Canted Red Dots and Why You Should Run Them

Engaging targets at close range when your rifle is zeroed for 100 yards or more is anything but swift. It is usually a matter of knowing your holdovers and holdunders, and if a scope is zeroed for 300 yards, shooting targets at distances of 50 yards requires you to aim significantly lower to hit center mass. 

For competition shooters who need to shoot at variable distances with the speed of a greased lightning bolt, a single LPVO is not going to cut it. A canted red dot sight, however, allows a shooter to transition from rapid fire targets at 25 yards or less to precision aiming at 100 yards with the flick of a wrist. 

The idea of an offset sight has been around since World War 2, but back then it was mostly used for weapons with top-loading vertical magazines which blocked the barrel like the Japanese Type 96 and the British Bren gun. The idea did not gain traction again until the 21st century, when shooting trends began to move away from iron sights towards optics, and shooters decided they would need backup sights like small red dots to engage targets at close range. 

Canted red dots are especially good for cheek weld consistency. Unlike scope-mounted red dots, which require a shooter to raise his head and break his cheek weld, a canted sight only requires the rifle to be slightly tilted at an angle. In a flash, the shooter can go right back to engaging long range targets without spending the additional seconds it would take to reacquire his sight picture. 

Backup red dots are especially beneficial for those who run sights with a minimum magnification of 3x, but also useful for those who run LPVOs. It is much easier and faster to flick your wrist than taking your finger off your trigger to manipulate your lens magnification. 

Sightmark’s Mini Shot M Spec Solar combines the compact nature of a pistol red dot sight with the fast target acquisition of a traditional close combat optic. Rather than mounting a full-sized 9oz red dot to your weapon, the M Spec Solars are unobstructive and light. The M Spec M2 Solar comes available for RMR pistol footprints, compatible with 45-degree offset mounts (available on Amazon for as low as $25). Their hooded designs make them perfect for shooting in bright environments while giving them protection from the environment. If a shooter is worried about mounting compatibility, they can also be attached to a Weaver or Picatinny rail directly with their included adapters. 

With offset sights like the Mini Shot M Spec Solar, a shooter can be deadly accurate at any range, and transitioning between CQB and long-range shooting at the flick of a wrist is a tactical skill with usefulness both at the range and in the field.