In recent years, the use of red dot sights on handguns has gained significant popularity among most shooters regardless of their preferred platform, or shooting sport. Just 10 years ago finding an optic on a handgun was still fairly rare outside of the competition world and absolutely unheard of in the concealed carry market. Reflex sights provide several advantages, including increased accuracy, faster target acquisition, and improved shooting speed. However, combining red dot optics with co-witnessed iron sights can offer even greater benefits for shooters seeking versatility and reliability even beyond the simple concept of redundancy. Let’s face it, today’s red dot optics are extremely reliable, and in most cases, you won’t have to rely on your co-witnessed irons. So In this article, we will explore why utilizing co-witness sights in tandem with your red dot-equipped handgun is a good practice to adopt. To accomplish this we’ll be using a Glock 45 MOS handgun and Meprolight’s Tru-Dot series of replacement iron sights with a specific focus on their suppressor height sights which will serve as my co-witness sights.

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Contingencies: Upgrading With Meprolight Tru-Dot Irons to Co-Witness

So why even consider replacing your stock Glock sights anyway? I’m personally not a huge fan of standard Glock “U-Notch” and dot front sight – not because they are unusable or inherently bad, but because they lack a combination of versatility and in this specific case – height. Most red dot sights on the market feature a deck height that is too tall to properly have stock iron sights to co-witness in any way with it. Instead what you’re most often left with is a pair of iron sights that are there – but are unusable since they are obscured by the body of the optic.

Meprolight’s Tru-Dot sights come in a wide variety of styles including a standard height night sight, which we can’t use for this specific application, but would be a good upgrade for someone who doesn’t want to run a red dot on their pistol, and instead just wants greater versatility with their sights as the Tru-Dot sight series all come with tritium inserts which aid in low-light visibility, extending the time you can easily acquire a sight picture.

A second variety I was sent included adjustable Tru-Dot sights. While these feature the height to clear an optic body (like an RMR) the rear adjustable sight would take up too much slide real estate for the optic to be properly mounted. These sights would once again be perfect for someone who didn’t want to run a red dot on their handgun, however, these adjustable sights are also tritium powered, and made from metal rather than the polymer used on Glock OEM sights, so they’ll provide you with quick adjustability for different types of ammunition, low-light capability, and better durability than other adjustable sights on the market – perfect for the Production Division USPSA competitor.

The pair I settled on using were the Tru-Dot Suppressor Height Sights. This variant of the Tru-Dot irons is perfect for those who like to run suppressors or, like me, have a competition optic coming that they want to have a backup aiming solution for. These sights should give me my preferred type of co-witness, which is one that just barely clears the rear deck of the optic’s body giving me a backup aiming solution but also adding a few other benefits as well.

Installation

Installation is quick and easy, even if you’re not an armorer. For this installation, I once again used my XS Sights sight pusher tool designed for Glock pistols. However, if you don’t have one of these, you can simply use a simple Glock front sight tool as well as a small armorer hammer and a punch to get the job done.

The rear sight easily drifted out and was replaced in the exact same matter. Meprolight recommends removing any grease or oil from the slide and sights before you install them. The new sight, while much larger in nearly every dimension than the stock Glock rear sight, is still compact enough to be flush with the rear of the slide, and not encroach on the space where the optic will be placed when it arrives. The front sight, like all Glock front sights, is installed using a hexagonal tool that you usually have to purchase, although there are some more crude methods on the internet that don’t cost nearly as much if you’ve got a bunch of spare tools lying around. I simply just used the included tools that came with my XS Sight pusher kit.

Reasons to Have Co-Witness Irons

While red dot sights are highly effective in most situations, they do have limitations. One primary concern is the dependency on batteries to power the electronic components. In critical situations or extended engagements, battery failure can render the red dot sight useless. This is where co-witness sights step in to save the day and give you an emergency backup option that can still give you a precise aiming solution. In my case with the Tru-Dot suppressor height irons, by my math, the tritium ampules should just barely clear the deck of the optic so that I can still see them at night through the optic window in case the battery fails on my red dot. The added advantage here is that the window of the optic – which is very valuable viewing real estate – will be largely unobstructed by the sights giving me a clearer view of my target and the area around it.

The combination of a red dot sight and co-witnessed iron sights offers shooters increased speed in nearly every shooting situation. In scenarios where speed is paramount, acquiring a traditional iron sight picture takes a fraction of a second longer than using a red dot as your eyes/brain are attempting to align not just your front and rear sights, but also your sights in relation to that target. Red dots completely eliminate the need for sight alignment and only require that you simply put the dot over your target. However, by having co-witness sights on your gun, you have another reference point on the gun with which to quickly align the dot within the window. While this is most important for those who are new to red dots, I still find it helpful under high-stress shooting situations like competition and drills. While you often won’t make a concerted effort to look at them, frequent training will get your brain to recognize them in your peripheral vision and help you get the dot on target faster.

The Meprolight Tru-Dot Suppressor Height Sights are just the ticket when it comes to this specific combination and should provide me with a good balance of adaptability, capability, and most importantly redundancy, all without much of an increase in weight compared to the stock Glock sights. Even though I hope to never have to use these sights under duress while my primary aiming solution (the red dot) is down, I at least feel confident enough in their construction quality as well as the other benefits they offer to feel the need to include them for this specific pistol setup.

Final Thoughts

Red dot sights have almost become the norm in the handgun world. Their ability to improve the accuracy, speed, and target acquisition speed of virtually any shooter is undeniable. However, by combining red dot sights with co-witness sights like the Meprolight’s Tru-Dot suppressor height sights, shooters can further guarantee the reliability and versatility of their handguns, especially ones that they might carry for self-defense or in the course of their duties.

Co-witness sights provide a near-fail-safe backup solution in case of battery failure or technical issues with the red dot sight. Moreover, they offer a seamless transition between the red dot optic and the co-witness sights, allowing unfamiliar shooters to easily make the transition from irons to a red dot while maintaining a layer of added safety when it comes to their carry setup.

In conclusion, the integration of co-witness sights with a red dot optic enhances the versatility, reliability, and speed at which you can operate your handgun. The Meprolight Tru-Dot suppressor height sights, while specifically designed to give you a reliable aiming solution that works with a suppressor, do offer you benefits as very low-profile co-witness sights. So, whether you are a professional seeking optimal functionality out of your duty gun, or a recreational sport shooter like me looking to kit out a new competition gun, consider incorporating some sort of co-witness sights like the Meprolight Tru-Dot suppressor height sights into your setup for a rig that can keep up with you.

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