There’s a growing trend for concealed handguns: put a red dot on it. As the cost and size of red dot optics come down it’s becoming economical for the average shooter to mount a red dot sight on their pistol. But a challenge remains: finding an affordable optics-ready handgun. Or a handgun with a pre-mounted red dot sight. SIG SAUER has a prescription for that: the P320 RX.
Lest we forget, the SIG SAUER P320 is a modular handgun. Throw a lever and push a button and the firearm that started life as a full-size .40 or .357 SIG man-stopper transforms into a compact and concealable 9mm carry gun. P320 replacement frames and caliber exchange kits don’t even require a trip to the FFL; SIG ships them straight to your door. The P320 RX Compact is the rallycross version of the P320.
SIG SAUER ships the P320 RX Compact with a slide pre-cut for red dot optics, pre-installed with a ROMEO1 reflex sight. The ROMEO1 is their smallest optic, roughly the same size and feature set as the Leupold Deltapoint or Trijicon RMR. A couple buttons on the side control the dot’s brightness.
It’s powered by a watch battery that can be swapped-out through a top-loading cassette. As watch batteries don’t tend to last very long, SIG SAUER added a motion sensor that turns the dot off when the gun isn’t moving — and turns it back on when it detects motion. Right answer.
On this firearm, the P320’s iron sights have been swapped for suppressor-height sights, to enable co-witnessing the red dot and iron sights. Everything is aligned. Should the red dot suddenly disappear, you can swap from the electronic aiming system to the iron sights without a moment’s hesitation. To that end, the ROMEO 1 optic has a slot machined into its base to make the suppressor height iron sights visible through the window.
The optic is great for shooting, but complicates carrying, increasing the P320’s height significantly. At the same time, the SIG is a chunky old thing with a rather tall snout, larger than most entrants in this category. The combination of the tall slide, suppressor-ready sights and an under-barrel Picatinny rail renders the P320RX Compact’s snout decidedly John Goodman-esque.
There are RX Compact compatible holsters (such as the 5.11 model above), but not many at the moment. And they aren’t what you’d call discreet, especially for a gun that bills itself as concealed carry firearm. Tyler Kee sometimes totes his red-dotted S&W in an appendix carry holster without printing, so there is that. But then Tyler is a ridiculously thin bastard.
Out on the range the gun handles well. I’m a fan of the P320’s ergonomics and trigger and this example is no different. The pistol is easy to point, has plenty of space to get a proper grip, and keeps recoil to manageable levels. All of the controls are well placed. It’s a great gun.
Accuracy isn’t hampered in the least by the shorter barrel. These five rounds were fired from our usual 30 foot distance by yours truly using the red dot for aiming with exactly zero adjustment — the sights were dead-on from the factory and required no fine tuning. Ignoring the one flier to the left, the gun stacks the rounds right on top of each other on the target. For a carry gun that’s a major win in my book.
A number of gunmakers (e.g., FN, GLOCK and S&W) offer “optics ready” firearms. They all require that you buy, mount and zero a separate optic. SIG SAUER’s P320 RX Compact is the complete package, ready to rock-and-roll straight from the factory, sold for a reasonable price. If you’ve decided that it’s time to carry a handgun with a red dot optic, this is the easiest way to get in the game. And the chances are, you’ll stay.
SPECIFICATIONS: P320 RX Compact
Barrel: 3.9″
Overall length: 7.2 inches
Available calibers: 9mm Luger
Weight: 25.8 ounces
MSRP: $799
RATINGS (Out of Five Stars):
Accuracy: * * * * *
The gun is accurate enough to stack round on top of round at 30 feet.
Ergonomics * * * *
For handling on the range the gun is great. The grip grabby while not abusive, the controls are well placed, and the overall feel of the gun is solid and sleek. As you’d expect, carrying is a bit more difficult due to the added height of the red dot.
Reliability * * * * *
Hundreds of rounds through this and other P320 models without a single issue.
Overall * * * *
Less effort and expense than anything else on the market, built like a tank, with the modern styling we’ve come to expect from SIG SAUER. Dropping a star for the excessively large snout, but otherwise a damn fine option.
Is a red dot really necessary at self-defense distances? Laser seems like it would be the superior solution for several reasons.
Also, if the red dot has a motion sensor for battery savings, how will it differentiate from normal body motion during on-body carry?
Lasers require a lot more power, which means an “always on” or “motion detected” activation would kill your battery in a hurry. A switch on the gun to activate the laser is another potential point of failure, and lasers tend to be quite a bit more expensive than red dots.
Lasers have their attributes, too. They allow shooting from any position without putting the gun up between you and the target. It’s good to have options.
Hello gentlemen/ladies, I use MTR CUSTOM LEATHERS for my custom holster builds. Family owned, great people to work with. I carry their B1-B model made left handed with their “Instant On” for my Viridian C5 green laser I use with my 9mm Ruger American compact. Automatically turns on your laser as you draw, shuts it off when you re-holster. Sits up nice n high with a 30° forward cant. VERY concealable pancake carry. Excellent, high grade materials, bought the double magazine pouch to carry with it. Chose a really nice matching mahogany color rig. Check them out, they even moved the thumb break to across the top of the back strap for me, instead of across the back of the slide. Used them for my Walther too, a good American family owned company that produce a quality handmade American product. Many styles to choose from for every gun you can think of.
I’m in Kansas, MTR is in NC. Good shooting
“Laser seems like it would be the superior solution for several reasons. ”
Speed on target isn’t one of them. I’ve tried it myself, along with several other people, and really proved, at lest to all of us trying the drill over a course weekend, that the laser was slower than iron sights to get a round into an 8″ target at 15 yards.
