Besides the color of course, what are the differences, and pros / cons of red and green reticles?

For lasers, the green beams are seen as brighter by the eye, and also use far more energy.

For a reticle, are green ones easier to see?  I have a green Holosun 507, and while it's a great sight, I don't really see a difference between the reticle brightness and a red dot, while it's night and day for lasers.

I'm some people have written that green reticles are easier to see if you have astigmatism, or other eye issues.  Has that been your experience?

Any real differences between the two, or or just user preference?

I see my green ones better than my red ones. Also for what ever reason the smaller green dots look bigger than the bigger red dots. For example a 3moa green looks bigger to me than a 6moa red dot.

I've had some green dots, more red dots, a green acog, and a red acog.

On red dots, I think it's pretty much down to user preference - that being said, on very bright spring or summer days, while the dots doesn't wash out against foliage (they are in no way the same "type" of green), I have had a few times where I had to take an extra moment to differentiate between the different types of green.

I've also had an issue with green dots where, because green is easier to pick up, I was more able to see the imperfections in the dot quality itself, so if I was getting any rings around the edge of the optic body, I'd notice them much more with green. I also had routine issues where I could see phantom reticles with green that I suspect are still there with red dots, but because the green was easier to pick up, it was more disruptive than a red dot of the same model- which, while I saw the phantom reticles, I had to look for them vs being distracted by them.

On the topic of green reticle ACOGs, I would strongly recommend against green. I would routinely have the green wash against vegetation, specifically when inside aiming outside, when I was in the shade, etc... essentially that classic ACOG issue, except 10× worse. Frankly I've never had that issue with red ACOGs that I've used- when they start to fade due to lighting conditions, their color can turn to a red/brown color, like rust, but darker than the rusted sheet of metal I have in my backyard when it's in sunlight. To be clear, I'm sure I could go out searching for places where the reticle does wash out, and I'm willing to bet there would be some that are genuinely inconvenient and not just some contrived bullshit, however the fact of the matter is that there are a lot more situations in my AO and to my eyes that cause problems with green ACOGs.

So my personal verdict is do not buy green ACOGs, maybe buy green dots. Regarding green dots, I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze, and I think they do come with some notable drawbacks, especially given that I doubt the green dot will result in notably better performance for the vast majority of people, including those with an astigmatism.

I have both and I use both.  I got green because I read it was better for astigmatism, but if it is it is not by much.  I do feel as though I can pick up green easier, but that is going to depend on the surroundings.  Green uses more juice, so battery life will likely be shorter than red.  Red is better at night.

Here is a quick read on some of the P/C's

Green helps with astigmatism for sure but not enough for me to replace any of my favorite red reticle optics.

I think the red spectrum is more difficult to see if you are colorblind, so green might be a better choice.

Red is slightly better than green for some niche applications like white backgrounds shot at speed.

Green subjectively pops better but is generally the same on the clock when compared to red.

It really doesn’t matter.

I see green better so that is what I prefer. I also have red and don't feel the need to replace with green either

For some optics, green means reduced battery life like on the MRO

Here is my take on red vs green.  In an electric sight it does not matter. Simply user preference. In an ACOG here is what I see.  There is a short transition between seeing the fiber optic light and seeing the tritium light.  When the ambient light is somewhere between bright and dark like at twilight you can get in a situation where neither light is visible and the reticle greys out. It cannot be seen.   It isn’t black. it’s gone or blended in with the target area.  For me green tritium shortens but does not illuminate this gap.

Red sticks out in more environments.

Green pops more.

Amber flares less so you can run illumination higher across more lighting conditions without worry.

Green is my least favorite. It flares more, and it may not make sense but in dots I can always tell I’m looking at a light reflection instead of getting the feeling of a superimposed dot.

In a dot I like red. In an ACOG that needs an element of precision and has no illumination control I like amber.

IMO YMMV

Green is better for astigmatism. You do not need the LED anywhere as bright as the red for it to be highly visible.  There should be less ghosting due to this.

As someone with astigmatism, this is 100% right. Probably why I prefer green over red when I can get it. My handgun dots are green. I have a mix of red & green PA scopes. Prefer green, but red is fine too for them

Depends on the astigmatism and the dot I expect.  I bought a green dot because of reading posts like this.  Still a bunch of grapes to me.

Did you know the human eye can see more shades of green than any other color?

I get major washout with amber.  We're all different.  Choices are good.

Good info, thanks.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Same for me.

