For someone like me, who has been competing in USPSA and other practical shooting competitions since the mid-2000s, the idea of mounting a red dot sight on your pistol is nothing new. I was used to seeing red dots on the Open Division pistols from the very beginning of my time in that sport, and red dots actually pre-dated my involvement by almost twenty years.
One of the first movers in the world of red-dots sights was Shield Sights of Great Britain, who pioneered the compact RMSc footprint. RMSc stands for “Reflex Micro Sight Compact,” and those initials should give you a hint about the intended purpose of sights using this footprint. Sights using the RMSc footprint tend to be smaller and narrower than sights using other footprints like the RMR or Acro, which makes RMSc sights a popular choice for smaller guns and for pistols with narrow slides like the 1911.
The AMSc represents a new direction for Shield. It uses the same RMSc footprint as other sights from this company, but it is an enclosed-emitter sight. This means that there is a section of partially silvered glass up front which reflects the light from the internal laser (giving you your aiming point) and then another section of glass at the rear, forming an enclosed housing around the laser. This protects that reflective surface from being obscured by things like dust or rain which can muddle your sight picture. An enclosed emitter sight is a bit larger than an open-emitter dot, but that size isn’t enough to affect concealment.
Solving Two Problems At Once
Two of the biggest issues with running a red dot is that the body of the sight tends to obscure the front sight of your pistol, and on some guns, installing a red-dot sight means removing your rear sight, leaving you with no backup iron sights. The Shield AMSc solves both of these problems with its unique laser emitter housing. The laser is shrouded in a small bump at the rear of the emitter housing, and that housing is approximately the same height and width as a front sight. Is it an exact 1:1 match for your existing sights? Probably not. Does it give you a quick reference point for close-range shots if your dot is on the fritz? Absolutely.
The good news is that the chances of the AMSc going on the fritz and not working are rather small. I’ve had one of these mounted on my carry gun, (a Tisas Stingray 1911) for about a year now, and the AMSc has handled both thousands of rounds and the Florisa liquid sunshine with no issues at all. The AMSc shuts off when not in use and turns on when moved, and I’m pleased to report it does exactly that. I’ve used other dots with this “shake awake” feature which refuse to rouse themselves when needed, leading to a few awkward seconds as you figure out which button to press to turn on your optic. This is embarrassing on the range, but it’s especially dangerous in a gunfight. If your dot does this, swap it out for something like the AMSc, you won’t regret it.
Bright Ideas
The model I tested has a 4-MOA red dot, and an 8-MOA version is also available, The battery is side-loading, which means you won’t lose your zero when you change batteries. And all of the AMSc variants can use either CR2025, CR2032 or CR2050 batteries, giving you more options for replacement batteries. The are 12 manual brightness settings on the AMSc, three of which work with night-vision gear. Battery life is 20,000 hours (that’s over three years) with CDR2032 batteries. The sight is also one of the lightest in its class, weighing less than an ounce with a battery.
If I have one complaint about the AMSc, I’d like see more reticle options beyond just a dot, with green dot or crosshair reticles being offered, but as it is, the Shield AMSc is a solid, full-featured offering from the company who literally wrote the book on the RMSc footprint sights. MSRP for the AMSc red dot sight is $573.88, and more information on this sight and other products from Shield Sights is available at shieldsights.com.
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