I can believe that. Red dots wouldn’t do any better, however, right? The RDS isn’t on target until your iron sights are, and vice-versa.
Sort of.
Theoretically, if your red dot is on target, so are your sights. But the red dot doesn’t require that your eyeball be directly in line with those sights.
Additionally, you can aim a red dot with both eyes open and your focus on the target. In theory you can also do that with iron sights, but with limited accuracy.
Red dots are as fast or faster for most people. The problem with the laser is that you are looking for it on the target and it takes a second to find. The red dot is right there and is on the same focal plane as the target.
Curtis said:
” In theory you can also do that with iron sights, but with limited accuracy.”
Not just in theory, I’ve put it to practice as the only way I have trained for my entire four or five years of gun ownership. I didn’t know any better when I started so I have always been a target focus shooter with both eyes open. And my accuracy isn’t affected. I’ve tried closing my off eye to focus more but it hasn’t seemed to make a difference. It only slows me down.
The only laser I want will be a night vision to supplement an NV scope on my suppressed 300 BLK SBR.
That’ll be a while since my recent misfortune sent me truck shopping and I exercised my right to middle age crazy by going all out for the F150 4×4 Lariat Super Crew. Ouch! Nice ride though. Bought it yesterday.
Your making a BIG assumption stating a laser is slower to target than iron sights. First, is it day or night time? If it’s night/dark out, a laser is 5 times faster to get on, and track a target. That has been proven many a time by many an expert.
Second, your assuming one has been trained to use an iron sight. If you haven’t been trained on either, you likely will target a laser faster. I have been trained (aka practice for years) on both. I can target both about the same in light conditions, and it’s not even a contest in darkness, laser is on quickly, the iron sights might never get on cause you can’t see.
The beautiful thing about Red dots is, you can target quickly in both light and darkness.
I think lasers are the right answer generally, but there’s a school of thought championed by Gabe Suarez and others which says red dots on handguns is the right solution. I get their argument and it makes a lot of sense but I generally come down on the “laser or iron sights” side.
There’s no differentiation between “normal” body motion and “combat” motion, so the dot is indeed on when you’re moving. Or even just driving around in a car. But for when it’s in your nightstand safe or when you’re sitting on the couch doing nothing it should be off. SIG SAUER does not say that the optic turns off when pointed down, and after 30 minutes of testing here at home I can confirm that it stays on.
I guess the real benefit is that if it’s in your safe it will turn off and save battery power. So if it’s a nightstand gun then it should work pretty well.
Fair point – the sleep function does depend on how active one is. Even so, battery life is good even if left on all the time. You just need to remember to change batteries on a regular basis. 😉
The downsides to a laser for me have been that grip-based lasers can get blocked by my hand accidentally and I’ve found lasers are harder to see at distance and are susceptible to variances in lighting conditions.
By comparison, the red dot is easy to find, doesn’t get blocked and is always bright. With different dot sizes available one can choose a size that suits the application better as well.
Battery life for the Romeo1 is one week if left on. Even if it is just laying in a night stand drawer undisturbed. Mine even drains the battery if it is turned completely off. Not a fan of the Romeo1 at all.
My RX battery would also run down in a day, even turned off. I sent the gun to Sig and they replaced it. It’s been fine since.
I’ve pulled dead optics and dim lasers out of my safes and nightstand. Seems motion sensors need a trickle of electrons to remain conscious. Certainly a trade off. But my performance bar for personal protection is a little higher than “should work pretty well.”
That said I have an RMR and DeltaPoint Pro both of which I love. But careful with the feature generalizations. They look similar but the differences are many.
If you or your eyes are over 40 you find it necessary to choose between sight in focus or target in focus.
The Red Dot allows both to be in focus without having to mentally/visually switch.
This is a big deal in a self-defense situation.
Well, okay then! Pretty straightforward.
If the red dot sight is motion triggered, wouldn’t carrying it result in it being on much of the time, and therefore quite likely to be dead when needed most?
Or does it stay off when pointed down?
Some red dots today will stay on for years. I would like to know the expected battery life of this unit.
Aimpoints have battery life measured in months if not years. Those are a very different design, however. The Romeo is more of a holo sight, and more comparable to an EoTech, I would think. My guess is that batteries do not last long at all, when the red dot is activated, but I’m sure someone with decent google-fu could get the actual published statistics from Sig’s website.
I can’t find it on their site anywhere. Because of different intensity settings, and the fact that it turns off, I’m guessing battery life is extremely variable. Still, I’d like to know what a mid level intensity, constant-on run time would be.
Guns & Ammo magazine said 10,000 hours/constant use.
Mine lasts 1 week even it is not moved at all.
Still think the RMR is the way to go.
Having both, I do prefer the RMR. It is hard to argue with the price of the ROMEO1 when bundled though – that is why I have both 😉
From this web page, it is clear that many have no idea about the benefits of a Red-Dot reflex sight. There is no comparison from using a laser and a red dot. It does take time and practice to change from using conventional iron sights then using a red dot. With practice, I have found target acquisition to be significantly improved ( quicker) as well as improved accuracy farther away. I am comfortable shooting at 25 yards and further. These two issues coupled with having both eyes on the sight changes everything. That is why red dots are growing in popularity in shooting at the range or match competition.
I have both RMR mounted on a Glock 19 MOS and the Sig Sauer P320c RX There are pluses and minuses on each red dot. The Sig P320 is a much cheaper solution having both the Romeo 1 mounted along with suppressor iron sights that co-witness . The Glock configuration required much more money.
Is it now possible to switch the 320 between .45 and 9mm?
