I Tested And Ranked The Best Red Dot For Glock 20 In 2023

Critical Review: “If you’re going to get an RMR for a pistol, get this one. A lot of people go for the RM07 because it’s 6.5 MOA dot is about the same size as the front sight dot, however later they end up returning it for this one.

The RM09 1.0 MOA dot is not meant for pistols – only buy that one if you’re going to put it on a minimalist rifle build.

If you can afford a custom cut slide do it. You want this optic to sit as low on the slide as you can. The Glock MOS or the Unity ATOM slides are nice – but they sit several millimeters higher than custom cut slides. That several millimeters adds up to a lot of re-training and resighting. It’s just not as intuitive.

The red dot allows you to be faster. The 3.25 MOA dot allows you to be more accurate. With practice you can be both fast and accurate with this.

If I could I would equip every operator/officer/soldier who carries a sidearm with this on a custom-cut slide pistol.

Now on to this optic:

Pros:
-Waterproof with a sealing plate.
-Manual brightness adjust buttons.
-Audible windage/elevation adjustment clicks.
-Easy install.
-Uses readily available CR2032 watch batteries.
-Rugged (but not nigh indestructible); you smack this on a table to rack the slide (pretty hard to boot) and not have to worry about it breaking. You can also drop it without worrying about it breaking.
-Long battery life (years).
-Trijicon website says 5 year warranty, however lets be honest here; most manufacturers will replace shit even if it’s ancient, as long as it’s not totally no longer in production.
-Comes in a nice case.
-Comes with a battery.

Type 2 Enhancements :
-Button lockout feature to prevent accidental changes.
-Battery saving feature.
-Flicker issues resolved.
-Auto brightness adjustment feature included.

Cons:
-Expensive, but for the best there is to be expected.
-Possibly not a con, but slightly smaller viewing window compared to other manufacturers, however that is due to its rugged construction.
-Glass is somewhat tinted. Not enough to take a star off.

Neutral:
-Comes in many colors.
-Many mount options.
There is a reason these are industry standard. Don’t settle for less.” – Heinrich

Performance Analysis Review:  “Improved my shooting big time. Able to hit at 25 yards way more than ever before. Takes getting used to finding on the draw , but that’s me. Check out Modern Samurai Project on You Tube for help with that.

BRIGHT as it needs to be in FULL SUN, or LOW as needed in the DARK. The buttons to adjust the brightness and shape are easy to learn. Nice to have 3 shapes to choose from (circle, dot, or circle and dot.)

As for mounting the sight, I Could stand to have a better way to measure the screw force/torque when mounting it. But it tightens down ok. Comes with blue lock tight on the screw, but doesn’t hurt to have some extra for later. Also, a dab of white paint in the adjustment slots would help add contrast for sighting in. Hard to see, but pretty easy to adjust once you’ve found it. (Ranges are rather dim). And during the sighting-in process, I used a green laser bore-light to get the rough zero.

Also, After a year, it collects a bit of dust in use. Need to clean it regularly. And the back-up iron sight feature is ok, but I could use higher (suppressor) sights for a true co-witness ability. Original battery lasted ~13 months. It was on every day of the year. Cleaning cloth included. Allen wrench for mounting included. Battery included. Very happy with the purchase. MAKES ME WANT TO SHOOT MORE, LOL.” – Joe E

Helpful Review:  “Absolutely love the appearance and the versatility of this optic, I’ve used it on various different 9mm handguns and it has worked with no fault for over two years. Never lost zero, never died from battery losing charge, and never damaged. Easy and simple adjustability between MOA sight pictures and zero clicks audible and distinct. Will gladly buy more to put on the rest of my handguns and potentially add them to some ARs.” – Brian Bland

Detailed Review: “I can’t think of any reason to subtract stars. I have two of these, one on a Glock 34 MOS, the other on a Smith & Wesson Performance Center R8 .357. Installation on the Glock was as simple as could be, as the MOS-series guns are made for mounting several popular dot sights and include hardware for that purpose. On the Smith revolver, which comes with an attachable mounting rail for an optic, a cross-slot adapter was required. (The specific product is the “Leupold Deltapoint Pro Cross Slot Mount.”) The Deltapoint’s controls are simple, and you only have to read through the manual once to get it.

