Iron Sights

are a system of shaped alignment markers used to assist the user in aiming, and are included on all portable guns in the Call of Duty series, although there are exceptions to this rule.
==Overview==
Iron sights are present on nearly all in-game weapons, and are vital for killing an enemy at long range, as "hipfiring" is inaccurate at most ranges greater than about ten to twenty-five yards. Conversely, at very close range, aiming down the sights can be impractical, as in the time it takes to bring up the sights (typically .15 to .50 seconds, depending on the weapon), hip-firing could have already taken out the enemy and denied them the ability to fire back.
While aiming down the sights (ADS), a player's shots become much more accurate than hipfiring; an exception to this is with the shotguns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, where aiming down the sight is just as accurate as hip-firing. However, while ADS, the player's walking and turning speed is slowed, meaning moving while aiming is much slower than moving while not aiming. However, Handguns, SMGs, and Shotguns do not restrict walking speed while ADS. Also, while walking while ADS, a player's footsteps become quieter, as if a player were crouching, or using Dead Silence/Ninja.
===Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered===
In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, there are two substitutes for iron sights: the ACOG Scope and the Red Dot Sight, which are unlocked by killing a certain number of enemies. 25 kills on assault rifles, LMGs, SMGs and Shotguns earn a red dot sight, and 150 kills on assault rifles, LMGs and SMGs, or 100 kills on sniper rifles, unlocks the ACOG Scope. The singleplayer campaign also features weapons with Holographic Sights and Reflex Sights, which are similar to Red Dot Sights. Note that although the MP44 is classed as an assault rifle, it cannot use any attachments.
===Call of Duty: World at War===
In Call of Duty: World at War, there are three substitutes for iron sights: the Telescopic Sight, the Sniper Scope and the Aperture Sight. All three are unlocked after having completed challenges that require kill counts. It takes 75 kills for Rifles and SMGs to earn the Aperture Sight. The Telescopic Sight is only available for the Gewehr 43, SVT-40, FG42 and STG-44. It is earned by achieving 75 kills with the FG42 and 100 kills with the SVT-40, Gewehr 43 and STG-44. The Sniper Scope is available for the Springfield, the Arisaka, the Mosin-Nagant, the Kar98k, and the M1 Garand. For Bolt-Action Rifles, it is unlocked after 25 kills with said weapon, but for the M1 Garand, the player would need 150 kills to obtain the scope.
The iron sights of the Nambu are slightly misaligned; the front post is not centered and is slightly on the right side. As well, the iron sights of the Springfield are misaligned; true impact is slightly below the tip of the iron sight. Lastly, the  M1897 Trench Gun has misalinged iron sights.
===Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2===
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, there are 4 substitutes for iron sights: the Red Dot Sight (MARS Sight on the TAR-21 and Integrated RDS on the F2000), the Holographic Sight, the ACOG Scope (The SUSAT on the L86 LSW), and the Thermal Scope. The Red Dot Sight is unlocked after getting a certain amount of kills for the gun, 25 for most, but for others, 10. The ACOG scope is unlocked after 150 kills with the weapon, the Holographic sight is obtained after 60 kills while looking down the Red Dot Sight of that weapon, and the Thermal Scope is unlocked after 20 kills while aiming down the ACOG scope.
It should be noted that the Iron Sights of the MG4, the M93 Raffica, and the Desert Eagle have misaligned iron sights. For the Raffica and the Desert Eagle, the front post is not centered, and is on the right. Equipping the Tactical Knife fixes the problem for the Desert Eagle; the misalignment cannot be fixed on the Raffica, as its Red Dot and Holographic Sights are also misaligned. The only way to fix the problem is to hip-fire. The MG4 is rather complicated, as the true point of where the bullets land is below what would be normally considered the true point of aim. This is very distracting, but any optical attachment will fix the problem.
===Call of Duty: Black Ops===
In Call of Duty: Black Ops, there are 6 substitutes for iron sights; the Red Dot Sight, the Reflex Sight, the ACOG Scope, the Infrared Scope, the Variable Zoom and the Low Power Scope. However, there are many different variations to the Red Dot Sight and the Reflex Sight in Black Ops, as the reticle, color of the reticle, and the color of the lens can be altered. This allows for extremely diverse sights to be made, but some customizations may cause a visual distraction. On certain handguns, the iron sights can also be upgraded. However, this makes the iron sights of the CZ75 slightly misaligned, but is not a big problem due to how small the iron sights are.
===Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 ===
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, there are 7 substitutes for the iron sights. They are the Red Dot Sight, the Holographic Sight, the ACOG Scope, the HAMR Scope, Hybrid Sight, the Variable Scope, and the Thermal Scope. The sight can be customized, like Black Ops, but the colors cannot be changed, and customization is extremely limited to just 10 different reticles, including default reticles. It should be noted that the ACOG Scope has a different ADS reticle than the Red Dot Sight, and the Holographic Sight's reticle has a larger dot than the Red Dot Sight.
