Slide vs frame mounted optic

[zinger4040]

Hi all, New to the forum and excited to dip my toe in open division. I currently shoot idpa esp and uspsa production.

I don't have a ton of cash but would like to turn my g34 into an open gun for both steel challenge and open. My question revolves most around how to mount my burris fast fire. Some have suggested to get the slide milled out and mount the dot to the slide to make it lower to bore. Others have said this would put me at a disadvantage to guns with a frame mounted dot as the frame mounted dot will not reciprocate/move with the slide. Is this that big of a deal? Will the dot jump around on me that much? Someone else suggested an sjc frame weight to counter the slide mounted red dot jump.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

[Red Ryder]

Slide mounted optics fail at a much higher rate that frame mounted optics due to the battering of slide motion, from what I have observed. " I broke them all " was the response I got when I asked which slide mounted optic was the best. I do not shoot open but I do shoot with a bunch of very experienced open shooters. Two guys have slide mounted optics. I have seen their optics break. They have deep pockets so it's no big deal to them. The other three guys have frame mounted optics. I have never seen their optics fail, other than a dead battery. Good luck.

[blacklab]

If I was in your shoes, I would not mount a dot on the slide. They jump around way too much for my liking. I don't know what your looking to spend, but there are a few options. Carver Hunter makes a mount for around $150.00 and SJC makes one for around $105.00. They line up with the Glock's pin holes, easy to install with no mods. to the gun. Mako makes a mount that clamps on the bottom rail for around $50.00 to $60.00, again with no mods. Before you mill the slide I would look at one of those first, then if you decide that you like open you can put the Glock back to stock, sell it and move up to a 2011.(trust me, you'll want to) Or if you want to stick with the Glock the Carver or SJC are good solid bases. Just my 2 cents.

[EkuJustice]

For open the frame mount is the only way to go. On the frame mounts the carver needs no modification to the frame but does need a specific holster. The SJC needs frame mods but your open on what holster you can use. They both need the ejection port lowered though which isn't too bad. For a slide mount the only one that really holds up is the RMR and even those have failed. There is more movement on the dot by far with a slide mount vs a frame mount

[PrimaryBruce]

We've milled slides for people who have been on the same optics for literally in the tens of thousands of round marks...

If the optic fails, it will usually fail whether it was frame or slide mounted. Just what we've seen.

[zinger4040]

Thanks for the help all.

I think I am going to go with the carver mount and run a c more I have one a rifle.

I'm a little nervous about having the have the ejection port lowered to accommodate brass ejection. I've seen some info online saying this leads to cracked slides. Is it safe to do this. We do it with 1911's so what's the difference?

Anyone have any experience with this?