Decent sets of irons are typically cheaper than a decent red dot. Lanbos Armory has magpul MBUS sets for ~$65
Not really...
Only problem with a red dot for HD, is the batteries.
You need to make maintenance part of your regimen, and keep the batteries fresh for when you need the firearm the most.
If you can afford a red dot that does not require batteries, go for it.
I agree. A really nice set of fixed iron sights will cost the same as a decent red dot. With that said, I use both but prefer irons.
If you go with iron sights don't get flip up...go fixed.
Ehh, my favorites are the MI low profile folding sights. I don't see the point of fixed irons unless you have a fixed front sight. The whole point of BUIS is that they are out of the way until needed as "back up". If you run fixed sight with a red dot you are blocking your sight picture. That's my opinion of course. YMMV
I had an Aimpoint Pro and Trijicon MRO on two different rifles. Both dots looked fuzzy to me. I also could not dial the MRO's brightness to my liking - either was too dim or too bright...it needed a finer adjustment to my eyes.
What boggles my mind is that every single cheap Vortex, Sig, or Primary Arms red dot I have looked through looks crystal clear in comparison. I know this is highly personal, but I just don't get it. My wife's rifle rocks a Vortex Crossfire ii, although I'd say there are some "better" competing options these days, such as the Sig Romeo 5 and Primary Arms stuff that has "shake awake". My HD rifle which is a DD Mk18 SBR with suppressor rocks a Holosun 510c. I felt a lot of guilt putting a "low/mid tier" optic on it (like putting ebay headlights on a Porsche), but it is the best option for how the rifle is used, is the clearest dot i've ever seen, and it has held up to considerable abuse.
At this point my rifles have either a holographic sight, reflex, or LPVO. Holographic sights do not effect my astigmatism, reflex sights look like a 4K TV in my eyes, and a good LPVO has an etched reticle which is useable with or without batteries. My HD rifle has Daniel Defense fixed sights at 1/3 cowitness to my holosun, but beyond that I typically go without backup sights.