As i sat watching this, it hit me why i like your vids so much. They are no nonsense, no "look at me, i'm a SEAL, i'm better than you" braggadocio. You are calm, patient and informative. I like how you break down the how and why of all things. That's important for those of us that don't just take things at face value, but always ask "why?" ( My Chief hated this in the Navy..lol) Thank you very much!

I gotta say that as a guy who’s vision isn’t as sharp as it used to be, I have found that 1x6 and all the way up to 10x is not wasted on an AR15. When you can see 3x5 or similar size targets at 500m consistently, the extra magnification is worth it - not that it’s every day that one will shoot at steel that far - unless you’re on a 500 plus range daily. I currently use a Burris RT6 on a 16 inch.

Been a hunter in the PNW all of my life and a LEO, swat sniper, entry, weapons instructor etc.. I have lots of experience shooting 2.5x and 4x scopes non hunting rifles in thick woods as well as open sights (peep sights) in my early years. Getting into longer range rifles and 3-9x and 4-12x scopes on bolt actions as I grew up in my hunting and LE. Years later, I found that for me, a 1-4 is about all I need for my "emergency rifle". I can see a deer or bear at 600 yards on 4x and get quick shots at close range in thick dark timber for bear hunting on 1x. I use a Tavor 7. I appreciate all that you do Chadd. God Bless and God Speed my friend..

I enjoyed this topic. There are tons of things out there that will improve your business end of a long gun. I think Chadd just narrow the process down quite a bit for a bunch of shooters out there. Good job!

Appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I just got my first AR style weapon, it has no sights or optics mounted when I received it. This was very helpful to get me better informed and probably spending coin on something I would be disappointed with. Thank you for your service.

Very very outstanding video. Clean language too. Thanks. Great job. Keep up the good work. SC Navy vet. 1965.

I've practiced with every different type of optics in the past 4 years. Knowing the personal preference is also a path to realize myself, then bring up the weakness and sharpen the strength. Very nice video!

Finally someone with experience and a level head on KZfaq. We all owe you a big thank you for your service and your attitude. Thank you.

As a cop and working over seas I found the Eotech sight the fastest CQB sight I ever used. I never took a long shot with an M4. Now that I am retired I find a LPVO the best all around .

I love to hear you speak on REAL AF! Merry Christmas and stay blessed

Awesome reviews of optics that straight to the point. A big fan of irons sights also and having BUIS. Amazing how many people I see run a carbine with an optic such as a red dot and not have BUIS let alone training with irons. I am big fan of ACOG’s for my 5.56 carbines. Shooting both eyes open (bindon sighting) helps maintain situational awareness and really works at distance with BDC.

Thanks for your bravery and videos no one can deny your thought you done what most could never do or see,I’ve always told people I wished I could have been a seal so much of what a great man should be thanks man

I have 3 pretty similar setups: LPVO + canted irons, LPVO + canted rds, rds + flashlight/green laser. The rds + laser is on an 11.5"; rds has solar panel & shake awake to help mitigate points of failure. Green laser as back-up bc quick target acquisition in CQB (though not always ideal) and - most importantly - bc I had one laying around. Sometimes, that's how it goes.

I've opted for 3x prisms for general purpose and LPVO's for longer barreled AR's. I'll take etched reticles or irons over battery dependent options.

