Tuohy is a very exacting person in general and very detail oriented, which shows up in his product reviews and, while I don't always agree with his conclusions, he usually has some very valid points.
However, never have I disagreed with him as vehemently as I do when it comes to his stance on backup iron sights (BUIS) for a fighting rifle, in this case, the AR-15 platform.
I'm going to qualify this with my stance that any rifle that you own should be a fighting rifle, with the possible exception of classical hunting weapons like, say, a break-action shotgun or a double rifle.
First, here's the video that Mr. Tuohy posted recently to his Youtube channel:
A few points to address here.
While 9 times out of 10, a rifle optic may function just fine, the problems start the second that it doesn't function and you're suddenly having to deal with having no effective sighting method. Whether this happens during a mission in Afghanistan or in your house in the middle of the night is somewhat irrelevant. All that matters at that point is whether you have an effective capability to neutralize the current threat.
Mr. Tuohy's argument is that he has never had a problem with his optics, thus it is just not very likely to ever be a problem. Rather anecdotal in this case, but sure. Everybody has an opinion and I am no exception. Mr. Tuohy also argues that any damage to the optic severe enough to disable it would destroy any iron sights mounted to the weapon. What information he bases this assertion on is entirely beyond my ken.
But rather than opinion, let's look at the facts.
1: The more complex a system, the more points of potential failure are introduced. A rifle optic, even if it does not rely on batteries, is more complex than a set of iron sights.
2: Using iron sights properly, with speed and efficacy, requires training with iron sights. This is a known issue, to the point where most U.S. Army combat arms will not even issue the optic until after recruits have been trained to fire their weapon with the iron sights.
3: An optic can be rendered unusable in numerous ways, only a few of which would necessarily involve the destruction of the iron sights as well.
4: A fighting rifle without an effective means of directing accurate fire is at best a close-quarters weapon and at worst a club.
The first two I really don't feel that I should have to argue for at all. They are things that should be self-evident to anyone with even a little experience around weapons.
The third point, I am however going to go into more detail with as it responds directly to Mr. Tuohy's assertion.
In the first 15 minutes of tooling around the web, I found several images of rifle optics that had been rendered unusable by enemy fire. None of these involved damage extensive enough to also render any iron sights inoperable.
(Note that I am not claiming any rights to any of the following pictures and that all rights belong to the copyrights holders.)
Those examples above are just the few a quick google search could find. Note that in none of those examples is the damage extensive enough to also destroy the iron sights. I would be willing to bet good money that there are a plethora of other incidents that never hit the web. And it is not only enemy fire that can incapacitate an optic. A simple, unfortunate drop could do it, and even something as ubiquitous as mud can make an optic temporarily useless. If you really need it, are you going to have time to stop and try to clean the lenses before getting shot because you weren't able to return effective fire? What if your battery dies? Or the seal goes and the lenses fog up? Or the battery contacts break because of recoil, which is a known issue on certain Eotech models. What will you do then?
Which brings me to the fourth point.
An approach that is being advocated in some circles, is that if your optic goes down in a non-catastrophic manner, say, a battery malfunction, you could then use the optic as a kind of giant ghost ring sight. While I agree that this is possible, it makes for an incredibly coarse sighting method and past only a short distance, it becomes largely useless. These days, it has become common by many Tier 1 guys to have their optics mounted on quick-release mounts, so that in the event of a failure - be it catastrophic or not - the optic can be quickly dumped off the weapon, BUIS flipped up and the fight resumed, with a minimum of down time.
Of course, a possible argument is that all these possible failure modes and the multitude of others that exist, are quite rare. And to some extent, this is true. But, if we were to take that approach to these things, then why take precautions like spare tires, seat belts, fire extinguishers in our homes, smoke detectors, staircase railings, etc etc etc. Accidents that could be averted with those are relatively rare as well, at least on an individual basis. I have, in my 35 years, never had either a house fire or a car accident. Does it then make sense for me to not have a fire extinguisher or to not use a seatbelt?
I don't think so, but that's just my opinion.
Lastly, Mr. Tuohy brings up the point of cost, which in these lean times is probably on everyone's minds. A good set of iron sights do not have to cost a couple of hundred dollars. And I will argue until the day that I die, that if the choice falls between buying a whizbang optic for several hundred dollars or more, or spending about a hundred dollars on a decent set of irons and the remainder on ammo, the latter option will by far be the most productive choice, as even if you spend the same amount of money, the extra ammo you can buy will let you train more and thus become more proficient with your weapon. The best optic in the world isn't going to make you a better shot. More training will. This is not advanced arithmetic. Learn to use the irons on your rifle. When you're a fantastic shot with irons or you just happen to have an extra 600-1500 dollars laying around for an optic and more ammo than grass, sure, buy an optic. But know how to use your irons first! It will serve you far better in the long run.
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