Jumping from Close Quarters to Short/Midrange With a Red Dot Magnifier

Red dot magnifiers can be somewhat of an enigma until you use one and realize they are tools that allow the practical range of a red dot to be expanded in an instant.

We have been working with an Aimpoint red dot–the Duty RDS 2MOA–coupled with a 3X-c magnifier atop a Sig Sauer MCX Virtus Patrol rifle. We have shot at various distances, some with the magnifier flipped up and some with it flipped down, to see what kind of accuracy and range is really possible once magnification is thrown into the mix.

We worked with a former Navy SEAL for some of that time, learning how magnification can quickly make a close quarters optic work perfectly well at 180-200 yards. (The 180-200 yard range is not a limit for what magnification can do. Rather, it is the limit for what we were able to do well and consistently with our limited shooting time.)

The beauty of the Aimpoint 3X-C magnifier is that it is there if you need it or…flipped out of the way if you do not, depending on the application at hand.

For example, if you have the rifle by the bed for home defense, you will in all likelihood want to keep the magnifier flipped to the side so your Duty RDS red dot is ready for close quarters. However, if you head out to range to shoot steel targets at 100-150 yards or more, you will want to flip the magnifier down to give yourself a clearer, closer view of the target.

In short, a magnifier can be a game changer that allows you to avoid switching your red dot out for another optic during hunting season, especially if you are hunting small to midsize game at moderate yardage.

For example, the Sig Sauer MCX Virtus Patrol rifle/Duty RDS/3X-C Magnifier combo will certainly see action in the field during coyote hunts this fall and spring. While hunting coyotes with a unmagnified red dot can certainly be done, adding magnification enables target acquisition with greater precision and at greater ranges.

Magnifying a red dot is a game changer — it really is as simple as that.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.