Red Dot Considerations Part II

Now that we have chosen our optic, how do we mount it? The two options really come down to direct mounting or plate mounting. Direct mounting means the slide is milled to accept the optic directly. Plate mounting uses an intermediary to join the gun to the optic. I prefer a direct milled mount and have used that system for both the clamp-on style optics as well as the screw-down options. The direct milled option usually allows for a lower mount for the optic which makes it a little easier to use, protects the RDS a little better, and removes a potential point of failure. All of these advantages are slight compared to plate mounting, but better is better. There are enough RDS choices out there today that you should not have much trouble switching to a new optic if you get tired of your old one. I prefer the Acro footprint for my closed emitter options and the RMR footprint for open emitters. Either of those footprints is unlikely to go away, and more optics are coming out all the time that fit them. There are even plates that will mount to a direct milled RMR footprint, and allow you to then mount a different optic on top.

Plate mounting an optic really only gives you one advantage – the ability to swap plates if you want to use an optic with a different footprint. There are a couple of notable systems on the market that allow for easier plate swaps, but most plates require your typical armorer-level work to mount and dismount them. The Nighthawk IOS system may be the best option out there but is only available for 1911s at this time. This gives you the option of keeping an extra optic (a duplicate or a different one) on a spare plate and swapping it onto the gun as desired. It also allows you to have an iron sight plate that makes the gun look whole again. This can be an advantage for some types of competition, or just for easier personal training.

There is one other advantage to a plate system like the ones coming on factory guns. You have the support of a gun company if anything goes wrong, and things are less likely to go wrong using a factory gun. The top RDS smith’s out there are likely to be as good or better, but if you try and get a cheap job done, or one that is out of the ordinary, you may get a slide that cannot stand up to shooting over the long haul. I don’t think this is a real concern, but as people try and put RDSs on all sorts of guns that were never intended for them, some problems are likely to occur. Either way, guns are relatively cheap. I will usually wear any serious gun out before I worry about swapping optic footprints.

If you do go with a factory plate system, like the Glock MOS or the S&W CORE or Optics Ready options, I highly recommend you get a top-quality aftermarket plate for it, with the possible exception of the S&W plastic plates. I know, I know, but we will get to that shortly. For the plate systems to work well, your plate needs to be a good one, properly mounted to your gun. Many people buy good stuff but then fail to mount it correctly. There is plenty of good info on the net about how to mount stuff so I’m not going to go into it here. Any correct way will always use a torque wrench, so make sure you have a good one. I generally like Borka Tools the best, but the Fix It Sticks are super convenient to use at home or on the go and are especially well-suited to optic mounting. The chapstick-type solid Loctite is also the way to go. I have been very happy with plates from C&H Precision as well as B&T. It looks like there are at least a couple of other good ones out there as well, but I have not used them.

If you are using a S&W factory cut gun, it will now come with plastic plates. when I first saw that, I knew we had jumped the shark. Then I started using some of JAG‘s guns with the plastic plates. No drama. JAG has had no issues with them at all, and it made me wonder why. One theory we have been kicking around is that the plastic acts like a shock absorber in some ways, and may cushion the plate a bit. Another aspect is that JAG is not using the guns for duty use so they are shot a lot but not abused in various tests or environments. I would not want a plastic plate for duty use at this time, but we all said that about guns not too long ago as well. Maybe the S&W’s need a metal plate and maybe they do not. I guess it depends on your use of the gun and your comfort level. I would probably pick up a C&H plate and keep it around just to be on the safe side.

For overt carry and duty use, stronger is better. More protection is better. Simple and low maintenance is the way to go. A direct milled, closed emitter optic is probably the only smart choice for issue to professionals. Really, this applies whether the gun is carried concealed or overtly. For tac guys in particular, where the pistol gets banged into door frames and rolled around on the ground with, I’m not sure why you would ever look at another system. The options we have are only getting better and as the market works itself out, I think we will see fewer mounting footprints and better-designed optics. As with anything fighting related though, as long as you have the function or capability needed, simple and robust is desirable.

All that said, my personal setup for the past two years has been a G19 with an RMR on a C&H plate. This combination has proven pretty perfect for me, and my only change would be to have a 32 moa circle available as a reticle choice. Incidentally, my battery just died the other day, so if you change it every year, you are probably way ahead of the curve. I left it in longer as I wanted to see how long it would go. This combo has worked through all the seasons and weather conditions, overt duty carry as well as concealed carry. One-handed with a shield slowly clearing a structure or well below 1-sec draw and shoot speeds. I will certainly use other stuff from time to time, but for all the neat new stuff out there, this old optic setup has worked out very well.