Red Dot optics on handguns

[Balrog]

To those with experience shooting red dot sights on handguns, how do you think the advantages and disadvantages compare?

I put a Holosun on my Glock this weekend and shot for the first time. I am a little more accurate at 50 and 75 feet than with iron sights, but finding the red dot on a handgun takes some getting used to.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I love a Burris Fastfire for shooting longer distances.

 

[CNobbe]

I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The biggest advantage I've found is simply putting the dot where I want the bullet to go and not having to line up any sights. I was never much of a shot with a Glock, but after putting optics on my G41 and G45 it's a completely different experience. It feels like cheating.

 

[SimonRL]

Keep practicing so that dot appearing in the window is second nature. The more you work with the red dot you will answer your own questions. I have red dots on most of my pistols and I personally don’t feel there are any disadvantages to them whatsoever. I like to tell people that I’ve never had one of my red dots fail, but I have had a front sight fall off.

 

[1KPerDay]

Felt weird at first. In general it’s much better in just about every way once you get some time in grade.

 

[1KPerDay]

Keep practicing so that dot appearing in the window is second nature. The more you work with the red dot you will answer your own questions. I have red dots on most of my pistols and I personally don’t feel there are any disadvantages to them whatsoever. I like to tell people that I’ve never had one of my red dots fail, but I have had a front sight fall off.

I’ve had a Burris die and a Gen 1 RMR fail after 15K rounds on a pistol. I’ve had several iron sights break off. Everything can break. Regardless, red dots have a lot of advantages IMO.

 

[warnerwh]

I love my Fastfire III on my Buckmark. It makes it so much easier to shoot accurately with my aged eyes. People compliment my shooting but I feel guilty like I am cheating somehow but the red dot stays.

 

[CNobbe]

Another thing is you don't have to go with red.. I have Holosun green dots on almost all of my optic pistols, I just like green better for some reason. My little Romeozero has a 3 MOA red dot which is fine, works well with the smaller size, but I struggle a little more with my DeltaPoint.

 

[CajunBass]

I had an old BSA red dot on a Ruger MK III with a 4" bull barrel some years ago. That was back when red dots were about the size of a can of frozen orange juice and ate batteries like a kid eats M&Ms. Still it was neat, and a lot of fun. The range I shot at back then only had a seven yard line, but I could just eat the X-ring out of a standard 100 yard rifle target with that combo. Just a steady bap, bap, bap, reload the mags, bap, bap, bap. It actually got boring, but that was the only range I had to shoot at back then. As someone said, just put the dot where you wanted it to hit, and you pretty much did as long as the trigger broke cleanly. Note: I was much younger back then. Today, I'd be tickled pink to shoot like that at seven yards.


I've got a SCCY CPX-2 with a factory installed Crimson Trace red dot now. I don't have near the experience with it that I did with that BSA/Ruger, but it's interesting. I got it used, and it came to me already dialed in it seems, so I've never had to make an adjustment. The battery is supposed to be good for 20,000 hours. That remains to be seen, but it's fun to shoot, and I can see where it has a lot of potential. Learning to find the dot is the biggest thing it seems, especially if you plan to use it on a SD gun. That's really just a matter of practice, same as finding iron sights. Bring the gun to eye level, don't try to get your eye down to sight level.

 

[kidneyboy]

but finding the red dot on a handgun takes some getting used to.

This is the only downside of transitioning to red dots. Convincing your brain that the dot is not the front sight takes some time. Focusing on the target instead of the front sight takes some time.

 

[alfsauve]

What kidneyboy said about transitioning. For a red dot to be effective in action/SD shooting you have to focus on the target not the dot.

One downside not mentioned was astigmatism. Before caterac surgery, red dots appeared to me to be a clump of dots. Depending on how bad it is red dots might not work well at all.

 

[captain awesome]

as others have said, it is easier to hit targets farther away/shoot more accurately. That said I am much quicker with irons. Aquiring/reacquiring the dot is not as fast for me as irons but it is gradually getting better. i can be just as accurate with irons, but it requires more focus. I am fairly new to the red dot game though, only been seriously shooting with red dots for a few months. I've owned an unreliable handgun with a Burris fastfire 3 on it for about 3 years, but no serious use because of the feeding issues that handgun has. none of mine have failed. the glass cracked on my best friends fastfire 3 during normal shooting while I was there. it still was usable however. It appeared to be because brass was somehow hitting it during the ejection process. I have had iron sights fail, front sights flying off, sight screws coming out ect... the battery thing bothers me and always has, its not as much of an issue with the newer crazy long battery life ratings, solar charging, shake awake, tritium and fiber optic illumination ect, but eventually they always die, and tritium quits though it IS several years down the road. for those reasons i think for defensive use co witness iron sites with red dots are a good idea.