===Call of Duty: Black Ops II===
In Call of Duty: Black Ops II, there are 8 substitutes for the iron sights. They are the ACOG Scope, EOTech Sight, Reflex Sight, Hybrid Optic, Target Finder, Dual Band Scope, Millimeter Scanner, and Variable Zoom. The Ballista and DSR 50 can use iron sights through an attachment, although the latter can only be obtained in Zombies. The Reflex Sight, EOTech Sight, ACOG Scope, and the Hybrid Optic can all be customized with custom reticles, either obtained through in-game challenges or purchasing DLC. If all the reticles are obtained for a certain reticle, the player will get the callsign "________ Master", the underline being filled by the respective attachment. For the non-customizable sights, the player can get Prestige callsigns for getting 500 kills using said attachment.
===Call of Duty: Ghosts===
In Call of Duty: Ghosts, there are 8 substitutes for the iron sights. They are the Red Dot Sight, Holographic Sight, ACOG Scope, VMR Sight, Tracker Sight, Thermal Scope, Thermal Hybrid Scope, and Variable Zoom Lens. The marksman rifles can use iron sights through an attachment. The Red Dot Sight, Holographic Sight, ACOG Scope, and the VMR Sight all use unique default reticles, and they can be customized through completing challenges for the attachment, or by purchasing DLC or other in-game means (such as getting to Gold Division, awarding the Triad reticle).
It should be noted that the K7 and the SVU cannot use the Tracker Sight.
=== Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ===
In Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, there are 11 substitutes for the iron sights. They are the Reflex Sight, Thermal Scope, ELO Sight, Scout & Scout Hybrid, Trojan Sight, VMC Sight, and Variable Zoom Lens. Most of these sights can be customized with a custom optic, which can be earned through the Quartermaster's Supply Drops or unlocked through challenges. Some weapons, such as the KBAR-32, have a inregranted optic-like sight by default.
==Gallery==
File:M9 Iron Sights MW2.png|The iron sights of the M9.
AK-47 Iron Sights MW2.png|The AK-47's iron sights in Modern Warfare 2.
Colt .45 Iron Sights CoD2.png|The M1911's iron sights in Call of Duty 2.
MP40 Iron Sights FH.PNG|The MP40's iron sights in Call of Duty: Finest Hour.
Ppshiron 1.png|Iron sights on the PPSh-41.
Ray Gun iron sights WaW.png|Ray Gun's Iron Sights in WaW.
Ray Gun Iron Sights BO.png|The Ray Gun's iron sights in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
CZ75upgradedsights.jpg|A CZ75 with Upgraded Iron Sights in Black Ops. Note at how much the front post is misaligned to the right.
TAR-21 Iron Sights MW2.png|The TAR-21's iron sights in Modern Warfare 2.
Kar98k Iron Sights WaW.png|The Kar98k's iron sights in Call of Duty: World at War.
FG42 Iron Sights CoD3.png|The FG42's iron sights in Call Of Duty 3.
AK74uadsBO.jpg|The AK-74u's iron sights in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
M1carbineiron 5.png|The M1 Carbine's iron sights in Call of Duty World At War.
M1 Garand Iron Sights WaW.png|The M1 Garand's iron sights in Call of Duty: World at War.
M1 Carbine Ironsights.jpg|The M1A1 Carbine's iron sights in Call of Duty 2.
Nambu Iron Sights WaW.PNG|The Nambu's iron sights in Call of Duty World at War.
M1A1 Iron Sights BRO.jpg|The M1 Carbine's iron sights in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One.
M16A4 Iron Sights MW2.png|The M16A4's iron sights in Modern Warfare 2.
MP7 Iron Sights MW3.png|The MP7's iron sights in Modern Warfare 3.
B23R Iron Sights BOII.png|The B23R's Iron Sights in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Remington R5 iron sights CoDG.png|The Remington R5's iron sights in Call of Duty: Ghosts.
AK-12 iron sights CoDG.png|The AK-12's iron sights in Call of Duty: Ghosts.
MP-443 Grach iron sights CoDG.png|The MP-443 Grach's iron sights in Call of Duty: Ghosts.
HBRa3 iron sights AW.png|The HBRa3's iron sights in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
==Trivia==
*All the weapons in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One have misaligned iron sights.
*Certain weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 have "IW" written at the bottom of the rear sight. This is a reference to Infinity Ward, the developer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
*In Call of Duty: Black Ops, the iron sights on several weapons (like the Enfield, Famas, AUG and G11) have "III ARC Firearms" written at the bottom of the rear sight. This is a reference to Treyarch, the developer of Call of Duty: Black Ops.
*Many weapons in Advanced Warfare sport iron sights that have greyed out tritium rods in them, but they turn red when aiming over an enemy player. Several optical sights also have this strange functionality. 
==See also==
*ACOG Scope
*Telescopic Sight
*Red Dot Sight
*Aperture Sight
*Holographic Sight
*Thermal Scope
*Swarovski Scope
*Reflex Sight
*Infrared Scope
*Variable Zoom
*Upgraded Iron Sights
*Hybrid Sight
*HAMR Scope
*Low Power Scope
*EOTech Sight
Category:Gameplay mechanics