The off/on button doubles as the intensity adjustment, and adjustment of dot brightness through several levels is quick and easy, though I have found that a medium intensity works in any conditions from darkness to daylight. The up/down and left/right adjustments are just like a scope’s, so getting the rig sighted in after mounting is similarly easy.

The button-cell battery is accessed from the top without dismounting the sight. Neither the reciprocation of the Glock’s slide nor the jolting of full-throttle .357s in the Smith have altered points of impact. On the Smith, which is my at-home defense, the motion-sensed activation feature is convenient, as the sight is turned off while in the drawer but comes on instantly when the piece is picked up.

The only cautionary notes I can think of would apply to all dot sights used on handguns. First, if you haven’t tried one before, expect to spend a bit of time building the muscle memory needed to present the piece in the right place (lower than you’re used to) and aligned well enough that you can see the dot in the window. Second, understand that at first you’ll probably shoot slower, for the same reason that people initially tend to shoot slower with lasers: The visual feedback of the bright, sharp dot on the target is extremely clear, so much so that there is a tendency to keep trying to put that wobblin’ dot *perfectly* on the target; you “chase the dot” instead of breaking the shot.” – David L. Staples

Technical Review: “Works great on my Staccato. I love the fact that the rear sight is built into this optic making it simple to co-witness sights. I don’t want to have to worry about adding suppressor height sights which can snag easily on gear. I highly recommend this setup for simplicity. Also a huge plus is the ability to change batteries WITHOUT having to re-zero. Those who are using this on a carry gun, duty gun, etc, realize that batteries do die when unexpected and just before starting an operation. Not many other brands at this price point/quality have that option which is very important if your battery dies and you don’t have time to get to the range to re-confirm your zero. Knowing you can swap the battery at anytime and not mess with your zero is a huge deal.” Chris

Top Review: “You can’t go wrong with Vortex products and warranty. Battery life is good and it has held up well to everything I’ve thrown at it.” – Jason

Critical Review: “I recently purchased a Springfield XD9, but could not focus my old eyes on the front sight, so I thought an RDS would be a good idea, but it wasn’t. It was a GREAT idea!! I chose the Vortex Venom because of the reasonable cost and (mostly) good reviews. I also went with the 6 MOA version. While I have not used a 3 MOA dot, I can say the 6 is very, very nice. On my XD I’m not really going to be shooting at anything over 25 yards, and at that range the dot only covers 1.5 inches of the target, which is practically nothing, so I don’t think it’s too big by any means.

Once the rear site was removed (very difficult on an XD) the install process was pretty easy. Following the Vortex instructions (watch their video) I used a wet-stone to carefully remove some of the bottom of the rear-site adapter plate. It took several passes on the stone, but that’s OK. You don’t want to take off to much and have it loose. I used Blue Locktight on the appropriate screws and a torque screwdriver on the mounting screws. I used an Outer Impact RDS adapter plate.

Pros – Easy install. Very clear dot which was a little ‘sparkly’ when I first looked at it (I have astigmatism, corrected by glasses). But it was dark and set to the brightest setting. In ‘normal’ or daylight lighting conditions I use the lowest setting and the dot is perfectly clear and still very easy to see. I did try the auto brightness feature but found it unnecessary. If you want more brightness it has lots of room for it at the upper end. When I turn it on I set it to the lowest setting and leave it there. Sighting in was easy as well. I used an inexpensive boresight at 10 yards and then 25 yards. Field firing showed it to be right on.

Con – I have only used it for a little while, but the only con I have is the battery cover is a little tricky to get on. The fear of stripping the threads makes it a challenge. I believe I did it properly and I added just a dab of red Magic Marker across the cover to verify if it loosens at all. So far, it has been solid with no movement. Oh, it can be a little difficult ‘finding the dot’ when you present the weapon to aim. HOWEVER, that is not a Vortex issue. It’s just being new to a RDS. With dry-fire practice I have gotten much better and finding the dot.

