Red dot on a railless 1911

[Stimovsky]

I want to add a red dot on my 1911 that has no rail, for bullseye shooting.
I won't change pistols, and I want the red dot mounted on the frame, not on the slide.

I've seen several solutions, such as the Aimtech lateral grip mount or the Recover Tactical grip. I also tried a not-to-be-mentioned cheap crap relying on too many teflon screws.

I could use some advice whether I should definitely have a gunsmith drill holes in my pistol frame or keep going the "no-gunsmithing" way ?
Most posts about this issue are outdated and I believe there may be options out there I don't know about.

In your opinion, what would be a reasonable price for a gunsmith to add a rail on my frame ?

 

[a2x4bbl]

I made one for a co worker that mounted a burris fastfire 3 . It was .080 thick stainless that had 2 holes that went over the grip screw bushings came up and bent around the plunger tube and the over the top of the slide. I then milled a slot in the grip so it would sit flat. He bought a second set of grips and told me that he took it off and on many times and it never lost zero . No drilling of holes . I put a C-more on my 1911 but had to drill holes . The C-more is bulkier but has a bigger screen. I have a picture of that if you want to see it. Either way is a good set up

 

[Stimovsky]

Thanks a2x4bbl, I chose is the Aimtech lateral grip mount, but I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one to be interested by a picture of your solution.

 

[rpenmanparker]

I have had five red dots on pistols and mounted them all on the slide in the rear sight dovetail. Why would you do it any other way? Even very modestly priced red dots withstand the shock on the slide with no problems. Please forgive my presumption, but to me you are embracing a problem that simply doesn't exist. There are plenty of plate mounts that attach to the dovetails of most of the common pistol models. Certainly the GI 1911 model rear dovetail is well covered by available hardware as are the Novak type, Bomar type, and LPA type. All this stuff is scattered around the web, and you may have to look at places like EGW, but in truth it is too easy.

By the way, with few exceptions all the popular red dots will fit or can be adapted to the same design mounting plate. Docter, Burris, Sightmark, etc. can be mounted on the same plate.

 

[a2x4bbl]

I think you will thoroughly enjoy a red dot on your 1911.