I've decided too put a RMR on my 229 and so with no experience in this I'm going to ask the brain trust here what size dot is best for a handgun?
In my research on the internet it seems the small dot 3.25 is for long range and the 6 dot is for close up.
So give me your wisdom as this is a near area for me.
Thanks

6MOA is the only choice for a defensive pistol.

By the way, you can shoot small groups at 15-20 yards with the 6 MOA dot. I'm not sure how much farther out you plan on shooting with a 229.

quote:

Originally posted by SVTNate:
6MOA is the only choice for a defensive pistol.

By the way, you can shoot small groups at 15-20 yards with the 6 MOA dot. I'm not sure how much farther out you plan on shooting with a 229.

The ONLY choice?? I think not. Turn up the brightness a touch (or not) and the smaller Dot will work just fine thank you very much.........

quote:

Originally posted by djpaintles:

quote:

Originally posted by SVTNate:
6MOA is the only choice for a defensive pistol.

By the way, you can shoot small groups at 15-20 yards with the 6 MOA dot. I'm not sure how much farther out you plan on shooting with a 229.

The ONLY choice?? I think not. Turn up the brightness a touch (or not) and the smaller Dot will work just fine thank you very much.........

This. I was sold on 6.5MOA for a pistol RMR but then I put a 3 on my MOS G19 and realized right away that for the cost of perhaps a little less battery life I have a sight that allows for both close-in and distance if needed.

I have both 3.25 and 6.5 and they both get the job done, but i carry the 6.5 most.

Here's quality video with some ideas on deciding what could work for you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBE8h1vDitI

quote:

Originally posted by Gundawg:
I have both 3.25 and 6.5 and they both get the job done, but i carry the 6.5 most.

Same here. But truthfully I can go equally fast with either. There's not really a huge difference in actual use IMO.

Even if you are shooting at 100 with the 6.5 moa dot, I still don’t see the limitations, it won’t cover the target ‘cause at that range you’ll need some holdover.

I've tested this extensively. To the tune of thousands and thousands of rounds and trying all the sizes. For a pistol used in 'action pistol' type events (like steel challenge, plates, etc.) or personal defense you will be happiest with an RMR07. There's not a huge difference to the RMR06 but there is a speed and usability difference at normal pistol ranges.
If I shot some kind of bulls eye competition I might vote differently.
But overall the RMR07 is the best compromise of the various tradeoffs.

Many years ago with Docter sights were the only practical option, I tried both the 3.5 MOA and 7 MOA.

My conclusion was that, what was true of targets was also true of dots: aim small, miss small.

The concern that I would not see a smaller dot as opposed to a larger dot didn't ring true for me. I picked up both at the same speed, but the larger dot was much less precise.

Seeing the dot has more to do with how repeatable your grip is. It takes practice because, unlike iron sights, there are no indications as to whether to orient the gun this way or that way to get your reticle back, if your head is out of alignment with the sight. But it's more an issue of practice as opposed to dot size. If you are out of alignment, dot size does not matter.

I would suggest the smallest dot size you are comfortable with.

quote:

Originally posted by LDD:

Seeing the dot has more to do with how repeatable your grip is. It takes practice because, unlike iron sights, there are no indications as to whether to orient the gun this way or that way to get your reticle back, if your head is out of alignment with the sight. But it's more an issue of practice as opposed to dot size. If you are out of alignment, dot size does not matter.

Good points! One thing I might add about this is that the S&W Core set up with an RMR does have Iron sites set up high enough to see through the RMR unlike a couple others. With the Walther you have to replace the rear site altogether, in the new Springfield Armory XDM the rear sites are too short to see through the RMR.

I really like the way the XDM shoots but I also like having the rear sites available as a backup on the S&W Core. Maybe somebody will market some RMR height sights for the Springfield, I’ll be a customer............DJ

I've had good luck with Leupold's Deltapoint with a 7.5moa triangle. Use the top of the triangle for precision and the whole image for closeup. I don't have to choose between a small or large dot.

6.5 because you aren’t holding the optic close to your eyes like on a rifle. It is generally at arms length. So because its farther out a larger dot is equivalent to a smaller dot close up.

Many place their rifle mounted RDS all they way forward on a receiver and also extend the stock. My 2 MOA Aimpoints and 1 MOA Eotech are not much closer to my eyes than my pistol mounted optic.

As a small data point, to the best of my knowledge top 5 places in Carry Optics division during the last Optics USPSA Nationals were taken with 3.0-3.5 MOA dots.

You should also take into consideration your vision. If you do have astigmatism, the larger dots will look much less like a dot and more like a blob or bunch of grapes. Even with my corrected astigmatism, the larger dots still look a little off. I ended up selling my 6.5 MOA RMR. I'll eventually replace it with something the 3 MOA range.

quote:

Originally posted by cmparrish:
You should also take into consideration your vision. If you do have astigmatism, the larger dots will look much less like a dot and more like a blob or bunch of grapes. Even with my corrected astigmatism, the larger dots still look a little off. I ended up selling my 6.5 MOA RMR. I'll eventually replace it with something the 3 MOA range.

Yep that's what happened to me....