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What's your recommendation for a Micro Red Dot/Optic on your EDC pistol?

A

Antonio

Operator
I considered trying the Hex Wasp or Shield SMSC for one of my Hellcats because of Springfield's endorsement.
And I looked at several reviewers:
https://www.thearmorylife.com/top-5-hellcat-red-dot-optics/
https://tacticalinfospot.com/3-best-red-dots-for-hellcat/
https://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2020/08/01/what-optics-will-fit-the-springfield-armory-hellcat/

But yesterday I bought the Halosun HS507K-X2 because
1. Red ring to find dot faster
2. Battery access to eliminate unmounting and re-zeroing
3 Co-witness cuts in case accidental damage, electronic failure, or if the battery runs out before or during use
4. Always on (Shake awake)
5. Water proof/resistant in case of rain or accidents

I'm shocked no other micros (> 1.7"x1") have a red ring and most place the battery underneath.
Only the non-micros have room to place the battery on top but Halosun even offers solar a battery backup on some.
The only drawback is ordering the $45 mounting plate (https://chpws.com/product/springfield-hellcat-to-holosun-407k-507k-adapter-plate) which may remove co-witnessing or require suppressor sights, or milling/grinding off the lugs:
Professional:
Do It Yourself:

But for now I'm waiting for my plate to arrive similar to the uploaded picture.

What's your recommendation for a Micro Red Dot/Optic on your EDC pistol?
Until other companies offer micros with features 1 & 2, I may have to stick with Halosun.
 

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I've not owned any other than the Romeo Zero, and my previous experience was all with Trijicon RMR on the tourist rental guns.

Out the box, I thought it looked and felt cheap, despite being "assembled in the USA". I did have the grind the screws until they fit, at first I got them short enough to install, but battery would lose contact from recoil, had to go home and grind away more threads. After that, I've been daily carrying it for 3 months. I carry 4 o'clock, and have bumped the optic against walls, doors, etc, and it's been holding up. I've put a decent amount of rounds through it without issues so far, doing run & gun drills, and prone shooting in the desert. The window's got some light scratches, likely from all the desert dust, and chopping it to do speed reloads. It's been on every time I used it, still on original battery, and I'm actually impressed by how bright it is even in the Vegas sun.

A friend of mine, a former Miss NV, came to me asking to learn about firearms. I brought along an instructor friend, and let her run drills with a few of mine. Here she's taking the Hellcat/RZ combo for a run.
l3nFGzh.jpg
 
Some people like the ring around the dot, some don’t. On a self defense pistol, I wouldn’t prefer it.

The problem with top or side battery access is that it increases the size of the RDS, making the sight too high to cowitness with regular iron sights. I don’t mind changing the battery once every year and a half or two years. And I don’t think re-zeroing will be an issue. The tolerances are so tight, I don’t think the dot will be off when re-installed. In fact, I didn’t have to make any adjustments on my Hex Wasp when I first put it on my Hellcat. It was zeroed from the factory.

Different strokes for different folks though. Hope you’re happy with your Holosun.
 
bigx5murf said:
I've not owned any other than the Romeo Zero, and my previous experience was all with Trijicon RMR on the tourist rental guns.

Out the box, I thought it looked and felt cheap, despite being "assembled in the USA". I did have the grind the screws until they fit, at first I got them short enough to install, but battery would lose contact from recoil, had to go home and grind away more threads. After that, I've been daily carrying it for 3 months. I carry 4 o'clock, and have bumped the optic against walls, doors, etc, and it's been holding up. I've put a decent amount of rounds through it without issues so far, doing run & gun drills, and prone shooting in the desert. The window's got some light scratches, likely from all the desert dust, and chopping it to do speed reloads. It's been on every time I used it, still on original battery, and I'm actually impressed by how bright it is even in the Vegas sun.

A friend of mine, a former Miss NV, came to me asking to learn about firearms. I brought along an instructor friend, and let her run drills with a few of mine. Here she's taking the Hellcat/RZ combo for a run.
l3nFGzh.jpg
Click to expand...
I've almost considered buying the RomeoZero because of the low price and optional metal cover and might do so.
Thanks for the reminder about the screw length.
 
uspatriot1960 said:
Some people like the ring around the dot, some don’t. On a self defense pistol, I wouldn’t prefer it.

The problem with top or side battery access is that it increases the size of the RDS, making the sight too high to cowitness with regular iron sights. I don’t mind changing the battery once every year and a half or two years. And I don’t think re-zeroing will be an issue. The tolerances are so tight, I don’t think the dot will be off when re-installed. In fact, I didn’t have to make any adjustments on my Hex Wasp when I first put it on my Hellcat. It was zeroed from the factory.

Different strokes for different folks though. Hope you’re happy with your Holosun.
Click to expand...
I'd like to try the Wasp for my next optic specifically because of the native fit.
 
Lots of folks asking the same questions. I attended a couple red dot for duty LE instructor courses in 2019 and 2020. The focus of the courses was to assist LE agencies moving toward red dots for duty choose a red dot, and develop training programs and policies for their agencies. I went through a 5 day course with a Sig P226 with a Romeo 1 mounted from the factory, it has tall sights that can still be used if the RDS goes down, which I think is mandatory for a duty pistol.

There were Holosuns and Trijicons and others I do not recall in the course. There was a lot of discussion about reliability of the various brands and the dependability of the shake awake system. The HoloSun and Trijicon were said to have great reliability but the one unit I saw that failed in the course was a HoloSun. Of course that could happen to any of them.

