Review: Unity FAST Micro Mount for RDS

By GunSpot

Looking for the tallest red dot sight (RDS) mount for your rifle? Check out the riser in today’s review: the Unity FAST Micro Mount.

A lot of AR-style rifles are fitted with a red dot on a ⅓ lower co-witness mount. A lower ⅓ co-witness mount sits around 1.64” and 1.69” tall. This mounting height allows a shooter to see the rifle’s iron sights through the optic in the lower portion of the sight pane. Should the optic fail — bad batteries, etc. — the backup sights can be used without removing the RDS.

An absolute co-witness brings the optic closer to the bore of the carbine, but it can be more uncomfortable to use. Many people prefer the ⅓ lower co-witness height for increased usability with the iron sights still being accessible if needed.

There is another option that you may be unaware of: the Unity Tactical FAST mounts. Unity Tactical designed the FAST mounts for reflex sights like the Aimpoint micro, EOTECH holographic sights, magnifiers and LPVO scopes. One glance at the FAST mounts and you know these are different because of how tall they are.

These optic mounts will boost your RDS up to 2.26” optical centerline. To my knowledge this is the highest mount on the market. Understandably, 2.26” might seem really high to you — hence today’s FAST mount review.

Why a Taller RDS Mount?

Unity Tactical’s mount heights are called FAST for a reason. The mounts provide shooters with a rapid sight picture, even quicker than the popular ⅓ co-witness mount. As the height gives you a more natural shooting position for your neck, you can keep your head up. It is a more natural — and faster — position to be in than leaning your head forward by sticking your neck out.

Really, besides having the optic reticle come into view faster, the biggest benefit is being able to shoot with over-the-ear ear protection, communication headsets, night vision goggles or gas masks. Yep, the Unity FAST mounts allow you to shoot with night vision through your optic.

Most of the time, guys running night vision goggles aim with infrared lasers on their guns. This works for them, but if your opposition is wearing night vision too, then they can see your infrared laser. So, aiming through an optic has clear advantages, especially in a military application. Typically, night vision goggles are so big on the front of your face that they can hinder using a normal height optic.

The FAST mount that we tested out was the FAST Micro Mount that has an Aimpoint Micro footprint. This footprint is quite popular, and it is used by many single tube-style red dot optics from companies like Holosun, Primary Arms and Vortex.

What About Co-Witnessing?

With a drastic height difference like 2.26”, it’s impossible to co-witness the red dot with your iron sights; the optic will sit clear over the top of them. At first blush, not being able to co-witness may seem like a negative. Unity Tactical designed the FAST mounts with an alternative to the traditional co-witness.

Inside the mount itself, there is a rear ghost ring aperture sight that sits directly under the red dot. The rear sight is set at the height of tall iron sights that would work with ⅓ mounts. On the SAINT Edge rifle in our video above, you will see I removed my rear flip-up sight and left my front sight so that I could use the Unity Micro Mount rear sight in conjunction with my front flip-up sight.

Including the backup iron sight (BUIS) in the mount is a really great idea by Unity Tactical, and it doesn’t stop there.

If you have a visible laser or an IR laser on the front of your carbine that would interfere with a front post sight, don’t worry. Inside the FAST Micro Mount, you can actually thread in your own front post sight in the front of the mount. In other words, the FAST mounts can contain both a front and rear sight for a complete aiming option.

The sight radius would be really short so it can influence the precision and accuracy of your shooting by using it. However, it gives you another aiming option if your optic goes down. The sights in this mount actually have adjustments too, so you can zero them.

The Unity FAST Micro Mount has a solid feel to it. It is built from 7075-T6 aluminum and is Type III hard-coat anodized in black or FDE. One thing I love about this mount is the way it clamps to the rail. This mount has two bolts that clamp down on the rail instead of just one. Holosun and some other manufacturers only have one bolt, usually in the middle of the mount, that holds the optic in place. This one however has two bolts on each end. I appreciate this bit of extra security and even pressure.

This mount is priced at $186 dollars on Unity Tactical’s website, but it can be found online cheaper at Primary Arms or OpticsPlanet. We purchased ours for around $169 dollars. For the rock-solid quality of the FAST mounts, it is a fair price.

Review Conclusion

Is the Unity FAST mount too high? To me, no it’s not.

I have enjoyed this optic mount so far, and I hope to pair it with their magnifier mount that lets you get your magnifier up to that 2.26” line. The Unity FAST series of mounts created a solution to some problems military and law enforcement officials might face while providing a comfortable shooting experience for range shooters and those with neck injuries.

The Unity FAST mount is something I want to now add to all of my rifles. It’s also something I feel like I have to experience for the EOTECH, LPVO, and red dot and magnifier options now too. This thing is an interesting line of mounts and it’s something you just have to experience. Hopefully, you’ll get the chance to try it out.

Editor’s Note: Please be sure to check out The Armory Life Forum, where you can comment about our daily articles, as well as just talk guns and gear. Click the “Go To Forum Thread” link below to jump in and discuss this article and much more!

Join the Discussion

Go to forum thread

Featured in this video

Unity Tactical FAST Micro Mount

556^NATO

SAINT® Edge