Let’s face it, we’re in the age of pistol optics, and I think that’s a good thing…
Most people can end up shooting a pistol with an optic more accurately and faster than one with just iron sights…
And the cool thing is, there are a lot of companies offering pistol optics that you can choose from…
Now 2 of my favorites are:
- The Holosun HS507c (Check Price On Amazon – Over 1,670 Reviews)
- The Trijicon RMR (Check Price On Amazon – Over 966 Reviews)
Both of these pistol red dot sights are high quality, and in this Holosun 507c vs RMR comparison, we’re going to see how they stack up against each other in the following categories…
- Toughness And Durability
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Extra Accessories Included With The Sight
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you which of these two sights I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which one of these optics is the best option for you…
Let’s get started!
Durability And Toughness…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is a pretty durable little pistol red dot sight. To start off with, the sight housing is made from machined 7075 aluminum, and it has an anodized finish on it which helps protect it from the elements.
The elevation and windage turrets are recessed into the sight housing, which means they can never be snapped off accidentally, and the sight is simply built to be really beefy as far as pistol reflex sights go.
It’s tough enough to handle the recoil from being mounted on a shotgun, a high powered rifle, or a pistol caliber carbine, but the truth is most people will want to use a sight like this on a pistol.
That’s definitely where I like to employ sights like this, and I find that it easily handles the abuse of being mounted on a reciprocating pistol slide. All in all, it’s a really rugged little sight.
Trijicon RMR
The Trijicon RMR is known for being one of the toughest little red dot sights out there. Trijicon makes really rugged optics, and the RMR actually stands for Ruggedized Miniature Reflex sight.
Now the type 1 RMR’s had problems when being mounted on pistols because the battery connection was not very secure and people had problems with the reticle flashing on and off intermittently.
The type 2 RMR’s have completely eliminated that problem, and as I mentioned before, they’re extremely tough little optics.
The sight housing on RMR is a military grade aluminum alloy, and just as with the 507c, the windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housing (which protects them from snapping off). All in all the RMR type 2 is also extremely durable.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
Because of the reputation that Trijicon has for making extremely rugged optics, I’m tempted to give the edge to the RMR in this category…
…but to be honest, the Holosun 507c is a tank of a little sight, so I think the right option here is to actually call it a draw.
Winner: DRAW
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c has an extremely clear lens. I don’t really notice any of the bluish or greenish tint that you sometimes get with some red dot sights and the sight window is really large for a pistol optic.
The clear lens and the large sight window really give you a great view through the optic, and being able to easily see your targets is a huge benefit when trying to shoot accurately.
Now as for the reticle, each 507c has 3 reticle options that you can cycle through. The first reticle option is to have a 32 MOA ring surrounding a 2 MOA dot.
This is a great reticle especially if you’re going to be taking aim at large targets that are relatively close. Your eye is able to pick up that 32 MOA ring very fast and because there’s not much precision required for large targets up close, you’re able to make hits very quickly.
At the same time, you do have the precise 2 MOA dot in the center of your sight picture, which is perfect if you need to really bear down and make a clean shot.
The second reticle option is to simply have a 2 MOA dot. I think this is also a great reticle option because it gives you a very simple and useful sight picture.
Like I mentioned before, the 2 MOA allows you to aim very precisely, but it’s also really easy for your eye to pick up (you probably won’t find yourself searching for the dot when you’re taking aim).
The last option you can choose is a 32 MOA ring with no dot in the center. This is kind of a weird reticle choice for me because I would simply choose to have the ring and 2 MOA dot…
…but some people do like this reticle option, so if you’re one of them, it’s there for you.
Last I want to say that it’s very easy to cycle through these three options because you simply hold down the minus button for 2 seconds and then pick your reticle. All in all, I like the reticle choices on the 507c very much.
Trijicon RMR
The lens clarity on the Trijicon RMR is also very good. Now when you look through this sight, you do get a slightly blue tint.
Trijicon says that they add this tint on purpose because it gives you better contrast when looking through the optic.
There is some truth to that, but personally I would prefer having a clear lens to look through and take aim.
Now as for the reticle on the Trijicon RMR, you can actually get this sight in two different variations. There is a 3.25 MOA dot reticle model and there’s a 6.5 MOA dot reticle model to choose between.
Personally I think the 6.5 MOA reticle is a bit large even for a pistol red dot sight because it can cover some of your target when you’re trying to make a precise shot, but I do think the 3.25 Moa reticle is a great option.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
With the Holosun 507c you get a crystal clear lens as opposed to the Trijicon RMR where there is a slightly blue tint.
As I mentioned before, I prefer aiming through a clear lens, so the Holosun gets the win in that area…
In addition to that, with the 507c you can cycle through three different reticle options but with the Trijicon RMR you’re limited to either a 3.25 MOA dot or a 6.5 MOA dot.
