I tried out a Red Dot on my Sig P320 and absolutely was not impressed!! The red dot is harder to find while drawing from concealment and red dot while under recoil jumps up and down and distracting. I underestimated how good a good set of iron sights are. Red dots for Rifles are definitely the way to go but for pistols it requires too much practice. However, I will say for slow fire and at long distance, getting shots on target is easier than iron sights but at 75ft with a stock MP 2.0 I can hit 75ft
I was thinking about getting the Apex Trigger for my MP 2.0 but worried about light primer strikes.
I get where you are coming from regarding the pistol mounted optic issues. I toyed with them for years and couldn’t understand how anyone could use them in fighting conditions because the dot was so difficult to find. Since 2013 I had tried to get some T&E samples for my department to investigate the feasibility because they seemed to be growing in popularity, but various other projects and logistical issues got in the way.
In September of 2017 the stars aligned a bit as I was driving down to get a Glock 17 exclusively for training. I pulled into the parking lot of the gun store and received a text from a friend that Cabellas had RMRs on sale for $260 shipped. I walked in and asked if they had any MOS Glocks - They had one left. I figured if I didn’t like the optic I’d still have a G17 for range use, and because I would never be using it in the field it didn’t matter that the MOS wasn’t approved at that time.
I began using the dot and at first I was disappointed like you. Then I watched a couple Sage Dynamics videos and the world opened up. All of a sudden the dot was easy to find, and became super consistent. With a bit of practice I find that any delay in finding the dot is overcome by significantly increased accuracy even at speed.
In fall of 2018 I held a range day where members of my department could come and compare a dot-equipped pistol (my Glock) to an iron sighted pistol (another one of my Glocks). Overall, with minor coaching over a few minutes, almost all shooters were interested in the dot. A few weeks later I attended a range day at LAPD that was focused on red dots (we call them pistol mounted optics, or PMOs) as LAPD was also looking into their use. Over the next two days, along with several LAPD officers, a couple of us attended a Sig Sauer Academy Red Dot Instructor Class, which further supported the advantages of the PMO in a fighting environment.
By early 2019 we had a formal proposal in development and a partnership with another big department in the area. Over the course of 2019 our instructor staff fired over 180,000 rounds through PMO-equipped pistols with something like 34 optics being used. Many of us attended training classes dedicated to PMOs, and used PMO-equipped pistols in other training classes with well known instructors which gave further perspective. We had the opportunity to introduce PMOs to many individuals who had never used them before and developed information and techniques to effectively and efficiently teach the concepts. In fact, this weekend our two-day training class was CA POST approved. I can’t say too much about the department approval process right now, but let’s just say I have high hopes for something good happening really soon.
Yes, there is a learning curve, but it’s a learning curve that is worth it for those people who are motivated to achieve proficiency. I have also found a side benefit to the PMO is that it significicantly helped with my iron sight shooting because it helped me increase my consistency in presenting the pistol to the target and understanding trigger control vs. sight alignment.
I think over the next year and beyond we will see an explosion of popularity in pistol mounted optics and I hope it will drive even better technology, equipment, and training techniques.
