Duane "Buck" Buckner, Aimpoint's US Director of Training, explains common mistakes of aiming with a red dot.

Aiming an Aimpoint red dot, in the strictest sense of the word… is not using the tool to its greatest benefit. Operationally parallax free optics greatly reduce the requirement of the shooter to direct the weapon with precision by measuring points along the bore/sight axis.

“Aiming” in the traditional understanding asks the shooter to lift the rifle to a known benchmark or “cheek weld,” interrupt the target information by finding the front sight and then measure it against the reference of the rear sight. When this alignment has been achieved, the shooter engages the trigger and makes the shot.

“Confirming” requires substantially less effort from the shooter. When employing an Aimpoint red dot sight, the shooter maintains a threat or target focus and lifts the rifle into their visual plane. The emphatic signal of the simple red dot insinuates itself on the desired target area and the shooter engages the trigger and makes the shot.

All of the work required to measure and compare points along the bore/sight axis are taking place in the properly zeroed Aimpoint optic. This frees capacity in the shooter to make important decisions outside of the gun and toward the target.


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