Even though I think the 3.25 MOA dot is a great option, I prefer the choices that the Holosun 507c is able to give you…
…and I really like the 32 MOA ring with the 2 MOA dot in the center. So again the clear winner, in my opinion, is the Holosun 507c.
Winner: Holosun 507c
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Holosun 507c
The battery life on the Holosun 507c is outstanding. It uses one CR2032 battery which gives you 50,000 hours (5 years) of battery life.
In addition to that, Holosun includes a “shake awake” feature in which the sight will automatically turn off when not being used and automatically turn on when it senses any motion at all.
This is a great feature in my opinion because it helps save that battery life which is already incredibly long.
On top of all that, the 507c includes a solar panel on top of it, which allows you to use this sight even if your battery dies as long as you have some sunlight to power it.
Again, I think this is an awesome feature and it’s something I’ve always liked about Holosun red dots. Now included in the 507c, you get 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings.
Most people won’t use the night vision settings, but I still think it’s cool that they’re included. And as for the daylight brightness settings, the higher settings get extremely bright…
So even if you’re in a very sunny environment like me (I live in the Nevada desert) your reticle is going to remain very easily visible to you.
Trijicon RMR
The battery life on the Trijicon RMR is also very good. It also uses one CR2032 battery and it can power the sight for up to 4 years.
Ultra long battery life like this is an important feature for me because it basically means you can leave your sight turned on all the time.
All you really have to remember to do is swap out your battery once a year and you should never have any problems with your optic dying on you.
Now the RMR includes 8 daylight brightness settings, 2 night vision settings, and 1 super bright setting…
Again these are all very useful settings, and even if you’re in the brightest conditions, you won’t have any problems seeing the reticle on your sight.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings Conclusions…
In terms of battery life, the Holosun has the advantage because it has 5 years worth of battery life as opposed to the 4 years of the Trijicon…
…and in addition to that, it also has the “shake awake” feature and solar panel which will save your battery life even more. I think it’s pretty clear that in this category, the Holosun 507c is the winner.
Winner: Holosun 507c
Extra Goodies Included With The Sight…
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c comes with a detachable factory mount which can be used to attach this sight to a picatinny rail.
Personally, I wouldn’t use a sight like this on a rifle like an AR-15 or a pistol caliber carbine because I think there are better options (I like micro red dot sights) but you could use it as a primary or a secondary sight if you wanted to.
Additionally, the footprint of the 507c is the exact same as the RMR, and I think this is an important feature because most pistols that you would mount an optic on are set up for use with an RMR.
The RMR cut is simply the most popular at this time, and I think it was a smart choice by Holosun to incorporate that footprint into the 507c.
Trijicon RMR
The Trijicon RMR does not come with any included mounts unless you pay for a higher priced package.
Again for me, that’s not a problem because I wouldn’t use a sight like this on anything other than a pistol which won’t require any additional mount.
So in the end, you don’t really get any extra accessories with this optic, but for this style of sight, I don’t really think that’s a problem.
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic Conclusions…
In this category, I have to give the slight edge to the Holosun 507c because it comes with a picatinny rail mount…
That said, like I mentioned above, I wouldn’t mount these sights on anything other than a pistol. So the included picatinny rail mount isn’t very valuable to me.
Winner: Holosun 507c
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to give you exact prices of these sights because the truth is that their prices are changing all the time…
But, most of the time, the Holosun 507c is about 150 – 200 bucks less than the Trijicon RMR. So, the clear winner on price is, once again, the Holosun 507c.
Winner: Holosun 507c
Holosun 507c Vs RMR – Conclusions…
So in the end, both up these sights were neck and neck in the Toughness and Durability category and we had a draw…
Then in the Lens Clarity and Reticle category the Holosun was the clear winner. After that, we looked at Battery Life and Brightness Settings and the 507c was the winner again.
Next, the Holosun edged out the RMR in the Extra Accessories category, and last, in the price comparison the Holosun 507c was once again the clear winner.
So which of these sights do I prefer? I prefer the Holosun 507c.
This really shouldn’t come as a surprise because I think Holosun hit one out of the park with this optic. As I mentioned before, it’s a super tough little sight…
…But it also has a huge sight window that is crystal clear to look through, and it gives you 3 really cool reticles to choose from.
And we can’t forget that it’s much less expensive than the RMR as well!
Now, some will still prefer the RMR over the 507c because Trijicon has a track record for producing super reliable and high quality optics…
So, you’re not gonna go wrong by going with the RMR either, again (I would go with the 3.25 MOA version)
But like I said, I think the 507c is superior to the RMR in almost every way, and it’s much less expensive. Check it out on Amazon by clicking the button above, and good luck as you search for a high quality pistol red dot sight.