The EDC-XL sight.
I always like opening up new stuff. Today it was a C&H EDC-XL. The EDC-XL stands for “Every Day Carry Extra Large”. The sight is kind of a hybrid between the full match type sights and a conventional EDC sight. It offers a larger field of view than any EDC sight that I have used, without the extra bulk of a true competition type sight. Being built with a RMR footprint and is designed for full sized or duty guns.
It is an open emitter type sight. Right off the bat I liked it. I immediately noticed a co-witness rear sight made on to the rear of the sight housing. It is enough to be effective without blocking the view through the sight. Included with the sight is a battery, mounting screws, tools to install the battery, the sight and to adjust the elevation and windage. There is a card with a QR code to take you to the online installation manual. It features a lifetime warranty.
The reticle.
I installed the battery to see what the sighting dot and circle looked like before installing it on the gun. My first impression was good. The glass is one of the first things I judge. The sight picture was clear and unobscured.
This sight offers a 3 MOA dot reticle, a 30 MOA circle and a 30 MOA circle/dot combination. To switch between reticles, you press and hold the “up” button for 3 seconds. There are 10 brightness settings. The dot offers a finer aiming point for precision shooting and the circle offers faster target acquisition for shooting large targets like steel plates.
Installing the sight.
The sight I received fits RMR foot print plates or slides. It just so happened that my current project gun’s slide is machined for RMR reflex sights. It is a simple matter of using the screws supplied by C&H Precision to attach the sight.
Since this is a Glock based slide the mounting hole on the ejection port slide is drilled into the extractor plunger tunnel. You must first check to make sure the screw doesn’t interfere with the plunger. To do so remove the plunger from the slide. Install the sight and tighten down the screws. Insert the plunger into the tunnel to see if it contacts the screw before it goes all the way into the extractor. If it does, back the screw off until the plunger goes freely into place. Take note of how far it protruded into the tunnel. In the case of the C&H sight and screw it was necessary to remove about 3mm from the screw. Once the screw was cut off, I re-checked the plunger for clearance. I tightened the screws and it was ready to use.
The factory screws are coated with thread locker so no need to add more. Installing the battery is achieved by removing the screw holding the battery drawer (see pictures) and sliding the battery drawer out. It uses a CR1620 battery. After inserting the battery into the drawer you slide it back in and replace the screw. I do like the location of the battery drawer. It is easier to access than a battery that installs from the top.
Sighting in.
Sighting it in was straight forward after I got the sight secured. I put up a large piece of freezer paper with a couple of 3” orange dots on it. According to C&H, parallax is set at 33 yards.
Zeroing the gun at 25 would be within the parallax and since this gun would be used for 50 yards and under, I would be fine. I started out with a stock Glock barrel and .45 ACP 230 grain FMJ ammo. I fired my first shots which landed low and left.
The sight uses clicks that are 1MOA. Since I was shooting 25 yards, I simply multiplied the inches of movement needed to center the bullseye by 4. I fired another shot which placed the impact on the bottom of the dot.
A few more clicks and I hit the center of the target dot. Two more shots for confirmation and I was done. I shot a group to see if an accurate handgun would tell me what the sight was doing. This is a custom Glock set up as an unlimited match gun. Running a stock Glock barrel the 5 shot group was just over an inch. Not bad for the first group.
Shooting it
I handgun hunt as well as shoot matches. Since I handgun hunt with all types of handguns including semiautomatics, I decided to shoot match scenarios and hunting scenarios. For my first time at the range, I decided to keep it simple and run the gun with the stock Glock G21 barrel.
I proceeded to put a whole 13 round magazine in under 2” at 25 yards from sandbags. Then I put up a Glock match target and shot offhand at 25 yards. I put a couple of magazines full in the 4” “X” at 25 yards. There was no doubt in my mind it was capable of shooting a 500 at the next match. I began to do some informal plinking after getting acquainted with the new set up. I ran several magazines of 230 grain FMJ target ammo through the new setup. The more I shot it the more I liked it.
Plinking is a great way to break in a new set up. After I got used to it the sight inspired confidence. My 25-yard targets went from aluminum cans to empty 12-gauge hulls. The beauty of the 3 MOA dot is it is big enough to see and small enough to shoot small targets at 25 yards. 3 MOA is just a great compromise.
Moving up in power.
After getting to know the new gun and sight, it was time to add some recoil. I switched the gun to shoot .45 Super. I used a fully supported Storm Lake barrel and a Fire Dragon barrel with a comp to accommodate .45 Super ammunition. The Storm Lake barrel was ported by Mag-Na-Port. The purpose of the ports or compensator is to delay the action unlocking until the pressure spike is over. I also run a 22 lbs. spring in this combo.
The Fire Dragon barrel works better in some slides. The recoil from the super is a bit over double the .45 ACP and the slide velocity, even with the ports and 22 lbs. spring is very fast. If anything was going to show weaknesses in this sight this would do it. I popped in a magazine of .45 Super ammo. It took a couple of shots to get it hitting POA with the additional 350 fps. of velocity from the .45 Super. With that done it was time for some fun. I ran several .45 Super and several .45 ACP +P loads through the gun.
Velocity!
