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Red dots; frame or slide mounted?


Specialneeds

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So, do you prefer a frame mount or a slide mount? Why?

 

Pro and con of each please?

 

Slide mounts are becoming popular with the micros.

 

I have experience only with the oldschool cmore which was turn dial. I have no dogs in this fight. My inquiry is as such; "what should I buy and why?"

 

It has to be rugged. Looking to do some run&gun multigun stuff. The kind where I am probably going to throw and drop the firearm.

 

I will check this in a day or two. Iron me out. Thank you!

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So, frame mounts tend to be less abusive to the optic, but they put the dot higher, which lots of people say is a bigger learning curve if you're coming from irons. I don't think it matters all that much, but that's me. And I went to the frame mount after getting a bunch of time with slide mount optics.

 

Big considerations:

--Are there rules that would mandate you to have one over the other? Something like uspsa carry optics or 'stealth' division at some multigun matches is slide-mount only.

--Holster selection is another concern. Generally, frame mounts require a custom kydex holster if you want a kydex holster. Or you could go with a race holster that only covers the trigger guard. If you have a slide mount, you can get retention holsters if you want one.

 

Which all boils down to: what kind of matches are you going to shoot?

 

I love USPSA open guns, and I like the frame mount best in that context. I don't shoot enough multigun to comment much there, but for most matches near me if I'm shooting multigun, I just use my open gun, race holster, and the holster's lock lever if I need it.

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Sport and gun dependent if being honest.

 

I run slide ride for 3-gun to have a hooded holster.

I'd likely run a frame mount for USPSA with a race holster.

 

Abuse to optics is high with both. Slide ride dots suffer more from impacts back and forth, frame mounted dots suffer more from vibration through the mount. Depending on the dot, some handle one mounting type better than the other.

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I was going to run heavy metal open pending on rules.

 

Going to comp my 45acp 1911. Holster not an issue. Will accomodate and adapt.

 

Looking at a weapon mounted light, some peppy loads(supported chamber) and potentially a dot.

 

What do you mean learning curve? I am pretty special in ways. That said.. when I was running the cmore on a frame mount. That model which looks similar to serendipity.. I zeroed the pistol at 30 yards and put the dot on what I wanted to shoot?

 

Dunno what you all mean by learning curve. The pistol was lower. Not like irons at all.. but, dot on target and boom.

 

*shrug*

 

I have no experience with the slide mounted optics versus frame mount. Always wondered about it being battered to death. Though, as said - it is much more low profile.

 

Appreciated.

 

Teach me more. Please. Thank you

 

Specialneeds

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14 minutes ago, Specialneeds said:

I was going to run heavy metal open pending on rules.

 

Going to comp my 45acp 1911. Holster not an issue. Will accomodate and adapt.

 

 

Is that a Multigun division? 

 

15 minutes ago, Specialneeds said:

I

 

What do you mean learning curve? I am pretty special in ways. That said.. when I was running the cmore on a frame mount. That model which looks similar to serendipity.. I zeroed the pistol at 30 yards and put the dot on what I wanted to shoot?

 

 

for some people the higher the dot the harder time they have finding the dot when they transition from shooting a similar gun with iron sights, personally I think it is much ado about nothing and mostly a thing people write about on the internet. 

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suggest hitting a multigun match or two to see what folks are using and how they're handling it (holster etc).  if you want rock solid pistol retention, prob want to mount your optic on the slide.  will need something more akin to an 'open' holster if you mount the optic to your 1911's frame.  they're pretty solid also but most of your gun is exposed and more subject to hitting stuff and getting jarred loose (or the barrel full of mud like mine did once while kneeling and shooting the AR with pistol holstered).

 

and to the point above, i suffer from high-dot-itis.  mostly shoot iron sights, so when i switch to a red dot optic, because they generally sit higher than my fiber optic front sight, i do have probs at least initially finding the dot because it's higher up off the slide/barrel.  i turned the cmore on my open gun sideways to get the dot closer to the bore and that def helps.

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Appreciated guys!

 

Yeah I like that.. 'sidemore' pretty alright.

 

When the optic is turned sideways and dropped on the pistol a bit lower.. is it still useful to have a blast shield for the lens? I have not seen any mounts with one included, so i suspect the gas is not such an issue. Just curious.

 

Nice link to the kydex thread. Will read it this weekend. I appreciate everyone. You all are great. Very helpful and nice also.

 

Specialneeds

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1 hour ago, Specialneeds said:

When the optic is turned sideways and dropped on the pistol a bit lower.. is it still useful to have a blast shield for the lens? I have not seen any mounts with one included, so i suspect the gas is not such an issue. Just curious.

 

really can't use a blast shield with a sideways mount, as the optic would be blocked.  i generally have to wipe off the lens every stage or two as it def gets dirty.

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Davsco - a person could not bend a piece of thin gauge stainless and help shield the lens? I am thinking a shield like normally seen, but with an angle to mount it beneath the cmore.

 

I would suspect moving the entire optic farther rear would create 'over hang' issues.

 

How do those mini's hold up when on a frame mount? Would suspect a person could sit one of those sideways and a bit farther back? So long it did not block the ejection port.

 

Great help guys. Appreciate you all very much.

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Just finished this for local knockdown steel where there is only Iron and Open class.  Just needs a magwell now.  I didn't want to get into the revolving door situation of optics replacement I see with most everyone using slide mounts.  If it goes well I'll try it in USPSA open minor(yeah I know) for fun.  I shoot a Shadow 2 in production now.  Anyway, this is a Neumount rail mount.  Very solid.  I shot it a few times with the optic before tearing it down to finish the SAO conversion, grip, and barrel/comp.  Neumount will make a kydex holster to fit pistols with their mount.

 

 

 

P09open.jpg

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2 hours ago, Specialneeds said:

Davsco - a person could not bend a piece of thin gauge stainless and help shield the lens? I am thinking a shield like normally seen, but with an angle to mount it beneath the cmore.

 

with it sideways, the frame of the optic lens is pretty much sitting on the top of the slide, so anything sticking up to shield the optic will block your vision.  the one in the pic is on my steelmaster which is shorter so it takes more blast being closer to the muzzle.  did the same on my sti dvc open which is longer and it still needs cleaning but not as often.  of course, if your pistol doesn't have a comp on it, your optic's glass prob will stay cleaner a lot longer.

sti sideways 3 resized.jpg

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