Does anyone use BUIS anymore?  I'm pretty sure that no one uses them as a primary means, but do you even have them on your rifle?  I'm just finishing up a build and was about to buy a set of iron sights, maybe some troys, but noticed that a lot of people don't run iron sights on their uppers anymore.  Asked around and did some surfing and found that more and more people are starting to leave that out.  Especially for home defense rifles.  Some say that they've put irons on rifles that they've had for years and haven't flipped em up since they put em on.  It's about half and half.  Seems the optics nowadays are thought to be so reliable in some minds that the need for iron sights is no more.  Of course, the RDS or Holo is much faster, put dot on target and pull trigger, saving crucial seconds vice sight alignment. Plus, decent irons run you almost as much as a decent optic.  But what happens when the battery goes out?  I know you can carry a spare battery, but how long does it take to change that battery?  Crucial seconds.  What if that's not what went wrong?  What if the glass breaks or something else?   What do you guys think?  I'm probably still gonna buy the sights and slap em on.  I think that there's too many "What if's" out there for me to dump the irons just to save weight and rail space. Plus, it looks cool, because that's what really matters.  Gotta look cool...

I had to use them once during an exercise for a class when my red dot battery died. I always have a spare battery, so changed it out 10 mins later.

I know guys who run no back ups. They can guesstimate where rounds will land when shooting 10yrds or so (home defense).

Its a personal choice.

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Every defensive rifle should have irons on them.  Some people don't like how they interfere with their sight picture or the gear on the top rail.  If that's the case you can always put some offsets on so you still have reliable target acquisition.  I try to keep my defensive setups the same so they're all running DD.  You also can't go wrong with the cheap magpul flip ups.

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Same here. All my rifles and pistols are set up the same. Slight differences in brand, but all same configuration. I feel that if they are all set up the same, then muscle memory and reaction would be the same no matter which weapon I am holding. I had a couple rifles with B.A.D. levers on them, but didn't want to get used to dropping the bolt with my trigger finger, even though its faster, because not all of them have it. So I went away from it. But I tell you what... they all have irons...

AK and Galil sights are always on there.

Iron sights not only provide a reliable backup for the optic.  They also offer a good way to check if your optic is still zeroed.  If you're a Cop, it's a good sanity check to do before going on duty.

Optics aren't cemented to the mount nor the mount to the firearm.  It can shift out of zero with a bump or loosened screws caused by practice.

I want to depend on my optic.  My optic depends on ME to ensure it's always zeroed.

This also lets you know if the BUIS is still zeroed.  Those can get bumped out of alignment, too.  If the co-witness alignment isn't true, you know to check which one (or both) need adjusting.

I like iron sights when zeroing.  I get those on zero, then it's super easy to put the red dot in the same spot -- no zeroing rounds really needed.

I keep my backup rear sight on the gun and I have a front sight post. It is redundant but I like redundancy.

No need when your primary are irons. No battery. No backup.

This also lets you know if the BUIS is still zeroed.  Those can get bumped out of alignment, too.  If the co-witness alignment isn't true, you know to check which one (or both) need adjusting.

A scope of any size does not allow this.  But most AR guys seem to like those dot things of one type or another.

A scope of any size does not allow this.  But most AR guys seem to like those dot things of one type or another.

Indeed.  Running a scope however does leave room for additional backups sights.  Depending on the clearance you can run flip up front and rear as well as running a red dot offset.  SO MANY OPTIONS!!!!  T.Rex Arms new offset seems to require the least amount of movement but I haven't had an issue with any of the offset mounts I've encountered thus far.

https://www.trex-arms.com/store/T-REX-Offset-Mount/

Depends on your purpose and need. . . I am assuming context here is something for defense or SHTF.  The rifles that I have for that purpose have backup irons with a red dot as "primary means".  That said, I shoot with irons quite often and actually not nearly often as I would like to.  I actually thought about an upper with just irons and dedicating some training time for only that rifle, including a carbine course.  To me, the irons don't take up any space that could be used for something else.  I have seen where some have conflict with a DBAL or MAWL, but I'm not fancy like that. 

Regarding those going without BUIS, I've also seen that as well and seems to be more common.  Frank Proctor is one that comes to mind, but I know others as well.  The reliability is one reason that is commonly cited.  However, also consider that there are a number of reasons that can render an optic useless, or less than useful. 

I've seen even quality optics fail and fail spectacularly.  A Trijicon Accupoint lose zero on anything other than 1x power.  Multiple Aimpoints lose ability to adjust POI.  EoTech (may have been knockoff) where the lens came loose.  So on.  Those were just in carbine courses where the consequence was mostly an inconvenience. 

The only rifle that I have that I "could" use for defense that doesn't have irons is my upper with the LPVO.  For now, I don't think I'll put a 45 degree irons or mini RDS, but because that upper is mostly for experimenting with the LPVO.  At least for now.

AK and Galil sights are always on there.

