New Shield Red Dot – The RMSx (Reflex Mini-Sight XL Lens)
In 2021 the handgun competitions started again after a fairly quiet 2020. During the year I must have shot almost 100 stages with good quality IPSC dynamic shooting. I started out with a Glock 17 and then changed (read upgraded) to a Tanfoglio Stock III Xtreme in IPSC Production Optics. This division is now clearly the second largest after production, and I think it will continue to grow as competitors get older (poor eyesight) and discover the increased fun factor with red dots.
Shield Sights @ TFB:
I’ve been using the SHIELD Reflex Mini Sight (8 MOA) all of the time this year, and I’ve had zero issues. Apart from cleaning the glass lens, I didn’t even change the battery. I like the Shield sight because it’s very unobtrusive, holds the zero and mounts very low on the slide of the gun. A friend of mine has a similar setup and probably shot more than I did, and he had zero issues as well.
Shield now have a new Red Dot called the RMSx, short for Reflex Mini-Sight XL Lens. The RMSx comes with an 80% bigger lens and the efficiency of the LED has been increased. Red dot sizes are either 4 or 8 MOA, and the dots adjust automatically between bright daylight and night vision compatibility. The lens is a 1x Hard Dip Coated Acrylic lens with low parallax.
The standard Shield footprint is still in use and the LED is powered by a CR2032, with a battery life of about 1-2 years depending on use. In dark storage, the battery survives over 3 years. The housing is made out of aerospace-grade aluminIum with a total weight of 17.5 grams / 0.61 ounces for the complete package.
Here’s the presentation from Shield:
Introducing The RMSx (Reflex Mini-Sight XL Lens)
A sight aimed at the competitive shooter, the RMSx was specifically designed to answer a call from the competitive marketplace for a Shield Sight with a larger lens.
The lens is 80% larger than our current Mini-Sight range and is an all new, top of its class, crystal clear Hard Dip Coated Acrylic lens. Due to the larger lens, the RMSx will help our shooters to find the dot earlier in many scenarios. Most commonly when entering or exiting shooting areas and be forced to take shots while not in a stable position, allowing for faster first shot times as the shooter is able to find the
dot earlier and to decrease shot-to-shot times by allowing the shooter to stay with the dot during recoil.
The RMSx follows tradition at Shield maintaining the famous Shield Footprint, enabling it to be mounted on to any existing mount or slide cut for our Mini-Sights and is meticulously machined to have a sharp, modern look.
The RMSx will be the first sight to be delivered with our new increased efficiency LED and utilises the proven electronics that have enabled our shooters to fire over 70,000 rounds without any reliability issues.
Following the success of the Shield Customizer, the RMSx will be available in 8 colours and will be available in the most common dot sizes: 4MOA and 8MOA.
A French YouTube channel made this comparison:
The standard color of the sight housing (not the dot) is matte black, but it’s customizable in a wide range of colours. The price in the USA is $450. Here is a direct link to the new Shield Reflex Mini-Sight XL Lens: https://www.shieldpsd.com/portfolio-posts/rmsx
Shield Sights has promised to send a sample for us to try, so stay tuned for a review.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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I have one of these on-order for use with a lever gun in .50 Alaskan. This will be a good test for just what kind of punishment it can handle recoil-wise.
Bottom-line, what Shield has going for it is the lowest, vertical profile of any mini red-dot on the market, from mount to the optic window, which allows co-witnessing with iron sights [on many pistols, carbines, rifles, submachine guns and battle rifles] that is just not possible with other makes and models.
Honestly, the electronics on the first-gen RMS were hit-or-miss, with 50% (in my experience) having a flickering problem. This seemed to be fixed with their release of the RMSw (water resistant) model.
The original, uncoated acrylic lenses would scuff up after the first use and cleaning. However, I have found their hard-coated acrylic to have surface durability equal to those used on prescription lenses. They are not invincible, but they have survived frequent muzzle back blast and cleaning for a couple years now w/o scratching.
Twice the price of a Holosun and probably still won't survive a Sage Dynamics test.