optics ready 9mm for target shooting

chetc · May 8, 2021, 08:35 AM

looking for s 9mm optics ready target pistol for my wife, recently she went thru some cancer after the chemo and rad treatments, it took a tool on her overall strength. so after we started shooting again she was having s hard time racking her 9mm semi's. so i get her a S&W shield 9mm EZ slide, no problems, i let her shoot my Canik TP9SFX it came with a Vortex optics, she is barley able to rack it but she gets by and she shoots it accurate, but i can see it is a big gun for her, i would tickled if the Shield EZ slide was available ready for optics, so now i am looking for some input a new 9mm semi to get her that is optics ready, she has a Walthers PPQ, so will probably trade it in on something else, so far been looking at the Glock 19 MOS and the canik tp9 ELITE sc, is there anything else that i can check out, i was thinking of that optics mount that goes in the rear sight dovetail on the EZ slide but i don't feel it would hold up.

thanks
chet

wild cat mccane · May 8, 2021, 08:38 AM

Walther just discontinued the PPQ. They replaced it with an optic ready PDP.

Their extreme siding might help.

bac1023 · May 8, 2021, 08:51 AM

Get something it’s a steel frame for target shooting

Mike38 · May 8, 2021, 10:11 AM

Is the reason for optics less than perfect vision? If so, look into corrective eye glasses so she can see the front sight better. Optics adds weight to the pistol, and that may cause other issues. I'm 61 years old and my vision is probably slightly worse than the average 61 year old. But, I still use iron sights thanks to corrective lens that slips over my regular glasses on the aiming eye side. Depending on the day, and depending on my blood pressure, I use a lens that is +0.75 or sometimes +1.0. This gives me a clear sight picture. Look at web sites that cater to Olympic style shooters such as Champion's Choice. There you will find pistol shooters glasses. Or you can go a less expensive route and wear readers over her regular glasses. May look silly, but who cares when she's having fun? Go to https://designer-reading-glasses.com/ and search "low powered readers". They have +0.50 - +0.75 - +1.0 - +1.25 and up. Cheap readers like you get at Dollar Tree usually start at +1.5 which is probably too much, but may help. For $1 for those Dollar Tree readers, you're not out much, and it will give you an idea of where to go from there.

Edit: A rule of thumb for a starting point on a pistol shooters lens is start at +0.75 then go from there. So they say, a majority of pistol shooters use +0.75. Some +0.50, and some +1.0.

sigarms228 · May 8, 2021, 10:25 AM

It seems like the EZ Shield 9MM is really working out well for her so why not at least try an adapter for it? Outer Impact makes one as shown in the link below and I believe they are sold at Amazon too.

https://outerimpact.com/shop/smith-w...r-mount-m-r-a/

Smith and Wesson also has other pistols that are optics ready including a Shield Plus Performance Center model and M&P 2.0 models that may also be worth looking into.

https://outerimpact.com/shop/smith-w...r-mount-m-r-a/

Also if you have not checked it out she may find it easier to rack a slide this way.

https://youtu.be/kbayNc6D9HY

TunnelRat · May 8, 2021, 10:50 AM

An RMR with a battery weighs 1.2 oz., so the weight there shouldn’t be an issue. As for optics ready pistols, there are a lot of choices these days. Glock, FN, SIG, S&W, Walther, Beretta, Ruger, the list goes on.

However, it seems your wife’s biggest issue is hand strength. The EZ series of pistols are somewhat unique in the way that they feature an internal hammer that doesn’t require much effort to rack the slide. Another option would be a hammer fired pistol where your wife can cock the hammer prior to retracting the slide. That would require some less effort than some striker fired pistols. A lot of the hammer fired optics ready pistols are rather heavy though as they’re geared towards competition. I’m not sure if that’s a problem did your wife.

I think it’s worth talking with your wife and seeing what she benefits from the most, a slide that’s easy to rack or an optic. It might help prioritize your choices.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HighValleyRanch · May 8, 2021, 11:17 AM

Might check with Galloway Precision:
https://gallowayprecision.com/shop-by-firearm
I kinda remember that he cuts the slide for Optics on the Shields.
I think he has to alter the safety block as well because it comes up into the cut.
If she likes that EZ, why not just alter it?

eflyguy · May 8, 2021, 12:59 PM

May I ask why you are hung up on 9mm?

chetc · May 8, 2021, 10:52 PM

she likes the 9mm, she has a few 45acp and a ruger lite in 22 rimfire. she normally shoots a 100 200 rnds of 9mm then finishes the day with an hour with the 22/45 ruger lite

chet

ftttu · May 10, 2021, 12:16 AM

If I had to purchase a pistol for my wife and she had to have a red dot, I'd get a SIG P365XL Romeozero for her. It fits my smallish hands so in my wife's hands, it would almost be like a full sized or compact pistol to her.

Also, the P365XL is relatively soft shooting for its size, and not too hard to rack the slide. As I have said in other threads, my P365XL is one of my all-time favorite pistols, and I've had a few.

