I was thinking about a red dot sight, but PSA has Gen 2 MBUS on sale for $50 (use coupon code MBUSSET to take it from $93 to $50).

Will they work well for the pistol? They almost seem like overkill, but what do I know? I've never even seen, much less shot an AR pistol.

I’d go with a red dot....

They will work fine for a pistol assuming you have something at the forend of the rail (picatinny?) to attach the front sight to. Obviously the the further apart you set the front sight from the rear sight, the better the accuracy will be. Running both BUIS and a dot sight is not unheard of.

Oh ... if you get a red dot, make sure you get one with the right height riser/mount on it, for an AR. You don’t want one that’s going to sit flat on the rail.

OMG great deal I'm ordering this immediately!! For a pistol! As a backup for a holo-sight. Are you asking about using this as your primary sights?

Yes, they work well on my regular AR's, but wasn't so sure about the pistol length. It's got a Picatinny rail the entire length of the flat top, but they'd still only be maybe 10" apart from each other.

I have magpul pros on my 10.5" barreled pistol. Distance between sights is about 17"

Not ideal, but they work.

The 7" Pistol upper i ordered comes with the MBUS on it. Kind of silly, but there wasn't an option without them.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-7-5 ... 47329.html

It will wear a Red dot when completed.

I have the MBUS on all my ARs, which also all have optics. They fold down when not in use and really serve the purpose of their namesake - back up sights. I wouldn't make them the primary/sole aiming system on a short-barreled AR though...your target acquisition and transition will be so much faster with a red dot.

They are great back up sights.

I've been thinking about this statement and was wondering if you could explain your thinking? For a rifle, I get it, the sights are designed to be where they are for a reason and you generally sight them in at 100 or 200 yards. The bore to sight axis is well defined and so are the guides for how to get everything lined up & co-witnessed (which is what I've got going on all three of my AR rifles). However, for a pistol, I wouldn't expect to use it out past about 25 yards or so, maybe 50 at the outside? Is there something about the bore to sight differential on a pistol so critical? For instance (and I know this is a stretch, so go with it for a bit), on all my other pistols, mostly full sized 1911 / Glock semis, my sights sit nearly on the top of the slide with the exception of my .454 Casull which sits a bit higher, and if I ever put a pistol scope on it, even higher. But I think that's more for clearance than targeting ability? Why are all these main stream pistols having sights right on top of the slide, and the AR pistol needs them nearly 2" up?

TLDR: Why do I need to worry about co-witness height mounts for an AR pistol? Why can't (or shouldn't) it be mounted directly on top of the rail?

Enquiring minds want to know...

Ar you going to shoot it at full arm extension or put your cheek on the receiver extension (AKA buffer tube)?

Honestly, I have no idea. Like I said before, I've never seen an AR pistol, much less shot one. I'm building this one because I enjoy building AR's and it's something a little different, plus I like the idea of having a "pistol" that's basically a tiny rifle in my vehicle legally with my CPL that uses magazines I already own.

You'll most likely end up shooting it much like any other AR with your face mashed on the recv'r extension and your nose almost at or touching the charging handle.

So, depending on the shape of your face, the height of the red dot will vary. I'm guessing you'll end up with a med or high rise spacer.

It's not about the distance from the sight to the bore, and it's not about cowitnessing either unless you plan to have irons on there as well. It's about having the sight at a height that feels natural for you when you have your cheek on the buffer tube or brace. If you put the sight right down on top of the rail, then you're going to need to mash your face down on the tube in order to see through it.