In 2019 - It's okay to not have BUIS on your defensive AR

[rcbusmc24]

I've got guys in my rifle company that is currently deployed running on KAC BUIS right now as a primary day sights because their SDO or RCO broke and went WIR and we don't have a replacement yet from the depot. We already ran out of stocks to issue out as replacements.

I know this is in a .mil duty setting but.... Well..... we break everything... This is the same reason I laugh when people talk about the durability of AGOG's.... yes they are, and everything else would probably have broken too.... But Marines can destroy anything they are issued.... In ways you would never think of. So for us redundancy is a good thing and why I force my company to spend the time zeroing the BUIS.

My personal rifles all have BUIS on them because I bought a bunch back in the day and now they are paid for.... All my optics are on QD mounts or I have the tools on the rifle to remove the mount ( or tighten it up more likely). Haven't needed any of them in a while but they aren't in the way.

The night fighting SBR's I've compromised on, the rears are not a problem but in order to put the lights and lasers in optimal locations the front buis are located well to the rear on the rail. It is the fourth option though as both guns have IR and VIS lasers and then the XPS3's to fail before I have to resort to the irons. The pistol will probably come out first...to solve the immediate problem.

[Lon]

Want to hear a large group of grown men cry and whine like 14 year old girls? Make a surprise announcement that their optics are all dead for the next four drills.



That there’s a no-shitter.

Hahahahaha. There’s so much truth in that statement.

[DamonL]

On my carbine with Aimpoint, I have fixed BUIS's. If the rifle has a scope, it does not have a BUIS.

[Darth_Uno]

Hell, I'm getting to the point where I'm not so sure you need them on RMR'ed pistols.

The question is really how likely you think your optic is to fail. In order to use BUIS (assuming we mean flip-ups) a few things have to happen. 1, the optic has to fail. 2, you have to have time to flip the sights up. 3, you still have to be able to see through your optic. Of course you can get around this by having offset irons, or a QD mount, but then the clock is still running while you chuck your optic. And you can get around #2 by having fixed sights, but most of us prefer not to have all that in your optic's window (that's another debate).

And even if everything goes to shit, you probably don't need any sights at all in an inside-your-home reactive scenario. Unless you got a big home with an open plan, you're looking at 40' or so tops.

If BUIS were $500 I could probably argue that the combination of 1 & 2 are pretty unlikely. I have never used mine once they were zeroed. But, I got 'em anyway.

[RevolverRob]

Why have sights at all?

Point shooting is where it's at.

In my experience, all of the “switched on” guys made sure they had BUIS on their rifles because they were terrified of being “that guy”.

However, I’d say 87% of those same switched on studs couldn’t be bothered to actually zero them.

Want to hear a large group of grown men cry and whine like 14 year old girls? Make a surprise announcement that their optics are all dead for the next four drills.

That there’s a no-shitter.

This is why I actually practice with the optic turned off. A buddy watched me run drills at 25-yards with the optic off and said, "Why are you doing that?" "Because someday this optic probably will die. If it happens when I need the optic, I'll still be able to use the gun."

"Why would the optic die?"

"Nevermind."

I've got guys in my rifle company that is currently deployed running on KAC BUIS right now as a primary day sights because their SDO or RCO broke and went WIR and we don't have a replacement yet from the depot. We already ran out of stocks to issue out as replacements.

I know this is in a .mil duty setting but.... Well..... we break everything... This is the same reason I laugh when people talk about the durability of AGOG's.... yes they are, and everything else would probably have broken too.... But Marines can destroy anything they are issued.... In ways you would never think of. So for us redundancy is a good thing and why I force my company to spend the time zeroing the BUIS.

What's that joke about Marines, if you put a Marine in a room with an anvil it will come out broken or pregnant...

My personal rifles all have BUIS on them because I bought a bunch back in the day and now they are paid for.... All my optics are on QD mounts or I have the tools on the rifle to remove the mount ( or tighten it up more likely). Haven't needed any of them in a while but they aren't in the way.

The night fighting SBR's I've compromised on, the rears are not a problem but in order to put the lights and lasers in optimal locations the front buis are located well to the rear on the rail. It is the fourth option though as both guns have IR and VIS lasers and then the XPS3's to fail before I have to resort to the irons. The pistol will probably come out first...to solve the immediate problem.

Interestingly enough if I were going to pick a sight to keep fixed it would pretty much be the front sight. At least the window of your optic can function like a big aperture sight.

___

FWIW, I still have BUIS on my AR. But I was definitely sitting here earlier today asking myself why. Is it just because it's a good idea, or do I actually need them? Good ideas are fine and I'm certainly not removing them off my rifles anytime soon, because hey - why not?

But I was thinking about reconfiguring one of my guns to a more competition oriented platform. As I was looking at various uber-lightweight rails I thought, "Yea, so I need some 12-o'clock front rails for mounting my BUIS. Wait...why the fuck would I do that?"

And then I realized...in most scenarios that the average civilian AR15 is used in, a set of BUIS aren't even redundant, they're pretty much useless.

[Bigghoss]

I really don't see any compelling reason NOT to have backup irons on a gun.

[Bergeron]

There was a past SWAT magazine article written by Pat Rogers that discussed using a daylight visible green laser as a backup to red dot sights. I found it interesting enough that when I went to using a RDS pistol, I decided to use the Crimson Trace white light/green laser combo device.

I get why BUIS can be a good idea, I feel much less compulsion to have them here in 2019 than I used to in years past.

[Duelist]

In my experience, all of the “switched on” guys made sure they had BUIS on their rifles because they were terrified of being “that guy”.

However, I’d say 87% of those same switched on studs couldn’t be bothered to actually zero them.

Want to hear a large group of grown men cry and whine like 14 year old girls? Make a surprise announcement that their optics are all dead for the next four drills.



That there’s a no-shitter.

I work with 14yo girls on the daily. Want to make a room full of 14yo cry and whine? Take away their telephones.

[Rick R]

I’m a klutz. Mr. Murphy loves to screw with my stuff. Batteries die, sometimes well before the “use by” date ( I put a set of new AA in my issued GPS this summer and they promptly tried to go Chernoble on me when I turned it on in the National Forest). There will be no resupply during the chipmunk apocalypse.
Magpul MBUS sights aren’t expensive, don’t weigh much, don’t rust and don’t eat anything . Why wouldn’t you put them on any serious rifle and shoot them a couple times a year?

[Darth_Uno]

I work with 14yo girls on the daily. Want to make a room full of 14yo cry and whine? Take away their telephones.

I can see a bunch of 30+ grown men crying for the same reason.

My (personally owned) company offers guys an option of a company phone, or $40/mo ($10/wk) to use their personal phone. Everybody takes option 2. And everybody cries when I tell them that's to answer your phone when I call, not to be on Facebook and Instagram all day. While my situation's a little different answering texts, calls, and emails all day, I've had to get after a lot of guys for standing around looking a their phone. I know it's going to happen but if I don't address it, it'll get out of control pretty quick.