Red Dots on Revolvers? Why?

Putting a red dot on a revolver seems a bit like putting mustard on a steak

I remember the comments I got when I put an Aimpoint ACRO on top of a S&W 586 L-Comp. “Why did you ruin that gun” and “Have you ever retired a human by mistake” sort of stuff. The point at the time was I wanted to build a revolver version of the Roland Special and see if I could keep up in a Modern Samurai Project class (spoiler alert - I could, as long as the COF didn’t require reloads and even then it was close).

For our younger readers, there was a time where dots and comps on guns weren’t ubiquitous, and a gun with a comp and a dot on it was often generically referred to as a Roland Special. I could write a whole article on that specific type of gun, but that’s a different post. Anyway, back to red dots on revolvers, and why it’s something you should consider.

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The Modern Fighting Revolver

Years and years ago I wrote an article where I laid out my idea for bringing the revolver into the 21st century, calling it the Modern Fighting Revolver. If I was designing a gun from a blank sheet of paper it would be a 3 inch barrel, medium frame gun on some kind of polymer chassis like a big Ruger LCR, and it would be optics ready from the go. Truthfully, we’re about as close to my dream MFR as we can get, thanks to Taurus USA and the 66 Combat.

Another great option from Taurus that fits the spirit of the MFR is the 692 Executive Grade, especially when you remove the rear sight and replace it with a red dot mount. Run it with 9mm and you’re about as close to my ideal medium frame fighting gun as you can get. But again, that raises the question, why put a red dot on a revolver?

Why Not?

Let’s get a few things out of the way first. When we talk about putting red dots on revolvers, I’m not talking about putting them on wee tiny little revolvers like 2 inch J-frames or the Ruger LCR. I think that those guns are best when they’re small, compact, and easily carried in a pocket or on ankle. So we’re not talking about putting a dot on those, although it is possible and there are some options for it.

No, here we’re specifically talking about adding red dots to medium frame and larger guns. Basically, once the revolver is sufficient in size that it warrants a belt and a holster to carry it, then yeah let’s put a dot on it. And why not, right? A red dot on a revolver has all of the advantages of a red dot on a semi-auto pistol and none of the drawbacks, since you can’t kill it with the slide cycling in recoil.

In addition to the normal benefits of adding a dot, like increased accuracy, faster target acquisition, etc; one of the huge benefits of adding a dot to your revolver is for dry fire training. Back in the day, switched on dudes would get Crimson Trace laser grips and dry fire with those, but a red dot is an even more granular aiming reference than a laser on a wall. It will tell you exactly what your sights are doing during your trigger press, and it will probably hurt your feelings a little bit in the process.

Potential Drawbacks

What are the drawbacks of mounting a red dot on a revolver? Basically none. However, in the interest of fairness I’m going to list a couple. The first is that the gun does get harder to conceal, but that’s an issue you’d encounter mounting a dot on anything. The extra height is an issue for effective concealment, but not insurmountable.

The biggest issue is holster availability for concealment. Guns like the 692 Executive Grade at 66 Combat will fit L-frame holsters, but finding AIWB or IWB holsters that will accommodate an optic and have reasonable ride height can be difficult to say the least. Not impossible, but difficult. And you can basically forget about leather holsters unless you’re willing to go full custom for something. OWB holsters aren’t as much of an issue, but then you’ve got a different concealment problem.

An additional drawback, but not really a significant one, is finding a place to compete with your gun. IDPA’s revolver division doesn’t allow red dots, and you can’t shoehorn it into Carry Optics in IDPA due to the way the rules are written. Same with USPSA Revolver, although if I understand the latest rules you could shoot an 8 shot revolver with an optic in Limited-10, which honestly sounds like an awful time. The good news is that PCSL does allow it, you can just do whatever the hell you want basically in PCSL, but the difficulty will be finding a PCSL match near you. Lastly, Steel Challenge absolutely allows it. There is even a division specifically for revolvers with optics.

Red Dot the World

It is funny, because on social media I’m seeing a lot more revolvers with red dots, and people are acting like this is some new thing. It’s not. We’ve actually been putting red dots on revolvers for competition for as long as we’ve had red dots, but that’s a different story. For defensive and carry guns it is kind of a new thing.

Ultimately, if you’re looking at a medium frame or larger revolver, there’s no reason to not put a red dot on it. I wouldn’t put a red dot on a classic S&W or something, but a modern production gun from any of the major manufacturers? Absolutely put a dot on that. Put red dots on everything. Red dot the world.