One of the most publicized product announcements preceding the 2025’s SHOT Show was Aimpoint’s COA enclosed-emitter red-dot sight. As I write these words down, Glock-equipped COA models are starting to materialize across gun counters and shops throughout the United States. 

Aimpoint COA Exclusivity

First and foremost, it should be noted that Aimpoint and Glock worked out an agreement stipulating Glock’s exclusivity in selling handguns equipped with factory-installed Aimpoint COA red-dot sights and slides with the new A-Cut footprint. Aimpoint will not disseminate the specs for the A-Cut pattern to the rest of the industry until 2026. 

For both the institutional and private end-user, this means that the only way to currently acquire a COA-equipped handgun is to purchase one through Glock. At the time of this writing Glock offers five different models with factory-milled COA slides: the Glock 43X, Glock 48, Glock 19, Glock 45 and Glock 47. 

As an enclosed-emitter red-dot sight, the Aimpoint COA follows in the footsteps of the Aimpoint ACRO P-2 by offering similar functionality, save for the radically different approach that the COA takes vis-a-vis to its alternative mounting method via its new A-Cut optics mounting footprint and Aimpoint’s cost-efficient manufacturing techniques in order to price COAs more competitively.

Aimpoint COA At A Glance

Compared to Aimpoint’s ACRO P-2, the Swedish company’s established pistol-dot workhorse, the new COA red-dot sight not only has thinner margins that provide a less visually cluttered view, but more importantly, the  3.5 MOA COA employs a brand-new optics mounting footprint: the A-Cut. The A-Cut’s scheme allows for the optic to naturally sit lower on the slide and does away with both mounting plates, extra hardware and taller sights completely. Plus, the A-Cut only uses two screws.

Until I began the research for this article, I wasn’t privy to the fact that Aimpoint assembles its ACRO P-2 reflex sights completely by hand, which no doubt adds to their total cost. The company took a different approach with the COA by implementing specialized robots on the assembly line. The end result is why the Glock Blue Label pricing for the Glock 19 featured in this article (or a Glock 45 or Glock 47 + COA) is only $805 before taxes. 

From what I’ve seen civilian pricing tends to run about $150 more. For the time being with Glock models, this means that end-users are able to take home a turnkey mounted optics name-brand handgun with a name-brand optic for less than $1,000. They also skip out on the fuss or hassle of plates and taller back-up iron sights. 

A-Cut: Wedges, Tabs & Plateaus 

The A-Cut mounting footprint is shockingly simple but effective. Its frontmost edge consists of a ledge with a small overhang that corresponds with a precise lip that’s located on the front bottom corner of the COA’s housing. This lip mates into the hollow underneath the overhang that’s milled directly onto the slide in order to create a wedge between the optic’s housing and the A-Cut. Along the left and right sides of the actual cut, there are two chamfers which provide a space for a pair of corresponding “long tabs” along the bottom left and right edges of the COA’s housing. 

The void left by the chamfering provides a space for the COA’s long tabs to sit on while the center bottom part of the housing sits over the A-Cut’s resulting plateau. I can’t speak for any future variations of the A-Cut scheme, but as it’s found on my Glock 19, the rear sight serves many functions besides being an auxiliary and naturally co-witnessing rear sight. 

Using two Torx T10 screws, the rear sight acts as another wedge shaped piece of metal that anchors the COA to the Glock’s slide. The combination of the rear sight’s wedge shape and screw positioning are able to provide the most leverage possible in fastening the COA to the Glock’s slide. Simultaneously, the screw’s positioning also spares them from having to bear the brunt of the reciprocating slide’s shearing forces during recoil since the A-Cut was designed to absorb these forces longitudinally. 

Aimpoint’s move was to eschew existing mounting footprints and start from the ground up with a design that spares the screws against the harshest forces that they’re naturally subjected to on a handgun slide.

Aimpoint COA Reflex Sight  

The enclosed-emitter Aimpoint COA reflex sight still maintains a few things in common with its older handmade Aimpoint ACRO P-2 brother. First, it retains the same size 0.63 x 0.63 inch window and second, it’s built with the same famous Aimpoint ruggedness. 

COAs are manufactured from durable aluminum and are rated to the same 25 meter waterproof rating as the ACRO P-2. In addition they also retain Aimpoint’s excellent optical glass–a superlative option that offers high degree of clarity, little to no distortion and no real parallax issues. 

Keen observers will notice the top outer area of the COA’s housing has a “sealed off” square towards the rear. This port is needed so Aimpoint’s sophisticated automated equipment can reach the interior of the COA during the manufacturing process. Whereas the ACRO P-2 counts on both an outer protective sarcophagus and the inner “tube” portion which housed the glass and emitter system, Aimpoint engineers did away with the outer sarcophagus portion for the COA. 

