(+4 rating, 4 votes)
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Normally, the focus of gear-related articles here is whether they are geared for duty use. I try to look at gear in that light – especially thinking back to when I started in the profession. However, back then, we were not inundated with the amount of technology and advertising you all are hit with today.
And, we have our biases. What we have seen and heard about a manufacturer cannot help but impact our perspectives and views. As I look back, my initial response to this idea was not positive.
As with many other optics, the controls are on the left side of the housing. Power up or down, and changing the reticle.
Guess What?
A couple of months later, I received one of O-Sight’s rechargeable red dot sights for a review. I have a few months of shooting with it in a variety of situations.
What O-Sight has done with optic is to develop and field a large frame pistol-mounted optic that does not require a removable battery or make use of solar charging to power the reticle. The design works on the Trijicon RMR (and Holosun 407c/507c) footprint – one that is common, if not the closest thing we have to an industry standard.
Dimensionally, the O-Sight is consistent with other competition-focused optics.
The optic’s square window is dimensionally similar to other competition-focused optics from two different manufacturers. That supports O-Sight’s marketing of this optic to both beginners and competitive shooters.
How it all showed up.
The Whole Thing
The optic arrived in the packaging shown above. It came with the charging hood and cable, mounting tool, and a well-done user’s manual.
One of my M&P 2.0 Compact pistols has a slide that is cut for the RMR footprint. After cleaning and degreasing, I mounted the optic on it using the method I have covered before. There were no issues during the mounting process. The screws had loosened up at one point; however, it was easily identified with the witness marks showing it had happened.
This is the charging surface on the optic.
The optic’s charger can be plugged into any original USB port. Once it is charged up, you use it to charge the optic. That is done by putting it over the top of the optic. Once on, there did not appear to be any issues with the laying combination on its side.
At first, I attached the charging hood and left it alone for a few days. That initial charge lasted about two months. A subsequent charge is still going strong at over 25%, well beyond the 60-day mark.
Confirming zero during the review process.
Zero
My initial effort at zeroing took place at 15 yards using a tripod, deck, and sandbag. This was accomplished with minimal effort and ammunition, like within 15 rounds.
At about the 500 rounds, I shot to confirm my initial zero. I found that it shifted to the right – even when benched. After re-zeroing it, it held that.
Changing the reticle changed the point of impact for me. Tripod rested 15 yard groups. The X-Ring group came from the open circle, while the 9 ring resulted from the single dot.
Favorite Feature
Having used battery-powered, un-magnified optics on duty (military & law enforcement) for over twenty-five years, I have developed one or two nearly set-in-stone positions. One of those involves reticles, I stayed with a clean, 3-3.25 minute of angle (MOA) dot versus a busier circle dot with tick marks. A few years ago, another optical manufacturer introduced a better mousetrap. They gave us the 32 MOA open circle reticle – no dot in the middle, no specific aiming point. Focus your visual attention on what you want to hit, let that reticle appear in the line between your eyes and the target, refined based on the nature of the shot, then press the trigger without kicking the reticle out of the glass.
One issue I did note is that there was a point of aim and point of impact shift based on the reticle. Normally, with an open circle reticle in an optic, I zero it and leave the reticle set there. On my last planned range day, I shot a 15-yard group with the open circle. Then, for reasons that are not entirely clear to me, I switched it to the 3 MOA single dot and shot another group with it.
There was a point of impact shift between the two, specifically, from the top third of the X ring to the 9 ring, outside of the 10 ring, at about 12:45.
I am going to do more with this across the variety of optics I have with the multiple reticle system to see how common this is.
The charger slips over the optic while it is on the slide. It can be plugged in or used by itself once charged.
Match
Part of my review on optics and handguns is to run them through at least one match. I shot an indoor, IDPA-like local match. The reticle’s brightness was such that I had no difficulty seeing or perceiving it. The O-Sight helped get the shots where I needed them to go, when I did my part.
The iPhone camera doesn’t see the reticle like me eye does. Regardless, here is the open circle.
Final Thought
The optic’s performance exceeded my expectations.
O-Sight markets this as a sight for beginners and IDPA or USPSA competitors, and that is spot on. Aside from IDPA or USPSA matches, with an MSRP of $229, I can see its use on rental guns and organizationally for pre-academy training when buying duty-rated optics would be cost-prohibitive on pistols that aren’t seeing constant street usage.