I think just 9mm, 357sig and 40sw
https://www.sigsauer.com/store/parts/conversion-kits.html
Sorry, minor error there. 45ACP is still not interchangeable with the smaller calibers. Thanks for pointing it out!
That’s a darn good price compared to gun, new suppressor-heights sights and an RDS separately, plus installation and then zeroing.
My astigmatism actually liked the Burris FastFire III better than and RMR.
It looks like street is now higher than MSRP due to newness/scarcity.
http://www.impactguns.com/sig-sauer-p320-rx-compact-9mm-nit-romeo1-151-sig-sauer-798681558186.aspx
These are popping up all over the place. Looks interesting, I may be adding it to my collection. I don’t have any experience with the Romeo Reflex sight, anyone want to chime in on that?
My friend just bought the full sized P320 RX. I helped him sight in and have shot it twice at the range. These new generation reflexes are amazing beyond words. I am 57 YO and can rip a target to shreds with my buddy’s Sig without my glasses since the dot is the same with or without. Now my only regret is that I am going to have to buy one myself.
I love my full size Sig P320RX.
I must note that I found the trigger a bit stiff for my taste and went with the greyguns DIY trigger, which was easy to change out.
Now it performs on par with my P220 SAO Carry.
Breaks like glass.
Practice with and without the RX on, so you’ll be prepared in the event of battery outage or battery cap loosening at an inopportune time.
Why would you waste money to shoot a 9mm 50 yards? It’s pointless. When would you ever need to shoot a 9mm that range, 25 yards is pushing it I would probably say 15 yards and in and even the 15-yard does the extreme. Fiber optic sights are the same size with or without glasses and cost a whole lot less and are more practical. They require zero maintenance, zero batteries, cost of a fifth of what an RMR is going to cost, are lighter and smaller. And with electronics sites there is a huge learning curve you’re going to have to completely learn how to shoot a pistol all over again because your natural point of aim is not where the red. Is you have to take your time and find the. This alone makes it hugely impractical for most people because they’re not going to take that time they’re going to buy it get their slide meal door by gun ready to accept one slap it on go to the range one or two times and be done. Just remember Murphy’s Law especially when applied to electronics it will brake fail or malfunction when you least want it to. Red dots on pistols are moronic, on a rifle I can honestly see it but on a pistol when 99.999% of all the general public who are going to be firing and especially those who actually purchase these that don’t compete are only ever going to shoot them 10 yards in you can pretty much almost point shoot 10 yards in. I’m not saying you are but I laugh a lot of the Tactical fools out there who think they have to lie every gimmick and Gizmo there is to slap on a pistol that they’re never going to carry rarely shoot or that they’re actually going to carry and all they’re doing is adding size and bulk to a weapon and adding unnecessary accessories that they don’t need and isn’t required especially all the Gucci clock fools out there who spend $3,000 on a $500 Glock that in the end doesn’t shoot any more accurately or really any better then a bone stock Glock. But hey it’s your dollar wasted on whatever you want. I view RMR’s a lot like Pet Rocks back in the seventies whole lot of people bought them companies made a whole lot of money off of them but they died off. Red dots have been around for 40+ years now and they’re probably more popular now than they ever have been but in the end too many people just like the reliability of iron sights and they don’t like the bulk the learning curve and the cost of RMR’S. I’ve heard a lot of people argue the fact that the RMR is gaining popularity and you can see that through a lot of the pictures and post people are making but the problem with that argument is that the vast majority of people who are buying them are using them as fashion statements you can see the pictures of these guns and then they will see a picture again six months later a year later 2 years later and there’s nowhere on the gun that clearly shows that they’re not using it they’re not firing at they’re not carrying it so do what you want to do I’ve said what I had to say I’m off my soapbox.
lol what a great example of celebrating mediocrity instead of excellence.
It’s not about having fun at the range, it’s about expanding your capabilities and skill, JUST IN CASE. If I ever find myself with the opportunity to take a shot at a terrorist at 50 yards or farther, I think I’d rather actually have the ability to make the shot than to miss and console myself that “it’s ok, the statistics justified my position that I should never try to prepare for such a situation”.
Really? Statistics show that all civilian shootings occur within 15 feet. If you’re 50 yards out you’re far enough away to not shoot or need to shoot. As someone who trained and killed actual terrorist you should never take a shot of that distance with a sidearm. Most who lash out to defend the pistol red dot are those who have a vested interest. They just present too many cons to be a viable option for EDC CCW shooters.
This is neither here nor there, but I picked one of these at Cabelas the other day, on sale, with a coupon, and with a trade factored in. So pretty much $699.99. It’s the Cabelas exclusive with the bare stainless slide (two-tone), and it only took a couple days for me to realize I wouldn’t be able to live with the stainless slide, so it’s already off to SIG for a refinish in Nitron. Should have it back in 6-8 weeks. Considering the retail (one LGS) and online prices I’ve seen, and that it’s only in stock right now at one place online that I could find, for $879.99, I think even factoring in the refinish I’m coming out ahead, or at least break even. Solid gun, by the way.
Having choices is wonderful. Hanging more stuff on a firearm would not be a choice I’d make for potential home/self defense, other than the light on my shotgun. I like it simple, lean and clean.
I am generally of the “keep it simple” school of thought myself.
The nice thing about a setup like this, is even if the battery is dead you can still aim and shoot the old fashioned way. The co-witness feature is critical to me.
When reviewing a polymer handgun I would recommend a 20 round target shoot test. I once shot 20 rounds at about a 6 or 8 sec. rate, at 15 yards using sand bags and bench rest, with my 5″ polymer 9mm. The first 6 or 7 rounds were tightly grouped (maybe 1.5″ average) and then the impacts really began to drift. By round 20, the impacts had drifted about 5 inches (left and down a little).
