Why add a red dot to your pistol?

I'm a personal fan of adding red dots to my pistols. I like the idea of being threat focused instead of looking at my front sight post when a self defense situation occurs.

But do they actually effect your shot groups? ​

With thousands of shot groups measured by Ballistics Report, we now have an answer.

And it turns out... they do!

In fact, pistol shooters who used red dots average about 30% tighter shot groups vs iron sights.

Here's the average MOA breakdown for shots groups

• Iron Sights: 49.8 MOA
• Red Dot: 36.7 MOA

For context, here's the MOA values converted to a group size at 10 yards

• ​Iron Sights: 5.21 inches
• Red Dot: 3.84 inches

With these converted values, it might not seem like much of a difference...

But remember, these shots groups were at a range, at a controlled environment and not under stress.

For me, I'll continue to take advantage of that extra 30%!