Thanks for posting this. A couple of months ago, I must have seen this video. Because I checked out my PCC red dot. Since we can't get the rifles we want in Massachusetts (and not being rich), my home defence PCC is a modified High-Point 9mm carbine (w/Aluminum rail & new trigger spring). Which is super reliable with ball ammo. On top is a low cost auto-wakeup 2MOA Red-Dot that needed to be about 8mm higher, so I could shoot in a more Heads-Up position. It's faster to get on target now, and more comfortable on my 77 year old neck! After that, I had to check the Red-Dot on my little TCR22 carbine (it was on sale cheap). The red-dot (actually it's a auto-on green-dot) was installed on the Low mount. Close to the bore! I had to get-down on the cheek-rest (weld it) and it was also a bit slow getting on target. I reinstalled the sight with the standard AR height RD mount and it's great now. Faster, and the Heads-Up position allows me to shoot .22LR with my ear-muffs, Without the stock comb pushing up on my headset. That one benefit, made my day! (Lost much of my hearing on a 5"-38 open gun mount as 1st loader). I'm not worried about the height-above-bore problem because of my years of short-range shooting practice. I use a .22 PCP (Benjamin Marauder Pellet Pistol) for rat-control at ranges of 4 to 40 yards. I've used red-dots and currently a 3-9x BugBuster on this little PCP. I shortened it's stock for better neck comfort. Now it looks a little like an SBR! I've got the hold-over nailed. Shouldn't be hard to carry over this skill to close-in self-defense work with a high mounted optic on a PCC, or even on .223 or .308 Self-Defense rifles. It might be a good "Hold Over" drill for pistol range shooting with the AR15 (with a .22LR adapter?) trying to keep it in the x-ring, while moving the target from 4 to 40 yards in 2 yard increments. Thanks for your service. Keep up the good work!

Absolutely beautiful. Great advice with so many different options out there.

Starting to get into your videos as they’re pretty much straight to it. All my carbines are setup with etched 1-6’s with iron sights for just in case but highly doubt I’ll ever use the iron sights but they’re there. My 308’s are setup with 1-8 etched scopes and my pistol AR15s are setup with etched red dots. I prefer all my sights being etched reticles as they’re impervious to an EMP or dead batteries but most of all etched scopes and red dot sights are awesome for people suffering from many different eye problems such as Cataracts etc. . Thank you for taking the time to make this video as it’s extremely informative and that being said I’ve just subscribed in hopes to see more no nonsense straight to the point videos. Good luck and God Bless 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

I’d just like to add that an advantage of a canted sight vs over the top is that you can lay your rifle on top of whatever you choose as “cover”, be it a vehicle or wall etc etc, and you have a lower profile. I also have a 16” upper and a 10.5” that are setup exactly the same, lpvo with canted sight. I feel like that would be beneficial as far as muscle memory goes, despite the fact that the 10.5 isn’t going to reach as accurately as the 16” Love your videos… no nonsense and straight forward

Thank you brother. Straightforward, informative, everyman, no nonsense.

Essential knowledge for all types of shooter's. Glad I ran across your channel!

Never owned or shot a long gun except for a bolt action 30-06 when I was 12. I'm 66 now and retired and from the video's I've seen a truck Gun setup is what I'm thinking. I've learned a lot from your Videos. Thanks for your Help!

Great discussion on optics/sight options for our carbines. I'm a big fan of lpvo due to the versatility...most of my carbines have one, but a handful have a red dot or holographic sight. I'm not tried any sort of offset red dot or iron sights.

Excellent video with information I was looking for. Thank you. Liked and subscribed.

For me, the biggest benefit of an LPVO ( currently using the arrowhead 1-10 from Swampfox, amazing scope) The biggest benefit is the ability to survey, and positively identify targets. On my take-to-war rifle, I have an Arrowhead and AEMS redot offset at a 45. Yes its clunky and added weight. But the 4 extra ounces dont matter as much when your already carrying kit with plates and a ruck. In Afghanistan most engagements I participated were all at 200+ range. This is the reason all us infantry guys love the ACOG. There is no denying the power of being able just SEE better at distance.

Appreciate the info and perspectives Chadd! My preferred set up is holographic on top and flip up 45 irons. I find that with practice and keeping my eyes on target the transition is smooth.

Thanks for all the info - love the channel!

I'm so glad I found your channel thanks for the info been binge watching.

Always utilize offsets to maximize effectiveness. After practice, the transition is very easy and more intuitive than you would think.

I qualified 39/40 with iron sights back in the day, also I was taught to shoot with both eyes open for target acquisition and distance perception, I would go for iron sights first choice, second would be the scoped 308

Nicely put for folks great video everything has its on purpose pros and cons great job explaining it thanks Daniel

As always very informative and detailed information. Thank you sir.

