Guns & Outdoors Forum

PSA is having a pretty good 4th of July sale. I’m considering a Dagger 9mm with threaded barrel and optic cut.

I can get the optic cut forward of the rear sight or the rear sight forward of the optic cut.

Is one better than the other? Does it make a difference? What do y’all prefer?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-dag ... black.html

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-dag ... k-dlc.html

This is what I’m looking at.

Sight front of the RDS will typically be tall sights to allow you to use the sights if the RDS fails.
Sights behind the RDS may or may not allow that. Depends on the RDS, and the sight height.
On my stock Glock 43, with factory sights, the Vortex RDS I have is low enough that it allows the use of the factory sights.

Confused yet ?

Probably the most versatile would be the tall sights in front of the RDS. That should allow you to use both, no matter the RDS.

I read a blog post (I think, might have been a video) from PSA about it. Their reasoning was that it is possible to lose/hide the dot behind the sight that's behind the RDS . With the sight infront of the RDS, that's a physical impossibility.
If you're 100% going to put a RDS on it, I like the front mounted rear sight better

eited to add: To the best of my knowledge, all of the Dagger slides that are cut for RDS come with tall sights

Forward does shorten the sight radius so there's that to consider.

Front mounted also allows you to rack the slide using the rear sight and not the RMR. BTW, Ed Brown does that on some of their 1911s, if not all.

But what are the chances of needing to do that outside of training? Low. But so are the chances of needing to use your handgun.

I hear some trainers saying you don't need a gun light and that an RDS is no advantage (HakhaTHORN!!!) Sorry for that sneeze. Anyway, yeah, your chances of needing all that are low, but my next pistol will be able to handle both.

jkp wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 2:44 pm Forward does shorten the sight radius so there's that to consider.

Does it matter though?
That’s only a factor if you’re using the irons. The dot doesn’t matter.

I always figured if I was using irons, the winds in the handbasket I was riding in just got HOT, and all I wanted was irons. A few inches of sight radius probably wouldn't matter that much.

That being said, front mounted irons do look odd, especially with no RMR.

breamfisher wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:32 pm I always figured if I was using irons, the winds in the handbasket I was riding in just got HOT, and all I wanted was irons. A few inches of sight radius probably wouldn't matter that much.

That being said, front mounted irons do look odd, especially with no RMR.

True about the hot winds. If you had the both pull your gun and have the RDS fail, today probably ain’t your best day, and sight radius won’t make or break you.

I do agree the tall irons in front of an RDS look goofy. As you mentioned you could use them to rack the slide instead of the RDS, but then again….if you had to pull a gun, run till it’s empty, reload, and have to rack the slide instead of releasing the slide stop?
Dont buy a lottery ticket that day.

The best look is a rear mounted RDS with no sights. (IMHO) The most versatile is a rear mounted RDS with tall irons in front. (fact not opinion)

To be fair (to be fay-uh) this ain’t a bad look.

An RDS equipped gun is never going to be svelte. It’s a functional enhancement.

And that’s a GREAT price on that combo. Had I not already blown WELL past my gun budget this year, I’d be realllllyyyyyyyy tempted.

Also, you better not snooze on that deal.

Depends on the gun but on glocks, the standard is to mill the slide .125 depth for the rmr which usually allows the factory sights to "barely" still co witness through the rmr. I prefer to do the cut in front of the rear sight because of it.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:41 pm

breamfisher wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:32 pm I always figured if I was using irons, the winds in the handbasket I was riding in just got HOT, and all I wanted was irons. A few inches of sight radius probably wouldn't matter that much.

That being said, front mounted irons do look odd, especially with no RMR.

True about the hot winds. If you had the both pull your gun and have the RDS fail, today probably ain’t your best day, and sight radius won’t make or break you.

I do agree the tall irons in front of an RDS look goofy. As you mentioned you could use them to rack the slide instead of the RDS, but then again….if you had to pull a gun, run till it’s empty, reload, and have to rack the slide instead of releasing the slide stop?
Dont buy a lottery ticket that day.

The best look is a rear mounted RDS with no sights. (IMHO) The most versatile is a rear mounted RDS with tall irons in front. (fact not opinion)

The main reason for using the sight to rack or manipulate the slide, from what I've been told, is to clear malfunctions if one hand is not working.

