Assuming a flashlight is also attached or involved, do you like the slide mounted dots?

I have zero experience with these little things, but I’m considering a P365X

A 365X Romeo Zero is my bedside pistol (bookcase headboard) as well as my EDC pistol. 16 hours a day it lives in my waistband and 8 hours a day it lives in the headboard.

I think it's outstanding for a bedside pistol.

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:
Assuming a flashlight is also attached or involved, do you like the slide mounted dots?

You've to figure out how you gonna set or manage dot's intensity. Dots can wash out under white light, some quite a bit.

I find the dot irrelevant at bedroom distances. If your target is framed in the window, you'll hit it.

One of the cardinal rules I learned years ago when taking coastal navigation is:

Never trust your life solely to electronics....

with that said, I have several weapons with red dots on them and like them a LOT. What I have found very helpful with the sig Romeo sights is they combine the dot with the regular iron sights.... this is vert helpful in practice and refining your skills at hitting the target. I had and still have a tendency to shoot a bit to the left and this I finally determined was finger placement and I figured this out with a the Romeo sight on my P320 compact... you can see the slight movement of the point of aim much better with the red dot than with the iron sights... whether that is from jerking the trigger, improper grip or finger placement.... the other thing that helped me was in learning to find the dern dot fast... practice acquiring the target with the iron sights... and getting that muscle memory and the dot will just be there.

With all of the above said, keep in mind there is a good chance in the terrible event that you actually have to use that 'bedside' gun... you will not even be aware of using the sights....

If you understand low light dynamics and flashlight usage, adding in the dot is not a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
If you understand low light dynamics and flashlight usage, adding in the dot is not a problem.

No, it isn't a problem at all.

I set the dot intensity to where it doesn't wash out under noontime sun here in Arizona or at night with a 1,200 lumen flashlight on and is still not too bright under near total darkness.

The only place I don't see a benefit from an optic is on a true backup gun that will almost certainly only be used at "get off me" distances.

The thoughts about light management are well founded. Figure out a setting that will be visible with your light turned on in the dark and leave it there. That setting will likely be plenty bright for all light conditions.

It is true that the optic may not truly come into play at bedroom distances, but then again, the same is probably true for iron sights. Having the capability doesn't hurt.

The real issue in home security isn't the use of a last ditch method - a red dot is mostly an incremental targeting device, you choose the second or third button down kind of thing.

How did they choose your property, and what is so valuable inside they are risking entry? To which you add why does it appear to be so easy?

It's been a gun forum solution to finesse the firearm for home defense when the real answer is to finesse the home for home defense - one of the details is window security film, if it's not being used, consider that a "tell" on the status of the subject at that location.

With the introduction of red dots for handguns there is a lot of interest in having one on it, however, all the fans and marketing don't tell you that its an advanced accessory, should require training - which LEO's DO get when adding one - and for the most part inside a building isn't a high ranked priority. Being able to see and identify is. Light technique is important, and having your eyesight exposed to bright illumination then the relative obscurity of none does create a problem. One a light is used, your eyes don't bounce back and forth easily - takes a half hour to fully adjust. Having a red dot to place on a dark shadow with no light still leaves the critical issue of who is it that alarmed you at that hour?

If it's a bad ID its a bad shoot. Clamping on another accessory wont fix it, unless its a light, which can be arguably handled safely in the off hand better. This issue with a weapon mounted light involves paying attention to the activation method vs pressing a trigger. Negligent discharges under stress are higher with less training. It takes a lot of practice to get to the point where you don't do it wrong - much more important than mostly doing it right. << There is a lot to read into that last.

Working a light while pointing the weapon at them also involves the situation where family realizes they are about to be shot by Dad. Very few discuss some of the fallout that happens from that (altho teens wandering in inebriated do seem to own the situation.) That story does get out, and lacking some up front discussion and even family training, it becomes a sore subject.

This gets to be a deep rabbit hole when all the factors are considered, and in most discussions, they aren't. Coming from the perspective of formal training in urban warfare - and refresher training on it thru 22 years - the civilian shooting hobby lacks a lot of reference material. Another issue is that the police are usually involved either as clean up - a whole nuther complication - and their perspective is often aggressive entry - crack houses - which leads to "we don't wanna suggest making our job harder."

For all the interest in trying to prevent "waking up with a knife at our throat" some of the underlying details how that could happen require ignoring all the more necessary and expensive upgrades for the property. And those do have a return on investment as cities encroach on neighborhoods, or the street two lanes over starts becoming a distressed rental alley.

I have noticed a reticence in gun forums to open a subforum on Home Defense - which is Home Improvement - and there is a related issue with that - would it be telling criminals how to do a better job keeping out cops? It goes way beyond adding a dead bolt or installing a light over a doorway. And once the homeowner wakes up to whatever inadvertent sound alarmed them, it's last ditch time. Grab a gun and ??? Now CQB tactics which require ID and the families response to shooting inside the home are more important.

Adding an accessory to a firearm doesn't repair the negligence in keeping them out in the first place.

You certainly enjoy wordy responses that have nothing to do with the original post.

"New CQB tactics which require ID" ranks right up there with your gem on Infantry doctrine says no slings.

Even though it was long response I think Tirod made some good points. It may not be answering the OP's question but it is basically saying if you are investigating what is the best bedside gun you might also need to be looking past that to your home's situation and a lot of other stuff we gun and self defense fanatics tend to not see. I personally think it was more helpful that even my response.

quote:

Originally posted by Veeper:
Assuming a flashlight is also attached or involved, do you like the slide mounted dots?

I have zero experience with these little things, but I’m considering a P365X

If you are already comfortable running a light and clearing the house, adding a dot into the mix is not difficult.

quote:

Originally posted by mesabi:
You certainly enjoy wordy responses that have nothing to do with the original post.

"New CQB tactics which require ID" ranks right up there with your gem on Infantry doctrine says no slings.

No kidding. I’m at a loss for words.....

I don't want them, I don't need them. My pistol has night sights and a good WML. Shooting distances will be short. All an RDS will do in a home defense scenario is get in my way.

I used to think they were a useless fad. Then I got old. On a whim I tried one on a 320. One range trip later I bought a p320 XCompact with a RDS. I still have irons if the dot goes out. The dot sits right on top of the irons so my shooting position didn’t need to change. The difference is now I have a sighting system that works with my old man eyes and lets me keep focus on the target. I shoot both these 320s better than I ever could my 1911s, and that’s high praise from me.

My current bedside pistol is the p320 full-size with RDS and a Surefire x300. If I felt a need to go check a bump in the night I might still reach into the safe for a long gun, but I feel perfectly capable of taking any reasonable shot at handgun range with the RDS equipped pistol even in poor light.

I’ve become a convert. Your mileage may vary.

quote:

Originally posted by mesabi:

"New CQB tactics which require ID" ranks right up there with your gem on Infantry doctrine says no slings.

Link, please?

Even though I made my electronic point I have to admit my bed side gun does have a 'dot' on it... the only difference is that 'Electronic Dot'. mine reaches way out there.... it is on the grip and is a laser.... still have the iron night sights but I like that 'reach out and touch 'em dot'. Also, I found a pistol that I can aim naturally.... at twenty feet I can point the dern thing at a target and then activate that laser and be within 2-3" of where I want the bullet to go.
Sig P239 with Crimson Trace Laser Grip.