I'm considering putting a Trijicon Red Dot sight on my S&W M&P9. This gun will not be carried. It is on my nightstand. I have a red dot sight on my S&W 22A and love it. Makes shooting quickly much easier. Any thoughts? Anyone have a similar setup? Thanks.

You might look at the Streamlight TLR-2

A red dot sight is no good in the dark...You would be far better off hanging a flashlight on the rail for a night time gun.

i would have to agree i have tried using a red dot in lo light no light drills on my mossberg and i can tell you that for a home defense gun a rail mounted flashlight is a mutch better idea

Go with a Crimson Trace lasergrip. Point, shoot, hit.

I personally don’t like lights attached to a pistol, that’s just my take. I would rather hold a high powered light in my weak hand. I don’t have to point the gun where the light is pointed.
A red or green laser on a home defense gun is a very good idea in my estimation. I expect distances will be short, the laser it can be zeroed where ever you want. If it fails for what ever reason you still have iron sight fall-back.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus

Avoid depending on ANYTHING that requires batteries. Use a flashlight, but do not DEPEND on it. Polymer frame pistols are sometimes unreliable with lights attached, so keep the light in your hand, not on the gun - oldRoger is correct in pointing out the potential liability of pointing a gun at something you have not yet identified...

Practice with your gun until you can accurately and dependably 'blind point' it at the smallest target area you will need to hit. I am NOT advocating 'point shooting', but rather practicing, using the sights, until the gun becomes an extension of your hand. That way you can still hit the target as long as you can see it well enough to identify it. This is the reason that I own only one model of pistol (the 'backup' is identical to the primary). After sufficient practice, the sights are perfectly aligned in blind point exercises - when I open my eyes after a practice blind point presentation, I see the tops of my sights level and an equal 'bar' of light on each side of my front sight.

Do you have any evidence to back this statement up? If it is fact and not opinion, I'm interested in seeing data.

FWIW:

I have a 5906 w/Crimson TraceLasergrips, and FOR ME it is perfect for my home defense choice.

I have had at least one CT equipped firearm for a long, long time, and it works for me.

Jesse

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"Laus Deo"

I have found pistol scope mounts that fit on weaver rails I am gonna put on my sw99 for a red dot sight but i want to use it for squirrels and eventually a gobbler, but thats between us... lol I figure if I can take a turkey with a .40 then I have a good gun and a story to tell my grandkids when they are born

"Do you have any evidence to back this statement up? If it is fact and not opinion, I'm interested in seeing data."

No 'data', just personal experience with a few Glocks; the plastic Glock light worked fine, but a Surefire (X200) induced a few failures to go into battery.

Interesting. Thanks for the feedback. Last thing I want to do is make my defensive weapon less reliable!

I had recently put a Crimson Trace Laser Grip on my 640 and was glad I did.When I saw a rather large person breaking into my car and I asked what he was doing he proceeded to take a large screwdriver sharpened to a point and threaten me with it.When the laser dot landed on his chest and settled between his eyes he thought better of it and took off.That gentleman knew it was over the second the red dot appeared.I like it because you are on target the second you clear holster.....God Bless.........Mike

jt:

Hey, you are getting this information on your computer, right? Twenty years ago technology was not sufficient for you to have a nice window to most of the information in the world, but now with the internet you do.

Just progress..

Respectfully anyone who thinks Crimson Trace Lasergrips are prone to failure of ANY kind is, from MY experience, mistaken.

The batteries that are used in the CT Lasergrips have a fantastic life, and if a person uses a Lasergrip equipped firearm it is "PRUDENT" to change out those batteries annually, in the same manner you would the smoke detectors in your home.

The batteries you will be replacing will still be good unless you play "chase the red dot" with the cat every night of the year for hours, but otherwise will still have plenty of life left.

The batteries are CHEAP, so it's cheap insurance to change them yearly, or more often if it cranks your clock..

Google and see how many "battery failures" you can find from CT Lasergrip owners.

