What should success in hunting depend on? A properly selected and aimed rifle, a knife that fits your hand, and comfortable ammunition? Partly yes. Nevertheless, in current conditions, you can only do with good optics. And in this case, market offers are so varied and abound with so many tempting offers that it is tough to make a final decision. And it is not surprising. There are many kinds of sights, and each one is or wants to be in a specific niche.
For example, when mounted on a weapon, such as a regular double-barrel or a carbine. Or apply to a particular type of hunting - amateur, sport, driven, and the like. For convenience and speed of aiming at moving targets and for close shooting from the firing position. In this case, the task of any sight remains the same - to increase the efficiency and accuracy of shooting. It doesn't matter what kind of sight it is - open, ring, diopter, optical, laser, or another. All these sights are good in their way. So, the most straightforward mechanical or available sight is based on the alignment of the slit with the reticle and its fixation on the target. It is difficult, especially at a distance, to make these actions quickly and shoot with high accuracy in time. A little faster, this action is obtained using an aperture sight when the rear view is aligned with the aperture. In this case, using diopter, ring, or "ghost ring" sights is convenient. You can use telescopic sights to calculate the distance to the object, observe the terrain, aim the weapon accurately, and make a shot.
Nevertheless, in this article, we will compare two perspective sights - holographic and collimator (red dot). What are they, what pluses and minuses in design, and how to use them in everyday life or instead in hunting?
The benefits of the Red Dot sight.
This is a highly effective and convenient collimating sight, which is installed on both rapid-fire automatic weapons, as well as on shotguns and pistols. The essence of its work is that irrespective of the angle of view, the aiming point is always illuminated. The shooter doesn't have to align the rear sight with the front company. He only has to turn the barrel towards the target, point the point at the target and pull the trigger. This principle of operation is similar to the long-focal-length objective lens, embedded and illuminated by an electronic sighting mark, which, unlike laser sight, is visible to the hunter. Simply, it looks like this. The beam "sent" by the collimator is deflected from the aiming point, instantly processed, and the hunter sees the aiming point on the victim or the target. Technically, everything is built on a special light-reflecting LED lens, which transmits a quality image to the shooter's eye, providing a high target acquisition rate. Thanks to the appropriately selected distance between the LED and the target, the owner of such a sight can see both the red dot and the object of observation, located from several meters up to almost infinity. Is it possible to improve Red Dot? You will get a fantastic bonus by equipping the weapon with an additional optical finder.
A few words about the sighting reticle, which comes with different color "dots" or sighting schemes with adjustable brightness. It's necessary to know: that a bright dot is seen well, but at a long distance, it overcovers the object of observation. Producers make sights with dots colored in different colors or combinations; as a rule, it is specified in the name of the sight. Red (RD-read dot), green (GD-green dot), three red or green (3RG-3 red & green), red or green (RG-red & green). The choice of color-desire and comfort for the eyes of each wearer. Although in green plantings and wooded areas, it is difficult to work with a green dot, as well as in a building with a blue one, which could be more visible in these places.
What else do I need to know about collimators? They come in several varieties - active and passive. In the first case, the aiming mark must be constantly charged and in stable working condition. This causes certain inconveniences. The passive sight does not require power to operate. However, because of this, the full functionality of the sight is lost in the evening and the dark.
Collimators, in addition, are usually divided into through and blind because of the method of aiming. In the "through" variant, you can be objective with one or two eyes, but in the "blind" variant, you can seek only with two regards.
Also, manufacturers offer closed and open sights, wherein in the first case, the regular light source hits the lens and projects a red dot on the shooter's eye. One lens and the open light source, and the shooter sees the red dot on the glass screen. With the scope closed, the illumination is housed in a closed cone, which protects the scope as much as possible from bumps, scratches, moisture, and dust.
It is made in a closed tube, and the light source is inside.
Advantages of the holographic sight
This technical miracle "know-how" is based on an unexpected perception system by the shooter's mind of a holographic sighting mark regardless of the distance. Simply speaking, it can be described as the "movement" of the laser at a great length, "sketches" the necessary object, and instantly transfers this image practically into the "eyes" of the hunter. This is achieved by installing a special plate with a hologram-printed aiming mark, where a laser beam is illuminated. In such a situation, a hundred meters distance will seem illusionary at a distance of "an outstretched hand."
We see the target through the "photo" formed and created by the hologram-aiming reticle. Without the distortion of the image, clearly and in all its "glory." At the same time, by zooming in and out, the target remains unchanged, allowing the shooter to make the shot calmly and accurately despite the long distance.
In this case, it would be wrong to ignore such a phenomenon as "parallax" insights. This is when the image of the target is not focused precisely in the focal plane of the sighting mark. The shooter is not looking at the target but at its appearance transmitted by the laser. Being in an awkward position makes it difficult for the shooter to align the rear sight and make a calibrated shot. With a holographic sight, you have to point the gun at the target, and you don't have to "line up" the eye-mouse-target chain to do it.
The system assembled from a flat glass panel protects these sights from lateral and frontal glare. Moreover, changing the polarity of the hologram at an angle in the latest models of the gadget is already adapted to use the sight in polarized glasses, which was previously impossible.
The fundamental differences between the two sights
The appearance of holographic sights stirred up the gun community, strengthening the understanding that the era of the "sunset" of collimators has come. Is it so? For a start, let's divide these sights into two conditional groups. We distinguish affordability due to the simplicity of construction, high speed of aiming, and relatively low maintenance cost as the advantages of collimator sights. The asset of a holographic company is a high-speed qualitative aiming mark, which allows not to bother focusing the aiming and the marking. It steadily holds the aiming point, enabling you to shoot directly at the target. The important point is its rugged, impact-resistant housing with an anti-glare coating.
Although these devices are visually similar, they are fundamentally different, and it needs to be corrected to compare their technologies of mark projection. The collimator is structurally simple. These are its advantage and disadvantage. The benefits are clear, but among the penalties is a significant reduction in the efficiency factor in rainy, foggy weather, snowfall, and the like.
They draw power from the built-in battery, with the holographic being much larger than the red dot. This is important in some situations. They also can shorten the sighting time to make a calibrated shot. At the same time, the holographic aiming marker is designed and built on the complex optoelectronic system and has quite a wide choice of sighting images. Due to light and remarkably rugged housing and the ability to work in difficult weather conditions, they are actively used in army units, which already speaks for itself. It is possible to achieve such quality using complex and expensive technologies, which can not be cheap and are much higher in the price segment for collimator sights. It also refers to high prices for their maintenance. If, for example, the red dot can be serviced practically in any specialized repair shop with holography, it will require more time. It is not surprising. The manufacturing technology of these sights is patented in Europe. Naturally, the warranty service and repairs are carried out there, increasing the cost and terms of repairs for the product and at the expense of transportation.
Conclusion
Which sight to choose? It's simple. The price of the question. Unsurprisingly cheap can be of low quality. Unless it is on the secondary market and has hidden problems, simplifying the choice, let's note that any rifle scope has advantages and disadvantages. It does not concern fans of that optics, which they have heard about, but have yet to see. We will note that in good weather conditions in the illuminated shooting range, you can shoot at static targets with a collimator gun for fun. These sights are pretty good, unpretentious, cheap, and can give a head start to other open pictures.
Holographic sight, as you understood, is a huge step forward in developing collimators, providing qualitative image transmission, and allowing accurate and stress-free shooting in any conditions, including moving targets.
The precise accuracy of any weapon depends on the correct choice of sight. In general, both companies are good, which simplifies the selection. And the fact that you must pay for quality not only with money but also with the complexity of maintenance when choosing personal comfort and convenience is out of the question.