I have been teaching concentrated amounts of RDS handgun lately and am just getting home now, so this is a very quick update. The hours were long and tiring, so I had very little time for writing. I was also in a part of the country where a bunch of my friends and some family still live, so it was great to catch up and see people, some of whom I have not seen in years.
I don’t know how much of the past few weeks I will share here. Still, after seeing and working with hundreds of students I think I can say that all of my previous thoughts and ideas about issuing RDS pistols to LE were basically verified.
The RDS mostly makes static marksmanship drills easier compared to iron sights.
The RDS mostly makes rapid-fire drills at mid to long-range easier than iron sights.
The RDS makes getting a sight movie (as I prefer to call it) very difficult for most people when going fast at close range.
The RDS adds a level of technical and mechanical complication to an object that already mystifies many non-enthusiast recruits.
There are many more points that mostly relate to funding and logistics (vis-a-vis training) for an agency that I will not go over here but perhaps in the future, we will delve more deeply into the above-listed points. Until then, I think the astute shooter will recognize some important lessons in the four points mentioned.
SLG, have you seen some red dots that you feel are easier to acquire at speed than others ? Which would say are best and worse ? I have C-More’s on two of my K frames and I find them to be better than some of the smaller sized glasses
Among the current RDS options, I would say the SRO is the easiest to use. It is not suitable as a duty or carry sight though. For social use, The Acro is not bad, the 509T seems pretty good. The 507C2 may also be pretty good. I use the RMR a lot, and have always liked it, but it is much harder to use than something like the SRO. Also hard to come back to after the SRO, lol.
I should have mentioned that while some RDS might be easier to use than others, technique and training is what matters most. All of them are usable once you know how. None are very usable until then.
I’m not an LEO, and on the fence about transitioning to an RDS on my carry gun.
Looking forward hearing about your thoughts on the four points mentioned.
I really like rds over irons, and proper training mitigates any issues with it, but the reality is that in most defensive situations, the RDS will not be a factor for most people. Kind of depends on your level of coolness and your level of commitment. BTW, “training” is what you do, not who you go learn from.
What is a “sight movie?”
It’s what most people call a sight picture. I mostly stopped using that term some years ago with irons, as I don’t want a snapshot in time, I want to see what is happening with my sights all the time. With an RDS, it is even more appropriate.
I am a novice red-dot shooter. I agree with your first two points. One shot draws are awesome.
I wholeheartedly agree with your third point. I feel like I am learning how to do a close range double -tap from scratch. I am going to need more ammo. 🙂
Or more dryfire. Ammo is nice but dryfire is more important in many ways. You can’t see recoil in dry fire, but you can control it.
I was not sure what your meant about dryfire, but after thinking about this for a while, I think this is what you are talking about. Dryfire builds your grip, stance and index which contributes to recoil control. Index is really important to seeing the dot on the first shot of the double tap. I know I don’t always see the “movie”, but I can still get good double taps. I am still learning, what “movie” I need to see with a red dot and that is what I was talking about with live fire.
Yes. The only thing I would try to change your outlook on is the double tap. I don’t train to fire two rds, I train to fire however many rds I want. This means that my sight movie is constantly showing me where the dot is or where it will be, depending on how fast I am shooting. It also means that my recoil control is working for more than just two rds.
Yes, that is a good point. For me its a progression to get there with the red dot: dry fire, slow fire groups, one-shot draw, draw and doubles, Bill drills, single shot on multiple targets, multiple shots on multiple targets, etc. That’s the progression I went through to get to iron sight proficiency. The red dot is different enough for me that I feel like a new shooter going through that progression. I am not proficient yet. I am working on the “going fast at close range” part of your comments. Were you observing new shooters with red-dots or a red-dot transition class? Either way, I am guessing there was a building block approach.
I was working with a mix of new shooters, new to rds shooters, as well as some experienced rds users. Most were fairly inexperienced. Building blocks are good, but I want to move through them fairly quickly. Its all relative though.