Its body is slender, and there is a strategically machined channel in the back of the optic’s housing that makes it possible to still see the front sight, even with the optic mounted. Again, this ideal scenario is only possible when the Wasp attaches directly to the pistol slide. It also means that all of the regular aftermarket sights remain an option for use with the Wasp. This means that most standard factory sights will co-witness with the red dot and provide a measure of security should the battery go dead at the worst possible moment. When looking at pistols that are machined to allow for mounting an optic directly to the slide, without the additional height of an adapter plate, the Hex Wasp sits low enough in the slide that tall (or “suppressor-height”) sights are not necessary. Neither optic relies on the mounting screws to handle the shearing force from recoil the screws simply keep the optic from coming off the gun. There are also round lugs machined at each corner to prevent the optic from shifting during recoil, and to soak up some of the impulse. Both attach to the firearm, by means of an adaptor plate or mount, with two screws that pass through the top of the optic and thread down into the slide/plate/mount. Hex refers to this footprint as the “Springfield Micro” footprint but, again, it’s the same mounting design as the RMSc.Įach of these optics has some common characteristics that benefit the customer. The Wasp will fit almost all of those pistols because it shares the same footprint as the Shield RMSc ($430), which is probably the most popular footprint in the subcompact pistol segment. Name a major handgun manufacturer and they’ll probably have an optics-ready subcompact 9mm somewhere in their lineup.
![pistol red dot 3 moa vs 6 moa pistol red dot 3 moa vs 6 moa](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/i/df6bcd3d-29fc-4533-82cc-cfb1daec8fab/dfzq-32f2f00d-dce7-4b42-b30e-bb6b9f6fae42.gif)
The Wasp is the smaller of the two and was designed to fit subcompact pistols. Hex has launched two optics: The Wasp and the Dragonfly. After a lot of sweat and tears, Hex Optics was born (). Springfield Armory wanted strong aluminum housings, real glass lenses and a retail price of less than $300. Red-dot sights dominate sales among carbine and pistol shooters, so Springfield Armory looked closely at the optics currently available and decided it could start a new project, independent of its firearms, to produce rugged red-dot sights that would find wide application across its, and all manufacturers’, carbines and pistols. The company earns bonus points if the optic comes pre-mounted. It realized that most people buying firearms want optics on top of them, and a lot of people would like to purchase the pair at the same time. They didn’t just wake up one morning and decide to start doing what everyone else was doing. Springfield Armory has a bunch of smart employees. Some of the new names in optics that have popped up in the last few years are nothing more than an office and a warehouse. Then there are all the foreign companies, and there are companies that don’t make anything, those that just package and distribute optics from the same overseas factories many others use. There are several U.S.-based brands already, and most have comprehensive product lines. I’m sure many of you are asking the same question I did when I first heard that Springfield Armory started a separate optics brand called “ Hex”: Why? Surely, we have enough optic companies.