Aiming

How quickly you hit depends a lot on how quickly you can see what you are aiming with. This section covers both ways of aiming a pistol: iron sights, which you line up front to rear, and red dots, which put one lit point on the target. It also holds the parts that attach a red dot to a slide, because on a pistol the optic is only as good as the way it is mounted.

Iron sights

Factory sights are often plastic, plain black or fixed. Replacement sets change three things. The sight picture: a fiber optic front collects daylight into a bright point, tritium vials glow in full darkness, and luminescent dots store light and keep glowing for some time. Adjustment: an adjustable rear has click screws for both axes, so you zero the gun with the ammunition you actually shoot. Height: co-witness sights stand tall enough to be seen through the window of a slide mounted red dot, so you still have a backup if the dot fails. All of them are sorted by brand and model in Sights.

Red dot sights

With a red dot your eye stays focused on the target instead of on the front sight, which many shooters find faster and easier on the eyes. The key word is footprint: the screw pattern on the bottom of the optic. Trijicon RMR, Shield RMSc, Holosun K-series, Leupold DPP and Aimpoint Acro are the most common. A footprint describes the holes, not the brand, so a Holosun or Vector Optics dot built to the RMR pattern fits any RMR plate or mount. Features worth comparing are dot size in MOA, enclosed or open emitter, solar backup and motion activated wake up. See Red dot sights.

Plates and mounts

A slide with a factory optics cut, marked OR, MOS or OSP depending on the maker, takes a plate that matches the footprint of your dot: Optics ready plates. If it has no cut, a mount sits in the rear sight dovetail and carries the dot, with no milling: Red dot mounts. Some plates have a rear sight machined in, and some frame mounts hold the dot on the frame instead of the moving slide.

Which to choose

For bullseye or precision shooting with good light, adjustable iron sights with a fiber front are a simple and durable choice. For low light, tritium. For speed and for eyes that struggle to focus on a front sight, a red dot, ideally with co-witness irons as a backup. Whatever you choose, start from your exact model and slide version.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find out which footprint my dot has?

It is stated in the optic's specification and in every dot's title or description here. If you buy a dot and a plate together, pick both for the same footprint.

Can I keep my iron sights with a red dot?

Yes, with co-witness sights that are tall enough to show through the window. On a dovetail mount the rear sight is replaced, so co-witness is only possible on an optics cut slide or with a plate that has a rear sight.

How fast do you ship?

Orders placed by 8 AM CET leave our warehouse in Jaroměř, Czech Republic, the same business day; later orders the next business day.