Fight me! Iron sights vs "red dot" on defensive pistols

Controversial topic... Let's rumble!
Curmudgeon said:
I've seen tons of long barrelled magnum revolvers with scopes but that just looks horrible and useless. I even thought about building a 34 or 35 with a red dot for range use but not a scope.
Click to expand...
I put a 1st generation RDS on a G35 and shot it in a few matches. I did well with it. I had to send the slide out to be milled.
 
NavyVette said:
Good point on the 1911's @Bongo Lewi - I don't like the look at all - I see these daily on a contest I am trying to win and it makes me want to 🤮 SIG SAUER 1911 45 caliber handguns | SIG 1911 Pistol Series

I don't know WHAT in the Hell I was thinking saying I should put an optic cut on my 1911's - clearly I was sober at the time 🤣

I too can hit anything I need to at a distance I'd use a 1911 for defensive use, and with a bit more practice ringing the 1 square foot steel target at 50 yards will be common place.
Click to expand...
The Scorpion isnt a bad gun at all, but they get no respect in the 1911 world. Sig took some liberties with the design that purists don't like. I've shot one but I made the sign of the cross before picking it up. :)
 
Racer88 said:
I agree, they just don't look "right" on a 1911. Kinda like those "tactical" lever-actions. Just ain't right! :)
Click to expand...
I really like lever actions. I have a few traditional models. Henry, Marlin, Winchester. I did buy the 9mm Tombstone on a whim. It's had mixed reviews. It's an interesting take on a PCC but there are better choices in that category.
 
Bongo Lewi said:
Sig took some liberties with the design that purists don't like.
Click to expand...
Truth. Most of us don’t like the look of external extractors. While probably more reliable and less prone to break (never broke one myself), they look odd on a 1911. Probably hurts the sales of S&W 1911’s as well. Also the squared oversized slide on the Sigs limits holster choices. Shame because the Sigs I shot performed really well.
 
Personally, I don't have a problem with a RDS milled slide for a 1911. Shrugs. No problem at all. Now if that requires an external extractor that's just what it requires.

" Shame because the Sigs I shot performed really well."

It's that inbred idiocy snobbery that causes great products to fail. Until, years later, when the buying public wises up and finds out just a great product it was. Autos, firearms, etc....lots of historical examples there.

I for one would buy one just to piss the 'purists' off, knowing it's a great gun. Let them miss out. Pfft. While I laugh at their "superiority".
 
Bongo Lewi said:
I really like lever actions. I have a few traditional models. Henry, Marlin, Winchester. I did buy the 9mm Tombstone on a whim. It's had mixed reviews. It's an interesting take on a PCC but there are better choices in that category.
Click to expand...
That is next on my list, a nice centerfire lever action. My FIL right before he went terminal, had purchased a Marlin in .44mag. My BIL has it now. I don't think it had ever been fired.
 
The only way I could see an RDS on a 1911 is if the slide was milled for it so it sat low enough so it didn't look like an ATM kiosk sticking up. I've never shot one with a RDS setup.

OTOH, I could see that on the PRODIGY (2011) which is already milled for one. When using the right RDS that the slide is milled for it definitely buys you a lower ride on the slide.

The Reflex is another, subcompact smaller sidearm I could see carrying with the right RDS. Not one of those bulbous suckers that would defeat the purpose of the REFLEX...but would likely shine on a shotgun.
 
One Ping Only said:
The only way I could see an RDS on a 1911 is if the slide was milled for it so it sat low enough so it didn't look like an ATM kiosk sticking up. I've never shot one with a RDS setup.

OTOH, I could see that on the PRODIGY (2011) which is already milled for one. When using the right RDS that the slide is milled for it definitely buys you a lower ride on the slide.

The Reflex is another, subcompact smaller sidearm I could see carrying with the right RDS. Not one of those bulbous suckers that would defeat the purpose of the REFLEX...but would likely shine on a shotgun.
Click to expand...
To me, the slides and frame of 2011's (Prodigy, Staccato, BUL, others) are better designed for an optic. It doesnt look like an awkward add-on to me. Fatter grip, lower profile, bull barrel... the optic seems to belong to the gun. Do aesthetics matter? Not really, but the height of the optic does.

