Yup, I can see the 22s are definitely coming out more in 2021.

And a nice PCP pellet gun is on my short list.

Good morning, Yard.

Lazi. I used an RWS Diana .177 to kill a dozen Skunks. Only one needed 2 shots and it was about 20 yards away. I took all head shots from the side or where the skull meets the spine (base of the skull). And my rifle is almost 30 years old, but even today it still puts out about 950 FPS. If you want a “Survival or Hunting” rifle, don’t cheap out.

I was given my duty weapon for my retirement. Unfortunately, they wouldn't give me the optic that went with it. I had to order one today. The optic costs as much as the pistol it goes on. But they are totally worth it. Especially with aging eyes. I ordered the same thing we use. An RMR06 type 2. They claim to have them in stock. I'm hoping so because I have been looking for a month and everyone is out.

I have been interested in obtaining a red dot sight for a pistol. Have one on a rifle at the moment. Any downside I should be aware of?

I like them and will probably get a few more. I have zero downsides of a red dot on a rifle. At least an AR platform and I am tempted to commit sacrilege and put one on a lever gun.

On a pistol, I find them very useful since my eyes are older and that front sight gets fuzzier. The one downside to the pistol is if you are used to iron sights (I am) You're very likely to have to search for the dot when you first come on target. It has way more to do with being used to finding the front sight. If you look at where you want to shoot, the dot comes naturally to the eye. It took a fair amount of practice to get used to looking at/focusing on the target instead of the front sight.

I will say with a G-45 I can easily hit a pepper popper at 100 yards without issue standing offhand. Having one focal plane makes life simpler.

Thanks. That’s very helpful.

If you have specific questions I'll do my best to answer them. I have done a bit of research on the subject and I can probably get you links to studies.

Two areas of concern:
1. Reliability. This includes battery life. To me, unreliable electronics and the need for batteries are concerns.
2. Eyesight problems. I have astigmatism. I was able to use a lower brightness setting and make the sight usable on my rifle. No idea if astigmatism would be more of a problem with a pistol.
I also have a quick release mount for the optic and backup iron sights on the rifle.

I have mild astigmatism. I see a comma with the rifle optic. Not as bad with the pistol especially if the dot is at lower brightness.

As far as durability. Let me give you a little background. I am a firearms instructor or was for my agency. We tested a bunch of different optics for use on our new duty pistols which are Glock G-45 9mm's. We tested all common optics. RMR, Delta Point Pro, Aimpoint Acro, Holosun 501 and some other odd ones.

We would shoot 100 rounds then drop the firearm from shoulder height directly onto the optic on concrete and alternation onto gravel/dirt every other iteration. We would inspect for damage check the zero and finish the 100 rounds and do it over again. We also used the optic to rack the slide. If the lens cracked we would continue as long as the sight worked and maintained zero. We several optics of the same make and model on the same platform and continued testing until two sights dominated the others. We were not kind to the optics.

Two sights we would consider duty grade. The Trijicon RMR type 2 and The AimPoint Acro. The rest had significant failures. I do like the Delta Point Pro and have one on a backcountry pistol.

We went with the RMR 06 Type 2. They claim battery life is 4 years but we are changing them out yearly and from anyone using them before us, this seems to be a solid plan and it would be rare to lose battery life with quality batteries before that time. Right now I think we are the largest agency in the nation that issues them to everyone. And the only one with our current duty weapon setup. That won't last long we were just a flagship agency for that setup.

I'm not saying there are never failures and in the 650 I helped set up we found a couple that were just bad right out of the box. But that's 2 out of the 650 I was involved with building. We also put suppressor sights on them and I did the same with the DPP on my personal gun. Everything has a chance to fail. So they are there as insurance. But the sight also still works with the front of the lens occluded as long as you use both eyes.

When I retired due to my length of service they gave me my final duty gun. Think of it as a gold watch. I liked the setup enough that I dropped the coin to purchase an optic for my old duty gun because they kept the optic. It's not the end all, do all and I still like iron sights for some things but this one will become my bump in the night gun. With practice, I'm just as fast and far more accurate than with iron sights.

That’s a great testimonial for those two brands and it’s nice to know that the astigmatism may be less on a pistol. I’ll have to experiment. I didn’t realize that battery life was that good these days. My Holosun’s battery life is much shorter but I just realized I have had it for several years now. Must be quite the old model. Thanks for all the info. You’ve been a big help.

Just looked up the G45. Now mind you I AM NOT a pro, but the G45 sounds a lot to me like a G48 but double stack.