Pistol mounted optics are here to stay, and that’s a good thing…
Having an optic mounted on your handgun helps you shoot more accurately, and it helps you shoot faster too…
And one of the best things about the current optics market, is that there are a number of manufacturers making sights specifically designed for pistols and they’re keeping the prices affordable…
One of those manufacturers is Holosun, and right now, 2 of their most popular pistol optics are…
- The Holosun 507k (Check Price On Amazon – Over 1,172 Reviews)
- The Holosun 507c (Check Price On Amazon – Over 1,670 Reviews)
So in this Holosun 507k Vs 507c comparison, we’re going to examine the main similarities and differences between these two great sights in the following 6 categories…
- Durability And Toughness
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Size Comparison
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Extra Accessories Included With The Optic
- Price Comparison
In the end, you’ll understand all the features that come with both of the fantastic little optics, and you’ll know exactly which one is right for you…
Let’s start the comparison!
Durability And Toughness…
How Are The Holosun 507k And Holosun 507c Similar In This Category?
Both the Holosun 507k and the Holosun 507c are very tough little red dot sights, and they have a lot in common when it comes to how they’re built…
To start off with, they both have a sight housing that is constructed from 7075 T6 aluminum, which is a very rugged material…
In addition to that, they both have an anodized finish which will help protect them from the elements…
Another very important feature that is shared by both sights is the fact that their windage and elevation turrets are recessed into the sight housings…
The reason why this is important is because it prevents your adjustments from being bumped or snapped off accidentally which is some thing I’ve seen happen with other red dot sights…
And at the same time, they can still be easily adjusted with the use of a small screwdriver…
Another similarity between these two sights is that they are both waterproof in up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes…
I think they can both probably handle a lot more water than that, but regardless, both sights are going to hold up in rainy, snowing, and wet conditions…
Last, both the 507k and the 507c were designed as pistol optics from the start. So they’re both shockproof and can easily handle the beating an optic takes while being mounted on a handgun slide…
How Are They Different?
Even though the 507k and 507c have many similarities in this category, there are a couple of small differences…
First of all, the 507c is a larger optic than the 507k. So it has a little bit thicker sight housing on it, which is obviously a benefit when it comes to durability…
But that being said, the 507k has the square top design, which Holosun has found to be just a little bit tougher than the rounded top design featured on the 507c in their drop testing…
Now the Holosun 508t is a larger pistol optic like the 507c that features the square top design. So that’s another optic you can consider if you have a larger handgun and want the square top design…
However, the 507c is built like a tank even with the rounded top. So in the end, I’m not concerned about durability at all with either the Holosun 507k or the 507c.
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
How Are The Holosun 507k And Holosun 507c Similar In This Category?
Both the 507k and the 507c have a very clear lens. When looking through either of these optics, there isn’t much of the distinct blue tint staring back at you the way it does on some other red dot sights…
And overall, both sights allow you to get a clear view of your target and a very clean sight picture…
In addition to that, both the 507k and the 507c feature Holosun’s Multiple Reticle System (or MRS). Basically, the Multiple Reticle System means that you get 3 reticle options to choose from in your sight (the Holosun 407k and 407c both have a fixed dot reticle)…
The 3 options on both the 507k and the 507c are…
- A 2 MOA dot with a 32 MOA ring surrounding it (The Holosun Circle Dot Reticle)
- A 2 MOA dot
- A 32 MOA ring with no dot in the center
The first option is the 2 MOA (minute of angle) dot with a 32 MOA ring around it, which is also called the Circle Dot Reticle…
This is an awesome reticle, and it’s actually my favorite type of reticle on this style of sight…
The 32 MOA ring is very quick and easy for your eye to pick up which allows you to shoot very fast, but at the same time…
…you still have that little 2 MOA dot in the center which allows you to aim with precision at small targets or targets at further distances.
It’s a great reticle because it helps you shoot fast without sacrificing accuracy in the same sight picture, and like I said, I really like it…
That being said, I also really like the second option which is just a 2 MOA dot. This is a great option for those who prefer a simpler sight picture…
The 2 MOA is still fairly easy for your eye to pick, so you can shoot quickly, but again, that small dot still allows you to be precise when aiming…
The last option is the 32 MOA ring with no dot in the center. To be honest, this is my least favorite option, but let me explain why some shooters like it…
The 32 MOA ring allows you to shoot very quickly, especially at large targets up close, but at the same time, there is nothing blocking you from seeing all of the target you’re aiming at…
It gives you a little less cluttered sight picture than the Circle Dot Reticle, and you still have that blazing speed…
The obvious downside is that you have no way of making shots that require a high degree of accuracy, but if you’re just shooting at large targets up close, that’s not really a problem…
In the end, all 3 reticle options have their own strengths and weaknesses, but like I said, the Circle Dot Reticle is my favorite because it helps you shoot faster without sacrificing accuracy in the same sight picture.
