There’s some decent deals right now with the holiday weekend. I was thinking about getting some fixed BUIS for my home defense AR. It has me wondering what the sight picture looks like with just a straight red dot (Swampfox) and then the irons. Is it too busy or does it even matter? I could always get flips but if ■■■■ goes south would I really be able to flip them up and get back on-target in time? Looking for experience from others that have co-witnessed their optic. Thanks!
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I’m no expert, but co-witness has tactical advantages. Transitioning, cheek weld, etc.
When I first asked that question, I was asked if I was going into battle. Since we are so close, I made sure all my rifles are zeroed and co-witnessed. I have to admit, all my BUIS are flip-up with ACOG’s and HWS’s and I don’t practice much with co-witnessed sights. However if things continue going south, well, better safe than sorry! Crap always goes wrong when it’s not supposed to go wrong. Batteries die, glass breaks! Co-witnessed keeps you in the game!
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Have 2 ar’s, both with flip ups that got zeroed prior to adding optics, 2.5 and 3x PA prisms in my case. They don’t co-witness, but when I ran 1x red dots, they did and I liked it. Nice being on target and seeing that dot and irons lining up… Have zeroed out irons on 7 of 8 rifles, and optics on all 8, qr rings on the M1a Scout that hold a semi decent zero when reinstalled.
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“When batteries fail, and they will … BUIS are your friend.”
Chapter 43 of Murphy’s Law
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Thanks gents. My next decision is fixed or flip. I guess it shouldn’t matter as long as I train with which ever ai choose.
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I’ve never used a scope on an AR-15 but I think I prefer iron sights - probably because of my military background. I’d be way to accurate with a scope, making my deadly use of a weapon of war even more deadly that Joe Biden told us. 
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I have them both installed and Zeroed.
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I run flip-ups on mine. People run red dots on fixed front sights all the time, you just get used to them and eventually ignore them until its needed and then it’s right there. I personally prefer uncluttered view. Lower third is good too as its less in the way during normal use but still visible. I’ve been moving to 1.93" height as I prefer the more “heads up” position.
Depending on what exactly happened to bring down your optic, you can also just aim down the “tube” with a reasonable amount of accuracy at short distances. I’ve tried it, it works 
What Swampfox optic are you looking at? They have a section over on ar15.com where their market rep has posted a bajillion pics over the past few years. I’d be willing to bet he has a view through their red dots with a fixed front site in it.
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I run optics and BUIS on my carbine and SBR but for so many years I’ve run optics without any failures I can’t remember the last time I used irons. My latest AR type gun is a 9mm pistol with a brace which I installed an Aimpoint on. There are no BUIS on that gun and I’ll probably never install any. I just run dead dot drills and that works just fine for me.
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That sounds like a very good practice idea for folks with flip up sights as well since they may not have time to flip them up if the sight dies in the middle of the excitement.
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I make sure I have buis,'cuz Murphy and his law. 
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Thanks, there’s a lot of good feedback in here.
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I have only Daniel Defense irons on my 9mm AR, then on my .223 Wylde and .300 BO with Magpul BUIS fronts flipped up, the rears folded down ready under the magnifier.
My son and some of my friends run with 45 degree offset iron sights, so they have both yet are separate sight pictures and with a slight grip adjustment instantly ready.
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I usually start with iron sights that are zeroed to the desired distance then add the red dot. Usually co-witnessed so there is no change in firing position or cheek weld. The only exception is one with a 45 offset BUIS because there was no space due to adding a magnifier.
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Oh and I will not co-witness sights. I like the sight picture on my red dot to be totally clean/open. I run the gun with both eyes open so it just looks like a red dot floating in mid air to me. When I’ve had other “stuff” in my sight picture all it did was annoy me.
My red dots on guns that matter are all Military grade Aimpoint and Eotech, never had a failure.
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I’m a HUGE fan of Sightmark holographic sights. I prefer a green circle/dot reticle. It FAST when co-witnessing with my Samson BUIS sights, or when they are folded.
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@Jason148 Which sight from Swampfox are you looking at? I asked their marketing guy if they had any pics through the optic showing a front sight post, and he asked “which one” and he’d take a fresh pic 
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Cool, thanks Harvey. I have the Liberator II. It has a nice dot and is very accurate. It comes with lens covers too which was a nice little bonus
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Yeah I need to get a pair of 45-degree offset for my 16" since the Primary sight is a 1-6x24.
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I have this exact set up on a rifle I set up for future 3 Gun competitions. It works really well for quickly switching from far to near targets.
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