I found that my Romeo 1 RMR was dead nuts reliable throughout the courses and for several months afterward carrying it every day. It is a shake awake RDS. The shake awake feature was absolutely dependable. I put it away after a few months as I did not feel the need to carry an RMR every day out here on the ranch. I instead carry a Sig P220 with iron sights every day, which also fits with my basic pistol training courses-it would not do for me to teach iron sights and carry a red dot.
 
Antonio said:
I'd like to try the Wasp for my next optic specifically because of the native fit.
Click to expand...

The problems with the WASP seem to be the auto shutoff, and the auto dimming/brightness. Requiring you to "reset" the optic everyday, to make sure it'll be on when you draw, and some complaints the auto dimming/brightness chooses too dim a setting most of the time. For me, both would be deal breakers for a carry optic.
 
bigx5murf said:
The problems with the WASP seem to be the auto shutoff, and the auto dimming/brightness. Requiring you to "reset" the optic everyday, to make sure it'll be on when you draw, and some complaints the auto dimming/brightness chooses too dim a setting most of the time. For me, both would be deal breakers for a carry optic.
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I think you’re getting things mixed up. There are 2 Hex optics. One is the Wasp and one is the Dragonfly. The Wasp is always on with auto-dimming. The Dragonfly is manual brightness adjustment with 16 hour shut off. The Wasp is the smaller RMS footprint for compact handguns. The Dragonfly is larger with the Venom/Fastfire type footprint for larger handguns and rifles.
 
uspatriot1960 said:
I think you’re getting things mixed up. There are 2 Hex optics. One is the Wasp and one is the Dragonfly. The Wasp is always on with auto-dimming. The Dragonfly is manual brightness adjustment with 16 hour shut off. The Wasp is the smaller RMS footprint for compact handguns. The Dragonfly is larger with the Venom/Fastfire type footprint for larger handguns and rifles.
Click to expand...

Looks like I am. But still lots of reports of the WASP choosing too dim a setting. Which is still a deal breaker for me personally. As I shoot in bright daylight, and regularly go to an outdoor night range, as well as an indoor range. The Romeo Zero is bright enough I can use it in bright daylight without using the highest setting, although it does bloom a bit when I use at it night since I just leave it at that setting.
 
The Hex Wasp seems to fit, function and look good on the Hellcat OSP very well. Works for this one in dim and dark good. The always on feature's little concern when taking into consideration the long battery life to me. - Same with battery placement. Not doing it every day comes to mind? Takes longer to figure out and open package w/o destroying package than to mount red dot with correct tools.

Hex Wasp is A+ to me. But, optics like handguns, are and can easily be very individualized? What works for one person may not work for the next person, scenario, gun or application? So, there's those issues? I'd personally recommend the Hex Wasp IF it would (And, it does in this application.) work well for someone else too. - Like there's different types of drivers for different types of screws? Different optics and other needs fit in there as well in my opinion.
 
BobM said:
The Hex Wasp seems to fit, function and look good on the Hellcat OSP very well. Works for this one in dim and dark good. The always on feature's little concern when taking into consideration the long battery life to me. - Same with battery placement. Not doing it every day comes to mind? Takes longer to figure out and open package w/o destroying package than to mount red dot with correct tools.

Hex Wasp is A+ to me. But, optics like handguns, are and can easily be very individualized? What works for one person may not work for the next person, scenario, gun or application? So, there's those issues? I'd personally recommend the Hex Wasp IF it would (And, it does in this application.) work well for someone else too. - Like there's different types of drivers for different types of screws? Different optics and other needs fit in there as well in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Problem I have with the Wasp, and I own 2 of them. They have very slow refresh rate making them flicker when looking at them and the worst is where the sensor is and its settings for dimming make it impossible to see outside if you are standing in shade on a sunny day you can't find the dot against the bright background. IE: standing under a tree or against a building that's blocking the sun but your target is in the sunlight, both of mine are the same(hellcat osp and a hellcat rdp) neither are bright enough in those situations. Also, the Hex has massive parallax, so every angle you hold or draw your zero will shift, and at greater distance in some bad event could make a big difference.
 
damescool said:
Problem I have with the Wasp, and I own 2 of them. They have very slow refresh rate making them flicker when looking at them and the worst is where the sensor is and its settings for dimming make it impossible to see outside if you are standing in shade on a sunny day you can't find the dot against the bright background. IE: standing under a tree or against a building that's blocking the sun but your target is in the sunlight, both of mine are the same(hellcat osp and a hellcat rdp) neither are bright enough in those situations. Also, the Hex has massive parallax, so every angle you hold or draw your zero will shift, and at greater distance in some bad event could make a big difference.
Click to expand...
No issues on this end with Hex Wasp. Only had short while. So far, this one works fine for my use in bright or dim light.
Can really only go by own personal experience. No one else locally has another comparable around here.
 
BobM said:
No issues on this end with Hex Wasp. Only had short while. So far, this one works fine for my use in bright or dim light.
Can really only go by own personal experience. No one else locally has another comparable around here.
Click to expand...
Same I’ve had mine for a good minute. The Hex Wasp seems to be bright in both bright and dim light. It’s crisp and clean without zero changing. When I first got it and took it to the range after zero I was easily able to put rounds on target 15yards away. Took it out two weeks ago and was still able to hit my target easily. First day was clear sunny and 68 while two weeks ago was cloudy and mid 70’s.
 
My only experience is with the RomeoZero on my 365XL. The red dot is very accurate, wakes up reliably by sensing the moving and is bright enough during day time.
Takes a bit to get used to find it in the frame though, it doesn't have a circle around, but it kind of shines the red on the rim in direction you need to move the aim.
Only a lot of dry-firing can help with that muscle memory.
 
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