Dots are Dying

[Balakay]

I've broken more than my share of parts over the past 3 years shooting Open and I understand that it is the price I pay for shooting this division.  However, I just had my 3rd Romeo3 Max  die suddenly in the past 4600 rounds.  I'm over it. All have been while shooting without warning.  No flicker, no dimming. Just sudden death.  2 of the 3 were during matches, one of which was an A5 (no fun shooting a big field course dotless). My PF is not excessive, so WTF?

 

To their credit, Sig has been great with replacements but I am at the end of my patience.  

 

{rant over}

[Nathanb]

It’s the knock on sigs man and pistol dots in general.  They don’t hold up. The delta point pros were ridiculous with how many people were going through

[OPENB]

They aren’t the newest or sleekest dot, but the C-more Serendipity/Slide Ride has the best track record for reliability. I own 7 on various platforms, including my open guns. They can break like anything else, but in degrees of reliability, they are at the top of the heap. 

[Rnlinebacker]

That's crazy. I bought a Romeo 3 Max back in February two days before Florida Open after my RTS2 took a dump. Still have the factory battery in there since then and have put at least 10k on that gun this year.

 

Its the friggin C squad at the factory in Japan that is doing this to you lol

[rooster]

If your dot is slide mounted I don’t care what make you have it’s going to break. They cannot take the pounding. The milling or mount system needs to be perfect so the dot can’t move. Reviews on the dots are all over the place. I run a Leupold one went back after about 15k the other so far has been perfect but only about 5k. Primary machine did my first slide and on their website at the time they wouldn’t mill for certain brands because they were too prone to breaking. You pay your money and you take your chances. The RMR is the one all others are measured against but it’s small window and battery on bottom is a deal breaker for some. They all have their pluses and minuses, if it wasn’t for my eyes I’d shoot irons.

[Balakay]

27 minutes ago, rooster said:

If your dot is slide mounted I don’t care what make you have it’s going to break. 

It's a frame-mounted dot 

[Balakay]

41 minutes ago, Rnlinebacker said:

 

 

Its the friggin C squad at the factory in Japan that is doing this to you lol

Lol.  I'm going to keep track of the serial #'s to make sure they aren't sending me my recycled broken optics. I would switch to an OG C-more if I wasn't so heavily invested in these Sigs and mounts.

[Sarge]

48 minutes ago, Balakay said:

It's a frame-mounted dot 

Frame mounted dots shouldn’t be failing like yours. My RTS2’s are still going strong

[Sarge]

1 hour ago, rooster said:

If your dot is slide mounted I don’t care what make you have it’s going to break. They cannot take the pounding. The milling or mount system needs to be perfect so the dot can’t move. Reviews on the dots are all over the place. I run a Leupold one went back after about 15k the other so far has been perfect but only about 5k. Primary machine did my first slide and on their website at the time they wouldn’t mill for certain brands because they were too prone to breaking. You pay your money and you take your chances. The RMR is the one all others are measured against but it’s small window and battery on bottom is a deal breaker for some. They all have their pluses and minuses, if it wasn’t for my eyes I’d shoot irons.

Doctors seem to hold up well for a few guys I know.

[verla]

I have had an 8MOA slide ride (and a RTS2) on my 38 super open STI pistols for years with no problems- the slide ride much longer. My advice would be to get one of these dot sights. Have shot a lot of large and small matches over the last 20+ years with the slide ride. It is sort of the industry standard. Lot of competitors are moving to the RTS2 since it is mounted lower on the pistol and more in line with the bore. I am not a fan of tilting the slide right to get it more in line with the bore.

[AverageJoeShooting]

14 hours ago, Balakay said:

I've broken more than my share of parts over the past 3 years shooting Open and I understand that it is the price I pay for shooting this division.  However, I just had my 3rd Romeo3 Max  die suddenly in the past 4600 rounds.  I'm over it. All have been while shooting without warning.  No flicker, no dimming. Just sudden death.  2 of the 3 were during matches, one of which was an A5 (no fun shooting a big field course dotless). My PF is not excessive, so WTF?

 

To their credit, Sig has been great with replacements but I am at the end of my patience.  

 

{rant over}

switch to the FTP alpha optics 3

I have about 20k on my open gun with that dot and it has never failed and never lost zero. its hands down the best dot on the market. 

its also made by an actual uspsa shooter.

customer service is top notch(even though ive never had to send it back)

 

and half the price of the sig. 

its worth a try at least

[clw42]

20 hours ago, Rnlinebacker said:

That's crazy. I bought a Romeo 3 Max back in February two days before Florida Open after my RTS2 took a dump. Still have the factory battery in there since then and have put at least 10k on that gun this year.

 

Its the friggin C squad at the factory in Japan that is doing this to you lol

 

I have two R3 Max's and one R3 XL.  All of them have several tens of thousands of rounds frame mounted, on open guns, and none have just died.  The two Max's definitely now have wonky buttons though, like I really have to press them right for them to dim or brighten and to turn on and off.  The XL is totally fine.

 

I have an FTP in waiting, but I have to modify the mount so I'll probably do that over the winter. 

