Red Dots… are they total bs on a compact?

On some guns, a laser is pretty much the only option for me. My pocket gun is a Kahr PM9 and I’ve put a laser on it. I’ve also put a set of laser grips on my S&W Model 19.

Lasers certainly aren’t optimal, but I can’t focus on the front sight anymore, so it’s the best option I’ve got.
Makes sense in your case.
 
So what were the results for you?
@Supermoto

EDITED/re-written because I'm on a full size keyboard now, not my iphone, and I can actually type complete sentences/paragraphs.

The gold framed Buckmark is my RFPO and plate gun. Been shooting it for years, quite accustomed to picking up the sight. The black framed Buckmark is/was my backup RFPO gun. It had an identical optic on it - I removed it yesterday before going to the range. The two guns are essentially identical except for the sights.

No issues transitioning between the two guns, same weight, same balance - they both point naturally for me. I'm a little slower on target with the irons, mostly because I rarely shoot iron sights these days - and because initially I had to figure out the hold - never shot this gun without an optic.

Thinking about what you posted earlier, I focused on breaking the shot faster with the optic - I was fairly successful - need to keep working on that.

Thinking about painting the front sight so that I can pick it up faster. It's black, white would be potentially bad for Steel Challenge because the targets are white - maybe blue...
 
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I attempted to zero at 20 feet on paper at indoor. Outdoor steel were 25-75 ft. Even missed the 25 ft steel (most 8 inch)
I hate compact guns, smallest I have is my 4013 excluding the 38 snubby
The 4013 is zeroed for center mass of torso for 7 yards.

Going from indoor to out door can mess with you .

i ask , where you shooting at a 8” target inside?
Where your groups inside much less than 8”
Do you have pics of indoor zero target?
 
Took me several trips to figure out RDs on my pistols. Once I figured it out, so much faster. Paint the target and pull the trigger I’m already noticeably after transitioning and hitting.

My range has steel plate racks and steel bowling pins so that’s what I’ve been working recently.
 
A lot has already been said, and most of the bases have already been covered.
-Red dots are legit, not bullshit.
-They work on all sizes and shapes of guns. In fact, the smaller the gun the stronger case there is for using a red dot which negates a minimal sight radius/piss-poor irons.
-They work for people with astigmatisms (me) and shitty vision without glasses
-They work in all lighting conditions

There is a learning curve for RDS, but it's drastically over reported. Zeroing an RDS is significantly easier than adjusting iron sights.
It should only take a handful of rounds to zero.
Zeroing:
Start really close like 5-6' shoot one or two rounds at a small dot drawn on a piece of paper. Make adjustment and confirm adjustment with 1-2 rounds.
Repeat at 12-15' with three rounds. Repeat until POA=POI
Repeat at longer distance 12-25M Repeat until POA=POI

I zero at 12-15 meters. Usually takes about 6-9 rounds to zero a new dot and sometime make a click or two adjustment in the first 100 rounds.
If the dot can't be zeroed it's either mounted improperly, is defective, or is a crappy Sig romeo zero/Chinesium amazon.com special.
 
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