There are tons of benefits to using a red dot, like acquiring targets faster. On top of that, they require fewer focal planes to aim at your target. But what if we told you there was a way that you could make your red dot sight even more reliable? This method is called cowitnessing. In this post, we’re going to look at what co-witnessing a red dot sight means and how to do it.

What is Co-witnessing a Red Dot Sight?

When you co-witness a red dot, you’re trying to match red dot with your iron sights. There are several different benefits to co-witnessing a red dot. First and foremost, co-witnessing allows you to use your iron sights as a backup in case something happens to your red dot. Sure, red dots are reliable and durable. But they can still break and you don’t want a piece of broken equipment to be the difference between life and death.

It’s important to note that you don’t actually need to cowitness your red dot and iron sights. But having the iron sights usable with a red dot installed is very convenient.

How do I Co-witness a Red Dot Sight on My Handgun?

Co-witnessing a pistol is somewhat similar to co-witnessing a rifle. Pistol red dots are still a fairly new innovation, so there’s significantly fewer purpose-made parts for co-witnessing a pistol than a rifle. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, though.

For the most red dots that you add to a pistol, they will be too high up to allow for co-witnessing with standard pistol sights. In general, you can approach this problem in one of two ways.

Custom Milling

First, you can send your slide to get custom-milled. There are tons of companies that will do this. Just tell them that you want to mill a footprint that’s low enough to allow for co-witnessing. You’ll also need to tell them exactly which type of red dot sight you’re planning on using.

Suppressor Height Sights

While that may be one solution, it’s not the best choice for some of us. For example, say that you bought an optics-ready pistol. It’ll already have a footprint for a red dot, but it won’t be low enough for true co-witness.

To solve this problem, you could add suppressor-height sights to your gun. These are similar to typical iron sights, except that they sit higher up to give a shooter a sight picture over a silencer. In a happy coincidence, they’re also high enough to provide a co-witness for pistol red dots.

One other thing to think about when adding a red dot to your pistol is your holster. Chances are, you’re going to need to pick up a new custom gun holster to fit your shiny new red dot. That’s where Southern Trapper can help. To learn more, check out our complete line of holsters here.

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