Captain Bill Burt Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 I’m right handed and left eye dominant. It’s presented a challenge when shooting pistols pretty much all my life. If I shoot with both eyes open I see two front sights. I’ve learned to close my left eye pretty much automatically, but there are obvious drawbacks to that approach. l got my American Rifleman last month and it had a neat little Springfield Armory Hellcat write up. The RDP version in particular appealed to me. A little 19 ounce 9 mm that will hold 11 in the smallest mag and 15 in the largest. It comes with a compensator and red dot sight. Well I stopped by the LGS last week and there was one in the case, so I bought it. This is my first optic equipped pistol and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that I can use the red dot without seeing double! It’s a cool little gun and if it does well with the first 1,000 rounds or so I throw at it, I will put it into my carry rotation. The only drawback so far is a stiff spring in conjunction with the optic means I can only rack the slide using the forward serrations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 6 minutes ago, Captain Bill Burt said: I’m right handed and left eye dominant. It’s presented a challenge when shooting pistols pretty much all my life. So am I. I just tilt my head until my right cheek touches the upper, inside part of my right arm. Been doing that for at least 40 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Lud Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 Similar eye situation but works for me. I have however been eyeballing that same RDP model or maybe going the PRO route with the optic to save a 175 bucks. Curious how you like it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearfoot Tracker Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 4 hours ago, Captain Bill Burt said: I’m right handed and left eye dominant. It’s presented a challenge when shooting pistols pretty much all my life. If I shoot with both eyes open I see two front sights. Same here. I use my left dominant eye (while closing right eye) when shooting pistol. I use my right eye (while closing my left eye) when shooting rifle. Seems to have work well for me. If I could only get my mind & body to work in unison, I might not get anymore Ps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 1, 2022 Author Share Posted November 1, 2022 It feels good in my hand. The grip angle is a bit different from a 1911, so just a bit more of muzzle down is needed when presenting, but it seems to point pretty much where I’m looking. I like the trigger a lot more than I expected to. Travel is fairly short. It’s smooth, just a bit spongy at the end with a decent break and good reset. My holster comes in tomorrow so Friday will be range day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 I've had three different pistols with red dot sights on them. I feel like I really gave them a chance, but I just can't get the gun to come up where the sights line up consistently like I can with steel sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted November 2, 2022 Share Posted November 2, 2022 been running a red dot on my sig 226 for a while and a buckmark for a long time , ive also got the right handed/left eye dominence thing recently and it took a while to get used to it but it works well once you practice a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Lud Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I hope you feel better…I’ve had a few guns on my wish list…and have been very good just watching them in my cart until you posted this. also as I am living in TN for a limited period of time, I best get while the getting is good as I see these are a no go in more and more states. ordered up a Hellcat pro with the shield so will see how it compares to yours! Also got the Prodigy 4.25 inch, a 3” Python to go with my 4.25” one, and a DDM4 V7 pro….Anaconda left to get yet just cus….my wife doesn’t know I am diversifying our portfolio through more physical assets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103 Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 Friend of mine has a Hellcat with that optic. Likes it really well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 3, 2022 Author Share Posted November 3, 2022 7 hours ago, JD Lud said: I hope you feel better…I’ve had a few guns on my wish list…and have been very good just watching them in my cart until you posted this. also as I am living in TN for a limited period of time, I best get while the getting is good as I see these are a no go in more and more states. ordered up a Hellcat pro with the shield so will see how it compares to yours! Also got the Prodigy 4.25 inch, a 3” Python to go with my 4.25” one, and a DDM4 V7 pro….Anaconda left to get yet just cus….my wife doesn’t know I am diversifying our portfolio through more physical assets My holster and 15 round mag came in yesterday. I've been practicing my presentation and picking up the red dot is becoming pretty easy. I had planned to wait until tomorrow to head to the range, but I'm thinking I might be able to squeeze in a session this afternoon. We'll see. I'm looking for three things. Does it feed 100% reliably, does it hit at POA, and how 'snappy' is it. 5 hours ago, Dumpre said: Nice Hellcat, I am also a fan of .45 1911. Congrats. I've been carrying a Colt Commander most of my life and have no complaints, but there's nothing wrong with broadening my horizons a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 I took the Hellcat to the range today and ran about 100 rounds through it, half and half 115 grain/124 grain with a few 147 grain thrown in. My first impression was that it was a bit loud and I could feel some of the pressure from the compensator, which took a little getting used to. Muzzle flip was very manageable as was recoil. I had zero failures to feed. The iron sights hit POA, but the Red Dot is a bit high, I'll adjust it this weekend. I started out getting a little too much trigger