First Impressions – Aimpoint’s COA and Glock’s A-Cut
For as long as we've been mounting miniaturized optics on pistol slides, there have been debates over the mounting footprints. Several designs have come and gone, while a few have established themselves across multiple manufacturers. Many have voiced a hope that the firearms and optics industries would unite and standardize on just a few footprints, paving the way for a more streamlined and efficient future. The COA Glock in recoil as I'm shooting a [...]
In The Heat Of The Night
Night vision is cool. No doubt about it. It is just a few weeks past the 40th anniversary of my first use of night vision. That was in basic training, and the night vision scope on an M16A1 rifle was about as long as the barrel. The quality of the [...]
Big Window, Nice Reticles – Holosun’s 507 Comp Pistol Optic
Announced this year at SHOT, Holosun’s 507 Comp – for competition – optic made its way into mailboxes and retail stores back in May. With some time behind it, here are my thoughts so far. One of the “secrets” to shooting a pistol-mounted optic is shifting your visual attention and [...]
Accessorizing Your Acro With TangoDown
It's been at least eighteen years since I learned about Tango Down. I met its proprietor – Jeff Cahill – a few years later. I was hosting a Pat Rogers / EAG carbine class for my department. He had developed a unique target design with another company I was working [...]
C&H Precision’s Pistol Optics
C & H Precision is a good size player in the pistol-mounted optics world. Ok, hold on, before the editor (me) gets a letter about red dot sights versus pistol-mounted optics, I did not make the term up to be cool or different. As two of the largest law enforcement [...]
Keeping Your Lights and Dots Clean
Weapon-mounted lights and pistol optics both get dirty. Within a range session or three, it is not difficult for a layer of burnt-on crap to begin solidifying on the downrange lens. That crud causes two problems. With a weapon-mounted light, it robs you of lumen and candela that should be [...]
Aimpoint Duty RDS
The Aimpoint Duty RDS (Red Dot Sight) is the red dot sight solution the world has been waiting for. It offers Aimpoint quality at a more accessible price point. This compact, high-grade reflex optic was designed to meet the needs of the modern law enforcement officer. The Duty RDS offers [...]
Options for Mounting Your Red Dot Sight
If you've missed it, pistol-mounted optics (PMO), also known as red dots, are "here," they are staying; they are not going away. So, how do you put one – or more – on your pistol(s)? There are several ways to mount that dot. Some work with a stock slide, then [...]
OUT OF THE DARK | A Guide to Night Sights
A five-year study of “California Peace Officers Killed and Assaulted in the Line of Duty,” published by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) in November 2001 found that most officer-involved shootings occur within the first two minutes of the officer arriving on scene with no time [...]
Holosun AEMS Optic
Ever struggle to look through glass? With a wide field of view in a lightweight package, Holosun seeks to solve this issue, offering more glass in a small size with a modest price point. The new Holosun Advanced Enclosed Micro Sight (AEMS) weighs 3.9 oz. and is designed for various [...]
LOW POWERED VARIABLE OPTICS AND THE PATROL CARBINE
Over the last ten years or so, the use of low powered variable optics (LPVOs) on M4 carbines has become the standard set-up for most U.S. Special Operations forces and military units. LPVOs allow the user to have both near and far aiming capabilities via a turn of a [...]