Trijicon RMR Review : Should you buy this mini reflex sight from Trijicon?

 

Trijicon RMR is a battle-proven, mini red dot sight which can be used on both handguns and long guns. It’s one of the most rugged mini red dot available in the market today. Many people agree upon the RMR being the go-to mini red dot for serious competition and home defense red dot where you can depend your family and your life on.

But is RMR the best deal in its class or is there a better mini red dot? Worry not, I’ll tell you all there is to know about this optics so you can make informed decision whether Trijicon RMR is the right optic for you.

Trijicon is an American company based in Wixom, Michigan. It specializes in self-luminous optics and night sights, mainly using the low-energy radioactive isotope tritium, light-gathering fiber optics, and batteries. Trijicon brand is a contractor for US military and supplies the Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) and RX01 reflex sights.

PROS and CONS of the Trijicon RMR

Pros

• Clear glass and crisp reticle
• Lots of reticle options
• Tritium dual illuminated reticle option
• Auto brightness feature
• Long battery life
• Rugged and battle proven
• Light and compact

Cons

• Need to unmount to replace battery
• 5 years warranty
• Slight bluish tint glass

 

3 Types of Trijicon RMR : Adjustable LED, Dual Illuminated, LED

These are 3 types of Trijicon RMR for you to choose from.

• Adjustable LED – Powered by battery, you can manually adjust its brightness settings or use the auto-brightness feature.
• Dual-Illuminated – Powered by fiber optics and tritium to illuminate its reticle, this RMR uses fiber optics to collect ambient light to automatically adjust its reticle brightness. In situations with no (or low) light, the tritium illuminates the reticle.

From my experience however, the Dual-illuminated sometimes is not bright enough on bright sunny days.

• LED – Powered by battery, this optic type features a sensor which automatically adjusts the brightness of the illuminated red dot based on ambient lighting conditions. However you have no control over its brightness.

Problem arises when you position yourself indoor, with dim light settings and aim your sight outdoors onto bright background. In this kind of situation, reticle is not bright enough.

Personally I recommend the Adjustable LED type as it has the least hassle with overwhelming positive reviews.

Best for : Shooters who want rugged, durable mini red dot sight on their firearms for duty, home defense and competitions.

 

The Whole Story of Trijicon RMR

Since no optics nor products exists in isolation. And words such as “crisp” and “great” dot don’t really mean much when you have no benchmarks. I’ll be comparing Trijicon RMR with other red dot sights in similar price range, so you know what’s the best option for your money.

Read on to find out why the RMR, even though impressive, isn’t a perfect mini red dot sight.

Meet the Benchmarks

Trijicon RMR Type 2 (RM06) costs about $480 (at the time of this writing). And I’ll be comparing it with :

1. Leupold Deltapoint PRO – 2.5 MOA, $400 (at the time of this writing)
2. Leupold Deltapoint PRO – 3 MOA, $400 (at the time of this writing)

These are 2 popular options in the market with similar price point and should give you a realistic feel of how good Trijicon RMR really is.

Trijicon RMR glass : Smaller FOV and more bluish tint compared to Deltapoint PRO, Clearer than Vortex Razor red dot

Compared with Leupold Deltapoint PRO, I found the Trijicon RMR (RM06) to have smaller and narrower FOV glass. Due to this smaller glass, I pick up the red dot after recoil slightly slower on the RMR. Trijicon RMR’s glass is also less clear with more perceivable distortion. The RMR exhibits slight bluish tint while the Deltapoint PRO has better natural color.

Both optics are daylight bright and can easily be seen on bright sunny days and backgrounds. That said, the RMR is slightly brighter on highest settings.

On the other hand, the RMR dual-illuminated (RM03, RM04, RM05, and RM08), which do not require any battery, are not daylight bright in certain lighting situations such as very bright environment and when you’re standing in low light but your target is in brightly lit area,

Compared to Vortex Razor 3 MOA, Trijicon RMR glass is slightly clearer, and has less tint. Vortex Razor glass has slight distortion. Its dot is daylight bright and can be used no bright sunny days with no issues.

Easy brightness control with auto-brightness settings

As stated earlier, all 3 optics are daylight bright, with the RMR being the brightest. But there’s an issue with Deltapoint PRO’s control.

I like the Trijicon RMR’s brightness control the most. Its “up” and “down” buttons are located on each side of the optic and can be easily manipulated through your concealed carry clothing.

Plus Trijicon RMR has auto-brightness settings which auto detect ambient light and adjust brightness accordingly. I feel that the auto-brightness sometime is too dim, but work well in most situations.

Vortex Razor, though not as simple as the RMR, is easier to operate compared to Leupold Deltapoint PRO. The Razor has separate “up” and “down” buttons on top of the optic, which could pose slight issue if you have big hands.

With the Deltapoint PRO however, there’s only one button at the top of the optic to adjust between its 8 brightness settings. You turn on/off and increase/decrease brightness with just this single button.

