I think more flexible and versatile methods of mounting sights could be beneficial to shooters and gun makers. Whether or not it is likely to happen will depend on whether gun companies are willing to innovate and shooters are willing to try something new.
Consider the following hypothetical example. Imagine a semi-auto which uses a flat milled area on the rear of the slide with drilled and tapped screw holes for mounting the rear sight. This kind of mounting system is sometimes used for custom "melt in" installations of mini reflex red dot sights on the slides of some pistols. The use of this kind of mounting system would enable the pistol manufacturer (as well as after market sight designers) to design various kinds of rear sights (adjustable, combat style, night sights, fiber-optic, etc.) which would be designed to be mounted with hex screws onto the flat mounting area. Makers of mini-reflex red dot sights could design a mounting adapter for their sights, or the gun maker could design a proprietary reflex sight with screw holes set up to mount directly to the mounting area.
Shooters could then own several different kinds of quickly interchangeable rear sights for different purposes to make their pistols more versatile. Mini RDS's would become a more integrated and "built-in" sight option rather than an awkward and inconvenient add-on.
While I'm fantasizing, I might as well suggest that gun manufacturers and optical sight manufacturers could work together to create a common standard for such a mounting system. Such a system could be of great benefit to the gun companies as well as to shooters. Perhaps the best potential benefit would be the encouragement of more innovation and new designs in handgun sights. A similar sight mounting system could also be developed for large frame revolvers.
Would it work? If the system were properly designed, there is no reason that a practical, reliable, economical, and durable system of this type could not be developed.
Would it be commercially successful and profitable? It's hard to say. In the past, shooters have often been slow to accept new designs and innovative products, even when there are clear advantages in the new products. (Synthetic rifle stocks, for example.) OTOH, we sometimes see almost instant acceptance of a new and different product design like the Judge.
The success of the system would also depend on whether or not a large number of shooters begin to appreciate that min-reflex red dot sights are, for many shooters, superior to open iron sights for some applications. It would also depend on how many shooters who like mini RDS are willing and able to spend an additional $200 to gain the advantages of these sights.
It is doubtful that a gun company would take the risk and expense of tooling up to produce a new design when there is such a large chance that the new system would not sell well. A co-operative collaboration among several companies to create a new common standard could reduce this risk.