How Are They Different?
Even though the 507k and th 507c are very similar in this category, there are a couple of differences that we should talk about…
First of all, the 507c comes in a red dot version and a green dot version which is called the HE507C-GR X2…
Personally, I prefer the red option because my eye picks it up just a little bit faster, but there are a ton of amazing shooters out there who really like the green option…
I think it really just comes down to a matter of personal preference, and that’s an option if you’re getting the 507c…
As for the 507k, at this time, it only comes in a red dot version. Again, that’s not a problem for me because I prefer a red reticle, but it is a difference between these two sights (at least until Holosun comes out with a green dot version of the 507k which they might do in the future)…
The only other difference is the size of the sight window. We’ll get into the dimensions of these two sights in the next section…
But, the 507k is a smaller sight than the 507c, and because of that, the sight window on the 507c is bigger and that gives you a larger field of view…
It’s not a huge difference because both sights have the open style design to them, and they’re both very shootable, but a bigger sight window helps you see just a little bit more when you’re shooting.
Size Comparison…
Holosun 507k
The Holosun 507k is a very small red dot sight. It’s designed to be used on a very slim pistol like a single stack handgun, which is a style of gun that is usually used for concealed carry…
So keeping all of that in mind, the height on the 507k measures in at 0.95 inches. The width measures in at 0.98 inches, and the length measures in at 1.60 inches…
In addition to that, the weight on the 507k comes in at just 1 ounce.
Holosun 507c
The Holosun 507c is a more standard sized pistol optic which is designed to fit on most double stack handguns, and because of that, it’s larger than the 507k…
The height on the 507c measures in at 1.54 inches. The width measures in at 1.24 inches, and the length measures in at 1.78 inches…
In addition to that, the 507c is a little bit heavier than the 507k with a weight of 1.5 ounces.
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
How Are The Holosun 507k And Holosun 507c Similar In This Category?
In this category, the 507k and the 507c have quite a few similarities. First of all, they both use 1 CR1632 battery which is able to give them 50,000 hours of battery life (on setting 6)…
I love long battery life like this on my optics because it makes it much less likely that your battery will die on you at a bad time…
I’ve had red dot sights run out of batteries on me on range trips before. When that happens it’s pretty much just an annoyance…
However, what you really want to avoid is your optic’s battery dying on you in an emergency self defense situation…
And since both the 507k and the 507c give you 50,000 hours of battery life, it’s not likely that you’ll have that problem, especially if you follow the standard advice of swapping out your optic’s battery once a year…
Now when it comes to swapping out your battery, both the 507k and the 507c make it a simple and easy process…
Some pistol optics like the Trijicon RMR and the Shield RMSC require that you take the sight off of your gun to change out the battery…
This ends up being a pain in the neck because after a simple battery change, you’ll end up having to re-mount your sight and then take it to the range to re-zero it (or at the very least to check the zero on it)…
That’s a huge hassle, and it’s one that both the 507k and the 507c avoid by having a side loading battery tray…
I love this feature on both of these sights because in a matter of minutes, you can change out your battery, and you won’t have to take the optic off of your gun to do it…
Now another cool feature that you’ll find on both the 507k and the 507c is Holosun’s Shake Awake technology…
Basically, this means that your sight will automatically turn off after a period of nonuse, and it will automatically turn on as soon as the sight senses motion…
This is a great feature because it ends up saving your battery life (which is already super long), but at the same time it keeps your optic ready to go because it will turn on as soon as you touch your gun…
Now when it comes to brightness settings, the 507k and the 507c are exactly the same. They both have 10 daylight brightness settings and 2 night vision settings…
The daylight brightness settings are very powerful on the high end, and you won’t have any problems with the reticle washing out on you even on a sunny day…
And I like that Holosun includes the 2 NV settings because they really don’t add anything onto the price of either optic…
But if you have some night vision equipment and want to run your handgun at night, your 507k or 507c will be ready to go…
The last feature in this section that you’ll find on both the 507k and the 507c is the Lock Mode. This is a feature that allows you to lock in whatever particular brightness setting you choose…
And it’s a valuable feature because it means that even if your brightness buttons get accidentally bumped, the optic will stay set to whichever brightness level you locked it on…
I really like that Holosun includes this feature on both optics because, again, you don’t want any surprises if you end up having to draw your pistol in a life or death situation.
