rpenmanparker
Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
- Messages
- 2,456
I run red dots/reflex optics on all my pistols. It is the only way I can shoot well. I just don’t see or line up the notch and post sights well enough. So when I bought a new Browning 1911-22 sized at 85% of standard 1911, I chose a model with what appeared in the photos to be a Novak LoMount dovetail cut. I know from prior experience that Burris offers an optic mounting plate that I can install in the Novak cut.
I’m not even an amateur gunsmith, but do have a few tools like a torque screwdriver kit and a sight pusher (real name?) that allow me to install my optics myself. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the “Novak” cut was in reality also downsized just like the rest of the gun. So it was off to Lohman Arms here in Houston with the plan to have the Burris dovetail trimmed down to fit the small cut in the slide. I’m not a big big fan of milling the slide to install an optic and I thought cutting down the insert would work fine.
It seemed like that at first, but then Lohman called me to advise opening up the cut in the slide instead of trimming the insert. Damn! Oh well, so be it.
They did a beautiful job for $125, no complaints. But the old model Sightmark Mini Pro Spec Green Dot I was trying to mount on the Burris plate was busted...too far out of windage to adjust to zero without pushing the insert way to the left. It looked really funky. Paid and thanked Lohman, brought it home, verified the diagnosis, dismounted the optic and shipped it back to Amazon, recentered the dovetail insert and ordered a Burris Fast Fire III at 2.5X the price. Here I sit waiting for the optic. Haven’t shot it yet. But Lohman did, and they said it cycles fine with the extra weight.
I could have ordered another Sightmark in a newer version of that model. Sightmark has always worked very well for me, but they have gone from 1 MOA to 3 MOA and are now at 5 MOA. The Burris can be had at 3 MOA so I went for it, higher price and all. After all, “It ain’t a kidney,” as a friend of mine says.
Pics to follow. Stay tuned...
I’m not even an amateur gunsmith, but do have a few tools like a torque screwdriver kit and a sight pusher (real name?) that allow me to install my optics myself. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the “Novak” cut was in reality also downsized just like the rest of the gun. So it was off to Lohman Arms here in Houston with the plan to have the Burris dovetail trimmed down to fit the small cut in the slide. I’m not a big big fan of milling the slide to install an optic and I thought cutting down the insert would work fine.
It seemed like that at first, but then Lohman called me to advise opening up the cut in the slide instead of trimming the insert. Damn! Oh well, so be it.
They did a beautiful job for $125, no complaints. But the old model Sightmark Mini Pro Spec Green Dot I was trying to mount on the Burris plate was busted...too far out of windage to adjust to zero without pushing the insert way to the left. It looked really funky. Paid and thanked Lohman, brought it home, verified the diagnosis, dismounted the optic and shipped it back to Amazon, recentered the dovetail insert and ordered a Burris Fast Fire III at 2.5X the price. Here I sit waiting for the optic. Haven’t shot it yet. But Lohman did, and they said it cycles fine with the extra weight.
I could have ordered another Sightmark in a newer version of that model. Sightmark has always worked very well for me, but they have gone from 1 MOA to 3 MOA and are now at 5 MOA. The Burris can be had at 3 MOA so I went for it, higher price and all. After all, “It ain’t a kidney,” as a friend of mine says.
Pics to follow. Stay tuned...
