This is the second article in a series on miniature red dot sights for pistols. Click here for the previous article.

Now that I was committed to learning how to shoot a red dot, I needed to make some equipment decisions. I also had to consider any potential differences between equipment I will use for competition and what I will use for my carry guns. My intention is to become competent with a red dot-equipped pistol, and then equip my carry gun the same way, but I don’t want to put a red dot on my carry gun before I know I can run a red dot at least as well as I can run irons.

Mainly for the sake of simplicity and reliability, I previously made the decision to primarily shoot and carry Glocks, so once I chose my flavor of 9mm Glock, the real decision was which type of mini red dot sight to acquire, and how I would mount them. I ultimately chose a Glock 17 MOS variant to be my dedicated competition pistol for the next chapter of my shooting life, the main appeal being that I could easily test out different red dots without having to mill the slide and be married to one specific red dot only. I also wouldn’t have to pay extra and wait for weeks or months while the slide was milled. There will be time for that later on once I settled on a specific dot and gun.

The obvious first choice of miniature red dot is the Trijicon RMR which seems to be the most popular option. Based on Aaron Cowans white paper, over three years of empirical data collected in his testing indicates that the RMR is possibly the most reliable and durable mini red dot sight on the market, which would place it square at the top of the list for putting on a carry gun. Here is a video review of the latest version of the RMR. Watch Aaron run this thing HARD.

I was also interested in the RMS, a newer offering from a UK company called Shield Sights that i was able to play with a little at SHOT show in January. Things i liked about the Shield RMS were a low-profile optic that allows for co-witness with standard irons sights, a clear colorless window and a battery drawer that does not require un-mounting the optic to access. While this optic doesn’t have the proven track record of the Trijicon RMS, i wanted to test it out and the Glock MOS gave me the option to try it out, without having to commit to it forever.

Long story short: I bought both an RMR and an RMS, with the intention of running the RMS first to learn on and use for competition, and the RMR would then go on my carry gun later on.

Up next: installation, zeroing and first shots

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