It’s easier than ever to mount an optic onto your handgun…
And that’s definitely a good thing because a red dot can help you shoot faster and more accurately than you can with iron sights…
And when it comes to pistol optics, I think Trijicon is still king…
The reason why is because their two most popular handgun red dots, the Trijicon RMR and the Trijicon SRO, are outstanding…
| Image | Product |
 | Trijicon RMR – Click Here To Get Best Pricing (Over 1,422 Customer Reviews!) |
 | Trijicon SRO – Click Here To Get Best Pricing (Over 465 Customer Reviews!) |
So in this Trijicon SRO Vs RMR comparison, we’re going to examine how these two amazing optics stack up against each other in the following categories…
- Durability And Toughness
- Lens Clarity And Reticle
- Size Comparison
- Battery Life And Brightness Settings
- Footprint And Accessories
- Price Comparison
In the end, I’ll tell you which of these two red dots I prefer, and you should have all the information you need to determine which optic is going to work best for you…
Let’s begin!
Trijicon SRO Vs RMR – Quick Summary…
The Trijicon SRO was designed for competition use while the RMR was designed to be an extremely rugged reflex sight. Because of this, the SRO has a larger sight window than the RMR; however, the RMR is a much more durable optic…
The following will give you much more detail about how these two fantastic sights compare…
Trijicon SRO Vs RMR Durability And Toughness…
Trijicon RMR
The RMR is an incredibly durable little red dot sight. RMR actually stands for ‘Ruggedized Miniature Reflex’ sight, and the Type 2 version definitely lives up to its name…
Now, the Type 1 RMRs were also very rugged, but they weren’t designed to be used on handguns and sometimes would have battery connection issues…
Those issues are completely gone with the RMR Type 2, and as I said, the sight is built to be extremely rugged…
For starters, the sight housing is made from forged aluminum, which is a very strong material…
On top of that, the RMR has Trijicon’s patented square top with horns, and this makes the optic extremely resistant to impacts…
It’s also waterproof in up to 66 feet of water, and it can easily handle the recoil from being mounted on a handgun slide, on a high-powered rifle, or on a shotgun…
All in all, the RMR has a legendary reputation for reliability and ruggedness at this point, and I think it certainly lives up to that reputation.
Trijicon SRO
The SRO is also a fairly durable little red dot sight. It has a sight housing that’s made from forged aluminum as well, and it’s waterproof in up to 10 feet of water…
Also, because the SRO was designed to be a handgun optic from the start, it can easily handle the recoil from being mounted on a pistol slide…
And even though it hasn’t been around as long as the RMR, it’s still a Trijicon sight…
And Trijicon is known for making extremely durable optics, even some that are used in the U.S. Military.
Durability And Toughness Conclusions…
When it comes to durability and toughness, the clear winner between these two sights is the Trijicon RMR…
The RMR has a patented square top which is specifically designed to make the sight more durable, and the SRO has a rounded top which is an inherently less durable design (though it has other advantages which we’ll get to)…
On top of that, the RMR is also waterproof in up to 66 feet of water, and the SRO is waterproof in up to 10 feet…
Now, 10 feet isn’t a bad waterproof rating, but it’s obviously much less than the 66 feet of the RMR…
Last, the RMR has been around for a longer time, and it has developed a well-deserved reputation for toughness…
So I think it’s pretty clear that the Trijicon RMR Type 2 is the more durable sight, and it’s going to easily take the win in this category.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Lens Clarity And Reticle…
Trijicon RMR
The lens clarity that you get with the Trijicon RMR is pretty good. There is a blue-ish tint that you’ll notice when looking through the glass, but that’s actually something that you’ll find on all Trijicon red dot sights…
You see, Trijicon actually puts that blue tint there on purpose because it helps illuminate the reticle easier and gives you greater contrast when looking through the optic…
I do prefer a more clear lens when I can get it, but the blue tint is easy to ignore, and it doesn’t affect how I aim and shoot at all…
Now, the field of view that you get when looking through the RMR is also good…
It’s not as large as some other sights out there, but I think it’s certainly easy to see your target (and what’s around it) when you’re aiming, and I don’t have any problems using it…
Now when it comes to the reticle, there are several different versions of the RMR, but the two most popular options are the 3.25 MOA dot version and the 6.5 MOA dot version…
Out of the two, I prefer the 3.25 MOA dot because I find that the dot is very quick and easy for your eye to pick up, but also small enough that it allows you to aim precisely at small targets or targets that are out at distance…
That being said, many shooters like the 6.5 MOA dot because the larger dot is a little easier to track when you’re shooting.