Supposedly you had dimmed your red dot to “3”. Pushing the button again will make it “2”. Push again and it’s “1”. When the lowest (or highest) setting is reached, the LED will flash 5 times.

By holding the button for 2 seconds you will reverse the brightness adjustment direction. After reversing, pushing the button again will increase (or decrease) brightness instead, as in “2”. And “3”, “4”, “5” and so on.

A bit complicate, especially if you’re concealed carrying and can’t look at your red dot.

Needs to unmount to replace battery

One major disadvantage of the RMR is its battery compartment design. Its battery compartment is located at the base and you have to unmount the red dot to change batteries. Thus you may have the hassle of re-zeroing every time your battery runs out.

This is not the case with the Leupold Deltapoint PRO, as its battery compartment is located at the top of the optic. This spring-loaded battery compartment allows you to easily replace battery without the need to unmount the red dot nor any tools required.

Vortex Razor design has a battery tray on its right side, preventing a need of unmounting the optic to change battery.

Summary of Batteries for each Mentioned Optics

The RMR has significantly more battery life compared to the other 2 optics.

Trijicon RMR sits lower than the other two

When mounted, Trijicon RMR is easier for co-witnessing as the optic height is not so high.

On the other hand, the Deltapoint PRO and Vortex Razor will sit quite high such that normal front/rear sight will not be able to co-witness with it. You need aftermarket iron sights with extra height to co-witness.

For the Deltapoint PRO, Leupold has its own rear iron sight that would co-witness and can specifically be installed on the Deltapoint PRO.

Parallax Error is Minimal

Reflex sights are known for their ability to mitigate parallax errors, making it ideal for shots with of angle or very fast draw and target acquisition.

Trijicon’s RMR parallax error is larger than high quality models such as the Aimpoint Micro T-2, according to a test conducted by Greeneye Tactical. But for the price, it’s a fine optic where you can fire relatively accurate without a perfect cheek weld.

If you’re serious about parallax error, a holographic sight will do you good as it uses different underlying technology than reflex sights and give less parallax error.

Lighter and more compact

The Trijicon RMR is lighter and narrower than the Leupold Deltapoint PRO. Yet it’s viewing glass is smaller. That said, the Razor has the largest viewing glass.

Durable within its product class

Trijicon RMR and Leupold Deltapoint PRO are the 2 most rugged available micro red dot sight optic at the moment. For military, law enforcement, heavy duty and home defense where stakes are really high, these 2 optics are the absolute best, with RMR being the more rugged with better track record one.

I personally have a great run with all 3 optics and have no durability issues. That said, I’ve heard the number of failure rate for Vortex Razor red dot is higher than the Deltapoint PRO and Trijicon RMR. Thus, for any serious use, I recommend that you choose between the two.

Unfortunately, handgun’s micro red dot is relatively a new product niche. And its products aren’t fully developed. Due to its size and weight restraint, even the Deltapoint PRO and RMR have its fair share of failures unlike the bomb-proof optics of high end rifle red dot sights.

Recently, Aimpoint announced its new Acro P-1. Its emitter is fully enclosed in its tube and has a very rugged design. Even though I have not the chance to test it yet, but Aimpoint’s bombproof products might be the solution to handgun’s micro red dot vulnerability. It’s worth a look.

For non-serious use however, Vortex’s edge has its edge on lifetime warranty. Here’s the warranty breakdown :

• Trijicon RMR : 5 years warranty
• Leupold Deltapoint PRO : 2 years on electronics, Lifetime on the rest
• Vortex Razor red dot : Lifetime warranty

Admittedly, the best warranties are the ones that you *don’t* ever have to use them.

 

My Verdict of the Trijicon RMR

Compared to Leupold Deltapoint PRO, the Trijicon RMR has smaller glass, and hence less FOV with slower dot picking up speed. RMR’s glass also has slightly more bluish tint and distortion. Furthermore, you need to unmount the RMR every time you want to replace battery, while this is not the case with the Deltapoint PRO. That said, Trijicon RMR has better battery life and is more rugged and durable. Lastly the RMR is more expensive at the time of this writing.

Compared to Vortex Razor red dot the RMR is better in most aspects, except warranties. RMR is also more expensive compared to the Vortex Razor red dot at the time of this writing.

Even though the RMR is the toughest micro red dot right now, there has been a number of issues with its durability. A new Aimpoint ACRO p-1 is supposed to be tougher than the RMR and might worth your consideration.

 

Alternative options

1. Leupold Deltapoint PRO

• Larger FOV glass
• Clearer glass
• Battery compartment on top, can change battery without unmounting
• Less durable
• Less battery life
• Worse brightness control design
• No auto-brightness setting
• Mount high and need extra high front/rear sight to co-witness
• 2 years warranty on electronics, lifetime on the rest
• Cheaper

 

2. Vortex Razor red dot

• Lifetime warranty
• Worse glass and dot crispness
• Larger FOV glass
• Less battery life
• Mount high and need extra high front/rear sight to co-witness
• No auto-brightness setting
• Not as durable
• Cheaper