Actually I have a rifle scope with an illuminated reticle that I’ve never installed a battery. I don’t want the battery going bad somewhere down the road and oozing corrosive juices out. The battery comes out of the Leica rangefinder in January after deer season ends for the same reason.
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…and also also also, this (cheek weld = sign alignment and all that jazz) is just one part of why I would rather a short carbine for home defense, than a handgun
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And those can be great, but they don’t have quite the same pop under some lighting conditions that a powered illumination has. Unless it has tritium it’s dead whenever dark, and if it does have tritium, the illumination often completely washes out under a WML and certain other lighting conditions (you and rifle in the shadows/dark, target in the light).
Granted that’s not the end of the world with an etched reticle, but, the pop of a bright reticle is still nice to have-always
And regardless of how many rifles have illuminated reticles without batteries, there are still a lot (millions?) of rifles out there running optics with electronics that are battery powered, with many of those in severe professional use
And now, more and more with pistol optics too
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No. It’s not illuminated without the battery. I just don’t care for batteries in something I depend on. No batteries for my gun safe either… old fashioned combination lock.
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Most of the coin cells are lithium and I have never seen one ooze anything. Has anyone seen a coin cell corrode?
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Yes I wondered about that. Usually alkaline batteries do that, lithium batteries, which the ones in the optics we are referencing are, do not seem to do that. Especially within the watertight confines of a quality sight.
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From what I understand it’s not difficult to find the dot on a hand gun when presenting normally but more difficult when your presenting from an awkward position like behind concealment or lying on your back.
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Thanks, I do agree with your statement. However the battery question is resolved, in the case of rifle sights, Trijicon uses a tritium tube to illuminate its reticle and there are solar powered sites as well. They are pretty durable. As I said, my opinion may change on this, however another “complaint” is the added size. I do like my night sights currently and some have provided sufficient illumination for 10 + years. I may change my mind too because of age, as I get older my night vision is extremely good, but focus leaves a lot to be desired.
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There are solar powered micro red dots for pistols too. My EDC has a Holosun 508T which has battery and solar, should be 5+ years battery life
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I have a P365XL with manual safety as my EDC (I carry with a round cambered). Twelve round mag, Holosun 407K red dot with 6 MOA and Kydex IWA by CYA.
I carry the gun in the appendix position and have no issues with printing.
If I did it over I would have gone with the green dot and the 507K which has a 32 MOA circle around a 2 MOA dot option. I like the 6 MOA dot in the 407K as this a defensive weapon not something for long range target shooting.
However, I think the large circle would help find the red dot quicker if I don’t position the gun in the correct firing position.
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I was at an event today (PSA Gathering), and had an opportunity to shoot a number of pistols with red dots. Overall, I struggled a bit with most of them, even though I was ringing steel with the same pistols using iron sights. That led me to believe that either (a) I was sighting wrong with the red dots, or (b) the zero was off on the red dots.
So (maybe a dumb question), is the “zero” for a pistol red dot going to vary a lot from shooter to shooter? On many of the guns I shot, it seems that the dot was well off from where I would aim using the iron sights.
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I have four pistols with red dots, but only one is a micro 9mm (Hellcat). I love them all. I prolly won’t buy another defense-type pistol that can’t carry a red dot. You won’t go wrong with the Shield, it’s a great gun. I like my Hellcat and would also recommend it. I’m not a Glock fan and think the G3C trigger is not as good as better options, but still acceptable. Good luck and stay classy!
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Update- I ended up selling my current M&P 9C, and purchased an Optics ready version of the same gun. Ended up being more economical than buying a new gun, and I can stick with a model I like and can carry and shoot well. Now, on to figuring our what optic to purchase…
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I’d like to very strongly suggest either
Holosun 507T
Holosun 508T
RMR RM06
I find the Holosuns to have clearer brighter less tinted (better) glass, significantly better battery life, and more/better reticle options (dot, circle dot, or circle) while also costing less…where the RMR has an even more-durable design and better/quicker reacting auto brightness but not much else except made in the USA
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love my g3c one of my edc and use at range weakly
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Thank you
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