 

[md7]

None of my personal pistols have a dot, but I’ve got trigger time with one.

Feels a little strange at first, but then you get used to it. With practice, you should become a little faster and a bit more accurate with it vs irons.

 

[1KPerDay]

for those reasons i think for defensive use co witness iron sites with red dots are a good idea.

For defensive use, totally agree. It's maybe 'belt and suspenders' but you want to cover all your bases on a 2-way range.

 

[ericuda]

For plinking or shooting steel with a red dot or heck even small game hunting a mrd is an awesome invention. Only thing hard for me is choosing dot size and wish it was more selectable in the economic dots such as ffiii. In 5 years it will be.

 

[Old Dog]

as others have said, it is easier to hit targets farther away/shoot more accurately. That said I am much quicker with irons.

This would be me as well, and I've been shooting with the SIG Romeo optics on a couple 320s for a couple years now. Great for me at 25 yards or longer but I still struggle as quickly acquiring my sight picture -- probably due to the fact that I simply don't shoot with the RDS-equipped pistols very often at all.

 

[AzShooter1]

I put a red dot on my gun about 30 years ago. It's faster in every aspect and I find it to be more accurate at speed shooting events.

This weekend I posted a score over 30 seconds faster than last week with the same gun only changing from iron sights to my C-More Railway with a 12 MOA dot.

You focus on the target, not the dot because it's always going to be moving but just like irons you can't control the movement, just keep trying to center it and you will hit the target. With steel I can even shoot fast without seeing the dot on the target as long as I see the steel in the window.

 

[FL-NC]

They are not for me. All I need to do with a handgun is draw and fire accurately for defensive purposes. I have done this enough with iron sights that I don't see a need to invest time and $ to obtain a RDS and train on it. Also, don't want the additional bulk/size added to a pistol.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I know they are highly useful but I haven't really gotten into them, and a slight astigmatism makes them a bit fuzzy for me. On a full size gun sure, on a concealed carry gun, no thanks. I don’t want bulk on a gun I’m concealing.

 

[Styx]

They are not for me. All I need to do with a handgun is draw and fire accurately for defensive purposes. I have done this enough with iron sights that I don't see a need to invest time and $ to obtain a RDS and train on it. Also, don't want the additional bulk/size added to a pistol.

I know they are highly useful but I haven't really gotten into them, and a slight astigmatism makes them a bit fuzzy for me. On a full size gun sure, on a concealed carry gun, no thanks. I don’t want bulk on a gun I’m concealing.

Agreed.. They add bulk, weight, unneeded cost (extra few hundred for the optic ready pistol and the optic), aren't needed to fire fast and accurately for self defense situations. I have very bad sight too.. Night sights or fiber optic and night sight combos fix that problem.

I too brought into the hype. I wanted to try them out because all the operators and everyone else was had one. All the gun companies were peddling them.. I have a Trijicon RMR that I paid over $400 for and a optic ready handgun that I paid an extra $175 for over the non-optic ready price. It's just not worth it IMHO. I should have spent that money on more training, more ammo, or a whole new gun! I know others think it is, but we can agree to disagree. Nothing they claim will change my mind or personal experience.

Plain Jane revolvers and good old fashioned 3 dot pistols with night sites are all I want and need for a self defense weapon. No need to reinvent the wheel for me. YMMV!

 

[Bottom Gun]

I haven't warmed up to the Romeo Zero I have. I may try it on a .22 rifle but I don't want one on my carry gun.

One issue I have is that I'm on an ATV a lot, especially when I'm helping my neighbor on his ranch. My sidearm gathers quite a bit of dust from all that trail riding. I can see how a red dot would be difficult to keep clean in that environment.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I love REDDOTS!

Love Love Love!

if I could put a reddot on my Prius I would

 

[Cornhusker77]

I bought a Canick TP9sfx awhile back, and it came with a Vortex Viper on it.
I haven't had a chance to shoot it much and I had trouble at first finding the dot, but I've been practicing picking the gun up, finding the sight and getting on target, and it is getting easier.
I think once I get used to it I'll like it, but it will never be something I carry, just a range toy to show my friends what a good shooter I am.
I haven't shot it enough to know if I like it or not, but the wind has to go down sometime.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I’m quite fond of red dots on some of my carbine length (and pistol length) AR’s but am on the fence for handguns.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a Swampfox on my FNX .45 Tactical but removed the one on my XDM Elite 10MM because I’m more accurate with its iron sights. I have a Burris Fastfire that I’m gonna try on a G17 MOS shortly.

 

[JR24]

Takes some practice to appreciate, and I don’t like the small dots but prefer the larger circle and dots on the Holosun, but I find I’m faster transitioning targets and find hitting targets at 10-15 yards much easier. My setup isn’t perfect for precision, so it doesn’t help groups get smaller but I don’t need that for CCW purposes.