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Hellcat OSP Optic choices

Thanks. Shooting often isn't happening as I'm getting low on ammo. Down to 500 rounds total. 150 JHP's. Not wasting those.
Nearest place is an hour away and they DON'T have any red dots on any firearms. Academy has two mounted on guns but they removed the batteries. Really? Friends all left when they got laid off and I moved to a small town where I purchased a house since I'm retired.
 
New to the Site but can someone tell exactly what model of the shield red dot I need for my Hellcat? Best and lowest price? They say people with astigmatism have issues with red dots so what would I need 4, 6 or 8?
Thanks


I'm the guy a few pages back the suggested a smaller dot. I shoot USPSA carry optics and Holosun 507c.

I bought the 3MOA Sentinel shake and wake version. I don't want auto dimming. I wanted a consistent brightness for reasons you can read earlier in this thread.

For a dot sized small enough for a Hellcat, you don't need a 6 or 8 MOA. you aren't shooting farther than 15 yards. You can, but if you do that regularly, just get a full size handgun. The Hellcat excels at concealibility and close enough to grab you sort of confrontations. It's not intended to be a 30 yard target pistol.

So a small red dot is what competitive shooters use because it allows you to see the target better. If you are concerned about the small size of the dot, just turn up the brightness more and the lens will bleed more and the dot will appear bigger. Problem solved.

If you choose the bigger dot you cannot dial it down.

I spent a lot of ammo shooting the Holosun out of my Canik tp9sfx using the giant 32 MOA circle dot crosshair reticle combo. Initially this helped me acquire targets fast while I got used to using red dots in general. But in the long term, it wasn't doing me any favors and my acquisition times plateaued until to switched to the smaller dot.

One I was using the smaller dot, i really started focusing on my grip and draw to get consistency. Once I got that down, and you can do it dry firing, I didn't need to search around in the glass for the dot like I did when I first started shooting red dots.

So my advice is to shoot the **** out of the Hellcat and dry fire that sucker hella lots until you get it right.

Every day, before I leave the house, I unload and practice my draw and dot acquisition. It's a perishable skill and if you don't stay on top of it, you get sloppy. And that ain't good.
 
My sentinel arrived today. I had no problems mounting it. Screws were clearly marked for Hellcat. Chef recommends. Do it. Now if I could only find 9mm...
 

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I think I'll be careful with the dry firing. My sons Hellcat striker broke twice. Once cleaning and dry firing it and once at the range. SA blamed him for not using snap caps and then blamed the ammo. He shot JHP's, and ball ammo all different brands.
 
I think I'll be careful with the dry firing. My sons Hellcat striker broke twice. Once cleaning and dry firing it and once at the range. SA blamed him for not using snap caps and then blamed the ammo. He shot JHP's, and ball ammo all different brands.
Use it to death IMO.
 
Get a practice laser bullet. Pink Rhino is cheap and works well. It protects your striker and gives you a visible shot location.
 
Get a practice laser bullet. Pink Rhino is cheap and works well. It protects your striker and gives you a visible shot location.

I second that.

And I confirm the pink rhino works with the Laser Hit app which is free. I use mine all the time through the Hellcat. Have Amazon ship the laser to you.

I just printed a b&w target on 8.5x11 and was in the dry fire business.
 
The LaserHit app is fantastic and if you have an iPhone and AppleTV (maybe other solutions too) you can mirror your iPhone screen on a big screen TV so it is easy to see where you are hitting the target. The App will work with any target you create of you can download and print their targets or order their targets pre-printed from them. It provides sound effects too and is a lot of fun. You can do timing tests on a variety of skills so a great solution for dry fire practice. They also sell their own bullet that is supposed to be higher precision.
 
The LaserHit app is fantastic and if you have an iPhone and AppleTV (maybe other solutions too) you can mirror your iPhone screen on a big screen TV so it is easy to see where you are hitting the target. The App will work with any target you create of you can download and print their targets or order their targets pre-printed from them. It provides sound effects too and is a lot of fun. You can do timing tests on a variety of skills so a great solution for dry fire practice. They also sell their own bullet that is supposed to be higher precision.
I use the free version with my android phone and it's fine for what it is. I think I ordered the non "high def" laser which was supposed to work for android. The high def one may not work on android or so they say.

I only know, mine works fine.
 
I just ordered a pink rhino laser trainer. So, how does it work? You must have to rack each time to dry fire, but that would eject the device each time, right? Thanks for the clarification ahead of time 🙂
 
The laser bullets do not eject because they have no lip like a real bullet for the extractor to engage on. To remove you use a pencil to push them out.
 
