Another poster posted this company earlier: http://www.customizedcreationz.com/services/machining.html

 

They custom machine firearms including machining a groove in the slide to mount a red dot sight.  This seems like a very interesting set up and I'm interested.  My concern is that a red dot sight might not survive the ride back and forth on the slide too many times and certainly won't stay sighted in.

 

Curious if anyone has done this and what your experience was.

 

Pm High Exposure.  He has a glock 35 slide milled out with a RDS on it.

I've shot a Beretta 92-somethingorother that had a red dot on it as well (maybe a FastFire? I don't remember). Seems like its not super uncommon and as the sights can certainly be made to tolerate the abuse, if the mfr chose to build them that way

S&W is now making a line of the M&P's that are set-up to accept slide mounted optics. They are called C.O.R.E. (Competition Optics Ready Equipment).

S&W is now making a line of the M&P's that are set-up to accept slide mounted optics. They are called C.O.R.E. (Competition Optics Ready Equipment).

Which will be my next purchase in .40 5" model.

There have been issues with the RDS (small window style) optics surviving riding the slide for pistols that see reguler training according to some articles I have read. But I do like the concept. I shot an open class pistol in the late 90's and always thought the day would come when red dots made the jump to defensive pistols. But after moving away from IPSC for many years, I found it hard to actually pick back up where I left off. However, this could also be due to it not being a 1911 too.

 

Here is my G35 milled and cerakoted by Mark Housel of L&M Precision Gunworks in AZ. The work cost about $300 and turnaround time was less than 2 weeks.

 

 

Close-up of the mill work:

I like having it milled into the slide vs. an adapter plate that slots into the rear sight dovetail as it allows the use of suppressor height BUIS in the event the RDS goes down.

 

Sight picture:

 

The RDS is a Trijicon RMR02 - my research and experience into this showed that the Trijicon RDS are the only one that can really stand up to the abuse, and even then only about 80% run without a hiccup. A few have gotten sent back to Trijicon due to loss of zero issues. The Insight MRDS is another decent choice.

 

This gun is way more accurate than I am with the KKM barrel and the Red Dot. But it does take some getting used to on your presentation as the "sight line" is now a little higher than what you may be used too. In the beginning I would sometimes lose the dot when transitioning from target to target, but that seems to have ironed itself out with practice.

 

It has been boringly reliable with over 2000 rounds through it now.

Ah...let me know when you get tired of that...ill take it.

Ah...let me know when you get tired of that...ill take it.

Fat Chance brother!

Highexposure

 

Do you have any issues manipulating the slide with the RDS mounted?

I think Dave (Shocker) shot my Beretta. I have an M9 with a slide mounted fastfire. I did not have the slide milled, but got a mount made by Burris that fit the Beretta's rear site mount. This is a good way to go if you are not sure about having your slide milled but want to try out the concept.

 

It's a fun gun, accurate and with the other custom work I had done, a great shooter. I built the gun for fun, not for high round counts. I will likely use it for steel with light loads, or take it out of the safe a few times a year for some range time so durability was not the main concern.

 

As far as manipulating the slide goes, yes it can be tricky.

Highexposure

Do you have any issues manipulating the slide with the RDS mounted?

Zero issues running the slide on reloads or clearing malfunctions. In fact with the RDS it may even be easier.

It makes a great slide racker in a pinch dont it

Absolutely! It practically holds your hand. If it wasn't a Trijicon RDS I don't think I would trust it to hold up to the abuse of using it like a handle. I know I wouldn't trust a Burris or Doctor to hold up to that hard use.

 

Yet another benefit of buying quality gear.