant the rifle as in Ganster style with the irons obviously because you can't have them both on the same position with the stock. Like if the scope is at 12 o'clock looking at the Muzzle, the iron would be at something like 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
What? No 6 o'clock.
by the bye.
Is there an app to translate o'clock to digital, for us younger folk?
So for hunting they do have a use. Thanks. I'd never considered long range ARs because... that's not what either of mine are really set up for.
The cardinal joys of being young, eh?
Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
You could just call it 5 o'clock and have a nice, stiff drink.
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
I got you. I was thinking more of a scenario of back up for scope failure.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
That was my initial thinking when I built my HD budget AR.
But, when any gun has an unrealized potential for accuracy, I just cannot resist exploiting it, to some extent. I decided on beer can accuracy at 100 yards, and found that the rifle would do it easily with a variety of ammo. But my eyesight had deteriorated too much to do it without magnification. So I eventually went with the 1-4x scope. I can easily shoot 2-3" groups, offhand, with the scope, so that was a satisfying choice. But, I do wonder how much it has hurt my capability at pistol ranges.
I assume that it will be easy to point and shoot at that range, but have never gotten around to testing it at 10 yards, or so. I never wanted it for that function, but you never know what you might get into in a HD scenario.
Jerry