Now my (nameless) 9mm has metal slide guides up front and plastic slide guides in the rear, so I’m guessing that the Sig here is better because I can see from the picture that the 4 guides are all contained in the metal subframe. Still, the thermal expansion coefficient of any plastic is huge compared to any metal, especially steel. So my next handgun purchase going to be steel framed.
The purpose of sighting aids like the red dot is to turn average shooters into experts. The question is what level of expertise is required defend yourself. The data seems to show that that answer is that most people can get the job done without the red dot. Therefore. I consider the red dot a defensive pistol an unnecessary pice of gear.
The data shows that people miss a whole lot more than they hit.
Yes they do but they are still successful with an insignificant amount of collateral damage. Do you think a red dot will improve hit rated against moving targets when the primary cause of the miss is a poor understanding of deflection shooting?
The data also shows most gun owners are content with mediocrity. Does that mean the rest of us shouldn’t bother pursuing excellence? The use of the word “need” tells me everything I need to know about how you think. I prefer to think in terms of “want” and the never ending pursuit of improvement.
Great comment! Sums it up concisely and perfectly. I couldn’t agree more.
Auto off/on is the wrong solution for a defenive red dot. Trijicon figured out how to make the battery last forever and I’m sure sig could too.
Yet another factory red dot compatible handgun with the dot and rear buis in the wrong position. Nothing says enjoy the benefits of single focal plane shooting like a misplaced rear sight to muck it up. For the life of me I can’t figure out who they have designing these things.
I’m confused by your comment. What is the ideal arrangement then? I think the RX setup is just about ideal. It’s nothing new… The same arrangement as an M4 with a red dot and cowitnessed iron sights.
DM, I think you are missing the function of co-witnessing. The idea is to let your familiarity with sight alignment guide your eye to the dot. Then you can choose to transition your focus to the dot alone if that’s what the situation calls for. It doesn’t prevent you from experiencing the benefits of a single focal plane.
No offense mike, but I believe you to be misunderstanding the benefits of a red dot. (Rocky this should answer you as well) A red dot is the primary sighting system. Iron sights are to be backup, hence the term buis. On rifles they fold so as not to interfere with the way our eyes work. Since common handgun sights cant fold, the rear buis should be in front of the red dot. Red dots allow us to focus on the threat, something humans naturally do when under stress. It allows us to work with as opposed to fighting against our natural biology. When the rear sight is behind the red dot, our eyes automatically take the short cut many of us rely on to gain a slight speed advantage, glancing at the rear sight as we draw, then using that as a reference point for sight alignment. The best way to use red dots to their max effeciency is to use just the dot and maintain a threat focus through the entire draw and presentation. The backup iron sights are there to do simple that, backup the optic in the event of a failure, they should be placed appropriately.
DM, I think what you are missing is the difference between alignment with a stocked rifle and a pistol. On a rifle, the biomechanical alignment (gotta use a Haley term when I can!) created by the 4 points of contact (shoulder, cheek, and 2 hands) puts the dot in front of the eye reliably without any other assistance needed.
With a hand gun, there is basically one point of contact (2 hands at the same point). Yes, competition shooters with a lot of practice may not need help, but most people find if they only have the dot it slows them down because they are used to aligning the front and rear sights. So initially you align on target based on the 2 points of reference. Then your eye shifts to the dot. As you practice you start going to the dot faster and ignoring the irons. Of course, they are always there if you need them as a backup. I’ve never tried it with the rear sight in front of the red dot, but I would think it would not offer an advantage and be a detriment because it’s unfamiliar. Here’s a longer discussion of the issue:
http://blog.suarezinternational.com/2016/04/the-rear-sight-should-be-behind-the-red-dot.html
Mike,
I love the use of a Haley term, guy knows his stuff. I read the article and it seemed to only tackle the supposed advantages (neither of which I used to make my case) while also admitting that training scars contribute to the learning curve being so large with buis in front of dot setups. If we trained properly from the start, we wouldn’t rely on the shortcut and the dot would provide maximum benefit much sooner. With the dot sandwiched between the irons the only benefit available will be the precision at distance and the low light sight aquisition, you lose the increase in speed almost entirely. I would rather put in the extra reps to make the dot as effective as possible than short cut it and miss a large portion of the benefit.
Check this out for a better more in depth explanation from a man much wiser than I.
https://youtu.be/zrrlxEwUaRM
Ps. I appreciate the civil and reasonable discussion, unfortunately that is all too lacking these days and its one of the best ways for growth in knowlege.
“…the SIG is a chunky old thing with a rather tall snout, larger than most entrants in this category…”
Compared to what? A Glock 19 is probably the smallest entry in the compact pistol market. And the P320 Compact is within a tenth of an inch in most dimensions except height where it is two tenths IIRC.
And that is just comparing the specs, holding them side by side they are nearly the same size.
Enclosed volume of the Sig, is meaningfully larger than the Glock, even if the dimensions of the smallest box they’ll each fit into doesn’t look too different. Kind of like a J frame is much “smaller” than a Glock 26, simplistic measurements be damned.
Even if you are talking about volume the differences are along probably less than 5%.
I’ve personally found the real difference in carry ability is in the holster. A good holster well fitted to a person’s body type along with the proper sized gun has more to do with the ability to conceal a gun than small fractions of an inch of gun size.
People spend too much time on tiny nitpicks instead of things that actually matter.
Wish it came with a threaded barrel from the factory.
