Handgun optics have been an increasingly popular feature people are seeing more and more of in the handgun market. Having an optic on your handgun was difficult to do unless you wanted to spend a prohibitive amount of money to have your handgun modified. Most people only had optics on their hunting revolvers or competition guns. There was a stigma with red dots failing and then not having backup sights to be able to still shoot your handgun. Today some of the most popular handgun manufacturers offer handguns with optic ready features. Adding an optic to your handgun can help increase accuracy and speed to even brand new shooters.

Handgun optics first popped up with hunting revolvers in the early 1980’s. These optics typically had long eye relief and had a fixed magnification. Even today hunters are still using optics on their hunting handguns for better accuracy. A lot of the optics today have more features now than they did before like parallax adjustment, lit reticles, and variable magnifications. It wasn’t until the late 1970’s that red dots or “reflex sights” made their way to the market for rifles. In this same time period Jerry Barnhart was the first to take this idea to a competition handgun platform. In 1990, Jerry competed in USPSA Nationals with a reflex sight and beat the competitors so bad they had to consider the idea of putting reflex optics on their own guns.

Adding a reflex sight to your handgun is a great way to increase a shooters speed and accuracy. Reflex sights give the shooter the ability to acquire their target faster. Reflex sights today are very robust and can have a battery life of 5+ years with constant running time. Most companies make holsters that will accommodate handguns with optics and still have a low profile for concealed carry. Reflex sights can start at $200 and go up from there. For new shooters reflex sights can be beneficial as the iron sights do not have to be aligned, allowing them to focus more on trigger press. We have handguns with reflex sights on them for rent and for sale so anyone who is thinking about getting a reflex sight can come and try one out.