How important is it to have the ability to cowitness ironsits with optics?

[C0untZer0]

I've heard people talk about this when they setup their tac shotgun.

What are the benefits of having your optics cowitness the iron sights?

 

[Rob228]

My irons and Aimpoint are co-witnessed on my M-4, both for work and the one that I built.

All of my shotguns only have beads, I can't imagine needing anything more than a bead or ghost ring on a shotgun. The exception is slugs, as I do have a Hastings slug barrel for one of my 870's that is scoped, but that is for hunting, not anything inside of a house. My "tac" shotgun wears only a tritium bead and a flashlight. The whole purpose behind co-witnessing is planning on your red dot going down and using the iron sights as a backup. If you are planning on a shotgun being a primary weapon, you might need a new plan. Speaking from experience, we use them for breaching, then they get slung on the back and the carbine goes back into use. If you are using a shotgun to defend your house, spending your money on a flashlight that you can use with the shotgun is a much better investment than a reddot.

 

[Technosavant]

The main benefits are being able to double check the zero of one with the other and also a seamless transition from the optic to the irons if the optic dies on you... no need to remove the now busted optic.

Still, it's more of a thing with rifles. While there are some shotguns were you can cowitness, there aren't many- mostly tactical guns with raised sights.