Holy shit!!!! I am having spasms of ecstasy over this. I shot an XD with a MRDS last weekend and fell in love. Pistol mounted MRDSs are the wave of the future. This is a fantastic move on their part. What is even better is the pricing. MSRP on the Pro is $729. MSRP on a standard fullsize is $569. You can pick up an M&P for somewhere between $425 and $450 give or take based on who is selling it and your negotiating powers. So figure the retail is about 25% lower. That means retail for the M&P 9mm PRO C.O.R.E. would be about $583. Now that doesnt take into account the fact that since it says PRO in the name there will be a bit of a markup. So call it $600. Current cost to mill your slide on your pistol, which you got for $425, for an MRDS is about $200. Supressor cost about $125 for a set. Total is about $750. So let me see, $750 or about $600. This is even more of a win since the C.O.R.E. will be able to accept multiple RDS and not just one. On top of it are the new stippled grips and the new trigger. The M&Ps coming off the line since late July have an upgraded trigger and it is a shit ton better than the older gritty ones. So I can only imagine how this one will be even better. My only complaints are: Why limit it to the Pro line? When are they going to fix the barrels in the 9mm? There are accuracy issues with just the 9mm. The twist is funky and there is a problem lock up time. The only way to fix this right now is a fitted storm lake barrel. Again this is just the 9mms. The .40s and the .45s are balls on accurate. Looks like I'm gonna have to sell something to finance this.
MRDS = Mini Red Dot Site Examples of Full sized red dot sights Aimpoint Pro - Product / Mounted Aimpoint T1 - Product / Mounted / Eotech Exps 2-0 - Product / Mouned Examples of Mini Red Dot Sights Trijicon RMR Front / Back / Mounted MSRP - Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. Did I miss any?
Kinda. The PRO series was created by S&W so someone could compete in pistol competitions with out having to compete in the "open division" which can be brutal. By their making the pro (more tuned up, better trigger, etc..) from the factory, if you buy one, you can compete in the "production division" (I.e. straight from the manufacturer with no modifications). Competition there is less brutal. However they are so tricked out that you cannot use them as an every day carry gun. Double bonus points now that you can carry and easily mount a mini RDS. They take a bit of getting used to shooting when looking through them, but once you do you have faster target acquisition and you hits tend to be more accurate. Don't get me wrong, if you are a lousy shot, well it aint gonna do that much. But if you are a good shot, it can really up your accuracy (the indian Vs. arrow argument).
S'what I wanna know too. Are lasers so commonplace, and taken for granted, they don't bear mentioning anymore? I didn't get that memo. In the 80's, they were goddamned sci-fi. Terminator having one in T1 was a big fuckin' deal.
No. A red dot sight is a holographic device. It's a glass reticle (eyepiece the shooter looks through) mounted on the weapon. A laser inside the device makes a holographic red dot, crosshair, circle, etc. appear in the reticle. The dot's position is adjusted until bullet impacts occur in the same apparent position to the shooter as the dot. The optical configuration eliminates parallax, so the shooter does not have to line up sights; no matter which angle the shooter looks through the reticle, the dot corresponds to the point of impact. No beam is projected from this device, and the light it creates in the reticle is mainly invisible from the target's perspective. These kinds of sights make getting the weapon on target VERY fast. No front/back sights to line-up; just put the dot where you want the bullet to go. And unlike conventional laser sights, they don't project a beam that an enemy can see, avoid, or follow back to the source. This video demonstrates how they look to the shooter. Notice how precise they are. [wyt=EOTech POV Shooting]4qbMWSD0JVw[/wyt] I have an EOTech sight (like the one in the video) on my AR and it works so well, I wouldn't want to shoot any other way.
No. Its a holographic projection on a plate of glass in a manner that ides the dot until you are holding it correctly.. Take a look at Aimpoints website. So instead of looking through a rear sight, and aligning the front site with it, then getting on target you just point in the direction till you see the dot, the dot is on target and then you are on target. No laser, no magnification. In facet yes, they are a million times better than a laser. Even a green laser can only travel so far. Bright daylight can wash out the laser reflection that you need. Aimpoints, EoTechs (the newer models) you can bet your life on. There is a RDS that adds magnification to the game. Its the Trijicon AGOC. The damned things cost as much if not more than the rifle.
Point of order: The glass isn't the reticle. A reticle is what is seen through the glass optics, whether it be the physical crosshairs inside an old style telescopic sight, the projected red dot in an unmagnified holosight on a rifle or pistol, or the stadiametric lines in a main battle tank's sights (either physically inside a telescopic sight or projected through the thermal or daylight sights).
Military and Police. It's just the model name. It's an older model name that they revived in the 2000's when they introduced their line of pistols and M4geries.
I'm a big fan of the M&P pistols. My nephew has an M&P 9mm that is one of the most accurate handguns I've ever shot. I myself keep an M&P 45 in the nightstand...
Lasers are so 1990's...... Anyway this is great news. Now we just need Glock to do this because I don't want to pay almost triple for a Glock with the sight on it because it needs to be milled. Here is a good video of a M&P with a Deltapoint on it so you guys can see exactly what it is. [wyt=Deltapoint M&P]OZh3x_hO5gA[/wyt] As for history.... These things go back to 1900. They've been used and modified ever since. The Heads Up Display in fighters operate on similar principles. Here's the wiki article on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflector_sight I think Red Dot sights on handguns are going to be come very common place in the future to the point that maybe the police around the country will be able to shoot better.
I definitely see the benefit. It'd be a great night stand gun, but it would be very hard to conceal, doubly so for inside the waist band stuff, and no one anywhere is making leather compatible with these things. Since I have no use for a solely night stand gun...
MY son just went thru Army basic and they used laser sights on their AR platform rifles - he caught on pretty quick, and shot okay given the limited amount of time they get to learn. Then he went to AIT (job training) in Texas where they only had iron sights - so it's definitely good to know both types of sighting IMO. It's like using a compass versus a GPS - new technologies have their place, but you can't toss aside the old technology just yet.
Actually I spent some time with two guys who had Trijicon RMRs mounted to their pistols. The conceal carried the entire weekend, IWB, and there was never a problem. All of the compatible holsters, IWB or OWB, are made out of Kydex.
