Meprolight is the tactical weapon optics and night sights subsidiary of Mako Group, an Isreali-based group of companies that is the exclusive importer of the best Israeli tactical equipment and accessories available. Producing several well-designed products, Meprolight has recently announced their new R4E Optimized Duty Sight (ODS) for most Glock handguns. The R4E ODS appears to be a great advancement in handgun sight technology, and is based on R4 Evolution’s (Optimized Duty Sight).
The Meprolight R4E Optimized Duty Sight comes with the brightest tritium technology, and was designed with the close collaboration between two decorated U.S. Army Special Operations veterans and Meprolight. Mako Group has a strong background with Israeli special forces, military, and police as many employees previously served in those capacities.
Meprolight is the tactical sight subsidiary of Mako Group.
MEPRO R4E ODS
The rear sight of the MEPRO R4E has two luminous horizontal lines and one luminous vertical line below the traditional square cut-out in the middle of the rear sight. The horizontal and vertical lines align with the front vertical line and front dot creating a quickly centered point for the eye to naturally focus on the front sight. Much like the crosshairs on a sniper’s scope, the MEPRO R4E sights naturally draw the shooter’s eye to focus on the front sight.
The R4E ODS sights aligned in a low light setting.
The MEPRO R4E has angled cuts in the rear sight aperture that allow the shooter a greater view of the front sight and the target beyond. These cuts, and the unique MEPRO R4E horizontal and vertical illuminated lines, can also provide faster target acquisition. The is accomplished when the shooter is able to bring their firearm on target, and properly align the sights faster than with traditional 3-dot, bar, or other types of pistol sights that leave room for error in both the horizontal and vertical alignment. With faster sight alignment shooters can expect to increase their accuracy, and fire faster follow-up shots on target.
The R4E ODS includes tritium night sight technology, providing a clear and bright sight alignment under any lighting conditions. This is an upgraded feature of the MEPRO R4E over the original [easyazon_link identifier=”B00M8MTUS6″ locale=”US” tag=”bluesheecom-20″]R4 Evolution ODS[/easyazon_link] which had horizontal and vertical lines that are only “luminous”. Those “luminous” white lines had to be exposed to a light source to temporarily charge their glow, instead of glowing on their own accord. The MEPRO R4E ODS sights are all tritium making them great in all lighting conditions.
MEPRO R4E ODS in green tritium.
The MEPRO R4E sights are offered in (4) configurations:
- Green Front, Green Rear sights
- Green Front, Orange Rear sights
- Orange Front, Green Rear sights
- Orange Front, Orange Rear sights
MEPRO R4E ODS sights in orange tritium.
The MEPRO R4E models are currently only available for most Glock pistols, but additional versions for other makes and models are coming soon. I would expect to see some of those new models at SHOT Show in January – stay tuned.
- MSRP – $174.75 (MEPRO R4E ODS)
- MSRP – $149.95 (R4 Evolution ODS)
From R4 Evolution on the Optimized Duty Sight (ODS):
The Optimized Duty Sight (ODS) was made for those professionals whose lives depend on their weapons. The ODS was designed by Special Forces veterans with years of counter terrorism combat experience and extensive experience training Special Operators in counter terrorism operations at the most elite schools in the Special Operations Community.
The ODS was designed to take advantage of the inborn hard wiring of our brains to instinctively find symmetry. These sights have three vertical and three horizontal alignment features that the eye automatically lines up while the operator is presenting the weapon to the target (see picture). This 3X3 alignment design allows for the most rapid sight alignment of any iron sights on the market. The Optimized Duty Sight was also designed to quickly give the operator a more refined sight picture (relation of the sights on the target) by the narrow profile front sight and the angled facets cut into the rear sight. These features enable the operator to see more of the target thru the sights while maintaining sight alignment thru the engagement.
The luminous lines on the rear sight and the Tritium dot and luminous vertical line on the front sight allow for precise sight alignment in low light environments. All of these unique design features on the ODS facilitate faster target acquisition, quicker sight alignment, a more refined sight picture, and ultimately more timely and accurate fire on target. In addition to the novel sighting system of the ODS, the external construction of the ODS were specifically engineered for the eventuality of clearing or charging the pistol during one hand operations. The reverse slope of both the front and rear sight can be used to bite into clothing, belt, steering wheel, or virtually any edge to facilitate racking the slide.
Final Thoughts
I have used a Glock 22 with standard tritium 3-dot night sights for 15 years. The addition of night sights is a critical component to winning a gun fight in low light conditions. Though optimally the officer or shooter would have an external light to illuminate their threat, there are times when a confrontation is unavoidable in darkness. Night sights allow the officer or shooter to get on target with relative assurance of hits.
Glock night sights (photo from glockforum.net).
Despite the benefits of night sights, and 3-dot sights in general, their downfall is in their small size, and the difficulty in aligning the (3) dots both horizontally and vertically to ensure accurate shots. The MEPRO R4E sights appear to be a very nice advancement on night sights. The vertical and horizontal lines naturally draw the eye to symmetry, while the design highlights the front sight – something that many firearms instructors emphasize.