and pushing my shots to the left. Once I used a little less fingertip that was fine. It's been a long time since I shot for accuracy and it shows in my groupings. First three shots from 5 yards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Then a triple tap from five yards. I was pushing left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 At this point I stopped trying to cowitness which wasn't working well and went strictly with the red dot and both eyes open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 This was interesting. The grip is small enough that you can get your thumb on it, which I did releasing the mag and causing a flyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo casey #19191 Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 Can U switch the mag release over & use your trigger finger to drop the mag? Largo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 5 hours ago, largo casey #19191 said: Can U switch the mag release over & use your trigger finger to drop the mag? Largo Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Duncan Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 I’m left handed and right dominate with a stigmatism. Red dots look like star bursts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Rose, SASS #45478 Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 Use the flat of your hand on the optic to rack the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 6, 2022 Author Share Posted November 6, 2022 I’ll try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vail Vigilante Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 My wife has ba Hellcat as her EDC. They used to have a promotion where you could get a Viridian laser half off. Check you papers if you have not already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Hanger #3720LR Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Over the years I have helped cas shooters get faster. When I train I do not take my guns and only work on the shooter with their guns. Something of interest comes with women shooters. I found about 10% are cross eyed dominate with hand guns. Standing behind them while they shoot several targets you can see when they change for one eye to the other by the way the hand gun twist between targets in the middle of the string. There turned out to be a simple fix. Cover the weak side eye on the safety glasses. A single sunglasses flip down works but to start, just put a piece of clear tape on the weak side glasses lens in line with the sight picture. This forces the strong eye to stay with the sights. During training to test this, just fold a piece of paper over the weak side lens. If this works then move on to a more permneat solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bill Burt Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 16 hours ago, Cliff Hanger #3720LR said: Over the years I have helped cas shooters get faster. When I train I do not take my guns and only work on the shooter with their guns. Something of interest comes with women shooters. I found about 10% are cross eyed dominate with hand guns. Standing behind them while they shoot several targets you can see when they change for one eye to the other by the way the hand gun twist between targets in the middle of the string. There turned out to be a simple fix. Cover the weak side eye on the safety glasses. A single sunglasses flip down works but to start, just put a piece of clear tape on the weak side glasses lens in line with the sight picture. This forces the strong eye to stay with the sights. During training to test this, just fold a piece of paper over the weak side lens. If this works then move on to a more permneat solution. Over the years I've become pretty adept at just closing that eye, which works pretty much the same as covering the glasses on that side. The drawback is loss of depth perception and reduction in your field of vision. A right to left sweep is just a but more difficult if your left eye is closed and you don't pick up the next target until you rotate your head enough to get line of sight with your right eye. It's not a big deal in CAS, but I'm happy to be able to keep both eyes open for self defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Gator SASS #29736 Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 I'm about to send a CZ75B off to get the slide milled for an optic. At the USPSA matches around 75% of shooters are using an optic in one division or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punxsutawneypete Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 In the beginning of the year I had a hemorrhage in my right eye. I'm right handed and had aimed with my right eye. I couldn't focus on iron sights or a red/green dot. I was afraid my shooting career was finished. But I spent the winter and early spring practicing to shoot cross-dominantly (right hand and left eye) with a .22 target pistol to get ready for the .22 league and the big regional match in Harrisburg. At the Harrisburg match, totaling 1800 possible points, I improved by 69 points this year over last year. I counted just being able to compete as victories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixgun Sheridan Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 On 11/1/2022 at 3:30 PM, Captain Bill Burt said: The only drawback so far is a stiff spring in conjunction with the optic means I can only rack the slide using the forward serrations. I've noticed all the cool kids like to rack the slide by placing the palm of their hand directly on the front of the optic. You might want to try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD Lud Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 Got this today…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Speaking as a cross-dominant shooter, try using the Isosceles stance when shooting and just slightly cant the gun to line up with your dominant eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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