Are you "Gun Amish?" Or do you have a Red Dot on your pistol?

[drobs]

2 short 30sec vids from Active Self Protection

Gun Ahmish:

Are you Gun Amish? ;) (full seminar in the ASP Unlimited app)

www.youtube.com

Every Gun Fight is Open Division

Every Gunfight Is Open Division #shorts #nuggetsofwisdom h/t Presscheck Consulting

Hat Tip to Chuck Pressburg of Presscheck Consulting for this idea. #shorts #nuggetsofwisdom #survivethefight

www.youtube.com

I'm on my 2nd try with a pistol mounted Red Dot. I haven't shot it yet but have been working on my draw from a holster and acquiring the dot. I still find I need to line up my sights to see the dot.



Let's see these Red Dot equipped pistols.
Also any tips or vids on using a RDS on a pistol that were helpful to you?

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Gun Amish here.

 

[mcb]

Every gun fight is Open division. My current classification in USPSA Production division is based completely on stages shot with a revolver...

I have shot my fair share to red dots on pistols but I still don't own one.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

I dont feel a need or reason to go to red dots. Iron sights suit me fine. Maybe if I was in a setting where I trained enough and shot courses in such a way that acquiring the irons each and every drill takes too many seconds off my time, maybe I'd see a reason for it.

 

[jmr40]

My eyes are pretty good for a 65 year old, but at 65 they aren't what they were at 25. I've been thinking about them or a while.

I tried one just in the last month and like it a lot better than I thought I would. I've tried various dot sights on rifles in the past and didn't find one that I liked. I've basically found a low powered conventional optic set on 1X did most everything better. But somehow, I sensed that it would be a better fit on a handgun. I own a Sig M17 and M18 with a slot cut for optics and decided to try one.

This time I went to a shop about an hour's drive from home that specializes in optics and got their advice. I settled on the Holson 407. I had to pay extra for a mounting plate too. But mounting was easy and right out of the box it was pretty close. Very little adjustment needed to get it zeroed.

I wish I'd have bought the 507 though. The 407 just has the dot. The 507 gives you the option of just a dot, just a circle, or the dot inside the circle, but it is about $50 more.

If I don't pull up the gun just right and if the dot isn't visible I don't know which way to correct. It can take a few seconds to get on target, but once on target accuracy was great.

About a week later I just stumbled onto a 507 in a local gun store priced at a discounted price, so I bought a 2nd one. The circle fills up enough of the sight that at least part of it is always visible when I bring up the gun. I then know which direction to correct my aim and I get on target very quickly with it. At least as fast as irons.

I put the 407 on a gun I'd only use at the range. The 507 I'd use for a HD gun. Not sure about using one in a holster yet.

Green vs red, my opinion. I didn't plan it, but my 407 is just a red dot, my 507 is green. NORMALLY green is more expensive. IMO I liked green a LITTLE better, but I'm not sure I'd pay more for it. A 507 in green should be $80-$100 more than a 407 in red. But I paid full price for my 407, my 507 was heavily discounted at a local store and I paid less for it than the 407.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Tried to mount a Red Dot, but Samuel Colt came to a dream and slapped me

 

[alfsauve]

I'm not sure what's best for winning competitions is 100% translatable to self-defense.

It's not developing the skill to shoot well with the red-dot, but to also shoot well when it's unexpectedly not available.

Count me as reformed Amish. I have some red-dots for competition (Club 13 in Steel Challenge) and a green laser w/light for walking the dogs after dark, but otherwise, iron sights for me.

 

[trackskippy]

Full blown!

 

[theotherwaldo]

I put red dots on a couple of my carbines, but i'm more likely to put lasers on my pistols.

 

[bassjam]

I have a RDS on my Buckmark. I struggle to quickly acquire the dot, but once I have it I find I can get follow-up shots off faster and more accurately. But it's that first shot that matters.

My CCW and nightstand guns are all iron sights.

 

[GEM]

I have two G17s, one with a SRO - the other with irons. I am an experimentalist to see how I do. I do need a good RDS course. I did like my Eotech on my rifle. Since my EDC is irons as of now, I try to practice with both. The SRO gun is a match gun.

 

[Ethan Verity]

Yep, I'm definitely "Gun Ahmish" I even have A2 irons on my AR-15 rifle! I just like the streamlined simplicity of good'ol iron sights, and they work fine for me.

 

[Heir Kommt Die Sonne]

I even have A2 irons on my AR-15 rifle! I just like the streamlined simplicity of good'ol iron sights, and they work fine for me.

