Pocket Optics
Trijicon’s New Red Dot for Carry Gun
The 0.76"x0.56" window is big enough for fast aim. The dot appears right
away, given proper technique.
Now those little pistols can peg targets faster — especially in poor light or if your eyes have aged!
The RMR reflex sight has many fans. I’m one. This lightweight red dot optic yields bright, sharp images through fully coated lenses. Its distinctive camel-hump frame is designed to endure brutal impact. Adjustments are precise. Available with 1-, 3.25- and 6.5-MOA dots and bases to fit most pistols, the two-oz. RMR may be the fastest sight you can install on a handgun. And the most reliable. One shooter reported an RMR on a pistol he bought second-hand subsequently performed fault-free for 50,000 rounds.
Perfect? Not quite. While compact, Trijicon’s RMR is a tad wider than the slides of small pistols now selling like beer at a ball-park.
Trijicon’s new RMRcc, here on a GLOCK, speeds aim without adding
weight and bulk to carry pistols.
Dot School
A handful of us had gathered at the 10,000-acre JL Bar Ranch a couple hours from San Antonio. Federal Cartridge had graciously supplied ammunition, CrossBreed a selection of holsters for the two-day RMRcc introduction and a refresher on shooting small pistols.
The 1x, 1.25-oz. RMRcc announced this fall has the same base length as its parent but is just 0.9″ tall and wide. The window is proportionately smaller: 0.76″ by 0.56″. “That’s no handicap,” Scott Jedlinski assured me. You’d expect such a claim from Trijicon’s sales staff. Scott, however, is an ace pistol shot and instructor, patiently teaching a rifleman with hands that engulf 1911s how to use concealable 9mms.
“Your body aligns the pistol,” he reminded me. “A small window actually sharpens your focus on the target. If you must search for the dot, check your stance, shoulder position and grip. Stand with left foot slightly forward, shoulders, elbows and wrists unlocked. Grip the pistol high. Don’t clench it. Bring it up to your eye; nix the tactical-turtle hunch. Cup your trigger hand firmly with your left. Add pressure with your left little finger to bring the muzzle down. The dot will appear right away, descending from 12 o’clock.”
The technique worked. Suddenly the RMRcc’s window didn’t look small. But the sight itself was much more in keeping with the profile of my GLOCK 48. It fit similar pistols too — GLOCKs, but also an S&W M&P Shield and Springfield’s Hellcat.
Durable? Clearing jams by beating the RMRcc against a post caused no damage
or change in zero. Adjustments include nine brightness options, 3-MOA W/E graduations.
A perfect fit for this M&P Shield, the RMRcc also fits other compact guns
like the Springfield Armory Hellcat.
Mini RMR …
“The RMR is too good to change,” Trijicon’s Logan Killam assured us. “We simply tweaked it to better fit the profile of concealable autoloaders. Importantly, as it has a unique footprint, we’ll offer a full suite of adapter plates so you can install it easily on any handgun without gunsmithing.”
Josh Lyall added because Trijicon also makes iron sights, it already has dovetail dimensions for most pistols. “We’re making plates for full-size guns so you can easily switch an RMRcc from your carry pistol to a bigger slide.”
W/E dials on the new RMR differ a bit from those on the original. They’re designed to turn with a cartridge rim but with no palpable or audible clicks to match their 3-minute graduations. In my limited tests, they delivered predictable impact shifts. The dot brightness adjustment has one automatic and eight manual settings, with more than enough range to suit any light conditions. After 16-1/2 hours unattended, the dot self-adjusts to match ambient light to conserve battery.
“The battery is still the common 2032 used in many devices,” said Ryan Wood, also of Trijicon. “It’s good for about four years in an RMR.”
The RMRcc comes with your choice of a 3.25 or 6.5 MOA dot. “The 1 MOA dot available in standard RMRs is for rifles and accounts for just 10% of sales,” Ryan explained. Like 60% of RMR shooters, I prefer a 3.25 MOA dot and chose it when snaring a pistol with the new sight. All sizes originate as an itsy-bitsy LED image getting visibly bigger when bounced to the eye.
The RMRcc is so compact, iron sights can be left in place. At the JL Bar I used a couple of pistols equipped with both. The irons proved no distraction.
Is the sight less durable than its forebear? Hardly! The 7075-T6 aluminum frame meets military standards. At Scott’s direction, we loaded magazines with live cartridges and empty cases alternately, to prompt jams. We cleared failures by striking the sight hard against wooden posts to free the slide. Those posts suffered deep wounds, but no RMRcc showed damage or lost zero.
American-made in Michigan, per Trijicon’s tradition, the RMRcc is priced like the original: $699 MSRP and about $500 in actual commerce.
For more info: Trijicon.com