I just ordered a pink rhino laser trainer. So, how does it work? You must have to rack each time to dry fire, but that would eject the device each time, right? Thanks for the clarification ahead of time 🙂

Dry fire is not a perfect replica. I use it to practice drawing from concealment for time and accuracy. Pulling up shirt, getting a good grip, pushing out, getting a fast sight picture, and trigger control.

Yes, you have to rack each time so you can't really use it to improve you follow up shots. But even the free version of Laser Hit has a setting to allow you to shoot 10x and give you stats on average draw speed. In between shots, Laser Hit gives you a reset pause to rack again and reholster before the next bell. Basically repeat 10x and it will show you where you hit the target, avg draw time and best draw time.

For me, that's still a lot to work with in between range sessions.

I generally spend 7 hours of range time per month. Not all of that is actively shooting since I'm waiting my turn to run a USPSA engagement. I'm on the range for 7 hrs/m but only actively shooting for maybe 20 minutes of that time.

Now that finding ammo is a challenge I'm dry firing more and shooting 22 out of my Sig 938 and AR conversion just to stay frosty. The range is less crowded so my aim is still 7 hrs/m on the range but increase the 20 mins of actually firing to 90.
 
I'm trying to decide between the Holosun 507k and the Swamp Fox Sentinel

Aaron Cowan reviewed the 507k and it did pretty well in his torture testing. My problem with the 507k though is that you either need to modify the slide or get a filler plate. The filler plate ruins the ability to cowitness.

I also have my eye on the Sentinel, but it is unproven. I haven't seen any reviews that did anything other than state "I fired ~100 rounds through it in an air conditioned range and it held zero". However, this optic is appealing because it mounts directly to the slide and retains the ability to use your irons. It also seems durable on paper since it is an aluminum body.

For those who own the Sentinel - How do you feel about its durability? Will I need to baby this optic to make sure it doesn't get damaged? If you dropped your handgun or fell to the ground with the Sentinel mounted to it, do you think it'd end up breaking? I'm out in the woods often so a tumble or fall isn't uncommon, especially because I mountain bike through them as well. The optic will be out in the environment often so I don't want to get something that is very fragile.

For those who own the 507k - Do you know if the slide modification method ruins the Hellcat OSP's ability to accept other optics? I don't like the idea of being stuck with the 507k if I end up going with it. It does however, seem very durable because it survived the drop testing done by Aaron Cowan with minimal damage.
 
Sentinel is as strong as any other aluminum red dot. It’s very strong I actually rack the slide with it. Have yet to throw it out of zero yet. Sure so far range only but I can tell you this far stronger than the Romeo zero. Now if you get the Holson 507k there is nothing stopping you after the mods to go to the Sentinel later it’s still going to mount with no issues. Either one of these is 250 dollars any RMR is twice as much. As far as reviews as a long time Pro photographer that buys lots of gear. most of these so called reviewers don’t know crap. I’m sure same with firearm reviews. Test yourself.
 
I'm trying to decide between the Holosun 507k and the Swamp Fox Sentinel.

For those who own the Sentinel - How do you feel about its durability? Will I need to baby this optic to make sure it doesn't get damaged? If you dropped your handgun or fell to the ground with the Sentinel mounted to it, do you think it'd end up breaking? I'm out in the woods often so a tumble or fall isn't uncommon, especially because I mountain bike through them as well. The optic will be out in the environment often so I don't want to get something that is very fragile.

Mine mounted without issue. Just needed a few clicks to adjust elevation. I've run a few hundred through it. It stays zero and I use it to rack the slide. I see durability as suitable at the moment.
 
I'm trying to decide between the Holosun 507k and the Swamp Fox Sentinel

Aaron Cowan reviewed the 507k and it did pretty well in his torture testing. My problem with the 507k though is that you either need to modify the slide or get a filler plate. The filler plate ruins the ability to cowitness.

I also have my eye on the Sentinel, but it is unproven. I haven't seen any reviews that did anything other than state "I fired ~100 rounds through it in an air conditioned range and it held zero". However, this optic is appealing because it mounts directly to the slide and retains the ability to use your irons. It also seems durable on paper since it is an aluminum body.

For those who own the Sentinel - How do you feel about its durability? Will I need to baby this optic to make sure it doesn't get damaged? If you dropped your handgun or fell to the ground with the Sentinel mounted to it, do you think it'd end up breaking? I'm out in the woods often so a tumble or fall isn't uncommon, especially because I mountain bike through them as well. The optic will be out in the environment often so I don't want to get something that is very fragile.

For those who own the 507k - Do you know if the slide modification method ruins the Hellcat OSP's ability to accept other optics? I don't like the idea of being stuck with the 507k if I end up going with it. It does however, seem very durable because it survived the drop testing done by Aaron Cowan with minimal damage.
I chose the Sentinel because it seems to be the most durable and reliable and it was an easy install on my Hellcat. Here are the reviews that convinced me...

 
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