The issue of sidearm selection becomes complicated as the variety of handguns increases. As the number of variations proliferates, the numbers of “whiz bangs” and “whirly gigs” likewise increase, adding to consumer confusion.
If you want the smallest possible gun, users often surpass their ability to effectively use the gun. When that happens, individuals – like law enforcement agencies – seek to buy their way out of incompetence.
Too often, that’s when pistol mounted optics get bolted on.
This is not some curmudgeonly “boomer” screed, simply a bit of market analysis. See, I tried adding glass (or polymer, whatever).
Sometimes, adding the optic is just too much – for this format of handgun, or for deep concealed carry.
Those are hardly extreme positions; it’s an ‘either/or’ situation.
Having experience with a Ruger MAX-9 and a pair of Springfield Armory Hellcats – the RDP and the Hellcat Pro – I’m tending away from PMOs on guns of that size. I generally carry in reasonably deep concealment – IWB – and I’m finding enough lint on non-optics guns that I just lack comfort with the concept. When I see people arrive at ranges to shoot, unload their carry gun, then wipe down lenses beforethey shoot, I begin to ask questions.
Put it this way: at the ranges most conflicts seem to be occurring, the PMO offers little advantage. They’re clearly usable especially if the user has come along with optics from Day One. When you get someone who fired their first shot in the 1960s, pistol mounted optics may be a “bridge too far.”
Don’t get me wrong; I’m aware of people who carry P365s, MAX-9 pistols, various S&W Shield/Shield Plus guns that have mounting options, and the GLOCK 43x/G48 MOS models with optics mounted. It doesn’t seem to bother them any. It’s just me; I’m on the fence.
To me, the idea of the micro compact is “lack of bulk,” something the optic provides.
The upside in these tiny guns is that they’re now often configured to have the optic mount directly to the slide without adapters – so low that the conventional sights (not “suppressor height”) are visible through the window.
Before I get corrected – “You don’t look for the sights, look at the target and drive the dot where you need it” – it means that dinosaurs like me actually see the dot on presentation. The “height over bore” is less than with earlier mounting options.
It does work, at least for this old timer.
We’re living in an age where more power and capacity is available in smaller, lighter packages than ever before. Consider the 1903 Pocket Auto versus the P365. Or the PPK versus the Shield Plus.
There’s no real comparison – in power, handling, reliability.
I consider the purpose of the pistol mounted optic. Then I consider the mission of the discreet carry pistol. There have been huge innovations in guns and accessories – it’s smart to maximize those advantages. If that means that the optic provides as much or more “pro” as it does “con,” then your course is clear.
I’m just not sure all of us have gotten completely onboard.
— Rich Grassi