Which optic sights do you use on your pistols?

[TackDriver284]

At our age, our eyesight is declining to focus clearly like when we all were young. I had a severe eye infection on my right eye when I used a pressure washer to clean my boat about 20 years ago, there was a stubborn dried up shrimp head on the deck and the high pressure ( 3600 psi ) blew it off finally and it ricocheted off the console and the rostrum ( horn ) part of the shrimp head shot into the white part of my eye. Later the next day the infection started and it required hospitalization to clear it after 3 eye doctors could not figure out how to treat it. Anyways, my eye sight on my right eye which is my shooting eye is not as clear as my left, so I have a hard time using reading glasses, distance glasses, never helped. So I like to turn to red dot optics like Holosun, Trijicon, Aimpoint, etc for my Kimbers which is the .38 Super and .45 ACP.
Which optic sights do you guys use and how was your experience with them?
Which are the best rated optic sights?
How does the optics feel in your holsters compared to without? Does it bother you?
Thanks guys for your information, if any.

 

[bkordon]

Mark,
I have a Trijicon Reflex RMR dual illuminated green dot on a Glock 40, 10mm. Minimal usage at this point but zero complaints. It takes a little getting used to. I've put just enough rounds through it to have it sighted in.
The holster I have for that particular pistol is a Gunfighter's Inc. Custom Ronin OWB holster. I had to do a little inletting for the pistol to fit with the sight on. Five minutes with a Dremel and all good.
I can wear this rig even with waders on and primarily decided to install the dot sight since the the Glock 40 has such a long slide and I carry it primarily if I am fishing in the high country.

 

[xphunter]

Aimpoint Acro P-2
Trij line of reflex sights

 

[xphunter]

 

[TexasLife]

vortex, trijicon, sig, leupold, c-more and a few others. none are the enclosed type as of yet and no mini/micro either.

 

[JD338]

I'm 65 so my eyes are not what they once were. We have several red dots and they work very well...
Remington 870 with AimPoint set up for turkey
Franchi Affinity w/ Vortex Viper setup for turkey
SIG P365XL w/ SIG Romeo
Springfield Hellcat Pro w/ Crimson Trace
S&W 629 3" w/ Burris Fastfire 2

JD338

 

[TackDriver284]

Emailed Kimber asking some questions if my Kimbers can have those slides milled to adapt the optic sights and they said no because there is a safety mechanism under the rear sight and to use a aftermarket dovetail mount which I found some on the internet. I'll wait till tomorrow and contact them to see what will work for me and which optics are compatible for those adapters. It does not seem too hard to remove the rear dovetails, I have never tried it, but I'll see what I can do.

 

[Wolfshead]

I have a Swampfox Sentinel green dot on my S&W M&P Shield Plus.

 

[TackDriver284]

Some of the pistols nowadays have those recessed slides for optics ready to install. That is cool.

 

[xphunter]

Some of the pistols nowadays have those recessed slides for optics ready to install. That is cool.

Are you going to join the future Brother?
Oh, I meant to say the present???

 

[diverdown]

I use a Leupold Red Dot for my S&W .22 caliber target pistol. As far as combat pistols are concerned I stay away from Red dots or any other type of mount. The normal distance for Self defense shooting is up to 21 feet. Most are far less. I'm 80 years old with cataract surgery and my eyes work well. My feeling is you are not going to have time to get your gun up, look for the Red dot and commence shooting without taking a few rounds for yourself. Actually most close range shooting is point shooting and sights don't come into play. (Check stats on that) I'm sure I'll get a little flak on my comment but from what I have seen and read it holds true.

 

[xphunter]

If it is for personal defense, you must be committed to practicing your presentation.
Something to do on a very regular basis.
You need to train your brain (Practice your draws), until you are automatically on the red dot, and you are not looking for it any more.
There is a side benefit to this.
A serendipity to this, is that it will clean your iron-sight pistol presentations as well.
I am not saying this is for everyone.
Every system has pros and cons.

FYI-I was just having fun with @TackDriver284 & he knows I am just messing with him.
If, one goes this route
Change your battery once a year.
These work very well up close and far away.
Both the the brands I mentioned are about as bomb proof as electronics can be, and they tend to cost more.

 

[TackDriver284]

Are you going to join the future Brother?
Oh, I meant to say the present???

My Sigs which are the P238 and the P229 in 40 cal are what I use for daily carry / home self defense. For those pistols I just use iron sights and the Crimson Trace laser grips. I can easily put the laser dot on any target quick and only downside is that its hard to see the laser dot on a bright day outside. Getting laser surgery scares me, you need to sign a waiver and if the doctor goes oops during surgery, then there isn't much I can do about my eye. I had some people that say its good and some says no bueno.

