Category Archives: Optics

(Updated 11/15/2020) Red dot / reflex sight vs traditional sights on a pistol

Updated: for the updated, head to the end of the article.

“Focus on the front sight.” If you have ever been to training or had a decent shooter help you, I bet you have heard that before.

According to every instructor for the last 60 years, the front sight is where you must focus in order to hit your target. It seems “reasonable” to focus there. You keep your rear sight and target in alignment and with the front sight you can more accurately hit your target, where you are aiming. The problem I have is how are you aiming at a point on the target when you are focusing on the front sight? Continue reading (Updated 11/15/2020) Red dot / reflex sight vs traditional sights on a pistol

EOTech settlement, what is loyalty worth?

I was raised that loyalty is worth the effort.

In previous articles I wrote thank you letters to Armalite and Trijicon for taking care of me. You can read about how well Armalite treated me here and Trijicon did here With that in mind I stayed loyal to EOTech when they went through a hard time.

In November 2015 EOTech was sued for known faulty holographic sights. Temperatures below freezing shifted the site and the point of impact. You can read more about it here. Continue reading EOTech settlement, what is loyalty worth?

Glock 19 MOS another life adventure

Reflex and red dot sights have been mounted various way on pistols for years. None were inexpensive. When Glock introduced the MOS (Miniature Optic System) idea, I instantly saw several advantages. By building a system into the gun no bulky add-on mounts or expensive slide cuts that voided the warranty and only fit one brand of optic. I wear bifocals and with a reflex sight, you focus on the target and the “red dot” is in focus too. I was hoping this would speed up my target acquisition significantly. Continue reading Glock 19 MOS another life adventure

My fake Trijicon RMR adventure

“What? It’s a fake? I will get them off my shelf right away!” he said. That’s how this article was given birth.

I have kept this article under wraps for almost 2 years, partially to give the business time to do what he said, and partially because, well I don’t have a good reason. I also was looking for some more information I had.

Let’s start with a little background, until 2014 I did not care about small reflex sites and did not keep up with their technology or cost. It was a result of this incident that I began my research and study of the small reflex sites. I have used “holo” sites on rifles for decades, I just had not investigated or bought the small ones. Continue reading My fake Trijicon RMR adventure

XS Sites, the final stage!

In June of 2014 I wrote my original articles on my visit to XS Sights. Yes, I just published them here in May. In this report I want to go over my results of using them for all 2015.

Early winter 2014 I installed a set of XS big dot sights on my Glock 19. I chose to install them myself though, as I noted in the first article, one could mail their slide to the XS factory in Ft. Worth and have them installed. I had previously bought their AR front sight, three actually. I will have to get you a review on those soon.

Continue reading XS Sites, the final stage!

XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 3, Other Sights and parts

In Part 1 of this article I went over my visit to XS Sights and their business practices. In Part 2 I briefly wrote about their handgun sights. Here I want to quickly let the readers know, they make sights for rifles as well as other products for firearms.

While XS makes many handgun sights, don’t overlook that fact they make rifle and shotgun sights too. If your Remington or Benelli need an added advantage, XS has what your need. What about your Springfield M1, AK-47 or AR-15 type rifles, yes, they have a large selection from the CSAT (Combat Sight Alignment) to angles mount sights to supplement your scope, including Ghost ring sights. They have dozens of options you can sort through to find what you need. Continue reading XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 3, Other Sights and parts

XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 2, Handgun Sights

Previously I wrote about my visit to XS Sights manufacturing facility in Fort Worth Texas. That article was focused on their business. This one is focused on what has made them famous, their handgun sights.

I want to start this article with a statement; anyone who has taken handgun training should have heard “find the front sight!” or something close to that. While this article is not about how to shoot, you must have your sights on target before you squeeze a round off, and finding the sights quickly under the stress of a real world firefight or a competition is a lot harder than you think. Continue reading XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 2, Handgun Sights

XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 1, The Business

On April 4th, 2014 I was taking care of estate issues at my grandmother’s house in Fort Worth Texas. It was during this time I had the privilege of visiting XS Sight’s facilities, just 1 ½ miles from my grandmother’s house. If I had known that is where they were all these years, I would have visited them many times!

XS Sight Systems was the brain child of Ed Pastusek, who had a manufacturing facility called Horizon Tech Industries that made some very special parts for the medical industry. Founded in 1984 – yes folks, that was 30 years ago) Ed created a trusted business in the medical industry, something rare and even rarer to still be in business. This very day, one of their parts is used every 3 seconds in surgery. Machining and manufacturing were in Ed’s blood and in his family. Continue reading XS Sight Systems Visit – Part 1, The Business