Starvin Larry

“A few years ago, a local agency approved officers to carry AR-15 rifles in the patrol car providing they were of good quality, the officers qualified at their own expense, and the rifles proved reliable during the qualification. Another regulation was that if the officer mounted a red dot sight, the rifle had to have co-witness iron sights. This was a great move forward and many officers took advantage of the program.

The SIG P229 is supplied with a Romeo 1 red dot sight that is co-witnessed from the factory.

I worked with quite a few of the officers in setting their rifles up. Many of them had had little training with the rifle, some were ex-military, and others were hunters. All did well after a brief run up with the rifles. Along the way, I had to explain what co-witness means and how to achieve co-witness. Co-witness is a good back up. While some shooters enjoy good optics, others work with the best they can afford, and anything made by man may fail. Iron sights are always a good backup.

In simple terms, the iron sights mounted on the rifle are instantly available if the red dot fails. Most officers invested in quality folding rear sights for the AR-15 platform and kept the rear sight folded after achieving co-witness with the red dot.”

Read more @

http://blog.cheaperthandirt.com/co-witness-iron-sights-red-dot/