The Holosun HS407CO is their budget pistol red dot and it’s packed with features. V2 (as pictured) uses a battery tray that’s more easily accessible from a side drawer instead of underneath the optic (which requires removal to change the battery). They use a small 1632 battery, but the convenience of changing it out is worth it, and it already had incredibly long life even with the small battery. V2 also stacks the buttons vertically so they can be a bit bigger than they are on the V1.
Holosun 407CO Features & Specs
- 8 MOA circle
- 50,000 hours battery life!
- Uses a CR1632 battery
- Shake-awake
- Solar cell backup power
- 50 MOA of available elevation and windage adjustment
- 1 MOA clicks
- Waterproof, fogproof, etc.
- Comes with a picatinny rail mount plate, uses Trijicon style plates
Because of the large size, I found it easy to pick up the 8 MOA circle fast as I presented the pistol on target. Because there isn’t much space inside the circle, it’s not great for still seeing small targets (they get washed out a bit), but for competition pistol usage, I think this would be fine. At least, I’m happy with it considering it’s $100 cheaper than the dot version 507.
Shake awake is fantastic. The dot detects when it’s not moving and it goes into a sleep mode. Pick the gun up and the dot is on. I RO 3 gun matches and often see shooters frantically trying to turn their dots on during stage runs after forgetting to turn them on in prep. No need to remember with this dot.
The solar cell backup (Solar Failsafe in Holosun marketing lingo), might save your ass if you’re at an outdoor shooting match and your batteries died, or more likely, have been dead for a long time and you just didn’t know. With sunlight, the dot can be turned on and used even with no battery in the battery tray.
The side battery tray is really nice. It’s weather sealed and well labeled so you’ll know which way to install the battery. With a lifetime of 50,000 hours, you could play it safe and replace the batteries every 3 or 4 years and be fine. 1632 batteries are not super common, but you can get them on Amazon and they’re cheap.
Holosun 407CO Warranty
This part was the only bit that troubled me. The Holosun 407CO warranties the glass for 5 years and the electronics for only 3. Short of a “no questions asked” warranty, I’d like to see a lifetime warranty that covers defects. Red dots sometimes take time to fail and I’d hate to have this thing turn into a $350 paperweight right after those 3 years are up. At least the housing is nice and beefy, so it should take a beating and not break the glass.
Conclusions
For the price, the Holosun HS 407CO packs in a lot of features. Those features make it extremely easy to use, while battery life and redundant solar backup increase usage long-term. It’d be nice if the Holosun came with a better warranty, like the Vortex Venom (review here) but as is, the Holosun 407CO is a pretty fantastic value priced red dot.
