One of the funniest things about being a firearms enthusiast, is the ability to customize your handguns, rifles, and gear with the best accessories. Whether it is a purely aesthetic choice or an effort to add more functionality to your firearm, one can indulge in the choice of firearm accessories available on the market.

 

Red dot sights (MRDS) and pistol optics

Both holographic and red dot laser pointer sights for handguns are selling big.
The most interesting development in handgun red dot sighting lately is the trend towards enclosed emitter design. The vast majority of MRDS optics are of “open emitter” designs, with a single reflective shield for the dot emitter, which, on the one hand are extremely lightweight but conversely, are exposed to the elements. This can allow water, dust, snow, mud, etc. to partially or completely obscure the emitter or the window, which is not an advantage for obvious reasons.

An enclosed emitter MRDS is essentially a miniaturized version of the durable and ubiquitous rifle red dot sight, with a rugged housing and glass shields on both the front and rear to keep the emitter free from debris or damage. This way, if something gets on the lenses, you can clean the optics easily.

 

Weapon mounted lights

Almost all pistols come with options for built-in rails and other suitable mounting points for lights, lasers and other accessories. Initially intended for military or police use and popularized by industry pioneers such as Streamlight, handgun specific WMLs are becoming available at very attractive prices.

 

Night vision and thermal optics

Military-grade, helmet- or weapon-mounted, night vision/thermal imaging devices have been available to the public for some time now and as the offering expands, prices are also coming down making them more attractive.

Some of these offer features that seem to come from the future, including ultra-HD resolution, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, ability to record at 1080p, internal ballistics calculator, intelligent rangefinder, zero one-shot capability and enhanced HD night vision mode.


Bluetooth earphones/hearing protection

Protecting your hearing is essential when practicing shooting sports, but many hunters often go hunting without hearing protection, convinced that "I need to hear the animal", but with the risk of suffering permanent hearing damage.

There are several models of hunting headphones and Bluetooth headsets on the market, including some that you can fully control via smartphone apps. You can thus enable gunshot protection and even amplify ambient sounds.

This is the list of some of our favorite firearm accessories. However, we always remember that the first accessory for firearms that any firearm owner should buy is a quality safe in which safely store them!