Enclosed Pistol Sights are all the rage right now…
And it’s easy to see why…
After all, they’re just as fast and accurate as traditional open-emitter reflex sights…
But they have the extra durability and reliability of being fully enclose so that nothing can potentially block the emitter…
Now all that being said, many enclosed pistol optics are large and blocky…
They take up a lot of space, they don’t have a very large window size, and truth be told, they look kinda funny (some people call them ‘mailbox sights’ haha)…
But Holosun (which is one of my favorite optics companies) has managed to produce two options that give us an enclosed emitter, without the bulk, blocky-ness, and small window size…
Those two red dot sights are…
- The Holosun EPS
- The Holosun EPS Carry
And in this Holosun EPS Vs EPS Carry comparison, I’m going to share with you how these two fantastic sights are similar and also what makes them different…
In the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of what you’re getting with the EPS or the EPS Carry, and you should be able to determine which is going to work best for you…
Let’s get into the comparison…
Holosun EPS Vs EPS Carry – Which Pistol Optic Is Right For You…?
The Holosun EPS and EPS Carry are very similar enclosed emitter pistol optics. They’re both made from 7075 T6 Aluminum. The both come in the same reticle options, and they both come with 50,000 hours of battery life, Shake Awake technology, and side loading battery trays. The main differences is that they’re different sizes. The EPS is designed to be mounted on full size, double stack handguns. Whereas, the EPS Carry is smaller and designed to be mounted on single stack or slimline conceal carry pistols…
Below, I’ll address the similarities and differences between these two sights in greater detail.
Holosun EPS And EPS Carry Pistol Red Dots – How Are They Similar…?
The Holosun EPS and the EPS Carry have several similarities, and in the following sections we’ll take a closer look at the areas in which these two pistol optics are the same…
New EPS And EPS Carry – Materials & Construction…
Both the full size EPS and the EPS Carry are built using high quality materials, and as a result the Holosun EPS pistol optic line is very tough…
For example, they both have a sight housing made from 7075 T6 Aluminum, which is an extremely tough material, and they’re both black anodized which helps protect them from corrosion…
On top of that, they’re both IPX8 waterproof, so they can easily handle rainy, snowy, or wet conditions, and they’re both shockproof, so they can handle the punishment an optic takes when being mounted on a handgun slide.
EPS And EPS Carry Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Both the EPS and the EPS Carry use aspherical glass which makes both of them have a very clear lens with little-to-no fish eye effect…
This gives you a clear and crisp field of view when looking through either optic, and that includes the edges of the sight window (which is great when your shooting)…
On top of that, both the EPS and the EPS carry come in a few different reticle variations which include…
- 2 MOA dot reticle versions
- 6 MOA dot reticle versions
- Multi-Reticle System versions
I personally like all of these reticles options, but the premium version for both the EPS and the EPS Carry is definitely the Multiple Reticle System versions…
With these models, you can toggle between 3 different reticle options that are programmed into your sight, and the 3 reticle options include: a 2 MOA reticle, a 32 MOA circle, or a combination of the two (the Holosun Circle Dot Reticle)…
I really like the Circle Dot reticle because it’s extremely quick and easy for you eye to pick up when you present your handgun…
But at the same time, you still have a small 2 MOA dot in the center for shots that require a high degree of accuracy…
It’s basically the best of both worlds, and that’s why I like it…
That being said, it is a little bit (not much) more costly than the standard 2 MOA dot or 6 MOA reticle versions…
And even those those reticle options are much more simple, they can still help you shoot more accurately and faster with a little bit of practice…
Holosun EPS Footprint…
Both the Holosun EPs and the EPS Carry feature the Holosun K series footprint. This is the same footprint that you’ll find on other Holosun red dot sights such as the 507k and the 407k…
This footprint was chosen by Holosun for the EPS series because of the location of the screw holes…
You see, they’re far back enough that they allow Holosun to have just enough space to enclose the emitter in the EPS and EPS carry…
And at the same time, they allow you to have a top-down screw mounting system rather than a clamping system like the AimPoint ACRO, Swampfox Kraken and many other enclosed emitter pistol optics…
I think the choice of using the Holosun k-series footprint (which is nearly the same as the RMSC footprint) was a smart one because it’s a widely known and used footprint that’s already in the marketplace…
On top of that, it makes it really easy to get both the EPS and the EPS Carry mounted onto your gun.
