Trijicon RMR HD First Impressions

[tacticalcity]

Picked up the new Trijicon RMR HD as an early birthday present. Thus far I am impressed. It addresses and fixes all my complaints about the Trijicon RMR save two. It's still an open emitter and it is even pricier than the already pricey RMR Type 2 sight.

Let's discus price first. With overnight shipping, wholesale ran me around $725. Minimum advertised price allowed is $774 before tax and shipping. If you can find it for that price jump on it. MSRP is $1019 before tax and shipping. Finding these in stock has been a challenge but I would expect that to change. The distributor I use, that most people use, just got a bunch in stock. Time will tell if that affects what retailers are charging. Given that this sight is by far the most feature rich sight on the market from a high-end brand...the price does make sense. Cheaper brand sights have been loading up their sights with many if not most of these features, but those sights lack the reliability and ruggedness Trijicon is known for. Still, the cost is still a hard pill to swallow. Even at wholesale. So, that is complaint number one.

Now for it being open emitter. For the past couple years there has been a big push towards enclosed emitter sights. The thinking being that if it is enclosed then nothing can get wedged between the emitter and the lens thus disabling the sight. I've never heard a report of this actually happening to people in either the military or civilian world, but it's not hard to imagine how this might happen. So, take all that as you will. Additionally, neither Trijicon nor Aimpoint's enclosed emitter sights have anywhere near as large of a window as this sight or the feature set that it does. While Holosun makes enclosed emitter sights with a large window, they lack the reliability and ruggedness you get from this sight. Those sights are great. But at the end of the day things cost what they cost for a reason. If window size, reliability and ruggedness are important to you the Trijicon RMR HD makes sense even in a world where the enclosed emitter exists. Especially if it is the best choice when it comes to fitting your existing RMR cut slide.

Now that we have the two negatives' out of the way, and counter points to those downsides covered, lets discuss what I like about the Trijicon RMR HD. Did I say like? I really mean love. The window size, the ruggedness, the top loading battery, the massive adjustment buttons, the multiple reticles and settings, and the fact that it works with my Zev slides with Zev screw posts without modification are all really, really nice things about the Trijicon RMR HD.

The window is massive. You get the user-friendly window of an SRO with the nearly indestructible design of the RMR. This translates to a drop proof sight that gets you on target fast without ever losing the dot. Additionally, it has a top loading battery like the SRO as well. No more having to remove the sight from the slide, risking losing zero, to change the battery. Like the window, the adjustment buttons are massive as well. Even bigger than those of the RMR Type 2. You will have no trouble adjusting the brightness or changing settings, even with gloves on. There are two reticles. One is like the traditional EOTECH reticle, and the other is a simple dot. Simply hold down both brightness adjustment buttons until the reticle begins to flash, then press either button and the reticle changes. There are lots of other settings I have yet to explore. The biggest factor in my deciding to get this sight, other than the size of the window and ability to change the battery without removing the sight, is that it works with my Zev slides. Zev used threaded posts rather than just drilling holes into the bottom of the slide cut. That prevents the use of an enclosed emitter sights. Not Zev's fault, the enclosed emitter sights came along later. But it is annoying and more than a little disappointing. This sight also will work with both Zev's lower .215 height iron sights and their taller suppressor height sights. With the former, you just barely see the top of the sights, but they are usable. With suppressor height sights they co-witness in the lower 1/3. Which gives you an idea of just how tall and how user friendly the window is on the Trijicon RMR HD sight.

I liked this sight so much I decided to keep a Zev slide I was thinking about selling. I plan to get more down the road for the other three RMR cut slides I own, but this looks really cool on my Zev 17 SOCOM slide in FDE so that is where it has found a home. This had been my favorite slide up until enclosed emitters became all the rage. The Trijicon RMR HD sight made me fall in love with this slide all over again.

I'll post pics soon. Just wanted to get this posted while I was thinking about it. With any luck I will get to take it to the range this weekend.

Here is Trijicon's Marketing Video for this sight. Lots of gun cool gun porn in this video.