My preferred for having just one rifle is a red dot and a magnifier with a qd mount. Red dot is optimal for home defense and the magnifier allows to stretch my effective range further and allow better ID on potential targets.

My favorite back in my SF days was the old school colt 3 power that mounted on the carry handle- also could see iron sights under it..On my carbine setup I have a red dot w magnifier. On another a 4x nikkon scope. Its all apples and oranges. Also have become a fan of lasers for close range. Id like to see a review of NVD/thermals which will be my next upgrade.

Nice videos. I like that you don't talk around the subject. You get straight to the meat and potatoes. Thanks Brother!!

I've been setup like rifle 5 for about a year and haven't looked back. Thanks for sharing the video!

Dude, I love you! Finally, someone who understands weight to real world capability and the need for a single BU sighting system. I get so irritated seeing everyone over magnifying their platforms far beyond the capability of the platform itself. When I went to sniper school way back in 2001 or so, we only had the 10x M3A scope. I had zero issues locating and engaging at 800 meters out to 1000 using the M24SWS. As someone who fought in the mountains of Afghanistan, my kit from day one and day 365 were nothing alike. I learned to shed weight everywhere I could. I'm also a huge fan of using the offset irons. I prefer them over a secondary electro optic because if my primary electro optic or scope fails, then those irons will almost never fail and require no logistic support. I also believe they are so much faster than using a heavier QD style mount. Going to offset irons allowed me to cut weight on my primary mounts as well as the offset irons are typically lighter than a secondary optic with a mount. I'm in a ton of night vision groups right now because I'm wanting to pick up some more NV and I really, really think all of these groups need to be renamed; "Guys who love a lot of heavy over redundant shit on their rifles but who've never had to hump with it at 6500ft ASL." Rant complete. Keep up the good work my friend! Last point and I'll shut up. I also love that only one of your carbines is a shorty. I'm not a fan of the shorty 5.56 but they are so damn popular right now with people who've never done shit and won't listen to those who have. I only own one shorty for home defense and everything else is 16" and 20". God intended that .223 round to go fast and CQB is for suckers. I guess it makes for cool twatter range video tho. I can perform CQB if forced to just fine with a 16" platform by using retracted gun techniques and pieing dafuq out of a building. Best policy though is to never intentially get yourself into a CQB situation.

Great video; on your LPVO with offset RDS could you share what distances you prefer to zero your LPVO and the RDS? What technique do you use to zero the offset RDS? Thanks for all your videos--they are both informative and entertaining--you keep it real.

Your videos are appreciated and you practical experience give your suggestions weight. The gun and accessories industry is alway trying sell you something new that isn’t alway better or even the avg shooter has the means to practice and shoot to maximize it functionality. Since you have tried and trained on a lot of setups.. Txs you for your service

This is my new favorite KZfaq channel. Good material, bubba.

Went with an LPVO because I wanted to maximize the effectiveness of the .223 round. I felt a red dot would be limiting the rifle and my eyes are bad. Tried with an offset red dot but I felt no advantage but rather bulk. The LPVO at 1x is fine for close up.

Wow! My armalite was a gift from my wife. Factory sight. I'm ok out to 200''. At 100' I 'm good. I don't have training for anything else. Just a country boy that used to hunt. My father who was in the Pacific in WW2 taught me how shoot his M1 when I was about 12. (safety etc.) Why I love this channel, to watch, listen and learn!

Another Great Video! Thanks! That will help me set up my new B/O Defense correctly the first time!