Diverdown, I agree that at a blink of an eye , its a point and shoot and there isn't much time to be using optics, its where I have my Sigs close by. As for the Kimbers, they are locked up in a safe and I barely used them since my shooting eye got messed up and stopped going to those pistol competitions almost 20 years ago. I wanted to start using those Kimbers again, its reason why I wanted to see of those optics will work for me. I could try one on the 38 Super, and see if I like it.

Xphunter, I know you love to be pulling my chain. It's been ages since I bought a pistol, hopefully one day I'll be looking to purchase a new pistol.

 

[xphunter]

If you looking for a better than Glock type semi-auto, that works real well
MR920

Shadow Systems – Home of the best shooting, no-compromise family of pistols — the MR920, XR920, CR920, DR920.

shadowsystemscorp.com

 

[xphunter]

My Sigs which are the P238 and the P229 in 40 cal are what I use for daily carry / home self defense. For those pistols I just use iron sights and the Crimson Trace laser grips. I can easily put the laser dot on any target quick and only downside is that its hard to see the laser dot on a bright day outside. Getting laser surgery scares me, you need to sign a waiver and if the doctor goes oops during surgery, then there isn't much I can do about my eye. I had some people that say its good and some says no bueno.

Diverdown, I agree that at a blink of an eye , its a point and shoot and there isn't much time to be using optics, its where I have my Sigs close by. As for the Kimbers, they are locked up in a safe and I barely used them since my shooting eye got messed up and stopped going to those pistol competitions almost 20 years ago. I wanted to start using those Kimbers again, its reason why I wanted to see of those optics will work for me. I could try one on the 38 Super, and see if I like it.

Xphunter, I know you love to be pulling my chain. It's been ages since I bought a pistol, hopefully one day I'll be looking to purchase a new pistol.

Well..............IF, you want to shoot steel and pd's at distance we can upgrade to a custom XP???
WY-SHOT is coming up soon, and I have loaner specialty pistols.
Steel from 150ish to over 1300 yards with specialty pistols--What's not to love

 

[xphunter]

This probably says it better than my earlier post.
Work “backwards”.
Aim your gun on the target. Get the correct picture. Pull it back to your chest. Push it back out.
Is the dot where it’s supposed be? If yes, squeeze the trigger, as your “reward.”
Do it again. Dot NOT on target? NO SQUEEZE FOR YOU! Keep doing that till every time is perfect.

Now draw from your holster. Bring to your chest, push to target. Dot on target? Squeeze.
If not, you need to go back to pushing it from your chest, you’ve not trained your brain.
Repeat till you get it. Practice daily.

"The trick to using a reflex sight is training your brain to the proper grip and presentation so that the gun presents flat and on target.
Bringing the optic to your eye and not dipping your head to the optic.
Your eyes should be focused on where you want the bullet to go.
And bring the gun to your eye. If you dip your head while you bring the gun up, two things moving are harder to meet than only one.
The goal is to shoot sooner. Not faster.
Meaning, as soon as the gun is at full presentation and I mean the instant……..the dot should be on target and the trigger pressed.
No fishing for the dot.
So, to do that, the brain has to learn to present the gun perfectly every time.
That comes with rep after rep of dry fire practice. And it doesn’t cost a dime on ammo or travel to a range.
If you can’t do it dry fire, you can’t do it live."

 

[diverdown]

If it is for personal defense, you must be committed to practicing your presentation.
Something to do on a very regular basis.
You need to train your brain (Practice your draws), until you are automatically on the red dot, and you are not looking for it any more.
There is a side benefit to this.
A serendipity to this, is that it will clean your iron-sight pistol presentations as well.
I am not saying this is for everyone.
Every system has pros and cons.

FYI-I was just having fun with @TackDriver284 & he knows I am just messing with him.
If, one goes this route
Change your battery once a year.
These work very well up close and far away.
Both the the brands I mentioned are about as bomb proof as electronics can be, and they tend to cost more.

Not to dispute the first comment but you won't be practicing your presentation at 10 feet. I have yet to talk to a survivor of a shoot out or looked at past records and found an officer or other person that has taken the time to try and aim. It is point shooting at its best.

 

[xphunter]

Not to dispute the first comment but you won't be practicing your presentation at 10 feet. I have yet to talk to a survivor of a shoot out or looked at past records and found an officer or other person that has taken the time to try and aim. It is point shooting at its best.

You Are Correct.
I should have made note of that.
In your face encounters, will not allow that.

 

[JD338]

Not to dispute the first comment but you won't be practicing your presentation at 10 feet. I have yet to talk to a survivor of a shoot out or looked at past records and found an officer or other person that has taken the time to try and aim. It is point shooting at its best.

I agree. Some of my carry guns do not have optic sights. My 32 ACP, 380 ACP and a 9mm are my pocket rib stickers.

JD338

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Ernie that is about the best explanation of using a red dot as I have read. Have been practicing unloaded at home.
My only red dot sighted pistols are a Ruger MK4 competition and a Springfield Armory Ronin 45acp with an adaptor in the rear dovetail for mounting the red dot. Burris Fast Fire 3 on each.