A red dot sight is an optic designed to be used at close to moderate ranges. It is a very simple optic that uses a simple reticle to do a simple job. If you can’t tell by the name, these optics use a red dot as the reticle.

Well sometimes the dot can be green, but those are still known as red dots just for simplicity’s sake. Because of how simple and straightforward a red dot is, it’s one of the best tools for training new shooters.

Red dot optics are 1x optics and do not feature a built-in magnification. This is why we don’t call them scopes, but red dots, or optics, or red dot optics.

Invented in the mid-70s red dots have come a long way in the past 40+ years and have especially seen major advancements in battery life, clarity, and quality in the past 10 years.

Like all technology, they’ve shrunk in size and gotten to the point where they range from full-sized rifle optics to optics small enough for duty handguns.