A friend needed some help to improve the sights of his M745. I proposed the idea to run a red dot sight. I have been running one on a M5906 for almost a year now, and I must say that I really like it.

As I get older and my sight deteriorates, I have been looking for sight alternatives on my guns. Altering the aperture of the rear has helped; but I wanted to try a red dot sight on a pistol, since I see a lot of people running them nowadays. I don't use it on my daily carry, but it has proven to be a good range training aid (please I don't want to enter a debate a using a red dot sight for daily carry ).

The mount I use is the Optima / Tasco mount. It can be found online from $20 to $30 (depending on the sale you find) + shipping. This mount is made of aluminum and attaches to the slide by replacing the rear sight and it was designed to fit the 59 series.




the optima mount + components

Different red dot sights use different "patterns" which are the way they attach to the mount. This website provides a clear explanation of all the mounting patterns and all the red dot sights in the market.

Footprints/Mounting Standards on Red Dot Sights - Optics info

So, the Optima / Tasco mount uses a Shield pattern:


The Shield pattern is used by this Red Dot sight:


There is also a "modified" Shield pattern that can be used, but the mount hast to be modified by removing 2 of the mounting sockets on the Optima / Tasco mount.


For this project a Sig Romeo Zero with a 3 MOA was selected. Why this red dot sight? Well, it is an inexpensive alternative, it can be easily found, works with the Optima / Tasco mount and despite being made of plastic , it has good reviews and has proven quite good for the price.



More to come...

Following!

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This is the way....

Me too! The dovetail in the 59 series is the same as the 39 series, IIRC, so my 439 is also a candidate.

Froggie

the installation process is pretty straight forward...







However, we had an issue: the M745 slide has a small "step" or "hump" on top that does not allow for a flush fit of the base. There is no "step" on the rear of the slide (behind the dovetail dot for the rear sight), so only the front portion of the red dot sight mount needed to be altered.



The gap is very small, but needed to be corrected.





A couple of passes on the milling machine and we were done. For those that want to do this installation and don't have access to a milling machine, you could do this with hand files. The red dot sight mount is made of aluminum, which makes it easy to file and if you do it carefully, taking your time, it should be no problem.

More to come...

For some reason I can't get any of my 3 745's to shoot very accurately . I was going to have guizztaco put an LPA adjustable rear on it like BMCM did on my 4006CHP and 4566TSW , but he ended up talking me into this . Once I got it dialled in , it turned into being more accurate than I hoped for .This is the 745 that BMCM worked on and ended up making a post about due to it needing his touch . I actually tried putting the slide on one of my other 745's and it didn't take much fine tuning to get it in the bullseye . All in all a mod I highly recommend to those of you having trouble with sights , better known as getting older .

After the base was adjusted the installation was a breeze...




no more gap in front...fit was perfect


the red dot sight looks like it "belongs" there...




the Sig Rome Zero has an integrated rear sight.


Adjustment for windage and elevation is easy, however; manufacturer recommends not to over-tighten the adjustments screws since it can damage the Red dot sight.


Pistol owner (Cherrypointmarine) is happy with the results. This is a pic of the calibration session at the range. (Pins in the back were easy to hit...)

Hope this helps...
Guzzi

I would like to know where to find one of the those bases, I have tried with no luck.
Any help ?

...will send you a pm with the info...

Good solutions and nice work for a range gun.

Plz don’t take this as being snarky, but an RMR (Ruggedized Miniature Reflex sight) is a particular line of Trijicon Red Dot Sights (RDS). I believe the generic RDS is mostly what you are talking about until you get to the specific brands you used. I was wondering where you were going with a Shield footprint mount until I figured out you weren’t really talking about mounting an RMR.

You are absolutely right... I always thought RMR was a generic name...

I will amend the text in the posts to avoid confusion...

We learn something new everyday...

Thank you