A few years ago, SIG Sauer adopted this motto, “Total Systems Provider,” and holy crap, did they live up to it. SIG was known for their very excellent P series metal-framed pistols one day, and the next, they’re known for everything. This includes rifles, suppressors, and optics. Today we are looking at the latest optic from SIG Sauer, the ROMEO1PRO.
SIG really loves caps lock and hates the space bar, apparently. That is spelling in context kinda thing, so we have to deal with it. The ROMEO1PRO provides handgun shooters with a professional-grade optic for their SIG series pistols. The ROMEO1 wasn’t a lousy optic but wasn’t made to professional-grade standards. SIG wanted to boost the optic’s durability and reliability while increasing its capability.
Building the ROMEO1PRO
The ROMEO1PRO has numerous improvements over the ROMEO1. This includes quadrupling the battery life to 20,000 hours. The new point source emitted provides a much brighter dot than the original ROMEO1.
Additionally, the ROMEO1PRO offers you two-night vision settings for doing goon things. Finally, the ROMEO1PRO utilizes a metal shroud/hood that’s optional. It provides a much higher level of protection at the cost of just a little weight. Finally, SIG utilized their new TruHold Lockless Zeroing System. This system uses twin adjustment springs that are designed specifically to endure the recoil of a pistol slide going back and forth.
We get the MOTAC technology that shuts the optic off when it doesn’t detect motion. It springs back to life as soon as it feels some form of movement. It’s faster than you can capture it. Even slight vibrations will turn it back on.
My one complaint about the optic is the little adjustment buttons. With the shroud on, my sausage fingers can barely access them. They take a real push, and my fat fingers have a hard time quickly making adjustments.
Through the Looking Glass
I installed the ROMEO1PRO on my P320C, and it attached with ease. The adjustments are 1 MOA, and that’s perfect for a handgun optic. Big adjustments made it easy to get on target and get a nice tight zero. The adjustment turrets deliver very tactile clicks with each and every adjustment. It’s an excellent, tight click that lets you know when you’ve made an adjustment.
The window of the ROMEO1PRO is absolutely massive. It’s 30mms, making it more significant than the Leupold DeltaPoint. It’s not trying to win competitions in the compact department, that’s for dang sure. It’s enormous, but I don’t hate it by any means. It forms an excellent heads-up display with a two-eyed open shooting style.
SIG’s coating on the lens is quite blue, and the tint is noticeable but not distracting. Tint helps the dot shine brighter without wasting more battery power. Speaking of, the dot is super bright and very easy to see. Holy crap, did SIG outfit this thing with a dot that’s easily visible on the sunniest of days.
The dot itself provides a very crisp tiny dot. You can choose between 3 and 6 MOA reticles, and mine is the 3 MOA model. Our dot is super clear and very easy to see. It’s a perfectly round dot that provides a steady aiming point.
Blasting Away
With a pocketful of sunshine and a range bag full of magazines, I hit the range and let the lead fly. I started at fifteen yards and started to warm up a bit. The little dot bobs and weaves and makes you think you won’t hit a dang thing, but that’s a symptom of red dot use. In reality, that little jiggle doesn’t affect accuracy much.
Red dots seem to wiggle more than iron sights because they are more precise. You can’t ever stop the wiggle without some kind of rest or sled. The red dot makes you so much more accurate, I mean, as long as you do your part. The ROMEO1PRO’s 3 MOA dot makes it relatively easy to see the vast majority of your target.
At 15 yards, this is no big deal. But at 25 yards, iron sights make it tough to see and hit a 4-inch gong. If you can’t see the gong, then you can’t hit the gong, right? Well, with the ROMEO1PRO and its small red dot, I can see and ring that damn gong over and over again.
I backed out to 50 yards and could ring an 8-inch gong consistently and a 10-inch gong each and every time. A red dot makes it extremely easy to reach out and touch these targets at such an advanced range. Accuracy at a distance is great, but what about speed?
The Speed Angle
Completing a good presentation with the ROMEO1PRO matters a lot. Without a good presentation, you risk ‘losing’ your dot, and that can slow you down. With a good presentation, this isn’t an issue. If you master presentation, you can quickly master speed. With the ROMEO1PRO, there is no need to align a front and rear sight.
I get that dot on the target, and I unleash hell! If I was at super close range, I wouldn’t even need the dot. I could fill the window with the bad guy and let loose as well.
Once you get a good presentation down, your speed will be drastically faster than red dots. Even at longer ranges, the ROMEO1PRO performs exceptionally well with speed and stress.
I’ve never shot the 10-10-10 Drill as accurately or as fast as I did with my P32C equipped with a ROMEO1PRO. The bright, crisp dot and the big window work together well to find your target, get on target, and start making that bad boy sing as it dings.
Final Thoughts
The ROMEO1PRO has been with me for several months now. It sits on my primary carry gun and has been through the rain, exposed to my sweat, been banged around daily. Yet, even after several hundred rounds, it holds zero. The dot never flickers or fails and provided thousands of hours of operation without interruption.
The ROMEO1PRO is a fantastic option to add to your carry gun and provides you with a sighting option that makes you shoot faster and further. The MSRP of 409.99 prices it right alongside most professional-grade handgun optics. It’s worth a squeeze, especially if you are already carrying a P320 that’s optic’s cut.
I did not see anything about mounting footprint. I was an early adopter of Sig pistol red dots and my frustration has been their not adapting their guns nor their red dots to many “standard” footprints. For instance I have an early P229 Legion RX that has the Romeo 1 foot print and that optic is now widely known for not having a very bright dot yet the pro won’t fit.