SJC Micro Dot Mount

This will be a little more in depth than my usual stuff, purely because of the amount of information and effort required to get this little gadget up and running. Long story short, the other mount options were not working out and it was becoming apparent to me that options were running thin, so rather than drop a couple hundred bucks to get the slide milled to accept an STS, I opted for the SJC micro mount. They were having some production hardships at the time I ordered, but they notified me early on of the delay (thumbs up for good customer service) and I got the mount with a few weeks. Make sure you specify what optic you will be using so that you get the right top plate.

Good Stuff: This is a very slick mount. It sit low, to the point that you have to remove front and back sights to get the slide back on the frame. Because it mounts to the frame, it is much more stable and more reliable (since adding weight to the slide forces you to re-tune the slide and recoil spring to account for the altered cycling attributes). Fit and finish was perfect (though to be fair, for the price I would accept nothing less).

Bad Stuff: If you are not a proficient machinist or craftsman, DO NOT INSTALL THIS YOURSELF! I have spent my entire life doing various metal and wood work, and this mount nearly pushed me beyond my own skill set. You will need to drill the frame and fit the mounting plates inside, just to the rear of the accessory rail. I was able to accomplish this with a dremel and a nearly superhuman amount of patience, but if you are anything short of a seasoned craftsman, I highly recommend you send off for SJC and have them do it. There are a dozen and a half ways in which you can ruin your pistol frame if you make a mistake, so there's no sense risking that.

Once you have the mount fitted and the pistol functions properly, it may be worth it to run a thin bead of super glue or epoxy to seal up any spaces between the the front fittings and the frame so that the front mounts don't pop out if you have to remove the mount itself. That, and if one of the screws happens to come loose, you dont want one of the little mount fixtures getting loose in your recoil springs and/or trigger group. Bad juju.

Obviously this wont fit in a standard M&P holster. If you needed to be told that, then you really have no business building something like this in the first place. My preference is the CR Speed world shoot holster (Speed Shooter Specialties sells a model adapted for use with the M&P for ~$150) but any race style holster that fits the trigger guard will do the trick.

Overall: Great mount. Price was what I expected for the amount of machining and development that has clearly gone into this mount. Updates to follow when I get a chance to go to the range, but thus far it appears to be rock solid.