For various reasons, I decided now was the time to stock up on a few things, including a new pistol. I’ve wanted a full size 9mm, and I had been looking for an optics ready pistol, so I had been eyeing the IWI Masada since I heard of its release a year or two ago. When Palmetto State Armory had some for the low price of $399, I bit. I hadn’t even played with a red dot before, so this was all new to me.
I picked up some extra mags from IWI and a Trijicon RMR Type 2 from Optics Planet, which ran about $430 on sale (the most basic RMR, with a 3.25 MoA dot). I could’ve gone with a cheaper red dot, but the RMR got such good reliability and toughness reviews, I decided I was willing to pay a little more. Mounting the red dot was simple with the polymer plates and the new screws included with the Masada. A little blue Loctite and a quick search for some 9mm ammo locally, and I was ready to go.
What a tack driver. It took me about 20 rounds to sight it in and after that, as long as I did my part, I didn’t have any problem hitting my targets. I could clean ten clay targets from 50 feet in ten rounds without even trying. Just put the dot over the clay target and squeeze. The Masada has a good trigger that feels much better than a Glock (to me), and has more of a “rolling squeeze” feel to it. There isn’t really a “wall” before the break like on a Glock.
All told, it ran about $900 to get into a basic red dot setup, which is way more than I’m usually willing to pay for a lot of things, but this was kind of a treat for myself. I’m still not sure about a red dot for self defense applications (though my mind is now open to the idea) but nothing compares to the accuracy I’m able to achieve with this setup.
The Masada ran great, no hiccups through a couple hundred rounds, but I have a tendency to ride the slide release so it didn’t always lock back on an empty mag. I’ll have to work on my grip a little. Still, for anybody looking to get into a relatively low price setup like this, I would recommend both products. Time will tell how both hold up though.
I picked up some extra mags from IWI and a Trijicon RMR Type 2 from Optics Planet, which ran about $430 on sale (the most basic RMR, with a 3.25 MoA dot). I could’ve gone with a cheaper red dot, but the RMR got such good reliability and toughness reviews, I decided I was willing to pay a little more. Mounting the red dot was simple with the polymer plates and the new screws included with the Masada. A little blue Loctite and a quick search for some 9mm ammo locally, and I was ready to go.
What a tack driver. It took me about 20 rounds to sight it in and after that, as long as I did my part, I didn’t have any problem hitting my targets. I could clean ten clay targets from 50 feet in ten rounds without even trying. Just put the dot over the clay target and squeeze. The Masada has a good trigger that feels much better than a Glock (to me), and has more of a “rolling squeeze” feel to it. There isn’t really a “wall” before the break like on a Glock.
All told, it ran about $900 to get into a basic red dot setup, which is way more than I’m usually willing to pay for a lot of things, but this was kind of a treat for myself. I’m still not sure about a red dot for self defense applications (though my mind is now open to the idea) but nothing compares to the accuracy I’m able to achieve with this setup.
The Masada ran great, no hiccups through a couple hundred rounds, but I have a tendency to ride the slide release so it didn’t always lock back on an empty mag. I’ll have to work on my grip a little. Still, for anybody looking to get into a relatively low price setup like this, I would recommend both products. Time will tell how both hold up though.