I like the way you do things. I come from the Era of the late 1980's to the Early 1990's Era of the NSW Community. We did not have the Customization Options that NSW has since I got out. What we had to use often came from the Civilian Market and was basically Scopes for Hunting rifles. It is good to see the Evolution of Optics since then. And I have to agree with your recommendations. My father who was in the Highland Regiment of the British SAS and was TAD to the U.S. training Navy S.E.A.L.s and other U.S. Military Spec Ops and Army Rangers, had the same Philosophy. Of course he strongly advocated the Use of Room Brooms i.e. Shotguns for Clearing a room When you knew there were no Civilians in the line of fire. Anyway Great Post, people need the kind of helpful information that you are providing in such a professional way. 😊✌️❤️🇺🇸

For me, it’s all about the rifles purpose or use. For my home defense shorty AR, I use a simple red dot. On my 14.5” i use a EOTech with magnifier. 16” is 1-6 LPVO with micro red on top. Finally on my 18”, I have a traditional scope. I live in a suburban/rural area so some magnification could be handy in a (insert SHTF fantasy here) scenario.

One other thing to add is a micro dot mounted at twelve o’clock can be shot from a weak side left side hold. A forty five not so much.

New to the channel & liking what I see & hear thus far. Old Marine from the early 80's & lifelong shooter.

Thank you for such a thorough presentation.

Tritium inserts for both front and rear and the absolute very first thing that I acquire for any fire arm I own. To be able to see the sights without turning on the flashlight is so worth it. I always I mean always focus on the reliability of the irons. Because when the worst gets to the worst those red dots will be long dead or broken. And the tritium irons will still be glowing.

What about a Prism scope ? , with a etch Reticle like a ACOG . Extremely reliable and not dependent on batteries it’s another option after iron sights. that’s good to go 👍

great insight. thank you for your work and service.

I just got my first ww-15. I have iron sights and that’s all I need. Red dot at the most. Like he said, distance wise I’ll use something similar the ar-10. Love your vid. This is the first one or second I have seen. I read some comments and I agree. You are not on here rubbing the “I’m a SEAL”, all in our faces. We know seals are bad ass. Army rangers etc. I love and respect everyone that served and or is serving. This is our home and we protect our home. Very informative style video very much helped me with what kind of optic I was gonna put on my WW 15.

Many thanks. Buying first AR-15. Great info. Blessing in the New Year.

As a Marine grunt (0311 OIFOEF) we shot at 500 yards with iron sights hitting head shots. Iron sights are severely underrated by civics, especially with CQB. You’re not using any sights at close range, the body keeps the score

Chad is the man

Informative and no-nonsense! Great explanations!

Great video! GarandThumb's guest in their video on AR combat ready optic configs explained why he liked canted better in military operations: the benefit of a canted vs top mounted red dot is you can maintain your cheek weld and not have to move your head. I imagine if you can get your canted sight to the same radius as your long range optic you can make a quicker, more consistent adjustment back and forth this way.

IMO LPVO or a prism is the best way to go. Gives you a good balance between close and long range capability - Jack of all trades master of none, which is good for real life situations where you usually don't know exactly what type of scenarios you will encounter. LPVO is more versatile but at the expense of being heavier and more fragile, ACOGs and the primary arms prisms are super rugged despite being light, but only give you one magnification setting. Of course, the skill of the shooter is always #1, so no matter what optic you choose it won't matter if you never train.

My Eotech 512 had gone though hell and back. I’ve trusted my life to it.

excellent information, covering all scenario shooting styles

Great video. Thank you. Great info. Wish we could see some video of what the sight picture looks like for each optic you're describing though.

All I ever used in the Marine Corps was the RCO and iron sights, other than that I don’t know anything about optics. Thank you for this video, i learned a lot

I prefer the canted red dot versus the red dot over scope. I find I would lift my head up to look at the dot when mounted above and loose cheekweld on the weapon. The canted I can keep everything in line and just role the weapon into my body to transition from Scope to Dot For me it was quicker and more accurate.

Great video, Sir. I use LPVOs and red dots on several of my carbines as well. If I had to pick one setup to use over all else, I'd likely end up with a 16" 5.56 and a 1-6 or 1-8.

I'm fortunate to have all on different guns. Scoped AR-10 and Mark 12. 16" ACOG and a couple EoTech's on my 14.5 and 11.5. Great video, they are all great depending on what your using them for.

As a Swiss SIG 550 man myself, I must say that scope and bipod .308 setup is sweet.

