Red Dot on Woods Defense Handgun (Glock 20)

[treillw]

I'm going to pick up a Glock 20. I'm kicking around the idea of putting a red dot on it. There are some things about the red dot that I think would be great, but other things that worry me a little. I would definitely have tritium backup sights, no matter what. My biggest fear with the red dot is that the glass will get frosted up when it's 10 below with the wind chill. Last year I had my rifle sitting on the ground on the bipod when I was glassing and it was getting a coating of frost on it. The red dot would be more protected on my side in the holster, but it's still concerning. Anyone have any experiences with this?

I'm also wondering how the red dot battery would hold up in these temperatures. This is less of a concern, because if the dot goes out I will just use the tritium sights. Nevertheless, I'm curious. Experiences?

If I were to get the slide milled, does anybody make a metal piece to fill in the milled area on the slide if I were to take the red dot off when winter hits?

Thanks!

 

[Downeaster]

I had considered the same and was gonna get the long slide version to make the optics situation easier. As fate would have it i ended up with the plain old twenty with trijicons and im glad i did. Guides choice holster and i was good to go. I wear it in all seasons and im sure sweat in summer and condensation in winter would have caused me undue stress. If you end up going that route, let me know how u like it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Looking forward to your review after you’ve tried it out. I personally wouldn’t go that route myself. I carry glock 20s whenever I go out, I was carrying one today. They are great guns and I’ve more or less switched over 100% from my revolvers. I do t like He idea of the red dot because it seems like it just adds another link to the chain, in the even you actually need to use the gun thugs are going to be happening very quickly, I’d hate to have a red dot sight fail but still be there in my way, I suppose training a lot with the set up is what it comes down to but I prefer to keep things simple.

As mentioned, the diamond customs guide holster is sweet, I’ve used those for years but this past year I’ve switched over to the gunfighters inc kenai chest rig, in my opinion the g20 and the kenai are a match made in heaven.

 

[texag10]

Here's a thread about red dots on carry pistols going back 7 years. IIRC there's a guy that does a lot of fly in hunting in AK that has broken about every micro red dot out there on his pistols, goes by GJM.

EDIT: Seems the consensus is the Trijicon RMR 2 is the way to go.

 

[ramont]

Personally I don't see the value in a red dot for self defense in the sticks, but then a Glock 20 isn't my choice either. Any pistol is a last ditch self defense weapon and I prefer to keep them as simple as possible so that if I have to use them I can feel confident that it will function, the more complicated the sighting system the better the chance that it will fail at the worst possible moment. Also, unless you practice with that red dot a lot (ie, a total of a couple thousand times at a minimum), you wont even use that red dot if you ever have to deploy it in a life or death situation, your fear response will cause you to focus on whatever sighting process you brain and muscles are most used to.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

It looks like I'm going against the grain here. A quality red dot works well, battery life will be very good, and is quick to acquire. If it is good enough for self defense on the streets, and in war time situations hunting wont be an issue.

Esse quam videri

 

[treillw]

Also, unless you practice with that red dot a lot (ie, a total of a couple thousand times at a minimum), you wont even use that red dot if you ever have to deploy it in a life or death situation, your fear response will cause you to focus on whatever sighting process you brain and muscles are most used to.

It is my understanding that the red dot has a large advantage in this department. In a life threatening situation your brain is extremely focused on what is threatening you. The challenging thing is then to get your focus off of the threat and onto your front sight. That is the advantage of a red dot sight. It allows you to naturally threat focus and you just need to put that red dot on the threat and pull the trigger

It is also only one thing that you need to worry about aligning, as opposed to worrying about your front and rear sight while your trying to track an object bouncing towards you through the trees.

These are the main reasons I'm considering it. Wish I had a friend with one that I could just test it out to see how it works before dropping the cash.

 

[Beendare]

The red dots are great....its the packing them through the woods part that makes them less effective.

You know all of that junk thats in your holster at the end of the day? That would be al over your red dot when you need it most...

Lots of these things come down to the difference between target shooting and hunting...