I figured the high slide velocity while running the gun as a super would be a good test to check the durability of the sight. Zero issues. The POI didn’t move. I shot some 5 shot groups with the gun set up as a .45 Super. I shot a couple of different loads. One of the loads uses a 150 grain Cutting Edge Raptor running nearly 1500 feet per second. This would be one of the deer loads for this deer season. The other load was an Underwood Ammo 255 grain RNFP that chronographs 1100 fps. Both loads shot groups that ran about 1.5”. The sight-in stayed put. Of course, this is a small sample size but most of these sights will never see that kind of abuse.
Getting ready for a match.
I shoot GSSF matches. The dot being 3 MOA meant it would fit inside a 1.5” target dot at 25 yards and still allow me to center it. I went through my breathing procedure and steadied for the shot. I immediately saw the black spot appear on the orange dot.
Another squeeze of the trigger and another hole in the orange. The first three shots were under an inch. A few more and I had a nice big hole in the target. If there was any question about the precision of the sight that answered it.
With the Firedragon barrel installed I shot several magazines full through the gun to help break it in. I swapped springs and ran some .45 ACP through the barrel. The 6” ported barrel didn’t work well with the .45 ACP ammo. Unlocking was delayed to the point of making it unreliable with the 22 lbs. spring.
I swapped in a Glock factory barrel and the gun started shooting as accurately as any match pistol I have ever shot. The “X” on the targets used in GSSF matches is 4”. It would be a simple matter of keeping the dot in the 4” circle. All of this shows that the sight is doing its job perfectly. I changed back to the Fire Dragon barrel and comp.
The Match.
My plan was to get in a couple of rounds of GSSF shooting using the sight. GSSF matches are made up of three shoots. There are 500 possible points per shoot. The final score is the average of your two highest scores. In other words, you get to throw out the low score.
This being a brand-new gun I was still fine-tuning the setup when I went to the first shoot of the three-shoot series. A technical issue that was totally my fault prevented me from shooting at my normal level. I shot a 427. With two weeks till the next shoot, I was able to fix the problem. At the next shoot I shot a 485 out of 500 possible. The width of a thumbnail cost me a 493.
A little more trigger time with this gun and it will be a consistent top 5 competitor. A large part of that is how well this sight works. You have 15 seconds to put 10 shots on target. I was able to get back on target quickly. I can tell that my split times are better.
The deer target.
I started playing with deer paper targets to see how placing shots in the kill zone would be without a big orange target dot on the target. The target is slightly quartering so I compensated accordingly to hit the aorta. I shot a few targets which would have all been dead deer. It was a lot of fun. I am really looking forward to getting this setup in the woods this year. Because I run similar set ups, I know what to expect. I will stretch it out to 50 yards before hunting season but running this gun as a .45 Super I won’t hesitate to take 50-yard shots on deer and will probably go all the way out to 70 yards with the right load. The C&H sight is certainly up to it.
Putting it to work.
Since the sight is intended for daily carry use It would have to work with a co-witness sight set up. Here is where one of the interesting features of the C&H Precision EDC-XL sight shines. There is a rear sight on the sight housing that is perfectly positioned. Since this slide was intended for match shooting and hunting, I hadn’t installed a front sight.
I have several guns outfitted with TAG Precision sights so I grabbed one of the TAG front sights and installed it. It was perfect. I shot it with the .45 ACP loads and the sights were very close to POA. Certainly, close enough to make them usable.
I went to the range where my DA Targets ½ silhouette target was hanging and put the red dot and co-witness sights to work. With the larger sight window on the EDC-XL it was easy to get on target fast and to make accurate shots. The Tag Precision front sight has a large and easy to see fiber rod that was super easy to pick up and put on target.
Why the C&H EDC-XL is different.
The EDC-XL gives you a more usable sight window for a gun that is going to see use beyond everyday carry situations. While it will excel in that capacity due to the larger sight picture it also gains functionality as an outdoorsman’s tool. Following a deer through the woods while waiting on a shot opportunity will make the sight a welcome addition. I am used to using a red dot that has a smaller sight window and the difference is literally eye opening. C&H designed this sight to specifically fill a void. In that capacity I feel like they succeeded.
What I like.
The sight window size is great. Much better than many carry sights I have used and this sight does it with a low-profile frame.
The brightness adjustment is easy to use. I had zero issues getting it adjusted to my liking. The Co-witness rear sight is a great touch. It keeps you from installing one that interferes with your sight picture through the sight.
The choice of reticles is nice to go between precision shooting and fast shooting where target acquisition needs to happen quickly.
The adjustments are precise and repeatable.
The battery drawer is great. It is much easier to change the battery than it is on my other reflex sights.
What I would like to see.
I am a firm believer in using protective covers on open emitter sights. It would be great if C&H Precision could get together with a company like Dream Plastics that makes a high-quality cover. I know I would pay a little more to have a proper cover included with the sight. Sights are an investment and a good cover is cheap insurance.
Final thoughts.
This sight has a lot going for it. It is clear, easy to use and at least through my use has been durable. While there have always been a few red dot sights in the woods it is now a growing trend. While they are generally thought of for use as a defensive sight, match sight or a law
enforcement sight, this one will see a lot of woods time this year. With the loss of so many handgun optic choices it is great to see someone else providing a quality product that can help fill the void in the handgun hunting market.
Stay safe and happy handgun hunting-RDY
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