Mechanical Considerations
When Jeff Chudwin speaks, gun-savvy cops listen. His resume encompasses many years as a prosecutor, chief of police, and firearms instructor. He recently had this to share:
“We are in the ‘Wild West’ of pistol optics. We are now doing a ‘Duty Handgun Optics Armorers’ class. Mount of the optic is the focus. Why? In the past year, 30 to 50% of our student officers arrive carrying a pistol dot optic. Of those in use, 50–100% failed in some fashion during the classes. Loose screws, broken screws, wrong screws, etc. McMaster Carr in Illinois carries steel alloy screws that are the best American-made quality we have found. We now check every firearm before we move to the range.
“Trust no one to mount your optics unless you can verify the competency of that person doing the work. If you are using the handgun for defense of life purposes, know that the screws are quality, the VibraTite VC-3 or Locktite is used, and all surfaces are properly cleaned before application. We seldom see this done.
“A solid foundation of knowledge is required to get and keep all in correct working order. We gain that knowledge in this case by running a constant science experiment on the range as hundreds of pistols and tens of thousands of rounds are in regularly in play,” Chudwin concludes.
Personally, I would also recommend a closed emitter design for heavy-duty use like police work and a direct mount that doesn’t require a plate. Insist on backup iron sights. Make sure your officers can, in fact, see the dot: Lt. Wayne Musgrove of the Suwannee County (FL) Sheriff’s Department got green dot Holosuns for all his deputies’ new FN 509 service pistols in part because one or more of them were color blind and couldn’t distinguish red dots. And, particularly in four-season climates, make sure de-fogger is applied regularly! The Cat Crap brand works well.
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