The 407k was introduced in 2020 as Holosun's entry into the micro pistol optic category, and it quickly made a splash, becoming the go-to optic for a lot of people for their concealed carry weapons. Fast forward 2 years, and Holosun has rolled out the EPS Carry, which is in essence a fully enclosed version of the 407K. The EPS Carry shares a lot of features with it's older sibling, but packed into a fully enclosed body for some added reliability. The EPS Carry measures 1.6 inches long, 0.94 inches tall and 0.98 inches wide at the base. This makes it basically identical to the 407K in overall dimension. The body is made of 7075 T6 aluminum, with a glass window. It is IPX8 water resistant, and weighs in at exactly 1 ounce, which is (surprisingly enough) identical to the 407K. MSRP for the 407k is about $390, and you can find it on at your favorite online retailer for under that. I got this one for $330 at Brownells.
The EPS Carry is powered by a single CR1632 battery, which Holosun includes in the box. It's actually already installed in the same mounting tray on the side of the optic as the 407K. This means that the battery can be replaced without having to remove the optic from the weapon, which means that it doesn't subsequently need to be re-zeroed with every battery change like some other optics. The optic can deliver up to 50,000 hours of life on setting 6. Aiding this battery life rating is the shake-awake feature. This means that the optic turns off automatically after a certain amount of time to save battery, but as soon as it senses any small movement it turns back on. It passes the "table tap" test just fine. In everyday use I've never picked up the weapon from a table or pulled it out of the holster and had the reticle not be turned on, so I'm very confident in this feature.
Also on the body of the EPS carry are the adjustment turrets and the brightness controls. The turrets are located on the top and right side of the optic, with the top turret handling elevation and the right side turret handling windage. They adjust in 1.5MOA per click increments, with a total of +/- 30MOA of total adjustment available. They make a nice tactile and audible click when adjusted, too.
The brightness control buttons are on the left side of the body, and are a bit larger than those found on the 407K due to having more real estate. They're still flush mounted, so they're easy to use but hard to accidentally bump-adjust. There is also a lockout feature which disables input from the buttons to eliminate this possibility altogether. Lock mode is accessed by holding down the + button for 3 seconds, and the dot will blink to confirm activation/deactivation of the lock mode. This is the setting that I use: I set it to a brightness that is bright enough to be used outside in the daytime and locked the buttons so that it is always at that brightness whenever it is on. While it's probably a bit too bright for nighttime indoors, not having to constantly remember to tap my brightness up or down is worth it to me.
The reticle is a 6MOA dot with 10 levels of brightness adjustment, as well as 2 levels of nightvision-compatible brightness. Just like the 407k, the dot is nice and crisp, even for users with astigmatism like me. There is a tiny tiny bit of bloom for me around the edges, but nowhere near what I get with other optics.
The window itself is a tiny tiny bit wider then the 407K. Glass clarity is great, just like the 407k.
Of course the real story here is that the emitter is now fully enclosed, which means that it's fully protected from the environment. This means that having something block the emitter itself (and rendering the optic useless) is now impossible. If anything gets on the optic, it can just be wiped off. Dust and water are sealed out as well. This is exciting to me because I tend to get dust and sweat etc on the inside lens of my carry optics, and cleaning that out sometimes necessitates a qtip etc. Now this can be done with a quick wipe on my tshirt.
Just like the 407K, the EPS Carry is cut for a Holosun K footprint, and Holosun throws in an RMSc - to -K adapter plate in the box as well. this is great because most micro carry handguns use an RMSc footprint, so there's not need to buy a plate. It's worth it to note that on my application (this Hellcat), the plate needed to be ever so slightly modified to fit. Specifically I needed to open op the rear mounting holes a tiny tiny bit to get the plate to sit flush on the slide; not a big deal for me, it just took a few seconds with a pin file.
As far as the initial zeroing of the optic, Holosun claims that the 407k comes zeroed at 25 yards from the factory, and I found this to be pretty much true. I installed it onto my weapon and found that I was hitting about a quarter inch low at that distance; a little bit of elevation adjustment put me on target.
Taking into account how happy I am with the 407k, it's no surprise that overall I really like the EPS Carry. The added peace of mind of that fully enclosed emitter is great for me personally, and it comes with no penalties in terms of size or weight or battery life. My only quibble is with the price; that the $100 price increase over the 407k gives me pause, even at the price I paid. If you need something right now right now, buy the 407k and save the $100. Otherwise, if you have to have the EPS Carry, wait until it inevitably goes on sale.
That's all I"ve got for you this time, so until next time, stay safe!