Today we have a Glock 34 with a Surefire WML and a Trijicon RMR. Red dots continue to gain a following on carry guns and the RMR is a fantastic option.

How about you guys, do you prefer irons or red dots? If you prefer red dots which one do you use and how much have you trained with it? Did you just mount it to your gun and call it good or have you invested training time? Training never stops. Self-defense skills are perishable, so keep at it.

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66 COMMENTS

  1. Red dots. All the way. Put some irons on it. Got 20k or more rounds through mine. Completely unconscious to get the dot on target. Rmr all thr way.

  2. I don’t want battery powered anything attached to my gun. Batteries are just one more thing that can fail.

    • In addition to the sun powering the RDS, he also has back up irons that can be seen though the optic window. What is the redundancy to your sighting system if your front post were to break off? And don’t use the “It’s unlikely that could happen” as a defense, because I too have a carry gun with a Trijicon RMR that has well over 35K rounds down range without any failures, so the same could be said about my primary sighting system.

      • Especially on a Glock; the front sight is held on by a hell of a lot less metal than the RMR. There’s a single dinky little screw out front.

  4. Are we not going to deal with the fact that homeboy is sticking a 9 inch slide w/light under his shirt? I’m all for full sized carry, but this just seems like a logistical and printing nightmare.
    Maybe he just doesn’t live in the Gulf Coast.

    • Printing is a legal non-issue where I live and frequent. Besides, even in summer, they make T-shirts in XL.

    • Or, just maybe… he has no problems concealing or comfortably carrying all that.

      I carry a G19 with a WML in a G34 appendix holster without issue. In fact this setup carries better for me than smaller/shorter guns do.

      Body type, clothing requirements and holster selection play a big part in what one can conceal.

    • You also don’t know what his method of carry is, ie: location on body or his physical build. Some people can completely conceal a G34 under a t-shirt just as well as others may only be able to get away with a G19 or G43. Many variables is all I’m saying

      • Just based on the holster you know it’s OWB at 0 deg cant (note where the mounting screws are). The rig is too long for appendix (typically at 0 deg cant), so I believe this is 3:00 carry position. It’s helpful when folks show thier holster; you get an idea what is trending and why. I assume pwrgerg carries a spare mag somewhere. This is the setup I’m working on, but for a Glock 19 with Olight pl mini, Vortex Viper and Ameriglo night sights.

  5. About a year ago I took a couple of classes with an instructor who had a Glock 19 with a red dot. No light. Wouldn’t be surprised if he follows this web site. He carried it appendix style in a Kydex holster. The whole rig was totally invisible under an untucked shirt. Very impressive. He could do this because he was very fit with no belly fat. He was obviously not concerned about a Glock carried appendix style although I’m still not so sure. My eyes are not “quite” bad enough for the red dot, at least not yet. Although prescription glasses and fiber-Tritium sights (Sig) make life a lot easier.

    • For me, the Tau Development SCD is a must for Glocks carried appendix.

      The SCD allows you to place your thumb on the backplate as you reholster (much like you would with a hammer-fired gun) and, if anything moves the trigger you will feel it and can stop to investigate.

      • Altering your body position as you re-holster SLOWLY also adds to safety, such as, spreading your legs further apart, making sure the foot and leg closer to the muzzle is moved our laterally away from the direct line of the barrel and leaning your torso back, which tends to give some distance relief from the muzzle of the holster and your body. I personally carry at 4 – 4:30 strong side OWB, but it is because with my build and the size of the gun that I carry, it offers me better concealment and is more comfortable. That said, for times that I may require concealment that offers me less chance of printing (sitting in bleachers, with people behind me), I will move to a slightly smaller firearm and appendix.

  7. I pass on the red dots for pistols and stick with irons. Rifles are another animal.

    The Gerber EVO is a cool knife. I retired mine but that “deep” pocket clip is nice and the blade is decent. The joint on mine needed some work at first and the more-often-than-usual dab of WD-40 to keep it running but other than that was a nice, small knife with good serrations.

    I also see that V1 serge talks up. It’s even in a post belonging to him.

    So, serge, how well did Bravo do that holster in terms of fitting the WML?

