Here are the pistol mounted optics that I know will work. I am offering them in no particular order, and will tell you what I am currently using at the end.
This is the OG reliable pistol mounted optic. When this revision debuted, it set the standard for durability, reliability, and battery life. If you have watched any of Aaron Cowan’s videos, you’ll know that he isn’t kind to pistol optics, and this was the one that survived his drop testing repeatedly. I have run one on a Glock 19 for years and found it to be a solid optic.
Pros: probably the most durable pistol mounted optic out there, solid battery life, easy adjustments for brightness and elevation/windage. Fits the most ubiquitous footprint for mounting on the market. It is easy to get a slide milled for this optic, to buy a pre-cut slide for this optic, or buy a mounting plate for this optic.
Cons: scales down brightness every day, so when you pick it up in the morning, you’ll need to readjust the brightness to your desired level. Requires an additional sealing plate to mount it to a pistol to retain water tightness. Must dismount the optic to change battery, which necessitates a zero check after installation/re-zero. Also, after all these years, this optic still isn’t cheap.
Aimpoint burst on the scene with their optic in a completely new package. This one has an enclosed emitter, so you don’t have to worry about getting any debris in between the emitter and the projection glass. Some initially complained about it being bulky, but it is around the same footprint as the Trijicon, however the back part of this Aimpoint is squared off, which some have likened to a mailbox on your gun. Still, this one passed very rigorous durability tests and has very clear glass, so people who care about blue tint, distortion, or fish-eye type issues really like this optic. Battery life has been reported all over the map. Some have said that they have to swap batteries every few weeks, while others have said that they can get a few months from one.
Pros: mount it, set it, and forget it. External battery means that swapping batteries is easy. Enclosed emitter means that you won’t be getting any mud/snow/Cheetos in between the emitter and the front glass. Speaking of the glass, you’d never know that they put in any sort of filter to show you the dot. It is exceptionally clear. Durability is on par with the Trijicon, as it should be.
Cons: using the optic as an improvised slide racker, especially off of walls or such, can crack the external glass. It won’t compromise using the optic, but it can certainly piss you off. Battery life is regarded as somewhere between not good and really not good. And it commands Aimpoint money, which means that you’re going to pay for this optic, easily as much as you pay for a mid-priced gun.
Holosun is made in China. So were your shoes, your pants, your cell phone, and a lot of your car. If you have beef with this then I can refer you to the Trijicon or Aimpoint I mentioned above. But if you’re still listening, let’s move forward, shall we? These optics are aggressively priced and get updated much more rapidly than their competition.
This is a set of very durable and reliable optics at an exceptionally palatable price point. The feature set of these optics sets the standard by which I judge all others at this point.
The 407c and 507c differ only in which reticle(s) are available. If you only want a dot and don’t want the circle/dot/circle-dot set of choices, the 407c is your jam. If you want all of those options, the 507c is the one. And if you want the reticle choices with a titanium housing, then 508t it will be. This line of Holosun optics has an open emitter, durable housing, and solar backup. It has an external battery, so you don’t need to dismount the optic to swap batteries. Battery life is solid, averaging around 6 months in my tests, and I run my dot very bright all the time. Oh, and I should mention that it has shake-awake, so it senses no movement and turns off the optic, but as soon as any movement is felt, it immediately comes back. I’ve never been able to catch that dot asleep. You can lock out the brightness adjustment to keep any inadvertent changes from happening while carrying or during weapons manipulation, and I find that feature to be quite useful. One last “feature” is that the 407c and 507c share the exact same footprint as the Trijicon RMR. Any slide milled for the RMR or any plate that accepts the RMR will also accept the 407c and 507c. The 508t may also fall into this category but I haven’t explicitly tested it, so I can’t state for a certainty on that particular optic.
Much like the other Holosun optics, the 509t has different reticles, solar backup, external battery, shake-awake, and brightness lockout. The one real difference with this optic is an enclosed emitter. Some say this is useful and some say it isn’t, but having the ability to shrug off mud, dirt, debris, or similar, is probably useful, especially for a duty-oriented optic.
There are many other optics that are forthcoming as of this writing. Aimpoint announced the P-2 version of their ACRO, and it seems promising, especially from the battery life perspective. Steiner floated some prototype enclosed emitter optics at a recent trade show I visited, and that looks like it will be a solid contender, especially if it comes out at the price point they were mentioning. Swampfox has also teased an enclosed emitter with exceptionally high durability as well. Of course, as of this writing, all of these items are vapor-ware, and so we can only speculate as to their long-term potential.
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Now, as for me, I have gone almost exclusively with Holosun. I have one of their 509t optics on my Glock 17 MOS and have been running that one for months. I even pulled a Trijicon RMR type 2 off of my Glock 19 and stuck a Holosun 407c on it instead. This behavior set isn’t going to win me points if I’m trying to flex on the poors, but from what I am experiencing, the Holosun is the best combination of durability and features right now, and that at any price. The Trijicon RMR type 2 was definitely the king of pistol mounted optics when it first debuted, but it has quite rapidly become yester-tech by virtue of the continual innovation of the competition.
What is amazing is that this market space is moving so rapidly. Pistol mounted optics were quite niche when I first started experimenting with them, but they are quickly becoming the norm. Several major police agencies are allowing them, and some are even issuing them to all of their members. I expect that in 3-5 years the only real hurdle to adoption will be budgetary in nature, and not due to any pre-conceived notions about whether these are useful or not.
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