Learn how to shoot fast without jerking the trigger and don’t worry about fancy sights, lasers, red dots, et cetera. Master proper trigger control and you’ll hit what you’re aiming at without using the sights much at all.
For defensive shooting at ranges of 1-7 yards, trigger control be damned: Learn to hold the handgun tight, make it immovable. Then you can squeeze or slap or jerk the trigger, but the barrel and sights won’t move. (That’s paraphrased from Rob Leatham, by the way, on combat style shooting.) Now if you also have a smooth fast constant trigger pull/push, fine. All the better.
Did you ever bump those side buttons unintentionally? Seems like a bad design…
To answer another post, no–a red dot is not “necessary” at self defense distances. However, nothing else compares when you need to make a precise head shot or hit at distance. It gives you more options without a trade-off, something a laser can’t do.
You sure do seem to be a bad A. Hunting terrorist and taking head shots blah blah blah. Just another mall ninja. Head shots with pistols outside of 15 yards is a major no no and head shots in general. Shot placement between the nipples is what you train. You’re dealing with a moving target in public with civilians around. Don’t be the moron who kills an innocent bystander attempting to take a headshot. I know Tier 1 guys who wouldn’t take a headshot with a pistol unless they A: Knew only the intended recipient was going to take the hit. B: Only if they were close. You sound like a jackass spouting off about terrorist and headshots. Just another tacticool fool. Grow the F’K up!
Ever heard of explosive vests or body armor?
Yeah because that happens daily in the U.S. . Explosive vest have never been actually used in the U.S.. Body armor? Obviously you’ve never been shot while wearing body armor. It hurts like hell and will stop you cold at close range. Takes the wind out of your sails in a quickness. And before you start talking about ar500 plates or ceramic plates that people can wear in their body armor that’s a very small area it doesn’t protect the shoulders doesn’t protect the groin doesn’t protect any part of that and it’s painfully obvious when somebody’s wearing plate carrier. That statement alone shows me you’re a mall Ninja and a tacticool fool. You know using your logic I guess you need to stop worrying about taking headshots at 50 yards and focus on building a fallout shelter in the event that Korea launches a nuke on Mainland USA. Because I mean that’s what’s going on in the world right now man so that’s what you need to put all your focus on. That’s your logic and how stupid you sound. Grow the F’K up!
The only one that sounds like a jackass here is you JS. Stop with the insults, keep your responses civil and logical so all here can learn from the variety of opinions and experiences. Every response you’ve left in this whole thread of responses reeks of the same overbearing and righteous attitude. You seem hell bent on everyone believing exactly what you believe or they’re deemed by you to be a moron and must be personally attacked. Really a clear sign of MASSIVE insecurity. Grow up and give people the respect they’ve given you in their responses in spite of your constant name calling and condescension.
Out of curiosity, is any department of any size issuing service weapons with red dot sights yet? If the darned things do make a measurable contribution to operator accuracy and efficiency, belt carrying cops ought to be the first to benefit. The lack of police takeup despite supposed advantages, were a contributor to deflating the hype bubble surrounding lasers a decade or so ago.
I’ve seen plenty of indications of smaller departments that are allowing it if the officer wants to fund it, but I haven’t heard of any departments issuing it yet. I would expect the institutional inertia will resist it for various reasons for a while. Pursuit of Excellence is not a common denominator among the average officers on the street, and it’s certainly not the priority of most bureaucrats!
Dead on Mike, give it 10 years and red dots will be everywhere!
That’s what they said about RMRs five years ago. Not gonna happen. Zero advantage to the average Joe CCW. I’m adding an additional piece on equipment to a weapon I want small and compact as possible. On top of that I’m adding something else that can and has failed and requires maintenance much more than night sights. RMRs are right up there with weapon lights/lasers. Just carry a damn pocket light. It serves as a flashlight and a as a weapons light. I carry a Surefire E1E w/KL1 head. Again for the average Joe you don’t need all this Tacticrap bolted onto your pistol. Too many times we’ve seen the guy with the Agency Arms Glock all kitted out with RMR, Light. You know the Tacticool Fool with his $3000 Glock that’s the size of MP5K but just uglier. But in the end the guy with bone stock Glock runs circles around the Tacticool Fool. I’ve been shooting for over 40 years. I am a retired soldier, combat vet and served in Special Operations. On the civilian side I was in Law Enforcement and was with the U.S Marshals Task Force. The only reason I mention my career is to help back my statement that all these widgets and toys are unnecessary for day to day carry. Instead spend the money on training, ammo and range membership
And what about the vast majority of gun owners who don’t have all your training, and probably never will? The dot is not about bypassing training, it’s about a tool that easily allows for a much higher level of precision than most would ever achieve with normal sights, should the need/desire ever arise. It’s not one or the other, it’s more. We heard all the same arguments about red dots on rifles, and look how that went…
I found that IWB carry with P320 RX Compact is not comfortable since the RDS sticks out from the side just a little. But the worse part is the RDS goes below the waistline and I can’t draw it out without loosen the belt. If OWB then it’s not a problem.
