PART I
DON’T GIVE UP
OR :
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE DOT
My first time shooting a pistol with an MRDS (Micro Red Dot Sight) was a Kimber TLE-RL2 with a dovetail mounted Leupold Deltapoint Pro. It was neat, but after a couple hundred rounds of not really being able to consistently find the dot, the dovetail mount just not really working, and getting slower presentations than I was used to, I gave up. I thought: “Maybe this just isn’t for me”.
I sold the Deltapoint and kept shooting the Kimber with regular sights like a pleb, and right around that time I bought my first 3 9mm handguns: a Sig Sauer P229 Enhanced Elite, a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield, and a Glock 17. The Shield was to become my every day carry gun, and the others mostly range toys for the time being.
At some point, probably a year later, after seeing the “trend” growing in the gun industry, I decided to give it another try. I got a Vortex Viper red dot and sent my slide to Jagerwerks for milling. I got it back, and shot it… a lot. I didn’t give up this time, I was determined to make it work for me.
Without knowing anyone who also had a red dot on a pistol at the time, I didn’t have anyone to train with or bounce ideas off really. I just kept shooting, kept trying different things.
Eventually, I got over the hump where I was demonstrably faster, more accurate, and more consistent with the dot than with iron sights. That’s where I decided that I had “figured it out” and could only get better from here.
From then on I’ve put a red dot on everything I can, and I’ve been doing it for friends and acquaintances since I got my CNC mill.
Pictured below: Shield w/ JPoint(made by Shield PSD); 9mm 1911 built on a Stealth Arms 80% w/ Shield RMSc; Springfield EMP w/ Shield RMSc; Sig P365 w/ Holosun 507K; Sig P229 Enhanced Elite w/ Leupold Deltapoint Pro
Either you love it, or you haven’t given it a chance. It takes time, and a lot of ammo, but it is worth it. I believe you are handicapping yourself if you refuse to try new things. Give it a shot… and don’t give up.
If you have questions about MRDS’s or anything else, feel free to contact me. I love talking guns and gun stuff, not just about the products we make.
In the next parts I will go into more detail about individual optics, philosophy, training, etc.
Manufacturing Engineer, Designer, Inventor, Shooter, Instructor, Meddling Machinist.
I enjoy modifying guns and making widgets for them more than I like shooting them.