    • Pretty well. I’m not retarded enough to try to carry this IWB, but in my neck of the woods, printing is a non issue. Loose jacket in spring and fall, loose T-shirt in summer. Good enough to count as “mostly concealed”.

    • Hey, specialist38! Nothing to do with this post, but on another you asked if I was from Hosford, Telogia or Bristol. I didn’t respond because by the time I saw your inquiry there were almost 300 posts. I was afraid you wouldn’t see my response. My answer. I’m from Liberty County. Liberty County. How poetic is that? I just grew up in Hosford. Only those elitists in Bristol said, “I’m from Bristol.” Just because they had a red light. To answer another of your question; we had direct sunlight. Although, I think they may still pump it into Sumatra, but that’s 20 miles deep into the Appalachicola National Forest. Those were the days though. My friends and I would ride our bikes to hunt on Saturday morning. Ten speeds. We had given up stingrays. Shotguns and .22s held across the handlebars. On the way home we would park our bikes outside Ora’s Oyster Bar, prop our guns against the wall outside and eat a dozen on the halfshell for lunch before we skinned our squirrels. No one blinked an eye. After the army in ’83 I routinely open carried in local stores. And Ora’s. Mostly during hunting season. Lots of war stories I can tell about that place. Like how I never saw a minority in a classroom until I was in high school. How a man killed another over a hog then was elected clerk of court. And Mr. Buck. That’s a good one. Here’s you a bit more detective work since you seem so interested in me. I spent my career in the only minority dominated county in Florida. If that’s not too much of an oxymoron for you.

      • I’m afraid those days are long gone. The only firegums I saw back then were used for hunting and just about everyone had some.. Our Sheriff’s cidearm was a .22 Ruger Single Six. A friend ask him why he didn’t get “one of them 357’s” , the Sheriff replied ,”ah, thems for them big city boys. ” …a time machine would be nice.

      • Figured it was somewhere in those woods. Did a lot of woods work down there in the 2000s. Lots of fun.

        I imagine it was a hoot growing up down there when things were easier and life was non digital.

        • You have no idea. The only thing to do, until I was old enough to drive, was hunt and fish. Driving extended the horizon of those activities. We did go to the bluff every day during the summer to swim in Telogia Creek. Camped for the entire Christmas break in the river forks. Only came out for Christmas Eve and Day. We carried in the staples and shot all our meat. Venison, hogs, squirrels and a few ducks and the odd turkey for variety.

  11. Not a big fan of the whole “red dot on the edc” thing, but it makes me wonder; whatever happened to the sight system of the old ASP pistols? Seems like something that would be all the rage these days.

    • Turns out the ASP used what were referred to as ,”guttersnipe sights”. Pretty cool concept and a shame that they’re still not around today.

      • Caracal has a model with Guttersnipes.

        Paris Theodore would be proud.

        Seen a few ASP style pistols. The Smith 3913 was also a nice slim 9 and is still viable today.

      • IIRC, Massad Ayoob in one of his many writings criticized the Guttersnipe as working great when the lighting is even (such as on a shooting range), but were not helpful when the light was heavily directional.

  12. I see the red dot as a better fit for a pistol than a rifle. A red dot increases the effective range for a handgun but turns your 500 yard rifle into a 100 yard rifle. I am speaking to civilian rather than military use, red dots being preferred to iron sights.

    The wide spread use of red dots on pistols kind of negates the “too big* arguments for mid and full sized pistols. Soon we will be seeing top rails on full sized handguns

  13. I’ve actually never tried a red dot on a handgun, although I have handled a gun so equipped. I suppose I may have to try one sometime, they look pretty good.

    • You have to try one.

      For me they did absolutely nothing (37 y.o. with 20/10 vision). Some people proclaim them the second coming of Jebus.

  14. I carry a Walther PPQ 5” with a milled slide and Leupold Delta Point mounted on it in the appendix position. It has backup iron sights but they are pretty much useless for me as my vision with corrective lenses is such I cant see the irons, while the the dot is crystal clear. I got no choice, use a red dot or dont carry. Longer guns are easy to carry appendix.

    • I use the exact same gun in USPSA competition so it has north of 30,000 rounds through it with no red dot failures, ever.

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