HANDGUN OPTICS: R.D.S. PROS AND CONS With positives and negatives, deciding if a red dot sight is right for you boils down to your handgun’s mission. STORY AND PHOTOS BY NICK PERNA
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o, in the form of a disclaimer, I am old. Fiftyone years old, to be exact. As a soldier and a cop, I’ve been making a living with a gun for nearly my entire adult life. I can say, with some degree of distinction, that I have carried just about every variety of AR/M-16 that has ever been used by the US military: M-16A1, M-16A2, M203, M4 and the AR-15 patrol rifle. With age comes a certain amount of suspicion whenever a new product enters the market claiming to be able to do everything. As a point of reference, I have seen VCR tapes, Beta tapes, records, 8-tracks, cassette tapes, laser discs, compact discs, floppy discs and others come and go. I’ve learned to adopt a “wait and see” attitude whenever a new product presents itself. In the firearms and tactics realm, I, despite my age, retain a relatively high
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degree of relevancy when it comes to the carry, use and operation of firearms. I’m a cop, a law enforcement firearms instructor, constant carrier of firearms while off duty, as well as a hunter. So I don’t base my opinions only on what I used to do. I base them on what I and others are using currently and what I think will work in the future.
ENTER RED DOT sights (RDS), or handgun optics. Not necessarily a new thing – competitive shooters have been using them for years – but they are definitely gaining mainstream acceptance with military, police, hunters and sport shooters. There is a large number of manufacturers who produce them, many of which are excellent. Most major handgun manufacturers now sell either aftermarket slides with RMR mounts already on them or you can purchase the handgun with an already modified slide.
In some cases, guns come with an already attached RDS. No longer does a person desiring an RMR need to send their handgun in for extensive modification. Red dot optics on rifles have been the norm for at least the past 15 years, their mainstream acceptance brought on, in part, by successful applications in combat during the War on Terror. On the sporting front, especially during three-gun competitions, they are essential. Iron sights on rifles have been relegated to backup status, only to be used if an optic fails. So, naturally, red dot applications should automatically extend to handguns as well, right? Well, yes and no. With every advantage generally comes a disadvantage, so it is important for the end user to weigh the pros and cons before making a tactical equipment decision. The pros of RDSs are obvious. A welltrained shooter with a red dot sight, on any weapons platform, is generally going
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