I feel mastering irons first is the way to go , can always add an optic but irons are universal

Love the content! You're what I hope my channel becomes when it grows up!

Great info and simply put. Thanks

The good thing about Iron sights, is that anyone can use them without much training or practice. No eye box, fast acquisition, and "bullet proof." With that being said, I'm running an ATACR 1-8X24 and a backup RMR on a 45 degree cant on my rifle.

We used irons on our m16s in the marine corps, 500 yards all day long , center mass no problem.. we took a simple platform and turned to gadgets.. it was a light weapon! If you practice with irons it becomes 2nd nature.. I’m guilty of it.. love your channel 👍😊🇺🇸

Great video. Glad I found this channel.

Awesome video, thanks for posting!

Before my boating accident, I preferred a low to medium powered scope an eliminated reticle and BDC adjustment. I also ran a pressure pad light that had a laser option. DANG BOAT!!

my 2 cents ...I was army 11b m16 iron sights ... best all round for me ... but I'm sure the military has scope/sites built for duty these days ... I have a ar15 with iron and a dot its in no way built for duty ... y'all have a good one

I like your vibe. Being realistic on the scope effective ranges and not afraid to go with irons sights. You seem like a cool dude. #Subscribed

Love your vids. You helped me decide i need a ruger precision. An ar 10 and AR 15

MRO for CQB! Hooah!

Solid video. Thank you. Subscribed.

great video my brother military training really makes a difference thank you

Great speaker . You really break it down for us beginners 👍🏼 subscribed

Great info, thank you for sharing this.

Outstanding and informative video! I'm not new to guns, but I'm new to using scopes and optics. When i served in the Marine Corps, we only used iron sights. I just built a long-range AR-10, and I'm trying to figure out what scope to get.Thanks for the information, and thanks for your service.

Great video... your channel is one of my favorites 💪 💪

Love your vids brother, excellent info.

Great information. I have a Holosun HS403C on my rifle. It's high enough to get a sight picture without canting my head, but low enough to be accurate inside 25 yards. It has a circle dot reticle, which I find easier to aim quickly, with my bad vision! (Yeah shooting and bad vision are not two things you want to hear at the same time! Lol)

Always good info Chadd.

Thanks for the great perspective.

Great content, a lot as is the case with most gun stuff is personal preference. I like a 2 MOA dot with iron backup or a 1-6 scope with 45 degree irons

the best setup is the one you're most effective with. Great video, very informative. I've been pointing guys who wanna ask me 1000 questions when they find out I shoot long-range to your videos. For the love of all puppies go watch one of these guys that understand this stuff. I trained with an M-16A1 in boot camp, in another century in a different millennia, decades ago.

This was really helpful, thank you!

Love your videos. Just subscribed to your channel. On my 5.56 I run an inexpensive sig Romeo 5 with a sleep mode and on the 7 62x39 upper is a carry handle rear with A2 front. Both carbine 16". I'm not a serious shooter more of a plinker and they work great for my purposes.

Always great content brother!!

I love the AR15 rifle/carbine. Thanks for the excellent set up info. You’re a fine American.

You’re the best! Thank you for the info.

I agree 100% with the advantages of iron sights. That is what I trained with in the military over 30 years ago. I keep my first AR with iron sights closest to me and I love it. My second choice is a pistol with a Vortex 2MOA red dot with iron cowitness backups. Very fast target acquisition and reliable. Thank you for explaining your reasons for each weapon. Your advice is sound.

5:14am worked late shift can’t sleep and I found your channel. Alright alright I’m in brother !

Really nice. Thank you sir!

Very nice rifle setups! I really like your LWRC!

i agree with you on needing multiple carbines with different optics!!! now im showing this video to the wife!!! thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge in a way everyone can understand it!!! not like most that say "my way is the best/only way to do this" thank you sir for your service & making these videos!!

thanks again for another great video, those set ups are sweet. I was never a fan of the scope mounted red dot. just me, I've seen them used to excellent results, I just never took a liking to that set up. I've found the 45deg mounted red dot almost instinctive after minimal practice. have a great day and thanks again