RMR on my Glock finally died

[ehull20000]

For anyone interested in a red dot for concealed carry I've carried a RMR'd Glock for many years and I finally killed it. I have it sent in to Trijicon for repair. I will keep ya'll informed of the way Trijicon handles the repair as well as if I am going to continue using a slide mounted optic for daily carry.

 

UPDATE
Round count to date after Trijicon fixed my sight - 4,394.

This RMR is now mounted on my backup CCW and will likely not get many more rounds.  Nearly 4,400 rounds with zero issues after Trijicon fixed it and I'm not sure how many prior to that.  This RMR was on my CCW for nearly 6 years I think.  It has been treated poorly and performed well, so well in fact that I bought a 3.25 MOA dot to replace it.  

Edited September 3, 2018 by ehull20000

[nightrunner]

What happened? What killed it?

[MphsTiger1981]

tagged for follow up.

[TNWNGR]

Hmm. In reading this my initial thought was either a failed battery or a problem connection. I'm confident the OP would have tried another battery but cannot see any way the end user could determine a bad or weak connection if that's the problem. Other's have reported the power switching on and off with these sights as well as battery connectors becoming problematic... http://www.migunowners.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-284331.html

 

I don't see this as a problem so long as you have a fall back carry gun and keep a constant eye on your equipment. This is an excellent post and I look forward to seeing what the actual diagnosis and repair end up being.

[dcloudy777]

Trijicon has a pretty stellar rep... I'm betting they take good care of you.

 

Just out of curiosity, what made you go with the dot for a carry gun?  I've found that for me, pistol dos are awesome for longer shots and smaller targets, but for close-in stuff (like I worry about shooting with my carry gun), I could never get as fast as I already was with irons.

[ehull20000]

I'm not entirely sure what killed this RMR.  Two months ago I noticed the dot brightness changing while shooting at a local match.  I do not use the auto brightness feature so I figured the battery was weak and I swapped it out.  The RMR then worked perfectly as I confirmed my zero with 33 rounds and shot an additional hundred rounds or so for training.  Throughout the next week I noticed I couldn't get the dot as bright as I like for daytime carry and suspected I had an issue.  That weekend at the range it started to turn off between shots and then turn back on.  That's when I decided to return it to Trijicon.  Just to be safe though I swapped the battery again, cleaned the slide and the battery contacts and adjusted the battery spring tension.  I also read a great deal about other peoples struggles with the RMR.  I cleaned the mounting hardware, tried with and without a sealing plate, and even just held the RMR in my hand with a fresh battery to see if my slide surface was warped.  Nothing seemed to work and finally the RMR would not turn on at all.  

 

Trijicon was very quick to give me a Return Authorization (RA) number after hearing about my troubles and it is in the mail on it's way there at this time.  The email said average turn around was 2-4 weeks which I think would be very good.  I also went to a local gun shop to look at new RMRs and have noticed some upgrades since mine was produced so I may look at getting one of those and turn this one into a backup.  Overall I think they will be great to work with and this was a major reason I went with there product in the first place.  

 

I still carry the same Glock because the iron sights work fine, but I can shoot much better with the RMR.  I chose to have my slide milled and install the RMR after shooting a friends similarly equipped Glock.  The following are my reasons for having a red dot on a carry pistol.

 

Low light shooting is faster.*

 

One handed shooting is faster.*

 

Weak handed shooting is faster. *

 

If something happens to my glasses I'm still combat effective with this pistol.  

 

It has increased my accuracy in every mode of shooting.

 

*I had to train with the RMR to become proficient with it, just like I still have to train to see my iron sights.  However, the RMR gives me more flexibility and lets me take some liberties with sight alignment when shooting quickly.

 

Most people that I've read about dismissing an RMR as better/faster/more accurate only do so after maybe shooting a buddies gun or a short range session.  That is not a proper evaluation method or duration in my opinion.  

 

Even though I carry a Surefire weapon light everyday I still want the best low light/no light option and the RMR gives me that, while the iron sights provide redundancy.  It was just icing on the cake that the RMR turned out to be faster and more accurate for me.

 

I will keep ya'll posted with updates from Trijicon as they happen.    

 

 

[nightrunner]

Thanks for the update.

Did you have raised iron sights to get either a lower 1/3 co-witness or full co-witness as an immediate back up system or did you have to remove the RMR to utilize the sights again?

I have highly considered getting an RMR for my carry pistol and had not heard of or thought about the ability to be effective if my glasses were damaged.

[Guest mechanically]

Tagged to follow.

OP; what holster setup do you use for your daily carry?

[ehull20000]

I do have suppressor height sights on both my pistols that allows co-witness through the RMR. When training I will turn the RMR off and use the iron sights for a few drills each session.

I'm using a Dale Fricke Archangel holster that I have modified slightly with a Dremel to make room for the RMR. Interestingly this same holster works for the Glock 17 and Glock 19 I currently have as well as the S&W M&P 357c I used to have.

[TNWNGR]

I agree the suppressor sight set up is the ideal co-witness back up sights for the RMR. FWIW a lot of people are going with an RMR or like optical sight foe EDC pistols. Due to the slightly increased footprint IWB kydex holsters or ACIWB seem to be popular choices. The OP should be hearing back on his RMR within the next week so I'm looking forward to learning what the problem was.

[ehull20000]

The package with my RMR was delivered to Trijicon yesterday.  Hopefully this week or the next they can start finding out what is broken with my sight.  

[ehull20000]

My RMR showed up from Trijicon today.  I have installed and function checked it as best as I can without going to the range.  I'm not exactly sure what they did, but I noticed new internals in the battery compartment area when I was looking it over.  In addition the windage and elevation clicks are more pronounced now.  I suspect I have the equivalent of a refurbished unit with my same housing.  The serial number and "character" marks are the same.  I will keep a round count on this optic to see how long this one lasts.  

 

Range report to follow.   

[TNWNGR]

Good to hear you got your RMR back but aside from its having been refurbished the actual point of failure seems to still be an unknown. Did they provide you any additional information on what failed?

[ehull20000]

No information about the repair was provided to me.

I shot 64 rounds today to zero and function check the weapon. So far so good.

[79troublehead]

I had to look up 'rmr'. I am sooo behind the curve.

[TN-popo]

I've found that for me, pistol dots are awesome for longer shots and smaller targets, but for close-in stuff (like I worry about shooting with my carry gun), I could never get as fast as I already was with irons.

 

This is where I am at on defensive pistols with red dots, too.

Rifles?  Absolutely.  Pistols?  I'm not there yet.

 

Most people that I've read about dismissing an RMR as better/faster/more accurate only do so after maybe shooting a buddies gun or a short range session.  That is not a proper evaluation method or duration in my opinion.  

 

  

 

But, I also know that this is a very true statement.  

They are not for me right now, but I don't have enough trigger time on defensive pistols with red dots to completely dismiss the idea.

Edited July 13, 2015 by TN-popo

[ehull20000]

Flickering has returned.  Happened today at the range somewhere between 2200 and 2300 rounds since fixed by Trijicon.  I'll replace the battery, check the contacts, and re-zero tomorrow.  I emailed Trijicon this evening to see if they will still fix it if the battery doesn't solve the issue.

 

Update, I replaced the battery and while doing so found some corrosion that could have been the issue.  No flickering problems since.   

Edited June 17, 2018 by ehull20000

[Frenchs24]

My rmr has been with trijicon for a little over 2 weeks for the exact same problem... mine is mounted on a M&P9L PRO CORE... not a carry gun to say the least and still it didnt take long for the problem to show up... hopefully it will be the end of my problems once it gets back...