[5Shot]

If I'm not mistaken, those are rebranded Holosuns.  I have friends who have better luck with Holosun than they do their RMRs, but then there are experiences like yours.  I think it is a crap shoot.

[BoyGlock]

Micros are pricey and reliability is spotty, dot size is fixed and limited in options. Exact opposite of cmore serendipity/sliderides. 

[zzt]

Just because it is mounted on the slide does not mean it is going to break.  I have five Burris FF3s.  The oldest was mounted on the slide of one of my 1911 45 pistols.  At about 45,000 rounds the plastic window covering the led port split in two and fell off.  The sight still worked fine.  However, Burris insisted I send it back for repair.  With the others, I've had to send one back because the windage adjustment was loose and it would not hold zero.  All still work fine.  battery life is really good, and the 8 MOA is bright.

 

I've had three RTS2 V4s.  Two of them had to be sent back because the screws holding the bottom plate protruded.  They all still work, but I don't shoot those guns much.  Battery life is horrible.  I get one match out of a battery.

 

I've had four DPP 2.5s.  I still have two.  One is slide mounted and had to go back because it kept turning off.  I have three SRO 5 MAs.  All are frame mounted on Open guns.  One got sent back because it just quit.  The replacement and the others work fine.  They are my favorite sight.

[Sarge]

Man, one has to do a TON of reading to make an informed decision.

I have two RTS2 V4’s that go all season and more on a battery.

 

[EEH]

2 hours ago, Sarge said:

Man, one has to do a TON of reading to make an informed decision.

I have two RTS2 V4’s that go all season and more on a battery.

 

Sarge, do you turn off your dot after each stage ?

[Sarge]

1 hour ago, EEH said:

Sarge, do you turn off your dot after each stage ?

Mostly yes but I sometimes let it run all day.

[36873687]

I have xl3 on frame mount open gun. 3 k on it it’s awesome dot but did loose elevation but let buddy use at nats an he had to us it sure he adjusted it. Got r max on CO gun 1 k zero issues. I’ve had 7 rts2 an one had to go back. An 2 dpp that worked great just didn’t care much for em. Got 6 Cmore sliderides zero issues they are tanks. 

[zombywoof]

14 hours ago, Sarge said:

Man, one has to do a TON of reading to make an informed decision.

I have two RTS2 V4’s that go all season and more on a battery.

 

Me too

 

[zzt]

15 hours ago, Sarge said:

I have two RTS2 V4’s that go all season and more on a battery.

 

I know.  You have mentioned that before.  I only have that problem with C-More products.  All of my RTS2s are 6 MOA.  One of them will last an entire 8 stage SCSA match if I leave it on between stages.  The dot is dimmer for the last two stages, but useable.  The second must be turned off between stages, or I'll have to change batteries halfway through.  I got fed up and swapped them out for DPP 2.5s.  They bloom at high brightness, so the daot looks larger.  A battery lasts all season.

 

Same thing with Sliderides.  The first 6 MOA unit I had would only last 1.5 USPSA matches before voltage dropped below 2.8V.  The last one is a 12 MOA mounted on my PCC SCSA gun.  The battery lasts half a season, because I set it to click 5 and turn it off between stages.  C-More uses the same emitter for all MOAs.  They just drill smaller or larger holes.  So if you have a 4 or 6 MOA dot, you have to turn it up to get it bright enough.  That means you are using power to generate light that cannot be used.  With larger dot you are getting more light through, so the intensity can be set lower.  Same with the RTS2s.  One company out West has C-More lase 10 and 15 MOA holes in them for SCSA use.

 

Battery life on all of mine (8 MOA) is simply phenomenal.   Battery drain is so low you don't notice the dot getting dimmer over time.  The first (and only) time I saw the dot blink to warn me of low battery, I changed it.  I was astounded at how bright the dot had become.  The first battery lasted three years of weekly use.  I don't know how long the SRO batteries last.  They all have the original battery in them.  Trijicon says years of life.  So far I believe them.

[IHMSA15151]

On 12/4/2021 at 2:29 PM, OPENB said:

They aren’t the newest or sleekest dot, but the C-more Serendipity/Slide Ride has the best track record for reliability. I own 7 on various platforms, including my open guns. They can break like anything else, but in degrees of reliability, they are at the top of the heap. 

This /\. I run Burris FF3’s on all my rim fire guns and C-More Slide Ride on all centerfire guns. No issues yet, knock on wood.

Edited December 6, 2021 by IHMSA15151

[Steve RA]

I have a slide mounted Burris FF3 and have had no trouble with it in 3 years.  Don't shoot in matches with it but have had quite a few rounds thru it.

[UpYoursPal]

I've had minimal issues so far with the Romeo3XLs that I've been using on my open guns.  Had to send my first one back to Sig because I broke the side buttons after turning the optic on/off at every range and dry fire session.  Now I just let the shake awake feature do its thing, and it's running great.

[BoyGlock]

Those “minor problems” in micros are big problems in my side of the pond. I had some and could not just return malfunctioning units with replacements coming in short time or worse might not even be able to have them shipped and replaced due to postal restrictions. Per this experience, cmore sliderides/serendipities is still king. 
You guys are lucky out there. Or maybe not?