Red-dot optics have come a considerable way in just a couple decades. They used to be fairly large and bulky and not terribly precise. In contrast, the red-dot sights on the market today are high-tech wonders. When not in use, they shut down on their own to extend battery life. Controls are precise, the internal circuitry is more advanced than ever before, and the housings can take a beating without affecting function.
The newest trend is to make red-dots small enough to be very compatible with today’s compact and sub-compact handguns preferred by so many concealed carry practitioners. Often termed “micros,” these diminutive red-dots are a big draw for many customers, especially with first-time gun owners who like the simplicity of putting that red dot on the target and pulling the trigger.
These micro red-dots are popular and profitable, and the smart tactical retailer needs to educate him or herself on what is available and how to sell it.
Recently, TR tested out three of these new micro red-dots, using the Sig P365 XL 9mm as the handgun of choice. The Sig P365 is a star in the concealed carry marketplace, and much of the red-dot industry is making their products compatible with this compact pistol.
For this article, TR used three micro red-dots: the Holosun 507K, Riton Optics’ X3 Tactix MPRD, and the Sig Sauer RomeoZero.
All three optics worked well, put the shooter on target quickly and were easy to adjust. They also sported different features and price points, and each is reviewed separately throughout the article.
As a retailer in the concealed carry market, you’ve noticed the flurry of “optics-ready” semi-automatic pistols now being offered. Generally, those pistols have a space milled out at the rear of the slide to allow for the attachment of a red-dot. A plate covers that milled area, and once removed, the red-dot optic fits onto the slide.
In theory, that is.
The problem you might find as you sell optics-ready pistols and the add-on optics to go with said pistols is little to no standardization at work. The slides on various optics-ready models are milled or cut out to a number of different footprints or patterns to fit the base on a specific type of red-dot. Translation: a pistol may be optics-ready, but only for certain optics.
Buck Holly is the President and Owner of C&H Precision Weapons LLC (www.chpws.com). His company is among the leaders in making adapter plates to fit the different red-dots to the various optics-ready pistols. The company makes plates for all the major handgun manufacturers, including Glock, Ruger, Smith & Wesson and others. Holly noted that over the past five years, anywhere between eight to 10 different footprints have appeared within the pistol-mounted-optics industry.
These micro red-dots are popular and profitable, and the smart tactical retailer needs to educate him or herself on what is available and how to sell it.”
“Thankfully, in the last 18 months, most manufacturers have conformed to one of the four most popular footprints,” Holly said. “The RMR/Holosun footprint is far and away the most popular footprint for pistol-mounted red-dots, followed by the DPP footprint and then the Docter footprint. The RMSc footprint dominates the concealed carry footprint.”
And the slide on the Sig P365 XL, it should be noted, is cut to the RMSc footprint.
Not only does C&H Precision Weapons make a large and growing number of adapter plates, but Holly’s company also mills slides to fit specific optics. And, C&H Precision Weapons has Dealer and Distributor programs. With several of the more popular adapter plates on hand, the FFL can sell the whole package to customers — optics-ready pistol, optic and adapter plate — for satisfied customers ready to hit the range and, yes, a larger profit for the FFL.
How to sell? Well, the easiest sale within this market may be the Sig P365 XL RomeoZero, which is Sig’s semi-automatic 9mm with a Sig RomeoZero micro optic already mounted and zeroed.
“Our handgun and the attached optic are designed to work together, so you get greater performance and increased accuracy in a way that is radically simple,” said Jason Wright, Sig’s senior director of brand management. “We are the only company truly integrating an optic and handgun together in a single system, already zeroed and ready to shoot right out of the box.”
And, Wright noted, the P365 XL plus RomeoZero package is less expensive than buying a pistol and an optic separately, and then purchasing an adapter plate or taking it all to a gunsmith to make ready.
For those customers who already have a handgun and are looking for an optic by itself? Let those customers know that red-dots possess advantages over iron sights. A shooter only has to place the red dot on the target for a hit; with iron sights, a shooter has to align the rear and front sights at the same time. The latter takes more time and reduces the shooter’s field of view to the sights and what is directly in front.