Mike Smith: you talk about being a tool that easily used it requires quite a bit of training to get used to a red dot sight AKA reflex sight on a pistol your point of aim is different then that of traditional sites so you’re going to have to buy this and you just don’t buy one you also have to either buy a slide or have your slide milled so that it can accept this now you’re going to have to go to the range spend hours if not weeks getting proficient with this new item on your pistol now what happens whenever you decide hey I’m not going to carry my new whiz-bang pistol today I’m going to go grab my traditional pistol and I’m going to carry it now you go off so you jerk it up and you go to shoot and guess what your mechanics are off. See people don’t this out into consideration when purchasing these things they think they can just slap it on and all look I can see the site so I can shoot better fundamentals are still the same it’s just the mechanics or different and it’s hard to go from one platform to the other flawlessly actually it’s impossible we develop those body mechanics and when you draw that pistol that has a reflex sight on it you’re going to shoot it a certain way now like I said you decide not to carry it now you go draw pistol with traditional iron sights on it you’re going to draw and hold it up you’ll be like oh crap I can’t get picture oh yeah there’s my sight picture and seconds have passed. The fact that Electronics fail at a much higher rate than mechanical devices on top of the fact that your dependent on a battery the fact that it cost a considerable amount more then iron sights and it requires a substantial amount of training to learn how to use it and that that training requires you to change the way you already shoot with traditional sites is why I’m 100% against any kind electronic or Red Dot sight on a handgun. To think otherwise only shows how foolish you are.
Dude, you have absolutely no clue how much you don’t know.
I’d try to respond, but your ridiculously long run-on sentences make it practically impossible to understand what you are trying to say. But I think I get the general idea–you’re just repeating all the usual objections that have been raised for years.
News flash–you’re 10 years behind on this stuff. Feel free to live in your world, while the rest of us see all the benefits and solutions to potential problems and embrace progress.
If I had to guess, I’d say you’ve never even spent 10 minutes with a proper setup.
JS Leonard, why does a set up that you’ve never owned, what other people like, how much money others spend on their gun, & opinions different from yours make you so angry? The ability to co witness on the Sig P320 RX completely destroys your “Murphy’s Law” argument. Also, i don’t think you realize that Murphy’s law isn’t limited to electronic devices right?
Quit worrying about what other people put on their guns & how much they spend on their gun, you’ll be a much happier person. If i were you i would also spend a little time proof reading and learning punctuation, that will help you more than iron sights in an internet shoot out.
What you just said shows you don’t know what you are talking about. Co-witness??? There is no such animal. You don’t use the RMR and the Iron Sights simultaneously. If you are lining up the red dot and lining up iron sights then there’s no point for the RMR. You use one or the other. The pistol itself isn’t what makes me say anything it’s the simple fact that there’s no need for it. Now I understand if you’re older or if you have vision problems I get it an RMR can help. I’ll even say that if you’re shooting competition go for it. But for a carry gun only an idiot would carry an RMR and a weapons mounted light on a concealed carry pistol. The whole point is to have a small compact package if you have an RMR and your light on your pistol that you’re carrying there’s too many pieces to the puzzle that can go wrong where is if you just carry a pocket light and put something like VTAC Sights on your pistol then you never have to worry about anything in one package failing. Looks like we have a grammar Nazi. That usually shows that you don’t really hold water in argument. I use speak to type so I just talked I could care less about proof in it or if it’s a run-on sentence or if I don’t have a comma or a semicolon. And that just goes to show you understood what I was talking about cuz you replied.
Are we seriously still doing this???!!!!
This internet expert is a few years behind. Reputable trainers and experts increasingly are embracing red dots on pistols. Probably the biggest benefit they recognize is how it facilitates focusing on the threat (the automatic impulse for everybody) vs the front sight. Irons can work well in training. Everything changes in a real engagement, something quickly demonstrated in force-on-force.
You are either being intentionally obtuse or you are an idiot. Nobody has ever said you are supposed to look at the sights and the dot concurrently. That’s not what co-witnessing means. Co-witnessing provides a backup if the dot fails (a primary objection from the skeptics), and facilitates a shorter learning curve because you can first find the sights you have been looking for every time you aimed the gun previously, and then transition your eye to the dot that is hovering right there in the first place. It’s much easier to get up to speed this way than when the dot is just hovering in space by itself.
One big issue with adopting reflex sights on handguns is holster compatibility. Most duty/security holsters have some kind of hood which rotates over the top (slide plate or hammer area) of the firearm, locking it into the holster (look at the Safariland 6004 or the Blackhawk Serpa, which is what I have carried for over 10 years). When drawing, the hood is rotated forward and down, clearing the firearm to be drawn up from the holster. A reflex sight would not allow the proper clearance to draw from the holster without getting hung up on the hood. This is not an issue for concealed carry, which generally have open-top holsters and no obstructions.
Believe me, most of us cops would like to have reflex sights on our sidearms, especially if they were department-issued. Until there is a good, reliable security holster available which is compatible with reflex sights, it ain’t gonna catch on. The Blackhawk Omnivore looks like a step in the right direction, but I don’t have any experience with it and I don’t know how secure it really is.
Fortunately it appears Safariland has recognized where the market is going and solutions to your problem are imminent:
https://www.safariland.com/news-posts/safariland-debuts-broad-line-duty-tactical-concealment-holster-models-handguns-red-dot-sights-2017-shot-show.html
Sig recently released holsters by Mitch Rosen that will accommodate both the Reflex sight and suppressor height irons.
I’ve tried everything, but the Viridian ECR technology is by far MY choice. On when you draw, BRIGHT green, so bright it literally lights up things around it, off when in the holster.
I understand why you made the choice but how much training have you done to validate that decision? Ive seen quite a few guys adopt such a thing and then abandon it after training. IMO a bright white light is a far superior device to mount to a self defense firearm. Due to the way the human eye tracks motion upon recoil in low light your eyes will be prone to chasing the visible laser. Plus you lose the ability to search or maintain light control that you could with a proper white light.
I don’t understand the hoopla surrounding the Sig P320 product line, another striker fired polymer pistol…yawn. Why not just buy a Glock? On the other hand the nearly identical but infinitely more practical and affordable Sig P250 is something to get excited about, at least for me. True DAO with restrike capability and at least $100 less expensive. It just doesn’t get the love and press coverage the 320 does.