Last thing, and this probably applies to all RDS, for me, two-eyed shooting is much easier with an RDS. Your only real focus is the target, no front sight, rear sites, just the target. And then the red dot just finds the target, without you focusing on it. It’s really quite something. RDS tech is amazing.” –  BubbaDude

Tactical Review: “I spent a half day sighting in and plinking at golf balls at the range and I am VERY happy with this red dot reflex. I’ll provide a more complete review when I’ve spent more time testing it with a sand bag rest at longer ranges; right now, the variations in shot placement definitely reflect the quality of the shooter and not the sight!

This package includes the rail mount base plate with thumbscrew and hardened alignment pins (perfectly tight fit between my flat top AR and the Fastfire III); Torx mounting screws with captive external tooth lock washers (no Loctite needed, with 1 spare screw/lock washer thoughtfully included in case you lose one); Torx wrench to install the 2 semi-permanent screws; jeweler’s screwdriver (nonslip matte finish tip, swivel top plastic handle, much better than needed for adjusting windage and elevation); battery; dust cover/sun shield (not pictured, nice bonus); soft fabric storage pouch for the sight + base + cover; and very minimal mouse-print instructions that experienced shooters won’t read anyway. Get your reading glasses and take 1 minute. Before you tear up the battery cover like I did.

Things I’d do differently next time:

1. Don’t bother with a bore sight. I suspect the factory settings were just fine because I spent most of the day undoing the elevation and windage adjustments I’d made at home based on an admittedly cheap bore sight. Ammo is too expensive and rare to waste like I did.

2. Buy a Flat Top Riser Scope Mount. This sight is SO low profile I couldn’t get a good cheek weld with muffs on, the red dot seemed to be at the very top of the lens. At times I thought I’d accidentally turned it off, or maybe the battery had died. No, just shooter error. Use plugs alone, or raise the sight about ½” -3/4″ with a riser rail.

3. Do NOT use the tiny jeweler’s screwdriver to reinstall the battery cover. Yeah, it comes off with one… Use a big fat tip screwdriver that fills the slot. Or maybe a penny or nickel. The body of the sight is hardened aluminum; the battery cover may or may not be hardened, but you will definitely tear up the screwdriver slot on the battery cover if you get so excited about your new toy that you just can’t bother making a trip to the garage for the correct size screwdriver. Buddy, listen to me, there is NO SENSE reading this review then repeating my mistake. You just spent $250, now treat it like a quality optic worth at least that much. Thank you.

The soft rubbery black rectangular push button on the left side is nearly flush with the sight and rotates through 5 settings: Automatic brightness, Hi, Medium, Lo, and Off. The pushbutton does not give any audible and only minimal tactile feedback, so watch the dot. I was shooting on a bright sunny day, standing in both shade and full sun, shooting in the afternoon toward the Sun and was able to find the dot even on the lowest setting. The Automatic brightness setting seemed to provide an even wider range of brightness than the manual settings, if that’s possible. The bonus dust cover/glare shield cut the dot brightness just a bit (as expected) so you might experiment leaving it on if you find the dot still too bright for dim light as other reviewers on other websites have claimed. The dust cover has a generous relief cut to fit around the pushbutton but my fat fingers couldn’t always press the button far enough with the cover on. I may take a Dremel to the relief cut to make the opening bigger, I suspect most of you won’t need to.

The elevation and windage screws seem to have a very wide range of adjustment. They do not have audible or tactile clicks, which should be unnecessary anyway. You cannot adjust these with bare hands (i.e., without a small screwdriver like the excellent one enclosed) but I cannot imagine needing to make frequent adjustments. NOTE that if you max out one adjustment screw all the way up or down, you cannot move the other. Don’t force the second adjustment screw, just back off the first adjustment screw a tiny bit. Then use plugs not muffs. Or buy a sight riser. Because you didn’t need to max out the elevation screw in the first place.

I’ve owned a cheap (<$150) red dot reflex sight before, with a plastic body and cheap mount. Don’t waste your money on a lesser sight. This is a very high quality optic designed to withstand 1000 Gs, with a hardened aluminum body and mount. If you need something even tougher, buy the optional Burris mount that surrounds and protects the entire Fastfire III.” – Jim Cox