Whats the opinion on Red dots on pistols?

[scap99]

a laser can allow sighting when it would not be possible to bring the handgun to eye level to use any look thru sights.

That's what grenades are for.


Sent from me.

 

[GaryH]

I bought a used NEOS that had a Red Dot on it. Used it on a few trips to the range. Somehow I broke the end off of it, and haven't I used one since. It was cool because of it's 1X magnification, and I shot tighter groups with it, but I really don't miss not having it. It was a novelty for me.

..., but to each his own I suppose.

 

[Gramps]

I probably will wind up with at TSD (Suarez) RMR on my glock at some point. Is it needed for the average civilian? Hell no. But I like pistols better than rifles, aside from 22's. So that's where my fun money goes.

The plan is to take a Suarez Red Dot Combat Pistol class sometime next year, they offer rentals and it will be a great way to find out if I like the red dot. Plus training is always fun.

 

[txinvestigator]

That's what grenades are for.


Sent from me.

lol That is one option I had not considered.

 

[SIG_Fiend]

People said many of the same things of red dots on carbines not too many years ago. In that role, they have now become a standard as there are some very definite performance improvements when using one. In my personal opinion, I think that ultimately, red dots on handguns will become a more common reality for similar reasons. The concept is solid. Your eyes instinctively want to focus on what you're shooting. With proper training, a person can focus on their sights under stress, which has been proven many times over by people like Jim Cirillo and many others. Despite that, having the ability to focus on what you may be shooting, and simply superimposing a bright, shiny, dot, can have it's benefits. You may be able to gain more knowledge by being able to keep the hands and the overall person in focus to tell if they are a threat or might be about to become one. Your eyes will have several less steps in no longer having to shift focus back and forth from the "suspect" to your sights, then back again to confirm if you've stopped them, etc.

What I will say is this. Miniature red dots seem to have come a long way from where they were 10-15 years ago. Several companies have come out with and are coming out with some pretty innovative setups for mounting them. That being said, I personally feel that the actual red dot technology itself does not appear to be quite there yet. It seems to be a bit hit and miss whether they hold up or not. Generally, the Trijicon RMR series red dots are regarded as about the most rugged for a compact red dot in this role. There are smaller ones, there is also at least one (Aimpoint T1) that is more durable, however it seems to strike the best balance. Despite this, there are a number of people out there, some of whom are very experienced shooters and instructors, that have run in to many issues with several models of the RMR. Hilton Yam of Welcome to 10-8 Performance has had a number of different RMR's fail on his guns. There's a number of other people that have run in to similar issues. I'd say the technology is still a good 5-7 years from being perfected substantially.