I had 2 holosun 507c's, one green and one red.

On a very bright white vinyl sided house on a bright sunny day with the sun hitting directly at the front of the house at 3pm I had to crank up the brightness with the red all the way to pick it up quick, and the green was 2 clicks down from full brightness and was easier to pick up quicker for me. Both had new batteries.

Color blindness plays into it.
I've heard from color blind guys that green is the way to go.

I also noticed that green reticles are less apt to be washed out by high lumen weapon lights
A buddy had a 508 with the green reticle, and had it set to react to ambient light, and we could not get it to wash out using multiple 1000 lumen TLR-1 HL's.

All the red reticles set to react to ambient light wash out badly.

It's just a guess, but I think that is why the SCS is green reticle only.

Jay

That is definitely correct, but in terms of luminous interpretation of the human eye the order is amber, green, then red. When it comes to sensitivity yellow is the highest, meaning it requires less illumination to be visible if all things were equal.

Yellow also has the shortest wavelength which is why it typically plays better with astigmatism. That one is much more variable by user though.

How things are supposed to be and reality are often a point of contention. Knowing what works for you is more important than thinking what works for you.

Amber does not work for me and green does not stand out.

Yellow has a longer wavelength than green.  It's shorter than red, but on the higher end of the visible spectrum.

Red actually distorts less than green for me when comparing the same brand optic with each color reticle.

The LED diode and frequency it operates at affects the dot way more than color for me.

In other words the ole internet “green is better for astigmatism's” just isn’t true for everyone.

Holosun red dots look way better to my eye than Trijicon or Aimpoint and I suspect that has to do with the specific diode and frequency of the LED.

Agreed on both counts. In addition, green seems to get lost on bright targets more than red, for example, white targets in sunlight. No more green for me.

Sorry, I should have provided more detail. Shortest wavelength range of the three is what I meant to relay.
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I chalk it up to contrast.  Depending on the backgrounds, red or green may stick out more.  This is regardless of intensity.  That's what I like about optics that offer both red and green dots or reticles.  Switch over to which sticks out better vs a dot that is hard to see unless it's set at a higher intensity.

Green usually brighter (as in more towards white), sharper.  Red better contrast against background, but can look fuzzy.
Green for precision, red for speed is how I roll.  I have a green xps that I really like, but if I stare at the reticle too long both eyes open when trying to shoot precision the reticle can kind of dissapear to white\invisible unless I crank it up really bright.  I have a couple crosshair acogs, I like the green one better for precision as the stadia looks sharper when taped off, but it doesn't contrast as much against backgrounds as the red one.

Personal preference.

I know someone with a type of red/green color blindness and he said the greens are a no go for him.

I prefer green. But I have no notable difference in performance.

I think it depends on the optic after your eyes.
I like EOTech better in green.
For lpvo and acog both times I went green I wished I'd gotten red.
Unless green gives a substantial savings in battery life and regardless what color your eye sees more easily, red always appears brighter and stands out more against your sight picture IMO

I've never used amber so I cannot comment, but green is the only usable color for me.  I've had so much cornea scarring that a red dot is nothing but an unusable, pulsating sparkly blob that actually strains the eye to look at, it appears to move all on it's own  inside the optic regardless of power setting.

Green by contrast is perfectly crisp and easy to use.

It heavily depends on how well your vision is corrected and how accurate the correction is. The reason green helps with astigmatism is that your eye is more receptive to those wavelengths compared to red. So you get the same perceived reticle brightness for reduced measured output. Less output = less pronounced refractive errors.

Green reticles are great but are still dependent on your doc and optician doing their jobs while you pick 1 or 2.

Interesting. Thanks for spending more of my money.

You know, I resisted getting glasses for years but recently surrendered to the necessity.  I hate them, but one thing they do well is make a dot a dot again.  When I did the test I told the doc that I was seeing tails on the letters and he flipped a couple lenses and voila.  I find them annoying for anything but driving and shooting though.

I never got dot sights and continued to shoot irons until I finally shot a green dot.

This.

I like red because it’s better for my astigmatism than green.

I have both green and red.  I couldn’t care less which color I use.  They both work the fine.  No practical difference.  

Green doesn't blend in around trees and vegetation.  That is a myth.  

1.  If the green has a shorter battery life, get the red.
2.  If the battery life is the same, get the least expensive.
3.  If you have 9mm Glocks and .40 cal Glocks, get red for 9mm and green for .40.  It can save you from making a mistake.

FIFY