OPTICS ROUNDUP
For those who stack up the round count comes the insight that what’s on top of the gun matters as much as the gun itself. That is, you can’t hit what you can’t see, or more accurately, you can’t hit what you can’t target. Following are recommendations for a variety of optics that have proven themselves as reliable in dozens of firearms evaluations.
VIRIDIAN R5-G42 REACTOR GREEN LASER
The function of carry guns such as the Glock 42 in .380 ACP is as portable self-defense sidearms. Stock sights aren’t made to win matches. How much aiming does a concealed carrier have to do with a bad guy 15 feet away? The open sights on the Glock 42 aren’t bad, but a laser enabled us to shoot it on par with bigger guns with better sights.
We added a Viridian R5-G42 Reactor Green Laser for the Glock 42. This laser automatically turns on when drawn from a supplied leather and polymer holster. Additional holster options are available from many holster manufacturers.
Unquestionably, the laser helped our shooters’ accuracy. Shooting Winchester 95-grain FMJs, the average group size with a laser was 1.2 inches for the Glock, noticeably better than we could do with open sights (1.7 inches.) We saw the same group-size decrease with the Prvi Partizan 94-grain FMJs, with the Glock at a laser-aided 1.2 inches compared