Similarly, the ACRO P-2’s windage and elevation rely on an “erector assembly” (for lack of a better term) to adjust the point of aim. Instead of moving an entire “erector”, the COA’s windage and elevation dials directly influence the emitter itself in a very streamlined manner. 

Batteries & Settings

One of the benefits of the A-Cut footprint is that the COA takes advantage of having a bottom battery tray (accessed from the right side) without needing to increase its deck height. This also lets the COA skip having a side-mounted battery tray which indirectly results in having those thin and even “margins” when looking through the sight. 

COAs take CR2032 batteries which last approximately 50,000 hours on the default setting if the unit is left constantly on. The COA counts on four night vision and eight “daytime” brightness settings. The 12th and final setting offers plenty of full “daylight” brightness for use in intensely lit environments like bright sunny deserts or snowy fields. 

Its circuitry is programmed to dim itself down by one level every two hours and default to brightness setting 9. Likewise the COA’s left-side control button pair is responsive and programmed to work after being tapped twice in order to prevent changing the user’s inadvertently (in case the COA bumps into something). 

I’ve always appreciated that Aimpoint’s micro-red dot windage and elevation dials use the ubiquitous Torx T10 bit, just like the A-Cut’s mounting screws (and the mounting hardware found on most optics-mounting plates and slide-mounted reflex sights).     

Note On The Glock 19 COA 

The [fifth-generation] Glock 19 COA includes a standard-height plain black metal front sight that matches the COA’s combination backup plain rear sight and wedging point. I was expecting the typical white dot Glock polymer factory front sight, so seeing the inclusion of this 0.200-inch tall metal sight on the 19 COA was a nice surprise. 

In my experience with Gen5 Glocks, .200-inch tall sights have a tendency to hit dead-on at 5 and 25 yards with 124-grain ammo, like Speer Gold Dots. Logically, swapping out this plain metallic sight for another .200-inch sight with a tritium lamp like an Ameriglo Bold or XS Sights unit should not throw off its co-witness between the A-Cut’s unique rear sight and the COA.   

My Experiences With The Glock 19 & Aimpoint COA

I wish I could tell you that I’ve fired 40,000 rounds through my Glock 19 COA. Truthfully I can’t afford that much ammo, and if you search it on YouTube, there’s probably a video of someone setting one on fire after running it over with a rusty ‘89 GMC Cheyenne. 

In all seriousness, I’ve fired approximately 200 rounds to-date. I’ve also spent the last several weeks dry-firing and carrying this pistol combo in a Dark Star Gear Apollo holster. From a carry perspective, the COA doesn’t “get in the way” and carries comfortably. I have no concerns over its housing printing over a cover garment. Besides the robust nature of the A-Cut, its form allows for a red-dot optic to sit extremely low without using taller back-up sights. 

For shooters and those who spend time training with their carry guns, this ultra-low deck height means that they only need to master a single draw with the same index point and the same presentation to the target–something that isn’t possible for many pistols whose red-dots tend to sit taller. In essence, someone used to drawing an iron sighted 9mm Glock can keep drawing their Glock COA model the exact same way. There’s no need to re-learn the presentation and they won’t need to fish for the dot or wave to see it. 

Quite frankly, shooting with the COA is pretty straightforward. It’s a high-quality enclosed-emitter reflex sight that stays out of the shooter’s way. Its window may not be the largest but it affords a great balance between size, weight, and field of view. I wouldn’t hesitate to label the Aimpoint COA as a true general-purpose reflex sight suitable for EDC, tactical shooting or performance shooting. 

Zero Shift? 

The A-Cut is extremely solid and easy to work with. I decided to informally test something out: 

After zeroing the dot at 10 yards and then removing it completely and remounting it again, I shot another group at 10 yards at a different range on a different occasion using the same 9mm cartridges. Though this was unscientific and n=1, the zero did not shift after the remount.

Because the A-Cut eschews mounting plates, shooting with an A-Cut equipped handgun is no different than taking advantage of a pistol that has a direct-mounted slide, but even better. After all, the A-Cut places its screws over a position of strength. Independently of my own feelings towards Aimpoint; I look forward to the wider proliferation of the A-Cut as a mounting standard; it’s very sensible.  

Verdict On The Aimpoint COA

The introduction of the COA and A-Cut represents many things for Aimpoint, one of the oldest and best established companies in the business of reflex optics. While the COA itself is a great enclosed-emitter reflex sight that’s worth looking out for, I think that the true hero of this story is actually the new A-Cut “mounting standard.” I don’t think established red-dot mounting footprints like the ACRO, RMR, DeltaPoint Pro or RMSc are going away any time soon, but the A-Cut may just have what it takes to set off another paradigm shift in pistol optics. I suspect that 2026 will most definitely be very interesting in this portion of the firearms industry.