All in all, both reticle sizes will work well, but as I said, I prefer that smaller dot because I like to have more precision when aiming.
Trijicon SRO
The Trijicon SRO really shines in this category, and there are a number of reasons why…
First of all, the clarity that you get with the SRO is good. It’s basically the same as the clarity that you get with the RMR because you still have that blue tint which is easy to ignore when you’re shooting…
That said, the sight window on the SRO is massive, and it gives you a huge field of view when you’re aiming…
Seeing more when you’re shooting is always a benefit, and having that large sight window makes you very confident as you aim and fire, especially when you’re trying to shoot at speed…
Now when it comes to the reticle, you can get the SRO with a 1 MOA dot, a 2.5 MOA dot, or a 5 MOA dot…
The 1 MOA dot is a little too small for my preference, and my favorite out of these options is the 2.5 MOA dot version…
I find that anything in the 2 to 3.5 MOA dot size range is kind of the sweet spot for me because I find them to be very easy for your eye to track and small enough that they give you a high level of precision when you’re aiming…
All in all, the combination of the SRO’s massive sight window and a 2.5 MOA dot reticle is an ideal setup when you’re trying to shoot your pistol fast and accurately.
Lens Clarity And Reticle Conclusions…
So in this category, both the RMR and the SRO have a good level of lens clarity…
In addition to that, they both have a reticle that falls into my sweet spot of 2 to 3.5 MOA when it comes to dot size…
That being said, when it comes to the size of the sight window that you get, and then the field of view, the SRO is far superior to the RMR…
This is no surprise because while the RMR was built to be super rugged, the SRO was built for accuracy and speed, especially in shooting competitions…
So it’s no surprise that the SRO has a massive sight window, and that makes it the clear winner in this category…
Winner: Trijicon SRO
Size Comparison…
Trijicon RMR
As I mentioned earlier, the Trijicon RMR was designed to be an extremely rugged sight that is miniaturized or compact…
It has a height that measures in at 1.0 inches. In addition to that, the width measure in at 1.2 inches, and the length comes in at just 1.8 inches…
On top of that, the overall weight of the Trijicon RMR is just 1.2 ounces. So all in all, it’s an extremely small and lightweight optic.
Trijicon SRO
The Trijicon SRO is also a relatively small optic, but it’s slightly different from the size of the RMR…
The SRO has a height that measures in at 1.4 inches. Additionally, it has a width that measures in at 1.3 inches, and the length comes in at 2.2 inches…
On top of that, the overall weight of the SRO comes in at 1.6 ounces. So to sum up this category, the RMR is more compact than the SRO in every dimension, and it’s also more lightweight.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Battery Life And Brightness Settings…
Trijicon RMR
The battery life that you get with the RMR is ultra long. It takes 1 CR2032 battery, and that battery is able to power the sight for around 4 years on setting number 4…
That’s exactly the kind of battery life that I like to see on red dot sights because it means that you can leave the optic on at all times (so that your gun is always at the ready), and not have to worry about the battery dying on you at the wrong time.
The one downside when it comes to changing the RMR’s battery is that it is located on the bottom of the optic…
So it will be necessary to remove the RMR from your handgun’s slide in order to swap out the battery…
That being said, the battery life on the RMR is super long. So changing out the battery is something that you’ll only need to do once a year or maybe even once every 2 years…
Now with the RMR you get a total of 8 brightness settings. The settings on the mid to high end are very bright, and you’ll have no problems seeing the reticle even on a bright sunny day…
In addition to that, you do get 2 night vision settings on the low end, and you can use those if you want to do some night shooting and have NV equipment to utilize with them…
All in all, the RMR has fantastic battery life, and the brightness settings allow you to dial in the reticle illumination level to exactly what you need depending on the ambient lighting conditions that you’re shooting in.
Trijicon SRO
The battery life that you get with the Trijicon SRO is also super long. It also uses 1 CR2032 battery, and the battery is able to power the sight for up to 3 years…
That’s not quite as long as the battery life that you get with the RMR, but 3 years is nothing to sneeze at…
…and it will allow you to keep your optic turned on at all times which means that you’ll be able to use your handgun in a moment’s notice should you need to.
