Pistol presentation using an RDS?

[lawdogx]

I’ve been following the several RDS threads here with interest (great info – thank you to all). My experience with an RM02 mounted on a G19 (approaching 10K rounds) has been that, for me, it excels in every aspect save two: first shot speed and non-standard shooting positions. Regarding the first shot, it appears that folks are approaching it in different ways. I found early on that I could not acquire the dot early enough during presentation to utilize a press-out. I fire the first shot the same way I do with a rifle: focus on the target, present the weapon, and allow the dot to appear on the target (in fact, I find this to be the major advantage of the RDS – you maintain your focus on a clear target painted with a clear red dot). With a pistol, this is at the very end of presentation. The way I use an RDS, the iron sights are almost always irrelevant – they are there only as BUIS (if an optic goes down or my position is too funky to allow me to rapidly acquire the dot). I’ve read that other RDS users are running brightly colored front sights, which means they are using the front sight for … well, something. My question to anyone running an RDS: how are you presenting your pistol?

[DocGKR]

Pretty much the same way I always do. The painted front sight gives me a reference point on the press-out and for indexing sights when shooting from unorthodox positions. But as you stated, I don't pick-up the red-dot until much later in the presentation. My first shot speed up-close is the hardest thing I am dealing with using the RDS equipped pistol. Finding the dot rapidly in pitch black/zero lighting conditions can also be a bit slow.

[GJM]

My RDS technique continues to evolve, and what I think today may well change tomorrow. For months I read that the red dot would take a long time to transition to, that I would be slower to shot one, and that exercises like a Bill drill would be slower. At the Rogers School in November, Bill Rogers told me that it would take me minutes or a few hours, but not days and months to transition, and that I would be faster close and far with the dot. I firmly believe that discussion with Bill Rogers played a major role in my experience with the RMR.

I don't see the red dot until between 3/4 and full extension, which is night and day different from a Todd Green style press out. From session one, I didn't notice being any slower on shot one with the RDS, but I think I had it in my mind it wasn't going to be a problem after discussing this with Bill Rogers. Rather than worry or slow down when I didn't see the dot, I just presented the pistol and broke the shot as the dot appeared on the target at full extension.

After I read DocGKR's mention of the painted front sight, I tried it, and found that a bright orange sight allowed me to start indexing the pistol as with conventional iron sights early in the freestyle presentation, and then to naturally transition to the RDS. I am not sure I am necessarily faster using the bright front iron sight, but it is very comforting to have something to transition you to the RDS -- almost like training wheels. I also feel like the orange front sight allows me to index the pistol earlier, putting the red dot on or very close to the target, but again I am not sure if this is real or just in my mind. The sweet spot of the RMR window is actually quite small, and for me, near the bottom of the RMR window. The painted front sight helps focus my eyes to the sweet spot of the RMR window. This is especially helpful support hand only.

If I go into a completely dark room, I have more difficulty presenting the pistol so as to quickly find the dot. What I am not sure is how much better I would be with black iron sights, and without tritium, it is hard to tell. I wonder how a tritium front sight would help with the index in the pitch dark, so as to be able to get the RDS faster, and what the trade off would be in day light shooting versus the orange front sight? When I use a weapon mounted light, a flashlight, or have any ambient light, I do get the RDS quickly.

After about 1,000 rounds with the RDS, leaving aside all the advantages on longer shots, I am just as fast to shot one, I am faster with better accuracy on Bill drills, and amazingly better support hand only. However, for me right now, shooting the RDS takes a lot more concentration. I am not sure whether that is because of how long I have been shooting iron sights, how short I have been shooting the RDS on a handgun, or whether the RDS on a handgun is more demanding of your technique.