RD's on Pistols

[JiminAZ]

I recently had an opportunity to "start from the beginning" with RDS.

My wife wanted to take a 4 day handgun class which was structured for beginners. I wanted to take it with her, so took my Stacatto C2 equipped with a 2.5 MOA SRO.

I am quite proficient with open sights - 1911 guy - can operate a Glock/striker gun almost as fast as I can a 1911. No LE or mil background, longtime concealed carry guy and have taken a lot of classes and barely made Master in IDPA 20 years ago. Not as practiced now as I was back then.

My declining/ageing eyes have been an emergent problem for about a decade - I wear progressives and have astigmatism and getting hard focus on a front sight is impossible without corrective lenses/cranking my head around to be looking through the right part of the lens to see the front sight clearly.

Prior to the class I had spent some time with RDS equipped guns I own. Had concluded that I was much faster with open sights inside about 10-12 yards, but faster and more accurate past about 15 yards with RDS. This was with corrective lenses.

So I decided to do the entire class with no corrective lenses. I figure if something goes bump in the night, or a meth head gets up in my face, glasses will be a luxury.

Here were my takeaways after 4 days/800 rounds or so:

Had to modify my draw stroke to get the gun up into the line of sight faster and pick up the dot quicker

• with iron sights you bring the gun up a bit nose high, pick up the front sight, and drive it into the notch as you extend
• With RDS get the window between you and the target ASAP and get the dot acquired and on target as you extend

Got used to a blurry/astigmatism dot pretty fast. I see a crescent shaped string of 5 stars. But honestly when focusing on the target and letting the dot float it wasn't an issue for SD level accuracy.

The RDS is a total win on target transitions. No matter the distance, once I had the dot acquired I could drive from target to target very fast and the dot helped me stop fully on target before breaking the shot (whereas with irons I am more prone to fire while still moving over the target).

RDS is also a total win on follow up shots. Put the dot on there and break the shot. On recoil recovery the dot appears and when it's in the right place you break the shot. It's faster.

As noted above, the RDS helps with flinch control as you can see the dot move or not when you break the shot. The dip just before the shot is visual feedback that really helps you stay on top of "el snatcho".

We had one miserable morning with 38F and rain and wind. Yes water and dust got on the glass and maybe even a little in the emitter. It wasn't optimal but I was able to make my shots. More experimentation required here.

By the end of the class I was greatly improved with RDS from 10 yards in, but still can run iron sights a touch faster using a "flash" sight picture on close shots - say 5 yards and in.

On balance I think I can get to the same level of proficiency with RDS as iron sights from 10 yards in with a little more training. At that point I will be a better shot with RDS than I can presently achieve with iron sights.

One area I am not convinced of RDS effectiveness is if I get knocked on my butt in the dirt and have to shoot unconventionally on my side or back or weak handed or whatever. At that point can't depend on indexing/muscle memory as much. Yes I can still see my cowitness sights but in that circumstance a big open front sight still seems to be to be a better answer. Again, more work and experimentation required here.

[Twilk73]

@jimminaz

I still go nose high on my draw it helps to find the dot before I’m extended. As you extend out drop the nose down, once you see the dot and it’s aligned with the target you can fire. That’s the beauty of a red dot you don’t even have to finish the draw and you can fire. The gun doesn’t need to be in line with your eye perfectly just put the dot on the target and fire. I’m not slower inside 15-10 or 5 yards. Practice, practice and more practice. To me dots aren’t the future there hear and now. In the Future we’ll just have better dots and 2x sites for competition lol.

[MegademiC]

The only way to destroy a dots use is to completely cover the rear or the emitter. If that happens, your irons would likely be clogged.

Even then you can still index the gun for com hits to distance depending on skill level. Hell, you can put the post on the window and aim low... again, its a skill the takes practice, but there is no detriment to rds if you know the work-arounds.

And to play devils advocate, Ben Stoeger would burn me down because hes good... so the rds is a nice thing, but competance > hardware every time. But when competi g against yourself, rds will take you a notch up once learned.

[WillBrink]

When I tried them, much to my surprise, I didn't like it at all, and can't fathom not having one on a SD/HD long gun. I'm told that once you get used to them on a pistol, they're superior to standard sights. Makes perfect sense "on paper" just not had the inclination to spend the time and rnd count needed to find out.

[georgeib]

When I tried them, much to my surprise, I didn't like it at all, and can't fathom not having one on a SD/HD long gun. I'm told that once you get used to them on a pistol, they're superior to standard sights. Makes perfect sense "on paper" just not had the inclination to spend the time and rnd count needed to find out.

I think pretty much everyone has the same initial response, I certainly did. But my increasing inability to bring the front sight into sharp focus motivated me to keep working on it. After a bunch of dry firing and presentations, it became intuitive. Initially, using the irons as index, it helped me to find the dot. Over time, using RDS on pistols has really improved my presentation, and the dry fire work has really improved my precision (the RDS really shows your weakness in the break). I won't buy a pistol now that I can't readily add an RDS to, or have easily altered for that purpose. I love CZ pistols, but their inability to be machined for an RDS, while keeping the irons as backup, make them a non-starter, as an example.

Try them again, Will. They'll take your pistol shooting to the next level.

[WillBrink]

I think pretty much everyone has the same initial response, I certainly did. But my increasing inability to bring the front sight into sharp focus motivated me to keep working on it. After a bunch of dry firing and presentations, it became intuitive. Initially, using the irons as index, it helped me to find the dot. Over time, using RDS on pistols has really improved my presentation, and the dry fire work has really improved my precision (the RDS really shows your weakness in the break). I won't buy a pistol now that I can't readily add an RDS to, or have easily altered for that purpose. I love CZ pistols, but their inability to be machined for an RDS, while keeping the irons as backup, make them a non-starter, as an example.

Try them again, Will. They'll take your pistol shooting to the next level.

From sad to mediocre? I'll take it!

[georgeib]

From sad to mediocre? I'll take it!

Ha! Hey an improvement is an improvement.

One of the first things you'll notice is how much you suck at keeping the pistol still when you break the shot (while dry firing). It'll humble you. Then, as you keep working on it, it'll get better and better. Then when you get behind a pistol without an RDS, you'll be impressed by how much better you are at breaking the trigger without moving the sights.

They're an awesome tool on several levels. Would recommend!

[WillBrink]

Ha! Hey an improvement is an improvement.

One of the first things you'll notice is how much you suck at keeping the pistol still when you break the shot (while dry firing). It'll humble you. Then, as you keep working on it, it'll get better and better. Then when you get behind a pistol without an RDS, you'll be impressed by how much better you are at breaking the trigger without moving the sights.

They're an awesome tool on several levels. Would recommend!

And a win is a win!