I think we have discussed the Reflex before. Awesome carry gun. Now there's an extended slide version. I read the Reflex is the only firearm in the FN lineup what was not designed in Belgium. The US FN team took on the project as a skunkworks kind of thing and bypassed the conservative culture at FN Belgium. The trigger is awesome.
 
One Ping Only said:
That is next on my list, a nice centerfire lever action. My FIL right before he went terminal, had purchased a Marlin in .44mag. My BIL has it now. I don't think it had ever been fired.
Click to expand...
I have a 45-70 Marlin. The new Ruger Marlins are better made. Marlin had some QA issues toward the end of their journey - before Ruger bought them. I had to send it back for some warranty work. It was fixed, but shipping a long gun is a real pain in the ass. The 45-70 is a badass round.
 
I've always had a huge respect for the formidable .45-70, and have always wanted a rifle in that caliber. It is indeed a badass round, in spite of its age. I just don't have a justification to have one. How about "just because." ?? lol. I've been trying to talk myself away from a LeverAction in .45-70 for something a bit more uhh, 'practical'. snort. our LGS just got in a LA Henry in .45LC. Droolworthy, in stainless with wood furniture that appears, at causal glance, to be synthetic- but it's wood. It's so cool.
 
One Ping Only said:
I've always had a huge respect for the formidable .45-70, and have always wanted a rifle in that caliber. It is indeed a badass round, in spite of its age. I just don't have a justification to have one. How about "just because." ?? lol. I've been trying to talk myself away from a LeverAction in .45-70 for something a bit more uhh, 'practical'. snort. our LGS just got in a LA Henry in .45LC. Droolworthy, in stainless with wood furniture that appears, at causal glance, to be synthetic- but it's wood. It's so cool.
Click to expand...
Of all the calibers I've ever fired, the .45-70 was the most unpleasant recoil I have ever felt. And that includes a Barrett .50-BMG (which wasn't bad, IMO).
 
20250312_025945.jpg
 
Racer88 said:
Of all the calibers I've ever fired, the .45-70 was the most unpleasant recoil I have ever felt. And that includes a Barrett .50-BMG (which wasn't bad, IMO).
Click to expand...
OK Nancy. :) :)

But seriously... the recoil is not trivial. What sold me was a video of a guy shooting a Marlin 45-70 at a boulder that was about 3 feet wide. He shot it from 50 yards or so and it split the rock clean in half.

I get that it was probably limestone or some other soft rock ... but who cares? Imagine what it does to pink squishy stuff. The only purpose of a rifle of that type is to kill something. Bear, cat, bad guy... there's no debate with the round getting the job done.
 
Last edited:
Racer88 said:
Of all the calibers I've ever fired, the .45-70 was the most unpleasant recoil I have ever felt. And that includes a Barrett .50-BMG (which wasn't bad, IMO).
Click to expand...
Second on the 45-70 it's pretty bad with the 400gr lead projectile . I have a 300wsm in a Winchester model 70 featherweight that kicks like donkey when loaded with 65 to 79 gr of H4560. That's no fun either !
 
One Ping Only said:
That is next on my list, a nice centerfire lever action. My FIL right before he went terminal, had purchased a Marlin in .44mag. My BIL has it now. I don't think it had ever been fired.
Click to expand...
I have always wanted a Henry. Don't care what caliber it's in , just want shiney brass parts ! 〽️
 
All this rifle talk is making me jealous. A torn labrum in my right shoulder and probably the same in my left. Never had it diagnosed but same symptoms. Needless to say anything more than a .556 ain’t in my cards anymore. A long time ago at a range in Vegas I saw a guy shooting 2 Ruger No. 1’s. A 458 WinMag and a 375 H&H. He let me shoot them. That 458 was a nice stout shove whereas the 375 felt like a sledgehammer to my shoulder. Wanted a 458 after that but it never materialized. Now when it comes to handguns, I’m a recoil junky.
 
I bought a closed cell butt stock pad for my Winchester model 70 at Sportsman's Warehouse and it tamed the recoil quite a bit. Just Sayin' 😁
 

Share this page

Back
Top