I purchased a Sig 365XL with RomeoZero about 3 months ago,. I really like the red dot for every day carry, but when I picked up my gun a couple days ago the red dot was not activated. I tried to turn it on and changed the battery, but still no dot.
I’m working with Sig to get a replacement, but this shakes my confidence in using a red dot for EDC. Sure, I can co-witness with the irons, but if I’m gonna use the iron sights then I might as well carry a gun with GOOD iron sights instead.
Anyone else having this problem? Should I abandon red dot for EDC?
Not had an issue with mine. About a year on now so my experience is positive. On the other hand I tried a friends’ Holosun K model with the circle dot and it is impressive. You may want to check them out, as I think the K is a bit more robust than the Zig Zero. I know the feeling. If I carry it, it better be reliable.
I’m going to get beaten up a bit for this but, I guess I’m old school when it comes to these optics. You absolutely can’t beat them for super fast acquiring the target but I just cannot seem to bring myself out of the age of iron sights and into the new age.
Murphy’s Law being what it is, if I’m always practicing with and counting on that reticle/dot to be there in dynamic incident training, when it’s not there the day I need it for me, will it be that “oh crap” disconnect that would be just enough to cost those seconds that I need?
I’m still stuck in the stone/iron sight age. If I ever do go down the optic road I would likely still want to do a fair amount of practice with the irons.
Maybe you can figure out how to randomly turn the sight on and off so you wouldn’t know when you draw if you will pick up the optic’s dot or have to instantly transition to the irons. If you can make the transition automatic, like most of us automatically tap rack when the trigger clicks instead of bangs, the amount of extra time might not cost you??
We also placed a laser on the wife’s handgun awhile back. As an intermediate skilled shooter, even she admitted that after awhile (an hour or so) that she didn’t like the feeling of abandoning her point shooting/defensive accuracy. It’s not for everyone. I’ve seen shooters really excel with lasers and red dots or other optics. Just like anything else, if it’s working for them, you, me … no need to fix what you have going for you.
FWIW, I shot with some other Instructors last month. Two out of four of us had the red dots, I and another were using stock iron sights. No real big advantage was evident after all the holes were punched. I have to admit that I was the second oldest and a bit concerned whether or not I could keep up with the red dots and the youth. All of us did very well and ultimately qualified.
I would say that I faired quite well because I was using what I was comfortable with and when I did struggle near the end of the strings, I was able to refocus and go back to basics. I didn’t ask them, but I wondered later if those with optics began to doubt their sights and whether or not they were off a little. I wondered if they started to co-witness or if they at anytime found themselves starting to “fight against the dot” so to speak.
Mind you, it was all defensive accuracy. But there’s something that people do when they shoot together … we all want the tightest groups. And that of course is not practical with regard to defensive shooting.
I’ve been tempted by optics the last few years and I even ran an RMR for 6 months or so a couple years ago to learn how to use it for instructing students who show up with them. I went straight back to irons after I felt good about it and will continue to use irons. I’ve been to two pretty high level courses in the past three months as a student and in both courses students had dots fail. One flew off the gun, despite being installed correctly with loctite and the other saw multiple dots the whole day with an optic that had previously functioned flawlessly. With that being said, I’m honestly not anti-dot, they’re just not for me. Iron sights can fail as well and I’ve seen it happen, just not at the same rate as pistol mounted optics. I do believe one day in the near future they will figure it out and have them about as reliable as they possibly can be.
I pretty much agree with everyone in that iron sight are far more reliable. With that said, the older I get the more I really like the red dot.
Anyway, update on my RomeoZero. I called Sig Sauer and they were very polite and professional. They are sending me a replacement with no questions asked. So, I guess I’m always going to have trust issues with red dots but I certainly continue to have faith in Sig Sauer
I am in pretty much the same boat, optics look great, I liked shooting with them, but don’t trust them for carry. Just one more thing that could go wrong at the worst time.
It is good to hear Sig got you fixed up! I have only owned a couple of Sigs, and wound up selling them, but they were very well made.
When I bought my Hellcat, I bought the OSP right away. I still haven’t convinced myself that I “need” a red dot. Would be nice to try, but I don’t “need” it.
I won’t run a carbine without a red dot anymore. There are plenty of dead dot drills that will teach you to shoot without the warm fuzzies of a dot in the window. The good news is in the last 10 years I’ve never had to do it, those sights have gotten that good. QC being what it is once in a blue moon one will leave the factory not working. Once you get one that works, the chances of it failing down the line are SLIM, and battery life being what it is nowadays, well, that’s not a concern either. On handguns I have not taken the leap yet, but it’s only a matter of time…
I have Trijicon RMRs on two of my EDCs. They are durable and reliable. I have Vortex red dots on guns I don’t carry every day. I also have iron sighted pistols I carry.
I would only trust trijicon, although I hear a lot of good about the holosun 507C.
Don’t give up the red dot;maybe swith the brand…
I have trained long and hard with the RMR and abused it. I trust it. I can also tell you that long shots are much more consistent and accurate with them.
I can still see iron sights well. There will come a time when that is not the case, and I’m glad I’m already practiced up on the RMR.
I have a little older 365, which does not have an optic. Wouldn’t want one on a 365. Most self-defense violent encounters occur between five and 15 feet, statistically. I’m not going to rely on a dot for that. I do have an optic on my 320C-RXP, but I always focus on the iron sights primarily for reasons listed above by others. The dot, to me, is a crutch. Nice to have, but don’t bet your life on it.
So, when I first purchased my 365XL w/ RomeoZero, it worked for about a week. The dot disappeared, and I was wondering what I did wrong. It would be on for one shot, off by the next. The issue was the terminals on the sight were not properly seated and every time I fired a round, it would come on and off. I shouldn’t have to work on a brand new optic, BUT removing the optic and bending the terminals in a little bit I have not had an issue since!
