Red Dots on Rugers: Review of the OuterImpact Adapter Plate

We all have one; that project gun that sits in the back of the safe. In my case it's a Ruger 22/45 purchased more than a decade ago–well before options like Picatinny top rails, threaded barrels, or lower accessory rails were standard factory options. Over the years small changes have been made: the bull barrel chopped and threaded, the loaded chamber indicator rendered inoperable, the silly key locking mechanism removed, the magazine safety thrown in the trash, the barrel drilled and tapped for a lower rail.

Already being a fan of the handgun with a red dot, I decided to also run that route with the 22/45. For the optic itself I settled on a Trijicon RMR. While one certainly doesn't require something so robust for a rimfire, some added durability never hurt anything–with added bonus points for being the same optic as my carry gun.

The initial ‘easy button' would be to just install a Picatinny rail and use a low mount. However, ideally I wanted the lowest height over bore as possible so I began seeking out an optic specific mount. Easily found were mounts for the Docter Optic, which of course would cover other micro red dots that use the same mounting footprint. But still no RMR. Then I came across a company admittedly I'd never heard of: OuterImpact.

From what I can gather, OuterImpact was stood up last year and began manufacturing mounts. Their first product was an extended Picatinny rail for a 10/22. From there they moved on to make a small handful of mounts for guns such as Howa, Savage, and Remington. What piqued my interest was their red dot adapter plate for the Ruger Mark I/II/III and the 22/45. With this one direct-attach adapter you can mount more than ten micro red dot sights. Strike Industries makes something similar for a Glock, but I hadn't seen the same item for a Ruger. At an asking price of $40, I thought I'd give it a try.

A couple days later the OuterImpact mount arrived in the mail. I opened the package to find the plate, mounting screws, and a pair of sight alignment pins. For some optics you'll need to purchase different mounting screws for an additional $2. Giving the adapter plate a quick once over, I did notice that there were a lot of visible tool marks. But it's going on a gun that's been scratched and beat up for over ten years–pretty means very little in this instance.

I was less enthusiastic about the two raw holes drilled in the middle of the plate. In fact, even on the photos from the OuterImpact webpage, these holes don't exist.

Only when delving into the informational sheet did I discover what these new and unfinished arrivals are for: The C-More STS and Vortex Razor.

The bottom of the OuterImpact adapter plate perfectly matched the contour of my 22/45, and the holes lined up with OEM mounting locations. Installation was undramatic–just be sure to install the adapter plate with the correct orientation. The included torx screws were of the proper length to not over-penetrate. Ensure that you clean out your threads and use some kind of non-permanent thread locker.

After dropping in the alignment pins into the appropriate holes for your optic, your MRDS installs in the normal manner.

Exactly how this holds up in the long term has yet to be seen, but I'm not terribly concerned given that we're talking about a suppressed .22lr for midnight bunny blasting and not a .50BMG. While perhaps the bore axis could be lower (with an optic installed, your iron sights become dovetail protectors), it is an improvement over the Picatinny rail as you can see from the overlay below:

Those experienced with shooting red dots on handguns should have little issue with obtaining the dot. We're not exactly talking a concealed carry weapon here regardless. The finish could be better, and I can only hope the raw holes were an oversight. For more information, you can find OuterImpact online here.