How Are They Different?
The only difference between these two optics in this category is that the 507c features a solar panel and the 507k does not…
I really like the solar panel that you get on the 507c because it can be used as a backup power source if you do end up running out of batteries (as long as you have some sunlight)…
And in addition to that, it can be used to save your battery life even more if you simply switch to the solar setting when you’re shooting at the range.
Extra Accessories Included With The Optic…
How Are The Holosun 507k And Holosun 507c Similar In This Category?
Both the 507k and the 507c come with a CR1632 battery which I think is nice because it means you won’t have to run off to the store just to be able to start using your sight when you get it…
In addition to that, both sights come with a lens cloth which is a pretty common accessory that you get with almost any optic you pick up.
How Are They Different?
One of the biggest differences between these two sights in this category is that the 507k has a rear sight built into its sight housing…
This is a pretty cool addition because space is limited on smaller guns and some of them actually don’t have a rear sight when you mount an optic onto them…
I’m a big believer that battery powered optics should always be backed up by iron sights. So I really like the 507k’s built in rear sight which is not something found on the 507c…
These two sights also have different footprints, which isn’t surprising because they’re different sizes. The 507c uses the Trijicon RMR footprint which is awesome because the RMR footprint is the most common footprint out there when it comes to pistol optics…
And that means mounting your 507c is going to be really easy. In addition to that, there are tons of aftermarket products such as slides and mounts that you can use with the 507c…
Now because the 507k is a smaller optic, it has a proprietary footprint, which isn’t a problem because these tiny reflex sights are a relatively new invention so there isn’t really a standard or even a most common footprint for them yet…
That said, it’s still relatively easy to mount the 507k by having your handgun’s slide milled specifically for it or by getting an adapter plate if your gun came from the factory with an optic cut already.
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately I won’t be able to give you exact numbers in this category because the prices on these sights are changing all the time…
But that being said, in general, the Holosun 507k is usually around 15 to 20 bucks less expensive than the Holosun 507c…
To me, it makes sense that the 507k is a little bit less expensive because it is a smaller optic, and it’s from the same company…
In addition to that, I want to mention that both of these Holosun sights are much less expensive than their counterparts from Trijicon, which are probably their two biggest competitors…
The Trijicon RMR is comparable to the Holosun 507c, and the Trijicon RMRCC is comparable to the Holosun 507k…
And like I said, the two Holosun sights come in at a much lower price point than the two sights offered by Trijicon.
Holosun 507K Vs 507c – Final Thoughts…
So in the end, in the Durability And Toughness category, both the 507k and the 507c have sight housings that are made from 7075 T6 Aluminum, and they’re both waterproof and shockproof, so they’re both very tough little optics…
In the Lens Clarity And Reticle category, both the 507k and the 507c have a very clear lens that allows you to get a clean sight picture…
And both sights feature the Multiple Reticle System which allows you to switch between 3 difference reticles…
In the Size Comparison, the 507k is smaller and lighter than the 507c because it’s designed to fit on small single stack handguns for concealed carry…
Whereas the 507c is more of a standard sized pistol optic that will fit on almost any double stacked handgun…
In the Battery Life And Brightness Settings category, both the 507k and the 507c have super long battery life, a side loading battery tray, the Shake Away feature, the Lock Mode feature, and the same 12 brightness settings…
The only difference here is that the 507c has a solar panel and the 507k does not…
In the Extra Accessories category, both sights come with a battery and a lens cloth. However, the 507k comes with a built in rear sight and a proprietary footprint…
…whereas the 507c uses the very common Trijicon RMR footprint.
And last in the Price Comparison, the Holosun 507k is usually around 15 to 20 dollars less expensive than the 507c…
So which of these sights should you pick up? That depends on the size of your gun…
If you have a double stack gun…
If you have a double stack gun, the right option for you is the Holosun 507c…
It’s the slightly larger optic of the two and it’s specifically designed for standard double stack handguns such as the Glock 17, the Glock 19, the Smith And Wesson M&P9, the CZ P-10 series, the Sig P320 series, and many many more…
If you have a single stack gun…
If you have a single stack gun, the right option for you is the Holosun 507k…
It’s designed for slim single stack concealed carry handguns such as the Glock 43x, the Glock 48, the Smith And Wesson M&P9 Shield, the Sig P365, the Springfield Hellcat, and many many more…
Well, I hope I was able to show you the important similarities and differences between these two great sights from Holosun optics…
Take care, and have fun at the range!