Such as varying light conditions, for one. A carry gun might be used in the dark, or in bright noon Arizona sun, and the optic should be automatically functional in either without adjusting settings. An optic on a competition gun can be adjusted for the current conditions, for the most part.
Leupold's motion sensor tech is another one, where the dot is switched on when it detects motion and shuts off after 5 minutes of inactivity. For a range gun that spends most of it's life in the safe, that works great. That same optic carried in your waistband will be switched on all the time, and the electronics should be designed around that.
And of course there's durability. Competition shooting is not fighting. Priorities for a competition or target optic are more towards clear glass, window size, etc (all things the DPP is great for). For a carry gun though, being able to take a beating and always being on, visible, and zeroed are higher priorities.
I'd think anyone looking for a carry optic would want to consider these things before just copying whatever the top competition shooters are using.
I wouldn’t go off the USPSA list either, but only because most shooters are cheap. Durability of RDS’s on pistols is lacking in all but a few. However, the problem with your thinking, is that every single high level organization that uses red dot pistols for real have all come to the conclusion that Auto adjust sucks. There is no difference in using a RDS on a pistol and an RDS on a carbine. Set the brightness to the highest light level expected and shoot with both eyes open. I adjust the brightness once in the morning, and once in the evening.
I’ve been using red dot equipped duty/carry pistols since 2009. This is at the beginning of their use for duty. Between myself and teammates I have seen at least 50,000 rounds put on JP/Tasco/Shield/Trijicon/etc mini’s, Trijicon RMR and Type 2, Leupold DP and Pro, MRDS, Burris, Vortex, etc, etc. All used heavily on duty, carry, and competition pistols under all conditions. From -20 degrees and in 4 feet of snow, to 140 degrees and desert.
The only ones I would mount and use are-
Trijicon RMR 06 Type 2
Leupold Delta Point Pro.
I went out and shot my CORE/RMR again this morning, I still can't believe how much muzzle flip this combo has compared to shooting my 2.0C. I added the TLR-1 light and things were better. I also tried the factory barrel and the only thing different was my group sizes. I may yet give up on this adventure and sell the pistol/sight, if I do I'll let you know on the Apex barrel. It really sucks to have spent so much money with Apex to get this thing shooting like the 2.0C does from the factory.
Well, the muzzle flip is the same regardless of irons or dot, it’s just that the dot shows it. Which is really the point of a dot- you see more. If you have an optimum grip and stance, then you learn to except the dot movement and run it.
On average it takes a solidly trained shooter (read B class shooter) around 8,000-10,000 focused rounds to completely master the dot in all situations. The payoff is worth it.