I should also mention that both the EPS and EPS Carry feature an extremely low deck height. And this is a fantastic feature for 2 reasons in my view…
First of all, it allows you to use standard height iron sights to back up your optic (so you don’t need to have suppressor height sights)…
And second, it makes it easier, faster, and more natural to find your dot (at least that’s the case for me).
Holosun EPS And EPS Carry Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Both the Holosun EPS and EPS Carry have outstanding battery life. First of all they both use one CR1620 battery which is able to power the sight for around 50,000 hours (which is over 5 years)…
In addition to that both the EPS and EPS Carry feature Holosun’s Shake Awake technology which is going to save your battery life even more…
And some models actually feature a solar panel (the Solar Failsafe) which will back up your battery if it ends up dying on you…
On top of that, both designs feature a side loading battery tray and that’s important because it means you’ll be able to change out the battery on your site without having to remove it from the slide of your pistol…
Now as for the brightness settings, with both sights you get a total of10 daylight brightness settings and two night vision settings…
The daylight brightness settings get extremely bright on the high end so you won’t have any issues with them washing out in bright Sun and the two night vision settings are cool if you have night vision equipment and want to do some shooting in the dark…
All in all though, both the EPS and EPS Carry have excellent battery life, and they both have built-in technology to extend the battery life that you get while at the same time giving you an extremely bright reticle.
Holosun EPS And EPS Carry Reflex Sights – How Are They Different…?
Even though the EPS and the EPS Carry are very similar, they do have some key differences which is what we’ll be discussing now…
Let’s begin by discussing the size of both optics…
Holosun EPS Size…
The Holosun EPS is a full size pistol optic, and it’ll work best on a full-size pistol on the range or in defensive use…
It can also be used on a conceal carry gun, especially if it’s a double stack gun like a Glock 19, but as you’ll see when we look at the dimensions, it’s a larger optic than the EPS Carry…
The full size EPS has a height of .99 inches, a width of 1.18 inches, and a length of 1.61 inches…
One of the key benefits of the full size EPS over the EPS Carry is that it gives you are much more wide field of view because it has a larger sight window.
Holosun EPS Carry Size…
As the name implies, the EPS Carry if one of Holosun’s carry optics offerings. It is designed to be mounted on single stack or slimline conceal carry guns like the Glock 48…
The dimensions on the EPS Carry are a height of .95 inches, a width of 1.05 inches, and a length of 1.61 inches…
So the width and height of the EPS Carry are shorter than that of the EPS, and the main advantage is that its a more compact sight which is more comfortable and easier to conceal carry.
Included Rear Sight (For Defensive Carry Sub Compact Pistols)…
One of the other differences between these two sights is that the EPS Carry features a rear sight built into the sight housing…
This was done because some optics ready conceal carry pistols don’t have space for a rear sight when an optic is mounted…
The full size EPS doesn’t have a rear sight molded into the sight housing, and I don’t think there’s a need for it as long as your gun has a rear sight mounted.
Holosun EPS Carry Vs EPS (Full Size) – Final Thoughts…
So to sum it all up, both the EPS and EPS Carry are fantastic enclosed emitter pistol sights…
They’re both built to be tough. They both have outstanding battery life and reticle options, and they both have very clear sight windows…
The main difference is that they’re different sizes…
So if your gun is a double stack or full size pistol, I recommend you go with the Holosun EPS because it will give you a larger sight window and be a better overall fit…
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And your gun is a single stack or slimline handgun, I recommend you go with the EPS Carry because it will be more compact and easier to carry concealed…
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You can’t go wrong with either of these two sights because they’re both well made, cutting edge designs, and the only difference you really need to consider between them is their size.