In most cases, a properly mounted, quality RDS is viable for a combat pistol. It is almost always the shooter who cannot transition to the modern sighting system that is the problem.
Mechanically, if one can align irons quickly, one can shoot a dot, but irons should be co-witnessed through the lower 25% of the dot window. Initially, with fast and natural irons alignment, one keeps the RDS off, ignores the window, and just lines up and shoots iron sights. Not having co-witnessed irons is a liability many new RDS shooters cannot overcome, but it is a set up fault, not an RDS fault. Shooting a RDS without co-witnessed irons is like shooting irons without a rear sight.
When this gun presentation toward the target with aligned iron sights is consistent and fast, turn on the dot. It will be right above the front sight aligned with the rear (First picture). There is no “hunting”. There is no loss in speed. With cowitnessed iron sights, either sight system can be used and will be just as fast.
As the shooter transitions from the aligned irons, which require focus on multiple planes, to seeing the dot while focused only on the target, the irons disappear. The dot system becomes faster. One does not focus on the dot in the window but on the target with dot overlaid onto it. Single plane of focus: on the threat.
Next the shooter checks the miracle of the RDS: with the dot in a corner but applied to the desired Point of Impact on the target, fire the shot. It will hit as desired, right at the dot.
Now look again and notice the alignment of the iron sights when the dot is in the corner of the window. They appear at first not to be aligned in the traditional sense, but in truth they
are aligned pointed at the same corner of the window where the dot is (picture #2). If you tired to shoot the irons alone with this alignment you wouldn’t shoot until they were more closely aligned in a traditional fashion. That takes time and focus away from the target.
One learns to trust the dot. Because of this significantly greater latitude in “sight alignment”, i. e., being able to use the whole window and still get good hits, red dots are going to be faster than aligning irons. But you have to have irons to train for the transition, and then for back ups if the RDS fails.
Inside of 7 yards if you can see your threat/target in the window, your handgun will be pointed close enough to get a combat hit without irons or dot, although they likely would be there, even aligned, but it is even faster to use the whole window as your sight. This is modified point shooting to a bit of an extended range.
RDS off, shoot irons fast and well? RDS on, shoot dot faster and better. This is especially true if your vision cannot focus sharply on the front sight or transition between focal planes quickly.
Once familiar with the system, smaller dots (3-4 MoA) are more precise, especially at distances beyond 10 yards than large dots (7-8 MoA). I had one large dot RMR and I soon replaced it with a smaller dot. With presentation practice, finding the dot
is not a problem. Really.
