Backup irons, who needs them? Short answer: anyone who carries a pistol for duty or defense. Working pistols require solid, dependable sights that you can see but are not distracting. Preferably models that co-witness the PMO in the lower third of the screen. Meprolight has answered that call with its CRIS BUIS, maybe the best BUIS sights used to date on a Glock!
Meprolight CRIS Backup Sights
As the quality and reliability of PMO (Pistol Mounted Optics) have improved, the perceived “need” for backup sights has waned. Competition guns have never seen a need, but if the dot disappears, you forfeit a stage at most; no one gets shot.
However, when your life depends on it, things are different. You can’t raise your hand and shout “I’m out” in a gunfight when the dot fails. They all can and do. Transitioning to irons must be immediate and seamless.
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Meprolight has recently added a few PMOs to its lineup, primarily designed for use on duty and carry pistols. The MPO-F and S, along with the MPO Pro models, are designed around duty pistols. Pro models are closed-emitter; F models use an RMR footprint; S models use the RMSc pattern and are a tad smaller.
Rather than rely on existing BUIS, the company is offering the CRIS steel sights using a tritium insert. Designed to line up in the lower third of MPO optics, they are purpose-designed for use with a PMO. Both sights are steel; the rear is black (no dots), and the front uses a bright Tritium insert. The front is “blacked out,” no fiber doughnut to interfere with the PMO dot, especially during daylight.
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Sights are serrated and are currently available for the Glock, Sig 320, FN 509/510, and IWI Masada.
Running a G17 Gen 6 with CRIS BUIS
After recently acquiring a new Gen 6 G17, it was the perfect testing platform. Used primarily as a teaching tool and test bed, this G17 is going to be used at an upcoming Gunsite 250 class I will be working. It will see hours of dry fire and significant range time.
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Installation was, as usual, pretty simple, and both mounted well. The rear is tight but easily mounted using a sight pusher. Likewise, the front bolted on using the supplied screw and one of my many front sight tools for the Glock platform. They lined up nicely and co-witnessed low in the PMO screen.
Pro models mount like an ACRO and require an adapter plate using the RMR footprint. A steel plate is supplied. It added just enough height that the irons were about as low in the screen as you can get, but it works.
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Mounting the MPO-F directly to the Gen 6 slide brought the co-witness up just a tad for an all-but-perfect lower-third co-witness. I liked this setup so well that it ended up being the permanent pairing for the class.
Along with the Meprolight PMO, several other optics were mounted as part of testing the new Glock Gen 6 system. All of the optics worked with these sights, making life pretty easy for me.
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Trijicon’s RMR, RMR HD, SCR, and SRO all lined up with the RMR HD being just about perfect. Leopold’s DPP and the new EOTECH EFLX worked well, along with the ACRO. As for versatility, these CRIS sights seem to work with any mainstream PMO on the market today.
The Meprolight CRIS Should Top Your List
With the dot off, the sights lined up well, and for this G17, they were usable under stress and quickly out to 25 yards, with POA/POI at around 15 yards. Turn off the lights, and the tritium insert is bright and clear. The front sight is visible in daylight but not distracting; in fact, it functions like a black front sight. I’m not a fan of dots in BUIS on PMO-equipped pistols, so this is about perfect for me.
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Serrations mean no glare, and over the course of several hundred rounds and hours of running the slide for dry fire, nothing came loose. Looking for a solid, strong, and practical set of BUIS for your Glock or other duty pistol? These need to be at the top of the list!
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