Red Dot on Pistol

[Yamadog35]

After much reading I decided to dip my toe into the pistol red dot pool (well, I guess I've dunked my whole foot at this point). Over the past several years my eyesight has made use of the irons increasingly difficult and I get slower and less accurate because they're just a blur. I'm not totally married to this yet. I have two basically identical G17s so I took my "range" 17 and milled the slide for a DeltaPoint Pro. My other 17 is my daily carry and I will continue to carry it until I get to the point where I am comfortable to carry the red dot version.

I've read through various threads here on INGO and elsewhere and rather than doing a necro-revival of an old thread here I thought would start a new one just to get current info and advice from those who daily carry this way. I read a lot of good info from obijohn, AllenM, Rookie, cedartop and others in these threads:
https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/handguns/409800-thoughts-red-dot-optics-handguns.html
https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/handguns/399626-red-dot-concealed-carry.html

So other than practice, practice, practice is there any other advice for me from those that do carry this way to help get better at finding and using the dot?

Here's my G17 with the DeltaPoint Pro.

 

[DanVoils]

Looks great!

 

[Leadeye]

Had the same problem with eyes getting old, made the switch to a red dot for my woods gun after a member here showed me the light, literally, at an Ingo shoot. Rather than find a way to mount it to one of my old guns, I just bought a Glock and started using that.

 

[obijohn]

The biggest issue you may have is with your index, particularly from the draw. Most of my students that have made the move to mrds simply had to dry fire their draw until the index was adjusted. At that point, most found no loss of speed, in fact most were able to shave considerable time off of draws and target to target transitions.

 

[rvb]

The biggest issue you may have is with your index

index is CRITICAL with a dot. Two hands, strong hand, weak hand.... you have to be able to bring the gun up on target w no other visual help (which you get from irons as you bring the gun up/out). You need to be able to index it from a draw, from a reload, from un-natural positions (eg hard leans around cover). Otherwise you'll spend seconds doing the "where is it?" wiggle...

-rvb

 

[Yamadog35]

The biggest issue you may have is with your index, particularly from the draw. Most of my students that have made the move to mrds simply had to dry fire their draw until the index was adjusted. At that point, most found no loss of speed, in fact most were able to shave considerable time off of draws and target to target transitions.

Thanks. This is what I assumed and that's what I've been working on, but wondered if there were any other techniques that could help other than repetition.

 

[rvb]

Thanks. This is what I assumed and that's what I've been working on, but wondered if there were any other techniques that could help other than repetition.

nothing beats repetition in dry fire.
Dry fire your draws/reloads occasionally with your eyes closed.... when you open your eyes is the dot centered in the lens?

-rvb

 

[Yamadog35]

Dry fire your draws/reloads occasionally with your eyes closed.... when you open your eyes is the dot centered in the lens?

I just got a chance to try that and, boy I tell ya, it's a real eye opener . . .

But seriously, that process shows me just how far I have to go on this.

 

[indiucky]

I tried it...It just didn't fit very well in my sash and after a couple of shots powder residue made it nearly impossible to see the red dot anymore...I'm probably going to take it off....

 

[cosermann]

Is there a way to setup these red dots with irons that would provide something akin to a lower 1/3 co-witness?

 

[DanVoils]

I tried it...It just didn't fit very well in my sash and after a couple of shots powder residue made it nearly impossible to see the red dot anymore...I'm probably going to take it off....

That is too funny!

 

[obijohn]

Is there a way to setup these red dots with irons that would provide something akin to a lower 1/3 co-witness?

check mine the next time we are at the range together. Most of us use suppressor height fixed sights so that they are visible should the dot quit. I don't find the tall front sight distracting.

 

[cosermann]

check mine the next time we are at the range together. Most of us use suppressor height fixed sights so that they are visible should the dot quit. I don't find the tall front sight distracting.

To me, that's the ideal setup. In addition to being there if the red dot fails, they're an indexing aid.

 

[Vigilant]

I tried it...It just didn't fit very well in my sash and after a couple of shots powder residue made it nearly impossible to see the red dot anymore...I'm probably going to take it off....

Did Churchmouse build that for ya?

 

[churchmouse]

Did Churchmouse build that for ya?

No but it was inspiring.........

 

[Leadeye]

I tried it...It just didn't fit very well in my sash and after a couple of shots powder residue made it nearly impossible to see the red dot anymore...I'm probably going to take it off....

They just don't work well on older guns do they.

 

[bloodman]

good job, who did the milling? I see that you do not have a rear sight, how do you deal with that? I see some people do not get the rear sight. My vortex venum has two white vertical lines on the back, that could be used for a rear sight.

 

[Yamadog35]

good job, who did the milling? I see that you do not have a rear sight, how do you deal with that? I see some people do not get the rear sight. My vortex venum has two white vertical lines on the back, that could be used for a rear sight.

The slide milling was done by Primary Machine. They also did chamfers around the front and along the sides and added front cocking serrations. They finished it with Cerakote. You can get an add-on rear site for the DeltaPoint Pro but I opted not to do that. I'm going to put a single white stripe down the back of the optic to give me a "dot the I" type arrangement which I'm used to anyway as I've been using XS Big Dot sites for a few years.

 

[cedartop]

rvb really nailed it. Index comes pretty easy for the two handed stuff, I still have to hunt for the dot sometimes on WHO or unusual positions. Dry fire all of that stuff a lot and then go test it live fire. Don't forget movement. The big screen of the Delta Point is going to help a lot with these issues. I love my Delta point on my gamer gun, but will not use one on a carry gun. Between the battery life and low angle sun issues, I will stick with my RMR for carry. At least you have some BUIS there, make sure those are zero'd and you get some practice with them with the dot off. Have fun.

 

[bloodman]

The slide milling was done by Primary Machine. They also did chamfers around the front and along the sides and added front cocking serrations. They finished it with Cerakote. You can get an add-on rear site for the DeltaPoint Pro but I opted not to do that. I'm going to put a single white stripe down the back of the optic to give me a "dot the I" type arrangement which I'm used to anyway as I've been using XS Big Dot sites for a few years.

thanks yamadog35 for all your help. I sent my slide in yesterday. They sure have great prices, and super fast on email replies.