How to mount a red dot to your CZ P10C pistol? In this guide we will show the steps needed for red dot installation. Both for standard CZ P10C pistol, as well as for optics ready version of CZ P10C.
Type of CZ P-10C: optics ready or standard?
The first question you have to ask is whether your CZ P10C is optics ready version or standard version. How can you tell?
Well either from the name – CZ P-10C OR stands for optics ready, while CZ P-10C is standard version.
Or you can simply have a look at the slide. If there is a cut in the slide covered with a steel plate, you have the optics ready version.
On the other hand, standar CZ P10C will not have such a cut and the position of the rear sight will be little bit in front compared to the optics ready version.
Keep in mind that certain holsters will be made too tight to accomodate a red dot. Generally you can see wheter or not the red dot would interfere with the construction of the holster just by look.
Whether your CZ P-10 is optics ready or not, before deciding to mount a red dot you shall know well what the terminology of red dot is about. Find more on the topic here:
Red dot mounting for standard CZ P-10C
If you figured out you have a classic version without the cut for red dot, you still have options on how to mount a red dot to your CZ P-10C.
Other than the option of going for a milling of the slide, which is a permanent modification of the gun, you can also use a so called red dot mount.
Red dot mounts work as a direct replacement of the rear sight. In order to install such to your gun, you need to remove the factory rear sight and install into its position the red dot mount.
Obviously, once the red dot mount is installed you will not be able to use classic sights. You may thus also consider it as a sights replacement.
Now there are more types of red dot mounts, but generally they can be devided into two categories:
- universal red dot mounts, and
- specific red dot mounts.
Universal red dot mounts
These mounts use a system of pins and holes so that you can place a pin into holes in the mount in order to fit the footprint of a matching red dot.
Although this is great for its universalness, it has some negatives too.
As the mount is universal, it is often larger than needed. Lets say the red dot mount is made to fit even larger red dots while you may want to use a smaller one. Then the mount will have some extra empty surface on it which does not work as a base for the red dot.
The largest positive is obviously the very universalness of the mount. You will be able to mount almost all red dots on the market through one of the matching footprints.
Specific red dot mounts
These mounts are made for specific red dots – for example for mounts made to accomodate Trijicon RMR red dot or Shield RMS red dot only.
Although these mounts are specific, they still carry some sort of universalness with them. Because red dot footprints are shared among many manufacturers, you can often install many red dots to the same footprint.
Big benefit of these mounts is its compact sizes. Because the mounts are made to fit only a specific red dot, they are not larger than necessary.
Red dot mounting for optics ready CZ P-10C
In case your CZ P-10C is an optics ready version, you dont need a red dot mount but you need a red dot plate instaed.
What is the difference? Red dot mounts have a mounting cut on its lower side in order to fit into the dovetail cut for rear sight. Red dot plates on the other hand are flat as they are supposed to be positioned into the cut in the slide.
CZ makes 7 types of red dot plates for its optics ready CZ P10C pistols. That however does not mean you can only install 7 different red dots to it.
As often red dots share the same footprint, you can mount to the plate any red dot with matching footprint as long as it is not larger than the cut in the slide. See here which red dots you can accomodate to the Trijicon RMR plate for CZ P-10C OR.
You can install red dot to an optics ready version of CZ P-10C much easier compared to red dot mount. Basically you only have to remove the cover plate, clean the surface and install the red dot plate. In case you are not confident with the installation, make sure to see our tutorial on how to install red dot plate to CZ P-10C here.