Now, a major difference between the RMR and the SRO is that the SRO has a top-loading battery compartment, and the advantage that you get here is that you can swap out the SRO’s battery without the need to remove the optic from your gun’s slide…
That’s a big time-saver, and it’s a feature that I wish the RMR has as well…
Now with the SRO you also get a total of 8 brightness settings, and these 8 settings are exactly the same as those that are found on the RMR…
So you’ll have no problem seeing the SRO’s reticle (even on a sunny day), and you’ll also have the 2 night vision settings which you can use if you have NV equipment and want to do the dance in the dark.
Battery Life And Brightness Conclusions…
Ok, so in this category, the RMR has an extra year of battery life over the SRO…
But at the same time, the SRO has a top-loading battery compartment (whereas the RMR is a bottom loader)…
It’s a tough one, but I think that these two characteristics kind of balance each other out…
So for this category, I’m going to call it a draw…
Winner: Draw
Footprint And Accessories…
Trijicon RMR
The RMR became a popular choice for a handgun optic early on, and because of its ruggedness and reliability, many people have had their pistol slides specifically cut to mount the RMR…
Because of this, the RMR footprint is the most common footprint in this full-size pistol optic class (many other optics like Holosun also use an RMR footprint)…
And that means that it’s really easy to get the RMR mounted onto your gun…
For example, if you have an optics ready pistol from the factory, chances are that an adapter plate to mount the RMR will be included with your gun…
On top of that, there are tons of places that will mill your pistol’s slide specifically for the RMR, and there are also a lot of aftermarket slides that are already cut for the RMR footprint…
On top of that, if you want to use the RMR as a super small optic for a carbine or shotgun, there are an endless number of mounts being produced for the RMR footprint…
So in the end, the RMR is awesome because it (of course) has the RMR footprint, and that makes it really easy to mount it onto a handgun or a carbine or shotgun.
Trijicon SRO
When Trijicon created the SRO, they understood just how popular the RMR’s footprint had become…
And because of that, the SRO has the same footprint as the RMR…
This was a really smart choice because, just like with the RMR, it makes the SRO really easy to mount on your pistol, carbine, or shotgun…
That being said, the only thing you should be aware of is that the SRO is a slightly bigger optic than the RMR…
This means that even though it shares the same footprint as the RMR, not every RMR mounting system will work with it…
That being said, most of them will, and you shouldn’t have much of a problem getting the SRO mounted onto your gun.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Price Comparison…
Unfortunately, when it comes to comparing the prices of these red dots, I can’t give you exact numbers because the prices change all the time due to fluctuations in the market…
That being said, I typically see that the Trijicon RMR Type 2 is around 40 to 50 bucks less expensive than the SRO…
That’s not a super huge difference in price considering that these are both premium optics that come with premium price tags…
But if you are on a budget and price is a big factor in terms of helping you decide between the two (price is often a big factor for me!), then the Trijicon RMR is definitely going to be the less expensive option.
Winner: Trijicon RMR
Trijicon RMR Vs SRO – Final Thoughts…
So to sum it all up, in the Durability And Toughness category, the clear winner was the RMR because its patented square top design is super strong…
In the Lens Clarity And Reticle category, the SRO came out ahead because of its massive sight window…
In the Size Comparison, the Trijicon RMR was, again, the winner because it’s a little bit smaller and more lightweight than the SRO…
In the Battery Life and Brightness Settings category, I called it a draw because the RMR has longer battery life but the SRO has a top-loading battery compartment…
In the Footprint and Accessories category, I gave the win to the RMR because, even though they both have the RMR footprint, the SRO may not fit all available mounting systems (because of its larger size)…
And last, in the Price Comparison, the RMR is usually found to be a less expensive optic by around 40 to 50 dollars…
So which of these 2 sights do I prefer? I prefer the Trijicon RMR…
Click The Button Below To Learn More About The Trijicon RMR (Over 1,422 Reviews!):
I prefer the Trijicon RMR for several reasons. First of all, it sets the standard for durability when it comes to handgun optics…
You can really put it through some tough use, and it going to keep working for you because of its extremely rugged design…
On top of that, the sight window is still large enough to get a solid sight picture (with a good field of view)…
And even though I wish it had a top-loading battery compartment, its battery life is super long (at 4 years), so you won’t have to change the battery that often…
In addition to all that, the RMR will cost you less money than the SRO, and saving money is always a big factor for me…
Now if you prefer the SRO because it has that massive sight window (which is awesome!), then feel free to go for it because it’s still an amazing sight…
Click The Button Below To Learn More About The Trijicon SRO (Over 465 Reviews!):
You won’t go wrong with either of these two fantastic pistol optics because they’re both made by Trijicon, and they’re both extremely reliable, high-performance optics!