I couldn’t agree more. Also, there are still people out here who do not like striker-fired guns. Period. I am convinced that the no-frills, easy to operate, hammer-fired P-250 is a better choice for CC (the only “frill” on it should be its glowing sights that make it easy to find in the dark when using it for home defense). I have one in full/subcompact and I carry it in an IWB holster with no problems.
I wish my paycheck matched up with these article’s definitions of “affordable”.
I received my P320 RX Compact last Saturday. Took to range on Sunday and found my shots are all over the place at 10 yards with the iron sight. Upon further investigation, the front sight was very loose. I was able to push with my thumb left and right easily. And apparently the RDS was sighted with the front site off centered. Called Sig customer support and told to send in the upper. Somewhat disappointed….
Co-Witnessing doesn’t exist. There is no such thing. You do not take aim and get proper sight alignment on iron sights and then so the same to superimpose the red dot onto the front sight. Co-Witness is pure BS. BUIS (Back Up Iron Sights) would be the correct terminology. I’ve met no-one amateur, Pro or instructor who actually “Do-Witnesses their sights when shooting. You either aim with one or the other. Not both.Please d or the love of Odin stop using this moronic term.
You are missing the point. Co-witness is not about constantly looking at everything at the same time, it’s about making it easier to pick up the dot. Most shooters are familiar with the process of acquiring and aligning the standard sights, and have trouble finding the dot initially, leading to complaints that “the dot makes me slower”.
If the dot is sitting right on top of the front sight, then the shooter can simply align the sights as he has always done. At that point he can choose to either shoot, or switch his focus to the dot sitting right there at his point of aim for greater precision. With practice, he will get better at going straight to the dot, but the learning curve is much easier than if the dot is bouncing around up above the traditional sights, or even worse if they aren’t even present!
Everyone who has actually tried it that way agrees it’s the best setup by far.
BS! So what you are saying is the RMR takes longer. Since according to you you first get a sight picture with iron sights aka BUIS and then line up the red dot with a sight picture that you already have. Again bigger footprint, slower, requires batteries, and requires more training to use properly. I shot Glocks with just RMR and RMR w/BUIS. The dot is always in the same place if you properly present your sidearm regardless of BUIS or not. Most shooters don’t train enough or at all so why add yet more crap they don’t need and won’t train with properly.
The “first irons then dot” sequence is how you start. Eventually you start going straight to the dot and ignoring the irons if you want, but the irons are always there if needed and always provide a solid familiar point of reference.
You say you have a shot a Glock with an RMR and backup sights. Where was the dot positioned relative to the sights? Floating above? Covering the front sight dot? Sitting on top of the front sight? I’ve seen very few actually set up correctly.
Speed and accuracy will always have an inverse relationship. If speed is the priority then accuracy is not a concern and you probably won’t go to the dot, or maybe you won’t use the sights at all. If accuracy is the concern then you may be able to take time to use the dot. Of course with some practice the dot will be just as fast has anything else. It’s about a tool in the tool box, not finding the ultimate do all solution.
Feel free to keep preaching your elitest message that training solves all problems. I’m focused on the reality that most people carrying a concealed weapon will never do the recommended level of training. This gives them another tool that could help offset that deficiency.
I never saw the sights when shooting the Glock 19 w/RMR just the red dot. I’ve shot a 320 w/only a RMR and it’s the same. Elitist??? Training is EVERYTHING. Why so you think Special Operations trains, trains and trains??? Why so top level shooters both Pro and amateur alike still attend training and train on their own??? Without training you are useless. You can buy a F1 car but without the proper training you’ll never be as to operate it much less drive it. You’ll need to go to a driving school then a racing school and then go through more training before you can properly operate the F1 car. Even then you’ll only be able to drive it not race it. It’ll take years of training and lower level racing before you could race the F1. Same applies to firearms. In bet my life that a complete noob to shooting would wipe the floor with you after 5-6 courses with various firearms and training professionals. Why??? Because training trumps gear every time. You sound like a guy at the range we know. Always talking smack about us “wasting” money on training courses and shooting drills. He always goes on and on about how good he is and that only fools and noobs pay to learn how to shoot. When the naturals don’t need no training they just have the “gift”. He is slower, less accurate, and has difficulty with malfunctions and reloads compared to those of us with training. We shoot against him head to head on steel poppers x10. His times were alway 3-5 seconds off of ours. Proper Training, Trigger Time and Drills that push you and prepare you are key to being a good shooter and responsible shooter. I shoot at least 200-300 rounds per week and 1000 -1500+ one weekend per month. That’s 2400+ rounds per month not counting if I have a course or match. Shooting is a perishable skill set and training is the key to maintaining it. If you believe otherwise, you’re a fool.
You seem to be having a problem understanding what I’m saying while at the same time thinking I’m saying something I’m not. I never said anything negative discounting the value training. I think training is extremely important and everybody should get as much as possible. But do you seriously think that most people are going to spend $600-$700 a month on ammo for training, plus frequent classes? My point is not that people shouldn’t bother with training, I’m just saying that most people won’t do as much as they ought to and there’s nothing wrong with giving them a tool that gives them some more capability and might help compensate for the training deficiency.
Or, maybe we ought to figure that what was good for grandpa’s rifle is good enough for us and we all ought to go do a lot more training so we can shoot with our irons out to 500 yards and not bother with any better equipment, because who needs that when you can train properly instead?