Here is a much more professional review of this sight from Sage Dynamics. I don't have any affiliation with them. Just like their review videos and find them helpful before making purchases. Note that he accidentally gives misinformation about the window size, as he misspeaks. You will not be disappointed with the window size of this sight. It is surprisingly large and extremely useable. That was a major concern for me. I was very nervous about it since I bought this online sight unseen and was very pleased with it.

[tacticalcity]

Made it to the range today. Very impressed with this sight for all the reasons mentioned above. Worked exactly as expected.

Got it zeroed, then had some fun and sped up the rate of fire. Here is the confirmation target. The sped-up target wasn't bad. I just didn't take a pic of it.

[jarhead714]

RMRs are the most durable red dot there is. As tough as it gets. That’s the #1 reason to buy them. There isn’t a second reason.

[tacticalcity]

Good write up. Did you go with the 1 MOA dot or the 3.25? I know they both have the larger outer circle 55 MOA I believe? Would be nice to (at least ) handle one before dropping something near $800.

I went with the 1 MOA because that was in stock. In hindsight, the larger dot might be helpful. But I pick it up quickly enough. I am just having to dial up the brightness a setting higher than I otherwise would need to. I run it with just the dot. Mainly out of habit.

[tacticalcity]

Thanks for the response and information. I believe I’ll go with the larger 3.25 Dot if I decide to drop the cash on the RMR HD. I’m aware of the forward light sensor, and it’s reportedly a good performer. The Aimpoint ACRO P2 is the other option I’m interested in learning more about.

I really like my Aimpoint ACRO P2, and if it would have sat lower on my Zev Slides with the Dauntless Adapter needed to get around the screw posts issue that is what I would have run with. Given I like it (more accurately love it) and it is less expensive that would have been the ideal option. It has a smaller window than the Trijicon RMR HD. Though, unless you've seen and used the Trijicon RMR HD you would not care. Compared to a standard Trijicon RMR window, the window on the Aimpoint ACRO P2 is much better. Not because it is necessarily larger, but because it is oriented more vertically than horizontally. This solves the problem I have with the standard Trijicon RMR. Which is that when I point in my dot is always a tad high and out of view until I adjust for it. While I certainly can train out of that, I don't have to with the Aimpoint ACRO P2 or the Trijicon RMR HD. When I point in with those sights the dot is within in the sight's window on the first try. The slide I have for it is made by Noveske, and their sight mounting system lets you choose between a variety of different sights and ensures they all mount with the sight flush against the slide cut. They also make a nifty rear iron sight as part of their adapter that sits forward of the Aimpoint ACRO P2, and that makes the Aimpoint ACRO P2 even easier to use. The iron sights are visible in the lower 1/3, and not obnoxiously high ones either. Like I said above, on my Zev slide with the only available adapter that exists for the ACRO footprint, even suppressor height sights were unusable and blocked by the body of the sight. Given how low and high that window is positioned within the frame of the body on that sight I did not expect that. It was a bummer. I have not tried the Aimpoint ACRO P2 sight on RMR cut slides without screw posts. I have no idea if the sight would sit lower or not. Given the sight is larger than the RMR cut itself, that seems unlikely. I think even the best adapter would still need to put the sight too high to use with even suppressor sights. Not unless you bump up to some seriously obnoxiously high ones. Which they do make. My point is, to get the best experience from the Aimpoint ACRO P2 on a pistol, you probably need a slide that was designed to accommodate it. But don't quote me on that. I have not gone there yet so I don't know for sure. On my Noveske slide, the Aimpoint ACRO P2 is fantastic. Absolutely love it. Would not even consider switching to anything else. On my Zev, well, that experience was disappointing and that is why I bought the Trijicon HD. I do think this explains the Aimpoint ACRO P2 haters out there. I think they are trying to use a slide cut for an RMR and an adapter rather than a slide that was designed to accommodate it. Because on the right slide, it is phenomenal.

[Fnfan]

The HD are awesome. Plan on putting one on my Shadow 2 Compact and Staccato

[tacticalcity]

I think you hit it right on the head. I’m curious about this new collaboration between Aimpoint & Glock. The “A-cut” mounting system I believe is the name. I certainly wouldn’t try to put the ACRO P2 on an MOS slide. I might give the RMR HD a try on a Glock MOS slide. I don’t which plate would work best?

