RIFLE & OPTICS

The Army's SWEAT model, which was developed by the Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE) at Ft. Benning, GA, is useful for understanding combat weapons as a ‘system of systems’- and for understanding the elements involved in establishing and maintaining zero.

‘Minute of Angle’ or ‘MOA’ is a term that’s used frequently to describe the accuracy of firearms, sights, ammunition, and other related equipment (i.e. ‘accurate to better than 1 MOA’). It’s also used as the basis for windage and elevation adjustments on quality sights and optics (i.e. ¼ MOA adjustments). Snipers become intimately familiar with the MOA during their training. It’s an important concept, though, for every rifleman- not just snipers- to thoroughly understand.

During our travels around the country teaching carbine and Aimpoint CCO classes to military units, law enforcement agencies, and armed citizens, we have discovered that there is a tremendous amount of misunderstanding about some of the most fundamental concepts in red dot sighting. In almost every class we teach, some or all of the students have been given bad information about how to use their Aimpoint and, as a result, have either chosen not to use it or have been using it less than optimally.

The term 'co-witness', when used in reference to red dot sights, indicates how the sight's optical tube aligns with back-up iron sights (BUIS). This is determined by the height of the sight's mount (aka height above bore). There are typically two options, absolute and lower 1/3. So, which do we recommend?