I spend at or around $10 per 50, $20 per 100 and $60 per 300 rounds in 9mm. If I don’t reload I still can get 9 at $14 per 50. You don’t have to train with defensive ammo. The only place for the RMR is as a range gun or competition gun, not as a CCW EDC pistol. We’ve done drills in classes where the guys with them have had the batteries removed or blue tape used to cover the RMR during classroom instruction without there knowledge. Then the instructor hands them their pistol and says “You’ll have 5 seconds to lock and load one mag and engage 2 targets”….” Go!”. They proceed to lock and load their mag and point it down range but stall and stall until you hear “TIME! CEASE FIRE!” ….”what happened?” “My sight isn’t working” or “I can’t see my sight” to which the Instructor points out “you can’t control the uncontrollable, widgets and gidgets will, can and do malfunction” “You’re DEAD!” It spoke volumes and drove the point home. If people aren’t going to train the way they should then the RMR is a hazard due to Murphy’s Law. If they don’t know how to train for when it goes upside down. Everyone I know (250+ people) who CCW shoots at least 100+ rounds once a month. Training isn’t that expensive. You can get into some classes for $250-$500. What you are using are excuses. A RMR and TLR1 has no place on a CCW pistol.
It sounds like your instructors were more interested in making a point to validate a pre-existing ideology and being right than training for excellence in the pursuit of increasing performance. Give those same students the proper setup with cowitnessed backup sights and two minutes of instruction and the problem is solved.
Electronics problems or a dead battery is no big deal if the backup sights are right there at the same point of aim as the dot would be. the only legitimate concern is if the window is blocked. Rain is not an issue if you put Rain-X on it, and I don’t think the odds of a CCWer finding their gun coated with mud at the same time they urgently need to make a precision shot with no time to wipe the mud off is high enough to worry about. I’ve heard some say fogging is a concern when going from hot to cold or cold to hot, so if you live in Alaska and have found that to be a problem then choose according to your needs. Otherwise I have yet to hear a scenario that is a legitimate counter argument to all the benefits offered by a red dot.
Regardless of all that, if you can’t hit center mass at typical engagement distance without using the sights and relying on indexing alone then you aren’t doing enough training regardless of your gun setup. As distance increases beyond that it transitions to a proactive scenario and the argument carry less and less weight.
Mike Smith this guy’s problems just begin at not understanding what you’re saying. I love that you’re battling and trying to clarify so that those of us who want to learn can digest something other than what he continuously tries to force down everyone’s throat. However, he will not let up until EVERYONE bows down and agrees with his way of thinking.
He cites trained professionals and people who shoot FOR A LIVING and how much training they do. The overwhelming majority of people have a full-time job, a family and a life (something I’m fairly certain this guy doesn’t have) and don’t have the time, money or desire to take that much training. Guns are not everyone’s life but they want one and want to fairly competent. You’ve articulated the importance of training, which is absolutely true, and I see the Reflex sight being able to fill in some of the gaps where people may come up short when they have other interests other than obsessing over training like this guy. Like you said it’s just another tool in the toolbox, not to be relied on solely. I’m trying evaluate the cost and benefit of the Reflex as it will require me to get a new slide for my Sig P226 Legion from Sig that is milled out for the Reflex but hopefully that cost would be offset by selling my original slide.
Don’t even get me started on his F1 car comment. That was just a hot mess of misinformation.
It’s so annoying to hear this guy never acknowledge any of the other valid points, of which there are many, while he continues to pound everyone over the head demanding his opinion be declared the ultimate truth.
JS, you’re right about everything. You’re amazing and we should all aspire to be you. I mean other than you’re terrible grammar, punctuation and spelling. Half the time we can’t understand what you’re trying to say in your rant due to the lack of punctuation and dizzying run-on sentences.
Now can you please GO AWAY so the sane people can have a civil discussion on the various aspects and glean relevant information from this conversation that may be useful to us in making a decision. We get that you, THE KNOWER OF ALL THINGS, don’t like red dot sights. We get it. However, some of us are not and never will be as highly trained as you and that’s OK. Red dot sights are not a replacement for training, they are an addition to training so we have better odds of eliminating a threat to ourselves and family God forbid it should it ever occur.
Also, I’d suggest learning what “co-witnessing” means before running your mouth endlessly that there is no such thing. New words evolve as does the world and technology.
A little late to the party here, but I’m enjoying my new 320RX. Optic is the future of those of us with old eyes!
I will note that it will not feed Inceptor ammo. I had some spare ARX 9+P from my Kahr CM9. All FTF’s, however Critical Duty feeds and extracts like a greasy string out a sick monkey’s….well, never mind.
I love my P320 RX Compact so far, but it’s been absolute hell to find a leather holster for it. There’s a fair amount of kydex on the market for it, but next to nothing for leather. I finally found something in leather and I should have it in another 3 weeks or so. Got it here: http://www.gunnersalley.com/sig-sauer-p320-rx-compact-holsters/.
I hope it’s worth the $ and actually fits the 320C RX.
Check Sig’s site…they just released some super nice leather holsters by Mitch Rosen that will accommodate a Reflex sight and suppressor height irons. I got a black leather one and it is super nice, fits like a glove. The top-of-the-line Legion holsters are smooth leather inside, the slightly lower priced ones are not if that’s important to you.
gunnersalley.com is where I got mine for P320RX Full Size IWB.
I like it better than my Milt Sparks for my P220.
Also, just saw a review for the P320RX Compact that recommended 5-11 for accommodating the RX.
Not to resurrect an old thread, but My P226 RX points just as naturally as my P228, but I can actually focus on the target instead of choosing between blurry sights without glasses or blurry target with them. After a little learning curve and a bunch of dry firing I can shoot much more quickly and accurately than with just irons. It’s not a carry gun though, I use it in 3 gun with the other guns having red dots as well.
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