Beretta RDO Mounting Options

The Beretta 92 series handgun are a unique, accurate, reliable, classic handgun. There really is no other handgun like the Beretta 92. Like all handguns it has advantages and disadvantages. I am a fan of the Beretta 92. I love shooting them. However, in my opinion, they do need some upgrades. Fortunately, Langdon Tactical and Wilson Combat both offer a variety of great upgrades. I wrote another article on tuning the Beretta 92 so it is not discussed here. This is about the products available for mounting an RDO on the Beretta 92 series handguns.

The physical attributes of the Beretta 92 that make it so unique are the same physical limitations that make mounting an RDO challenging. Basically, there are three quality options available for the 92x and two options for the other 92 series handguns.

The options discussed in this article are:

• The Langdon Tactical Red Dot Slide
• The Trijicon Dovetail Mount
• The Beretta 92 RDO slide

The optic used in this article is the Holoson 507c-x2 

Landon RDO Slide	Trijicon Dovetail	Beretta 92 RDO
Height above bore 1.0"	Height above bore 1.24	Height above bore center 1.3
Click on the image for a larger picture

The height above bore was measured form the center of the bore to the center of the optic window. This measurement was made as accurate as possible but is not exact.

The significant properties of an RDO mount are the height above bore and its sturdiness. All of the mounts shown above a very sturdy. Some would say the dovetail mount is not sturdy. However, the Trijicon Beretta 92 mount is very sturdy; it is very well designed and manufactured to be sturdy. The height varies among the three solutions with the Langdon Solution being the lowest by about .25 inches. The Langdon RDO optic is the only solution supporting co-witnessing. It is also the most expensive.

An optic sits significantly higher than the center of the bore. This has an effect on accuracy at target distances greater than the distance the RDO was calibrated to, called the zeroed distance. It also has an effect on accuracy at shorter distances but usually we sight a handgun at short distance so this accuracy difference can usually be ignored. Since classic iron sights sit so close to the bore their accuracy is better over varied distances but this is somewhat negated by the focus difficulties. It depends a lot on the shooters eyes. For m another advantage of the RDO is I can shoot a red dot nearly as well without my corrective glasses as I can with. Link to RDO Targeting Considerations and Calculator.

Some examples of the effect of the height of the optic on target impact are listed below. These are calculated differences -See my article on RDO Targeting which contains a height-target calculator. Optic heights are measured from the center of the bore to center of optic. In these examples, the sight is zeroed at 30 feet. What is shown at 100' is the bullet impact at above the sighted target due to the sight angle created by the height of the optic.

Langdon Tactical RDO Slide - Offers the lowest mount solution and is the only mount with co-witness sights included. Landon Tactical mills the slide to lower the mounting plate. To do this they had to modify a few of the firing components. The mounting plate includes a rear sight. It also comes with a front sight matching the rear. You can order the slide complete for $575.00 or have yours milled for $350.00. Not all 92 slides can be reworked so check with Langdon.

Beretta 92x RDO model Berettas - This is the least expensive solution if you own the RDO version of the Beretta 92x. All you need is the correct adapter plate and your optic. This sight sits about .3" higher than the Landon RDO Slide. It is about .07 inches higher than the Trijicon Dovetail mount. The adapter plate is about $30.00 if you do not get it free.

Trijicon Dovetail Mount - This is the only solution for a Beretta 92FS slide. It is also the most economical solution for the Beretta 92x that is not a Beretta 92x RDO model. The dovetail mount costs about $100.00. I am using this on my 92x Centurion with my Holosun 507c. It is very sturdy and works quite well. I can shoot it at normal pistol distances as accurately as the Langdon RDO mount. I cannot co-witness with this solution. I installed this using a MGW Sightpro. I highly recommend a good sight pusher to install it or a gunsmith. There is a very good video review of this mount on YouTube - Click Trijicon Beretta RDO Mount Video. Here is a link to the Trijicon Dovetail Mount on the Trijicon website.

Co-witness sights are a nice feature but I have found that if I stay target focused when I bring my handgun with and RDO , I will have the dot in view. Also without co-witness sights, I have an optic window that is totally clear of obstruction. Co-witness sights do offer a backup sight if the optic fails or the dot become obscured due to bright light. Personally I do n worry about RDO failure as modern RDOs are incredibly reliable and battery life is extremely long. It is up each individual to do the trade-offs as far as cost, preference and performance. I also find the Holosun 507c 32 MOA circle with dot is a great aid in getting the dot into the optic center. You can see the a part of the 32 MOA circle even if the circle is almost out of the window where a dot only would give you no clue. The Holosun 507c-X2 has a battery life of about 50,000 hours.

Author: Steve Gill
Pistolthoughts.com
Date of last edit: 17-Jan-2022