Yet, another decision I'm torn about. I'm considering switching bead on my Mossberg 500 for Aimpoint Micro (let's leave out discussion of price, because, yeah, that thing is ridiculously expensive -- can get 2 mossbeg 500 for one aimpoint micro). I'm talking about home defense only (sorry forgot to specify this in original post). Here're my preliminary thoughts on pluses and minuses of stock bead v. red-dot:
red dot
+ allows putting stock lower into chest muscle area (and away from collar bone area) when aiming -- which helps mitigate recoil
+ higher cheek riser (that one would need to compensate for the elevated sights) prevents thumb of rear hand from hitting the face/glasses during recoil (I use the ugly but extremely functional magpul sga stock)
+ aiming is faster
+ can keep both eyes open when aiming/firing
- need to compensate for the height of the red dot (hits will be 1-2 inches lower than point of aim) -- especially problematic when shooting behind barriers, since shot can hit barrier and not the threat
- downsides of all optics (hard recoil can shift point of aim; bolts can loosen up; battery can die; glass can break; added bulk/weight; glass produces reflection, which might give away one's position; etc. etc.)
stock bead
+ very sturdy
+ no need to compensate for the height of red dot over bore
+ no need to replace batteries (even when batteries last 5 years)
What's your opinion (if price is not an issue)?
red dot
+ allows putting stock lower into chest muscle area (and away from collar bone area) when aiming -- which helps mitigate recoil
+ higher cheek riser (that one would need to compensate for the elevated sights) prevents thumb of rear hand from hitting the face/glasses during recoil (I use the ugly but extremely functional magpul sga stock)
+ aiming is faster
+ can keep both eyes open when aiming/firing
- need to compensate for the height of the red dot (hits will be 1-2 inches lower than point of aim) -- especially problematic when shooting behind barriers, since shot can hit barrier and not the threat
- downsides of all optics (hard recoil can shift point of aim; bolts can loosen up; battery can die; glass can break; added bulk/weight; glass produces reflection, which might give away one's position; etc. etc.)
stock bead
+ very sturdy
+ no need to compensate for the height of red dot over bore
+ no need to replace batteries (even when batteries last 5 years)
What's your opinion (if price is not an issue)?
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