I don't know which adapter mount to recommend either. I am sure there is probably a thread about it on here somewhere.

[eho0925]

Forward Controls Design makes an absolute bomb-proof RMR footprint plate for the MOS system. I have one on my G19 MOS, the machining and construction are excellent.

[jarhead714]

No reason to buy one new. Same goes for any optic built to that standard with that good of a warranty.

[tacticalcity]

No reason to buy one new. Same goes for any optic built to that standard with that good of a warranty.

It's easier to avoid the possibility of a fake if you buy new from a reputable manufacturer. More than a few people trying to pass knockoff sites out there. Not that I have yet to encounter one for this particular sight. It is still fairly new to the market. Which also makes finding a used one harder than say, a regular RMR.

[jarhead714]

It's easier to avoid the possibility of a fake if you buy new from a reputable manufacturer. More than a few people trying to pass knockoff sites out there. Not that I have yet to encounter one for this particular sight. It is still fairly new to the market. Which also makes finding a used one harder than say, a regular RMR.

Fair point.

[tacticalcity]

Fair point.

It helps if you can get them wholesale, but not by much. Believe it or not, there is not much markup on gun parts.

[tacticalcity]

Euro-Optic has them at $774.00. https://www.eurooptic.com/trijicon-r...mhd2-c-3200002

Not too bad, pretty low markup all considered. They probably get a better deal from Trijicon by buying in bulk and bypass the distributor.

[MoondogIndustries]

The benefit of an enclosed emitter is that if rain or dust gets onto your rear lens, you can't easily wipe it off. Trying to clean the back of an open emitter lens is a pain without a dry cloth and a spray bottle handy.

[tacticalcity]

The benefit of an enclosed emitter is that if rain or dust gets onto your rear lens, you can't easily wipe it off. Trying to clean the back of an open emitter lens is a pain without a dry cloth and a spray bottle handy.

The downside to enclosed emitters is that there are lot of slides on the market that they simply will not work well with. This is especially true of slides with thread posts. While I agree enclosed emitters solve the problems you mention whether or not those problems are something you are realistically going to encounter is another thing entirely. I've talked with a lot of professionals who duty carry for a living (that is no longer me) and they all have yet to encounter issues with open emitters. In many ways enclosed emitters are a solution to, if not a non-existent problem, then one that is not likely to be encountered. Still, nothing wrong with planning potential issues out of the equation if you can. I am just saying that there is still very much a place for open emitter sights. I would not get too hung up on the open vs. enclosed emitter thing. I think it is a problem that exists more in people's heads than in the real world. When is the last time you crawled around in the mud with a pistol on your hip? When is the next time you are likely to do so? Short of that, it's not really gonna be an issue.

As I mentioned above, I do own an Aimpoint ACRO P2 and love it. I will likely end up owning more of them. But there are a lot of things I like about the Trijicon RMR HD sight better. Not the least of which is that this Trijicon RMR HD fits my RMR cut slides much, much better. I can use my irons as backups. Something I cannot do with the Aimpoint ACRO P2 on a slide milled for an RMR that has thread posts. The ACRO is longer than the RMR cut, and the adapter that solves that problem ends up sitting the sight too high on the slide to use even suppressor height sights. Whereas the Trijicon RMR HD sight fits perfectly. Add to that just own large and usable the window is, this sight becomes pretty hard to not to love. That large window is also very easy to clean. Much easier than the standard RMR.

I would feel comfortable carrying a gun with this sight regardless of the circumstances. It is worth the price and the best on the market right now. If there were an enclosed version of it that would be awesome. Especially if it would work with thread posts (which I doubt one ever will). Before you go there, the RCR is not an equivalent to the RMR HD. They are night and day different. The features, the size and shape of the window, and how it attaches to a slide are all radically different. As for the Trijicon RMR HD sight, the pros outweigh any cons. Including that it is an open emitter. I am confident that if you spend some time behind one you will agree. But if you need to talk yourself out of doing so, I get it. Because the sight is incredibly expensive. More so than my actual needs will ever justify. I honestly still feel bad about spending this much money on a handgun sight. It is a crazy amount of money. You get your money's worth. But it is still hard to justify.