May 8, 2021, 08:35 AM	#1
chetc Junior Member Join Date: December 11, 2015 Posts: 10	optics ready 9mm for target shooting looking for s 9mm optics ready target pistol for my wife, recently she went thru some cancer after the chemo and rad treatments, it took a tool on her overall strength. so after we started shooting again she was having s hard time racking her 9mm semi's. so i get her a S&W shield 9mm EZ slide, no problems, i let her shoot my Canik TP9SFX it came with a Vortex optics, she is barley able to rack it but she gets by and she shoots it accurate, but i can see it is a big gun for her, i would tickled if the Shield EZ slide was available ready for optics, so now i am looking for some input a new 9mm semi to get her that is optics ready, she has a Walthers PPQ, so will probably trade it in on something else, so far been looking at the Glock 19 MOS and the canik tp9 ELITE sc, is there anything else that i can check out, i was thinking of that optics mount that goes in the rear sight dovetail on the EZ slide but i don't feel it would hold up. thanks chet

May 8, 2021, 08:38 AM	#2
wild cat mccane Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2011 Posts: 3,623	Walther just discontinued the PPQ. They replaced it with an optic ready PDP. Their extreme siding might help. __________________ My wife is a pulmonologist (respiratory Dr) and epidemiologist. If you have any questions on COVID, please reach out to me in PM.

May 8, 2021, 10:11 AM	#4
Mike38 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: North Central Illinois Posts: 2,710	Is the reason for optics less than perfect vision? If so, look into corrective eye glasses so she can see the front sight better. Optics adds weight to the pistol, and that may cause other issues. I'm 61 years old and my vision is probably slightly worse than the average 61 year old. But, I still use iron sights thanks to corrective lens that slips over my regular glasses on the aiming eye side. Depending on the day, and depending on my blood pressure, I use a lens that is +0.75 or sometimes +1.0. This gives me a clear sight picture. Look at web sites that cater to Olympic style shooters such as Champion's Choice. There you will find pistol shooters glasses. Or you can go a less expensive route and wear readers over her regular glasses. May look silly, but who cares when she's having fun? Go to https://designer-reading-glasses.com/ and search "low powered readers". They have +0.50 - +0.75 - +1.0 - +1.25 and up. Cheap readers like you get at Dollar Tree usually start at +1.5 which is probably too much, but may help. For $1 for those Dollar Tree readers, you're not out much, and it will give you an idea of where to go from there. Edit: A rule of thumb for a starting point on a pistol shooters lens is start at +0.75 then go from there. So they say, a majority of pistol shooters use +0.75. Some +0.50, and some +1.0. Last edited by Mike38; May 8, 2021 at 10:19 AM.

May 8, 2021, 10:25 AM	#5
sigarms228 Senior Member Join Date: October 29, 2011 Posts: 1,765	It seems like the EZ Shield 9MM is really working out well for her so why not at least try an adapter for it? Outer Impact makes one as shown in the link below and I believe they are sold at Amazon too. https://outerimpact.com/shop/smith-w...r-mount-m-r-a/ Smith and Wesson also has other pistols that are optics ready including a Shield Plus Performance Center model and M&P 2.0 models that may also be worth looking into. https://outerimpact.com/shop/smith-w...r-mount-m-r-a/ Also if you have not checked it out she may find it easier to rack a slide this way. https://youtu.be/kbayNc6D9HY __________________ “When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” ― Benjamin Franklin Last edited by sigarms228; May 8, 2021 at 10:38 AM.

May 8, 2021, 08:51 AM	#3
bac1023 Senior Member Join Date: February 2, 2008 Posts: 1,106	Get something it’s a steel frame for target shooting

May 8, 2021, 10:50 AM	#6
TunnelRat Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2011 Posts: 12,214	An RMR with a battery weighs 1.2 oz., so the weight there shouldn’t be an issue. As for optics ready pistols, there are a lot of choices these days. Glock, FN, SIG, S&W, Walther, Beretta, Ruger, the list goes on. However, it seems your wife’s biggest issue is hand strength. The EZ series of pistols are somewhat unique in the way that they feature an internal hammer that doesn’t require much effort to rack the slide. Another option would be a hammer fired pistol where your wife can cock the hammer prior to retracting the slide. That would require some less effort than some striker fired pistols. A lot of the hammer fired optics ready pistols are rather heavy though as they’re geared towards competition. I’m not sure if that’s a problem did your wife. I think it’s worth talking with your wife and seeing what she benefits from the most, a slide that’s easy to rack or an optic. It might help prioritize your choices. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

May 8, 2021, 12:59 PM	#8
eflyguy Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2021 Posts: 335	May I ask why you are hung up on 9mm?

May 8, 2021, 10:52 PM	#9
chetc Junior Member Join Date: December 11, 2015 Posts: 10	she likes the 9mm, she has a few 45acp and a ruger lite in 22 rimfire. she normally shoots a 100 200 rnds of 9mm then finishes the day with an hour with the 22/45 ruger lite chet

May 10, 2021, 12:16 AM	#10
ftttu Senior Member Join Date: September 27, 2011 Posts: 226	If I had to purchase a pistol for my wife and she had to have a red dot, I'd get a SIG P365XL Romeozero for her. It fits my smallish hands so in my wife's hands, it would almost be like a full sized or compact pistol to her. Also, the P365XL is relatively soft shooting for its size, and not too hard to rack the slide. As I have said in other threads, my P365XL is one of my all-time favorite pistols, and I've had a few.