Your Browser is OutdatedWhat is the difference between the 3 and the 6 moa dot? — 2 Answers
The dot on a sight is measured in MOA, or Minutes of Angle. A larger MOA sight will be easier to see but will cover up targets that are further out. A smaller MOA will allow you to make farther and more precise shots at the cost of target acquisition speed.
In practice is amounts to this: 6MOA for self defense pistol, 3MOA for rifle. However the real answer is:
"N" MOA is the apparent dot size in inches at 100 yards. Multiply or devide to get to your expected shooting distance. EG:When looking at a target at 25 yards the 6 MOA dot will "look" like a 1.5" red circle, while a 3 MOA dot would be 3/4".
This is matters more at longer distances. A 6MOA dot at 200 yards is going to be 12" in size. Unless your target is a bus that's a bit large, and so 3 MOA for rifle is pretty standard.
Pistol is a bit debatable. Assuming a 20 yard shot is at the extreme of a (justifiable) pistol shot, what size dot do you want? 6MOA is a 1.2 inch dot, 3 MOA is .6" (roughly 2/3rd"). While dot brightness matters the most (by a lot) let me suggest this: If you're shooting little round paper bulls eyes in a dark gun range 3MOA will be more precise. Want to deal with a real life bad guy in the daylight? I'd prefer 6 MOA, and consider it the "right" size for pistol. That said I'm shooting a FastFire III with a 3MOA. But the other option was 8MOA and I thought it too large. When I buy a new Romeo 1 Pro it will be 6MOA. Or make certain you co-witness and then....