Making sense in the red dot compatibility is tricky. At CZ Parts have some more experience in this field, and thus going to share here on that topic with you.
What do you need to know
You need to know two things
- #1 what CZ model will you install the red dot to, and
- #2 what red dot you want to install.
What CZ model do you have
This question is important because the CZ models use many different dovetail cuts. In case you have CZ model that is Optics Ready, then also there are more variants to go,
Optics Ready CZs
These are CZ pistols that have the slide cut on top, and thanks to that allow you to install red dot after removing the slide cover.
Some of these CZ models require extra adapter plate, as interface between the slide cut and the red dot. Those are CZ P-10 Optics Ready models and CZ Shadow 2 models (except of Shadow 2 Carry).
Other CZ models have the slide cut already for one specific footprint. Those are - as the time of writing - CZ P-09 Nocturne models and CZ Shadow 2 Carry. These are compatible with Shield RMSc footprint red dots and with red dots that use Holosun K-series footprint. They do not need any adpater plate, you can install the red dot directly.
Standard CZ models
If you have one of the standard CZ model - that is without any slide cut - you can still install red dot to it. Only you will not do it through slide cut and adapter plate, but via red dot mount.
These red dot mounts work as a replacement of rear sight. They do not require any pernament modification of the pistol, you just have to remove the rear sight and install a red dot mount instead of it.
What red dot do you want to install
This question comes into consideration because of different footprints.
What is footprint you ask? Basically its a standard that different manufacturers of red dots decided to use over the time. It usually consists of features that secure the red dot in its positions - that is pins and screw holes. And based on the position and dimension of the screw holes and pins you identify specific footprints.
Luckily these things are quite standardized these days, and so the chances are if you buy any red dot, it will use one of the 6 or 7 most common footprint standards. Which footprints are those?
Trijicon RMR footprint
One of the oldest footprint standards on the market, its name comes from Trijicon, as they first used it for their pistol red dots. You can find red dots with this footprint here.
Its used primarily for full sized pistols, but you will often see shooters use red dots with this footprint also on compact pistols. There are dozens of red dots that use this footprint and we acutalize the compatibility on the product page as we find out about new compatible red dots]. But to mention the most popular red dots with this footprint, we share a short list of compatible red dots below:
- Trijicon RMR
- Trijicon SRO
- Holosun 407C
- Holosun 507C
- Holosun 507Comp
- Holosun 508T
- Osight X
- Osight C
- Vector Optics Frenzy 1x22x26 MOS MRS red dot
Shield RMSc footprint
This footprint comes from the manufacturer Shield Sights from United Kingdom. Over the years, this became the standard footprint for most of compact and subcompact red dots. You can find red dots with this footprint here.
Holosun came few years back with K-series footprint, which is using similar position of pins, but they removed the rear pins and made the front pins lower. As a consequence, the Holosun K-series red dots do not fit Shield RMSc footprint standard, yet red dots that use Shield RMSc footprint will fit the K-series footprint
Which red dots belong to this category? Find below the most popular ones:
- Shield RMSx
- Shield SMS
- Shield RMS
- Sightmark Mini Shot A-Spec M3 Micro
- Osight SE
- Osight K
- Vector Optics Frenzy-S 1x17x24 MOS
- Vector Optics Frenzy-S 1x17x24 MIC
Red dots with this footprint fit directly - without need of any adpater plate - to the CZ P-09 Nocturne models as well as to Shadow 2 Carry. You can find them here:
- red dots with direct fit for CZ P-09C Nocturne,
- red dots with direct fit for CZ P-09F Nocturne, and
- red dots with direct fit for CZ Shadow 2 Carry.
You can however install red dots with this footprint also to almost any other CZ - either via red dot mount (for standard CZs) or via Optics Ready plate (for Optics Ready CZs).
Other footprints
Other than these two most common footprints there are also many other ones. They are all quite popular, just the two ones mentioned above (Trijicon RMR and Shield RMSc) are the two most common ones for their categories - full size pistols (RMR footprint) and compact & subcomapct pistols (RMSc footprint).
C-More RTS footprint standard
Very popular for red dots made for competitive shooting. The red dots that fit this footpritn are often made for professional sport shooting purposes primarily. Red dots with this footprint here.
Holosun K-series footprint
I mentioned this one above also. Its a variation of Shield RMSc footprint. The difference is that the K-series footprint does not use rear lugs / pins, and the front lugs / pins are smaller. You can find primarily Holosun red dots in this category. Red dots with this footprint here.
Leupold DPP footprint
This one is another variation of Shield RMSc footprint. Common for compact red dots. Only it has the lugs positioned differently. Red dots with this footprint here.
Aimpoint Acro footprint
Used primarily for very rugged red dots that are made to survive any kind of harsh treatment - be it red dots from Aimpoint, or from Steiner. Made for full size optics. Red dots with this footprint here.
Docter / Noblex / Vortex Venom footprint standard
This footprint has many names as some of the red dots almost ceased to exist on the market. Common footprint for full size pistols. Red dots with this footprint here.
Conclusion
When you want to install red dot to your CZ, make sure to get the right mounting adapter: Optics Ready plate for Optics Ready CZs, or red dot mount for classic CZ. Once you are looking for mounting adpater for your pistol, choose based on the footprint that your red dot uses. On the product pages you can always find up-to-date list of compatible red dots.
And if you have one of the CZs with slide cut for RMSc footprint, you can go directly for red dot with that footprint.
