Strategy, again and briefly: red dots

It has been a long while since I wrote anything about strategy for personal, that is individual, self-defense shooting. I have had little new to say. In any case, few readers are interested in my take on the topic. Instead of fashionable and exciting run-and-gun my approach is more nearly described as hide-and-bide.

What I have that is new to say, or new for me anyway, is an endorsement of red dot sights on rifles. A decent quality dot sight increases your hit probability when shooting fast. To briefly recap, the points I like to raise about defensive shooting are three.

• Fight from an ensconced defender position. Or at least, find the best cover you can.
• Use a weapon that maximizes your hit probability. That is where the dot sight comes in. 
• Use the advantage of surprise if at all possible.

I still endorse the shotgun as a better weapon than a rifle, for the self-defense scenarios that are most likely. Its hit probability is better. Many people, though, are of a mind to say a rifle is better, for various reasons that to me hold lesser importance. For example, long-range capability does not figure into my concerns. My recent experiments with riflery suggest that the red dot is fast and easy to aim with, enough so to make a difference when you are trying to shoot and hit as quickly as you can manage. If you are going to use a rifle to defend yourself, a red dot sight is the best available gunsight.

How to adjust the brightness? This trick worked well for me. Turn up the dot until it is plainly and unmistakably visible in contrast to the scenery, then turn it up one notch brighter, so that the dot is what draws your eye. (Hat tip to Erik Äs.)