Simplicity was never outdated.

 

[CDW4ME]

In this thread, there will likely be replies along the lines of: iron sights are fine for me, iron sights work for me...
Some, not all, are omitting the detail that they usually pocket carry and a red dot won't fit in their pocket.
What does not get posted (omitted) may be relevant to what does.

That said, I do have red dots on carry guns; however, at the moment I have a Glock 32 AIWB and it is only embellished with night sights.
My favorite carry gun with a dot, Glock 22.5

 

[epags]

- Amish on all my fun guns.
- Laser on my carry but I use the iron sights when drawing and shooting......the laser, if ever used would be in a very dark (literally & figuratively) situation.
- All rifles are scoped.
- Shotguns have bead sights

PS: too old to hold that doggone red dot steady enough...it keeps jumping around.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

I guess 'Gun Mennonite' doesn't have the same ring. I picture the Amish resorting to shaming or pitchforks when their backs are against the wall.

I've developed a degree of astigmatism in my right eye that makes a red 'dot' look more like the nuclear warning trefoil, with three spikes radiating from the center. I can see red dots and scope reticles clearly with my left eye, but interestingly I can make out iron sights better with my right, especially hi-viz handgun sights.

I don't really have anything useful to comment here -- I should wait until Medicare kicks in and I can afford eye surgery. My carry revolvers have irons, while my Glock has a Leupold Micro Deltapoint that doubles as a ghost ring aperture.

 

[kje54]

Red dots may be great but they make every pistol they're on look like Frankenstein's monster. I'll go to lasers if I have to.

 

[Bwana John]

Yep, I'm definitely "Gun Ahmish" I even have A2 irons on my AR-15 rifle! I just like the streamlined simplicity of good'ol iron sights, and they work fine for me.

Then what does that make me with A1 sights?

 

[trackskippy]

Id take the red dot over a laser in a heartbeat. At least with the red dot, you know where the dot is gonna be when you go look for it.

I dont have any red dots on my handguns, yet anyways. Ive had them on a number of my long guns for a couple of decades now, and fully know their value. Its not because I dont like them on the handguns, just the opposite, its just they havent got things down to a reasonable price point yet. At a minimum, Id need three duplicate guns with them, and now that Im retired, that money is still better spent on ammo/components for now.

So for now, Ill keep running the "Mennonite Blacked out car" orange dot version (Ameriglo Spartans ). As long as that orange dots on there, the rounds seem to follow OK.

 

[Gumby0961]

Ok, those Red Dots are about as ugly as can be on certain pistols. But I sure love mine. Groups are nice and tight like they were before my eyes got old. Maybe even tighter. Sorta like a moped, fun to ride but dont let your friends see you on them.

 

[LimaCharlie]

My routine carry handguns have iron sights. I do have a green dot on My FNH FNX-45 Tactical and a red dot on my Glock G40 MOS 10mm. Some of my ARs have red dots.

 

[theotherwaldo]

About a decade and a half ago I was working on a design for a red dot sight that would be integrated into the slides of handguns.
the screen/sighting aperture would remain flush with the slide until the safety was released, acting as a reminder of the state of the safety.
The screen could be pushed back down and latched with the safety off, revealing the iron sights.
This would allow the pistol to be holstered in normally proportioned holsters.
This would also allow for almost normal use of the firearm if the red dot malfunctioned,

I've gotten out of the field since, as liability became a bit extreme... .

 

[.38 Special]

I was a fairly early adopter. It was the early nineties when it became apparent that if you wanted to win certain kinds of gun games, you had to have a dot. I don't think I ever shot a Bianchi Cup match without one.

Those were big ol' cans sitting on the gun, though. CCWing one would have been ridiculous, and I never even considered it. By the time the newer generation of practical dots came out, I was well away from competition and saw no real need for them for CCW. I defended the idea, on behalf of people who did find value in them, but didn't want one for myself.

I did eventually put one on a defensive piece, as I was trying for a "50 yard capable" gun with a short barrel. I have real trouble when irons have a short sight radius, so that was my workaround. After months of diligent training, I gave up on the whole plan, and the thing now sits in my safe. I'm still not against the idea, but unless my vision gets pretty bad, I probably will continue to stick with irons.

 

[kidneyboy]

I have pistols with and without red dots. Doesn't matter either way. It's fascinating how some folks can't adapt to red dots.

 

[Mark_Mark]

17L Ninja Glock! have not shot it in YEARS