With a red-dot, though, the shooter can keep both eyes open and can easily see to the sides of their targets — extremely important in self-defense and tactical situations.
Having to only focus on that single, illuminated red dot is also much easier for shooters with vision problems.
Brice McCunn manages and co-owns McCunn Specialty Firearms, a retail establishment with a six-lane handgun range located in Massena, Iowa, roughly midway between Des Moines and Omaha, Nebraska. Once a customer shows some interest in a red-dot model, McCunn said nothing beats a hands-on showing to make a sale.
“You show the guest just how quick it is to find the dot on the target by letting him or her handle it,” McCunn said. “After pulling the firearm up a few times, the guest realizes just how much quicker it is than traditional sights they have been using for years.”
He added, “We do have the advantage of an indoor shooting range, so letting a guest actually test run, for example, the Sig P365XL with the Romeo Zero, is the easiest way to sell. Once the firearm is in the range and the guest has an opportunity to run a magazine through it, they are generally impressed with the ease of shooting and getting back and staying on target. Once they shoot it? We almost always have a sale!”
Don’t have a range? You can still up your sales odds by making sure various optics are mounted on handguns. Maybe set up a target on a wall someplace and take customer and a red-dot-mounted pistol to that location and have him or her line up the dot on the target. As McCunn noted, you want the customer to experience how quickly they can get that dot on the target.
Selling a micro red-dot like the Riton The X3 Tactix MPRD starts with how many pistols the optic fits. As in, it fits right onto, no adapter plate needed.
“Our The X3 Tactix MPRD sight fits multiple styles of pistols, which include Glock 48 MOS, Glock 43X MOS, the SCCY DVG1RD, CPX-1RD and CPX-2RD, the Springfield Hellcat and, of course, the Sig P365,” said Tony Tarantino, Riton’s marketing manager. “Also, stress the Riton Promise Warranty. It is a no-questions-asked, full lifetime and transferable warranty. We replace the optic with a new optic if anything goes wrong. We go one step further in replacing that optic within 48 hours once it’s received at our Tucson, Arizona, facility.”
Concealed carry is a huge draw for the gun-buying public. And the new micro red dots will only add to the attractiveness of an FFL’s product mix and selection. Don’t wait any longer to get in on this profitable line.
Holosun HS507K
The HS507K featured a bright, easy-to-see reticle, even in full sunlight. The controls allowed for a quick zeroing, with precise adjustments. The HS507K boasts an amazing 50,000 hours of battery life, plus Holosun’s Shake Awake technology, an automatic on/auto-off feature — the optic remains ready when needed and shuts off when not.
The battery is easily replaced with one of the very few side-tray battery compartments on the market today. Multi-Reticle System lets the shooter choose from a 2-MOA dot only, a 32-MOA ring only, or the combination of both, with no re-zeroing needed when cycling between choices. MSRP: $341
Sig Sauer RomeoZero
The Sig P365 XL RomeoZero features the optic already mounted and zeroed. Right out of the box, this pistol/optic combo put rounds on target! The RomeoZero itself has a 20,000-hour battery life on a single CR 1632 cell, a tough polymer housing and a molded polymer aspheric lens. It’s offered with a 3- or 6-MOA red dot with eight illumination settings — all in an ultra-compact unit that weighs less than half an ounce! MSRP: Sig RomeoZero separately: $219.99; Sig P365 XL RomeoZero: $679
Riton X3 Tactix MPRD
The Riton X3 Tactix MPRD was extremely compact and sported a 3-MOA dot that aided in shooting precisely and getting on target quickly. Designed on the RMSc footprint, the optic fits right onto a host of pistols and was easily secured to my Sig P365 XL. It features a 12-hour auto shut-off and 1-MOA elevation and windage adjustments. The housing is made of tough aluminum. The review X3 was quickly zeroed, the dot easy to pick up. Battery life is rated at 50,00 hours, with 10 levels of red illumination, and it is night-vision compatible on illumination levels 1 and 2. MSRP: $299