I've had Lasergrips on my J-frame Smith for years and years, my Sig P239 for years and now my 5906 with never a failure of any kind, and if you trust your tv to come on the next time you mash the "on" button you can rest assured the Lasergrip red dot will pop right up for you when needed.

Just because something uses batteries doesn't mean it is guaranteed to fail.. Unless the owner is too stupid to change old batteries out in a timely manner.

Jesse

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"Laus Deo"

Glock 22s and 23s are the only polymer pistols I'm aware of that had any problems after rails lights were attached. I have personally experienced the problem with a 23 and an X200. I fixed the problems with Wolfe extra power magazine springs. Glock fixed the problem by upgrading to eleven-coil mag springs. It was an issue with flex in the polymer frames, which the tactical lights restricted causing jams. Again, the stronger magazine springs fixed the problem. I'm not aware of anyone having such a problem with an M&P of any flavor. I'll have to slap my X200 and my TRL on my 45 for a few hundred rounds to see how that gun works with the light. Pistol mounted lights do have their place, but they require training, and do not replace a hand-held light.

The Trijicon red-dot sight looks interesting, but the price has held me back a bit. From pictures, I've noted that it appears to have a back-up rear sight notch. My experience with the red-dots is with the EO Tech on a 223 carbine. They are very fast and accurate, and work even in the dark in conjunction with a light, but do have to rely on batteries to operate. To mount one on a defensive firearm, you have to make sure that you change out the batteries on a routine basis (monthly?) in order to ensure some degree of reliability.

FN has a .45 with a built in Docter red dot sight coming out this year. I'm not sure why some say that a red dot isn't good in low/no light. Works fine on my M4 clones (CMore and Aimpoint variously). You can certainly see the dot in the dark. Some sights even have a night vision setting if you're using goggles.

I agree that Red Dot sights are in general very reliable. However, they do need batteries, some need to be switched on (and off). I use them for target shooting and would use them hunting where failure is acceptable. Would I use one for close dangerous game, absolutely not!
My main objection is that if they are not working for whatever reason, the gun is nearly worthless beyond contact distance because you cannot see the iron sights. Try shooting with the sight off some time.
Laser sights are a far different matter, if it fails; no big problem they do not block the iron sights. The grip type, recoil spring guide replacement, or the rail types, any IMO could have a place on a Home Defense Gun. Arguably they might be useful for a carry gun, I have no personal experience in that regard.
It is easy to use a detached flashlight in your weak hand and still have a two handed grip on the gun. Still practice with one hand at close range is a good idea.
My defense gun vote:
Red Dot; No,
Laser Sight; Yes,
Flash Light on the gun; No,
Flash Light in weak hand: Yes.

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Ipsis Rebus Dictantitbus

I'm thinking of putting a red dot on my 3953. As i get older it gets harder to qualify with the iron sights. With reguard to the battery going out, in the close confines of shooting in a house you need only box your target in the window to get solid hits across a room. The spec-op guys have been doing this with their EOtechs in the sandbox.

I tried putting a red-dot sight on my defensive handgun too. It attached to the rail just fine. But I couldn't shoot worth a darn with it. Any ideas?

What happens if it breaks? If you depend on aids you lose your marksmanship training. My opinion! Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

I have been packing and teaching for 45 years. I do not allow any kind of powered or just lumninous aid in any of my classes. If you depend on them, I can promise you it WILL fail at the most inconvenient time. You are far better off spending the money on practice ammo and training. Of course I do not deingrate the devices themselves, just dependence on them. A flashiight is of course a necessity in HD, but not necessarily on the weapon. Hanging a light on the weapon when you have trained without it mounted is just plain dangerous, and if you train with the light always mounted two things will happen:
1. You will get good with the light/weapon combo,
2. You will learn how fragile they can be in terms of light emitter (bulb) breakage or losing contact points, or something just shooting loose.
Lear first with plain old sights, then get fancy-if you must.