You have a red dot on an AK.  You heathen!     J/K, I have an AK with a RDS.  Need to shoot that one more. . . 

Depends on your purpose and need. . . I am assuming context here is something for defense or SHTF.  The rifles that I have for that purpose have backup irons with a red dot as "primary means".  That said, I shoot with irons quite often and actually not nearly often as I would like to.  I actually thought about an upper with just irons and dedicating some training time for only that rifle, including a carbine course.  To me, the irons don't take up any space that could be used for something else.  I have seen where some have conflict with a DBAL or MAWL, but I'm not fancy like that. 

Regarding those going without BUIS, I've also seen that as well and seems to be more common.  Frank Proctor is one that comes to mind, but I know others as well.  The reliability is one reason that is commonly cited.  However, also consider that there are a number of reasons that can render an optic useless, or less than useful. 

I've seen even quality optics fail and fail spectacularly.  A Trijicon Accupoint lose zero on anything other than 1x power.  Multiple Aimpoints lose ability to adjust POI.  EoTech (may have been knockoff) where the lens came loose.  So on.  Those were just in carbine courses where the consequence was mostly an inconvenience. 

The only rifle that I have that I "could" use for defense that doesn't have irons is my upper with the LPVO.  For now, I don't think I'll put a 45 degree irons or mini RDS, but because that upper is mostly for experimenting with the LPVO.  At least for now.
You have a red dot on an AK.  You heathen!     J/K, I have an AK with a RDS.  Need to shoot that one more. . . 

Don't be a cheapskate.  Put that overtime money to use and get an offset mount with red dot lol.  In fact buy the trex arms offset and leupold delta combo so I can try it out lololol

I wouldn’t say they’re obsolete, but they’re becoming obsolescent as red dots - I use the term to include any electro optical device - have increased in their reliability, durability, and longevity.  I think some of the Holosuns are exceeding the battery lifespans of Aimpoints which are measured in years.  Lucas’ video kinda sums up everything nicely I think

A scope of any size does not allow this.  But most AR guys seem to like those dot things of one type or another.

When I mention "co-witness", I assumed it was understood that the optic was for COB, not magnified for longer range.  If I'm not mistaken, you can't co-witness using a magnification greater than 1.

The optic may be a Red dot, reflex or holographic sight.

Ever take your fancy, battery operated scope out in the rain?  My pig rifle has (only) iron sights, 'cause you can't see through a scope when it's pouring.

Ever take your fancy, battery operated scope out in the rain?  My pig rifle has (only) iron sights, 'cause you can't see through a scope when it's pouring.

If you use a red dot properly, you don't need to see through the optic.  In fact, my AimPoint has a clear cap on the rear so you can leave both front and rear caps closed and still see the dot on your target -- just keep both eyes open.

Ever take your fancy, battery operated scope out in the rain?  My pig rifle has (only) iron sights, 'cause you can't see through a scope when it's pouring.

Yup. Have shot my Aimpoint, EoTech and LPVO with illuminated reticle in pouring rain and the Aimpoint and EoTech in dumping snow and frozen conditions which can get challenging for a number of reasons. Was about to shoot with the optics just fine. At least the snow didn’t seem to make the 5.56 go up. 

If you use a red dot properly, you don't need to see through the optic.  In fact, my AimPoint has a clear cap on the rear so you can leave both front and rear caps closed and still see the dot on your target -- just keep both eyes open.

Also a great solution for shooting with the sun in your face.

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Seeing seeing stuff like the primary arms 1x prism sight which offers a etched reticle that doesn’t have to be illuminated, has a bdc and rangefinder, and overall tough then yeah irons are kinda obsolete as a primary sighting system. But it never hurts to have a set of folding sights in any case as a backup. I like the slick ones because they’re out of the way and don’t weigh much.

Ive had atleast double sighting systems on each rifle including my old bolt action tikka 308.

Only 1 of my uppers [ar15]  has irons now but thats cause i cant get the front sight off. I think my exgf accidently used the red loctite instead of the blue loctite. Hahaha its ok tho. That upper has a 18 inch barrel and a 1-4 triji accupower scope on it. It also has a trr and trc on the arms 22 ring. Thinking bout putting 1 of my holosun on it. Maybe the 507 or 508t. I know i can try heat it up via soldering iron but ehhh its a 45 degree set. So whatevers lol.
 One of my outrageous redundant rifle has a otal c on it 😝. Never used it ever. Never needed it. I just had money laying around and got a decent deal so i wanted it. It also has an aimpoint h2 as primary and rmr type 2 as backup.

As someone said earlier, redundancy is awesome. The laser is just for shits. Only weighed 6 ounces with larue mount iirc. No biggy.. i aint backpacking the Iraq mountains. Just glad to know that if somehow my micro goes down, i got a rmr 45 offset waiting to be used. And of somehow that fucking breaks i got a laser ready to go. And if god forbid that breaks too.. i got a heavy rifle to throw at someone 😉