Red Dot Sights in the Modern Pistol Technique

The Mainstream Paradigm of Slide-mounted Pistol Optics

The paradigm of slide-mounted optics on duty and concealed handguns have been mainstream since the mid 2010s, as optics have gotten durable enough, holsters have become available in all sorts of carry configurations, and mainstream handgun manufacturers have released optics-ready versions of their handguns to easily facilitate the mounting of slide-mounted optics. For example, Glock has released their Modular Optics System (MOS) system for their handguns since their public 2015 introduction at Shot Show. The US Military’s MHS system putting emphasis on modularity and the use of the Leupold Deltapoint Pro mounting system, and the following adoption of the SIG P320 M17 and M18 family of handguns. While miniaturized red dot sights do exist from offerings such as from Noblex, Doctor, and Burris did exist, it was only until the release of the Type 2 Trijicon RMR red dot sight which was a viable and durable enough option to withstand duty use. From there several manufacturers have released their own version of slide-compatible red dot sights with features such as enclosed optics, changeable reticles, small form factors, solar-backup, sensors compatible with weapon-mounted lights, among other features.

A Brief History on the use of Optics on Handguns

The concept of mounting a sighting system on a handgun is not new, while in the early history of firearms sights were not mounted to them; when they were sighted they were often affixed with some form of iron sights. One of the first attempts to mount an optic to a shoulder-fired firearm was done by Charles Willson Peale, an American. According to logs in Peale’s diary, he attempted to mount a telescope to a long rifle in January 1776, after initial testing and firing the telescoped rifle, Peale was the first person to get scope kiss. In early February 1776 Peale invented the first scope eyecup.

With the relative miniaturisation of optics and the development of rifled cartridge-based firearms. Accuracy and consistency was further facilitated. One of the first documented developments was created by the Volcanic Repeating Arms company in the mid-1850s. According to Ian McCollum, a small-scale production run of 500 Volcanic scoped repeating pistol-carbines was produced. Details are vague surrounding the pistol, yet it is a major step towards the development of optics-mounted pistols.

Until the 1970s most handguns were used with iron sights, and among that sights were often crude, small, and non-adjustable. Adjustable iron sights were used in bullseye competitions, and one of the most well-known early examples of semi-automatic handguns being modified for the use of easier-sighted shooting as well as optimized for speed. In 1969 the Oxford company did release a scope mount to attach to the grip panel of a 1911 handgun.

Further into the decade, there had been use of optics being mounted on handguns for military and police use. For example, the French GIGN counter-terrorism unit have used the scoped MR-73 .357 Magnum revolver for their police application; attached with a Bushnell 2.5x scope and bipod. This particular revolver was used to fulfill the role of a precision weapon in which a traditional rifle would be too powerful and heavy. While robust and suitable for it’s intended role, it was still too bulky for use with a holster.

By the 1980s telescopic sights were being offered commercially along with handguns. These optics and pistols are designed to extend the range of a handgun, and not necessarily used for close ranges nor for speed. Such examples include the Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer II semi-automatic pistol with a magnified optic, and the Thompson Contender single-shot handgun with a magnified optic.

During the late 1980s electronic reflex sights have been mounted to semi-automatic handguns for use in competitions. These optics; manufactured by Tasco, Aimpoint, among others, use a frame-mounted mount. The combination of an electronic reflex sight to a semi-automatic handgun has displayed the proof of concept of speed and accuracy compared to iron-sighted handguns. In which a target focus can result in better identification and to facilitate significantly faster aim. This development has followed the pattern mirroring optics for long arms, in which once the technology has become compact enough, they would be used with handguns. The additional challenge for handguns is that they often are delegated for carry in a holster.

Later in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, further development in optics was created. Such examples include the Bushnell Holosight, the predecessor to the Eotech holographic reflex sight, as well as the C-More reflex sight, a still-popular competition optic. While the concept of a red dot handgun was in common practice among competition; it is still too bulky for effective concealed carry nor was it robust enough for duty use.

In the early 2000s miniaturized optics to be mounted to slides did exist, for example Kelly McCann mounted a Doctor miniaturized red dot sight to the slide of a Glock handgun in 2003. The 2009 release of the Type I Trijicon RMR, solidified the use of the RMR footprint, the most popular use of open-emitter red dot sights. In 2011, Safariland released a version of their ALS duty holster to be intended for use with Doctor-sighted handguns, yet to this day continues to be popular with the use of other optics such as from Trijicon, Holosun, and Aimpoint. With miniaturized red dot sights becoming robust enough, with standardized mounting footprints, and with excellent holster availability, they’ve been used in the mainstream by major institutions, and most major handgun manufacturers release a version that can accept optics in stock form with the intention for duty use or daily carry.

A Brief Overview of Gunsite and the Modern Technique of the Pistol

Gunsite, formerly known as the American Pistol Institute, was one of the first firearms schools that was open to the citizenry; founded by Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper in 1976 in Paulden, Arizona. Gunsite was one of the first institutions to drive innovation for the defensive use of firearms and established contemporary American handgun doctrine.

