Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Red Dot on Pistol Question

All the recent posts about red dots in handguns has prompted me to investigate joining the 21st century by adding a dot to a pistol. I’ve never shot a dot before but I have shot competition for many years (IDPA/steel challenge/etc) with irons at a pretty high level.

I am considering buying a G17 MOS and thinking about sight options. I don’t know anything about them so give me some guidance.

What should I be looking for in general?

How big of a dot in MOA?

Is there a need for co-witness/suppressor height sights or is that more of a luxury?

Do I need an aftermarket mounting plate or are the Glock mounting plates adequate?

Anything else I’m missing?

I assume on a carry gun you just leave the thing on 24/7 and replace the batteries somewhere around their half-life in rated hours just to be safe.

This would be mounted on a mostly defensive oriented handgun. Knowing nothing, I am intrigued by the following sights after a whopping 30 minutes of searching:

Holosun (especially the HS507C-X2 with the ACCS Vulcan chevron reticle)

Trijicon RMR

Leupold Delta Point

Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m thinking of going to night sights for reference in the dark but in daylight, I like a plain black rear sight and something that glows up front but a different color than the dot.

I ran an 8 MOA dot on two JPoints a few years then a 3.25 MOA in an RMR. Now I’m using a Holosun 507C with the 2 MOA dot. I like the 2 because I can turn it up and it blooms bigger but you can’t turn a bigger dot down smaller.

While you don’t “need” co-witness sights, I won’t be without them.

There are reports of the MOS plates breaking but even without that, the screws take most of the wear and tear as the dot moves front to back. Forward Controls Design makes a better plate that locks the dot in a seat and takes the stress off the screws. It is not cast like the MOA plate.

I leave my dots on all the time and change batteries on my birthday. The given battery life is usually rated at a low setting and I leave mine on a brighter useable setting for a year at a time.

The Holosun is a good sight, I have 2 on pistols. The RMR is almost the gold standard but the window is smaller and not as easy to pick up the dot.

The DPP has a good following but seem to have more warranty issues than I like.

I think the Gold standard now is going to be the Aimpoint ACRO P2 (not the P1) but I’m fine for now with my HS.

Don't know what your pistol is cut for, but I chose a Holosun for my Sig P365 variant largely because it fit the slide without the need of an adapter plate.

Less mass attached to the slide, and simplified points of attachment.

Now, people are shooting pistols with optics mounted to an adaptor plate which is separately attached to the slide and they say they're happy with the result. That's okay, too, I guess.

The Glock MOS system comes with adapter plates to use pretty much any red dot out there.

Holosun is making a red dot that mounts directly to the MOS cut. Deflave has one and made a post about it.

I'm not a competition or high volume shooter, but I find co-witness sights very beneficial to get quick dot acquisition. My Glock 40MOS has suppressor sights that pair up well with the Fastfire. If I were starting from scratch I'd go with the direct mount Holosun that works with standard height sights.

Holosun scs . They are a pretty good option and sit nice and low with no “work “

No tall sights ,no plate with more screws to manage , no battery changing ... makes it easy to overlook it’s not a trijicon.

I have the same goal, but I took a different route. I've been wanting a Sig P322 just on general principles so when the price stabilized I picked one up and added a Romeo Zero. If and when I decide to add a RDS to a defensive gun I'll probably do something different, but for now the Romeo Zero is cheap and easy - it also has a good warranty.

Being a .22 LR, this set-up should allow me to easily pile up some experience. If all goes well I have a couple pistols that will get milled.

Are you wanting to learn to use a carry gun with a dot or learn to use a dot in general?

Meaning, is this G17 going to be your every day care or are you just using that platform to learn to use a dot?

I want to learn to use a dot in general first. I wouldn’t use a dot equipped gun as a carry gun unless I felt real comfortable with it.

If I like it (and I am guessing I will) It would probably take the place of my Gen 3 G17 as a nightstand/carry gun. If I don’t like it it’s no big deal, I’ll take it off and have another iron sighted G17.

I’ve got good mechanics/grip/draw/trigger so I’m not too worried about not ‘finding the dot’. I guess I want to see what all the fuss is about and get in on it if it is a better mousetrap.

TL/DR: I want to learn how to shoot a dot to see if it is suitable/advances my defensive use of a handgun.

Recently.......

joined the club

SA XD-M Compact 45 ACP

The Hex Dragonfly came packaged with the pistol.....$730 OTD

Sure the Hex is an entry level red dot...but by dammed it was easy to sight in & works

Only issue you can not use the iron sights with it

I never knew I could shoot a pistol so well....45 no less

Liked it so well.......bought another same one in 9mm....shoots just as well & a little less jump (:

Springfield offering a promo....end of the month get 3 extra mags & range bag on any striker fired SA

Oh yea..Email says expect 8-10 week wait......WTH....come on man........

As a brand new green dot user, I noticed really quickly that it's much easier - for me, anyway - to shoot with both my eyes open.

Don't know why that is, but it seems good.

Ok, I read the thread on the Holosun SCS-MOS and it sounds like it’s exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for. It’s in contention for sure.

I really like the SRO on a Gen5. It’s a big forgiving optic that allows the shooter to really understand the “superimpose” principle of a dot.

I also prefer a huge fugking dot.

I use the factory plate but did upgrade the screw set. They sell them on Amazon.

I also oppose co-witnessing irons when learning a dot because I think they keep a lot of shooters in old ruts. If you want them fro your EDC in case of an optic failure that’s a personal decision but for learning, I see no value in their being there.

Travis, do you like the Trijicon SRO better than the Holosun SCS-MOS from your other thread? The SRO looks big for carry gun (perfect for a competition gun), but I haven’t seen one in person.

I have the same setup, in 9mm. This is a great setup! I shoot it more accurately than any of my open-sight handguns. The Dragonfly sight came dead on target. The Springfield XD-M Elite Compact is a very well-built, accurate, easy to use handgun- I have begun carrying it as my daily weapon, in an Urban Carry IWB holster. Even with summer clothing, it is easy to conceal. 14 round mags is also a big plus, IMO.

They’re not comparable.

Yes the SRO is huge and the SCS is minimalist. I would not use the SRO on a carry gun but I don’t know that I would thumb my nose at somebody that did.

I have no complaints about the SCS. It’s been great.