The winds went from hot to SAHARA.

My son’s 2011 we shot last week has the RMR forward if the rear sight. The rear sight was barely tall enough to be able to use.

I think I’m gonna buy these 2. Price is just too good not to.

I appreciate everyone’s input

I just thought of another question:

Will the optic cut on this slide accept any brand optic?

breamfisher wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 4:20 pm

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:41 pm

breamfisher wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:32 pm I always figured if I was using irons, the winds in the handbasket I was riding in just got HOT, and all I wanted was irons. A few inches of sight radius probably wouldn't matter that much.

That being said, front mounted irons do look odd, especially with no RMR.

True about the hot winds. If you had the both pull your gun and have the RDS fail, today probably ain’t your best day, and sight radius won’t make or break you.

I do agree the tall irons in front of an RDS look goofy. As you mentioned you could use them to rack the slide instead of the RDS, but then again….if you had to pull a gun, run till it’s empty, reload, and have to rack the slide instead of releasing the slide stop?
Dont buy a lottery ticket that day.

The best look is a rear mounted RDS with no sights. (IMHO) The most versatile is a rear mounted RDS with tall irons in front. (fact not opinion)

The main reason for using the sight to rack or manipulate the slide, from what I've been told, is to clear malfunctions if one hand is not working.

The winds went from hot to SAHARA.

:channelsSawW:
Chances of that happening are so small it’s not worth considering. And the RDS will take many slide racks on its own. And that wind ain’t the Sahara, that’s wind that’s coming from an opened portal to hell

Rugerfan wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 4:37 pm I just thought of another question:

Will the optic cut on this slide accept any brand optic?

Only if it’s the pattern of the slide. Pretty sure it’s an RMR cut, so it will accept an RMR pattern optic.

Depends on the cut
There are 3 or 4 standard cuts. RMR, Doctr and couple of others.
The one you linked to in you OP is an RMR cut
I know this Holosun fits a RMR, It's the one on my Dagger
https://palmettostatearmory.com/holosun ... s407a.html

When I finally step into this century, I will get a red dot with shake awake.

GrapeApe wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 4:44 pm Depends on the cut
There are 3 or 4 standard cuts. RMR, Doctr and couple of others.
The one you linked to in you OP is an RMR cut
I know this Holosun fits a RMR, It's the one on my Dagger
https://palmettostatearmory.com/holosun ... s407a.html

My son has a Holosun 407 with a green dot. Is one color better than the other?

I know his pistol has a green FO front sight. It was too easy to me to get the FO and the green dot confused.

Maybe my wife won’t be tooooo mad when I put it on the credit card. I just know she’ll be happy to hear how much of a great deal it is.

At the point you begin running red dots, the irons become the half-size spare tire in your trunk that you never think about until you have a flat, and then you make due until you get to the tire shop.

Since making the switch, I've gotten away from tritium, fiber optics, or painted dots in favor of all black backup irons. They don't burn out over time, they don't halo, and since every auto I carry has a light on it, they're gonna be backlit anyway.

My eyes are having sufficient challenges these days that I haven't gone as low height on the backup irons as is possible to have them still be useful, but I have run them pretty short - - for the simple fact that it keeps them out of the way of the primary thing I'm using to aim the gun with.

Full disclosure, I haven't played with a forward-mounted rear BUIS, but don't really see the point to 'em. It's an emergency backup system, and if the optic is so catastrophically busted that you can't see through it, you won't be able to see your irons wherever they are, and will fall back on point shooting.

Red vs green - you're just going to have to try them. While the optical doctors can give you a long list of reasons relating to your rods and cones why green might be better, I personally REALLY dislike green dots. They just don't appear as crisp to me as red.

CPJ 2.0 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 3:28 pm

jkp wrote: ↑Sat Jun 29, 2024 2:44 pm Forward does shorten the sight radius so there's that to consider.

Does it matter though?
That’s only a factor if you’re using the irons. The dot doesn’t matter.

Well, yeah, but the whole question is about the best location for the irons. I'd like to look at both side by side and see how they look through the optic. My only experience is with the iron sight in the rear.

I've been pleased with my Dagger compact. Especially for the price paid.