Cooper was among the first to take elements from earlier innovations in handgun use and codify his own ideas and combine them into a teachable doctrine known as the Modern Technique of the Pistol. These include Jack Weaver’s Weaver Stance; a two-handed firing grip, the failure drill, also known as the Mozambique drill from Cooper’s observations in Africa, sighted handgun firing, a flash-sight picture, the use of a chambered and cocked handgun when holstered, aiming for the upper chest and the head (t-zone), use of a semi-automatic pistol chambered in a larger handgun caliber, and the commonly used four firearms safety rules. While these practices are commonplace today and could be taken for granted, the Modern Technique of the Pistol was the foundation of them.

Other innovations and concepts by Cooper would include the Scout Rifle, a lightweight 308 caliber bolt action rifle, as well as the Bren Ten, a 10mm caliber semi-automatic handgun.

The Modern Technique was quite innovative for the time. For example, while Cooper’s advocacy of the 45 caliber single-stack 1911 can be seen as dated today, the use of a larger-caliber semi-automatic handgun was innovative compared to the contemporary use of 38 caliber revolvers commonly used in the United States at the time by both citizenry and law enforcement, which then changed due to the events of the 1986 Miami-Dade shootout. Post-Miami Dade law enforcement switched to semi-automatic handguns as their service pistol. Similarly there is the use of larger calibers such as 9x19mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP in concealed carry compared to the use of 25 ACP, 380 ACP, or 32 ACP. The use of a two-handed sighted firing grip is an innovation still used today compared to the use of one-handed point shooting, in which the support hand can help facilitate faster speed, stronger grip, and recoil control, similarly with the effective use of sights. Failure drills are commonly used in the practices of law enforcement, military, and personal defense. The use of a chambered, cocked, and holstered handgun is favored even today compared to chamber-empty condition 3 Israeli carry.

Gunsite, the Modern Pistol Technique, and the use of Pistol Red Dot Sughts.

While foundationally good, in the late 2010s Gunsite’s Modern Technique and gun handling was becoming old in the tooth. In my own experience coming to the basic pistol course, the 250 Pistol course in 2018 the gun handling has become dated with introduction of double-stacked polymer framed 9mm pistols, and that there was no instructions relating to the use of slide-mounted red dot handguns. The use of a flash-sight picture, in which the front sight would be used as a reference point for aiming a handgun, would not translate to the use of a red dot equipped handgun which the red dot is used as a primary aiming system. With higher round count drills a single-stack handgun would be less practical, and carrying more than two total magazines is rather impractical for carry. Around that time, the makeup of pistols and calibers would be around 33 percent of them would be 45 caliber single-stack 1911s, 60 percent of them 9mm Glocks, and the remainder a 40 caliber Glock and a 9mm Sig P226. All pistols were equipped with iron sights.

With this decade Gunsite has updated and rehauled their curriculum with new handbooks and concepts. Starting in 2020 Gunsite has offered their pistol courses with the use of red dot sights. While iron sight use is still taught, especially in the context of back up sights, the circculum has revolved around the use of the slide-mounted red dot sight. I myself recently of August 2023 I enrolled in their 350 Intermediate Pistol Course with a Shadow Systems MR920, a clone of the Gen4 Glock 19 with the ability to take a direct mount RMR optic and some ergonomic improvements. Inside the course I learned about the use of the red dot sight within the modern technique, the limitations of red dot sights, auxiliary aiming techniques of red dot handguns, and proper use of the pistol equipped with a red dot sight. After familiarization of how to draw the pistol and get a sight picture; speed, marksmanship, and target identification has become significantly easier. While I did have less repetition and time behind a red dot handgun, my own speed and accuracy has been at worst the same, and at best significantly faster. I graduated from the course with an Marksman I grade, a significant improvement.

From my experience of the 350 Pistol Red Dot Course, the main changes from the original doctrine would be to use the housing of the optic as a reference point instead of using the front sight as an index and greater use of modern double stack 9mm pistols.

With my own observations at the course, all students had a 9mm double-stack striker fired handgun. Two Smith and Wesson M&P pistols, one Springfield Echelon, and the rest are Glocks. One Aimpoint ACRO was present, one Trijicon RCR, two RMRs, one RMRc, and the rest are Holosuns.

The new updates of Gunsite in their doctrine are apparent in the new flagship pistol, a 9mm Glock 45 with a Holosun 509T. While the Gunsite Colt 1911 is still being sold, the Glock is becoming more popular. Sure, Lt. Col Cooper may be rolling in his grave that a 9mm Glock with an Chinese optic is now the flagship, but it has proven to be a reliable and effective weapon system. Besides, he can also roll in his grave by having anime grips slapped onto the 1911 sold by his own institution as well. The Modern Technique of the Pistol can still be applied with today’s technology, challenges, and practices.