Best night sights for HD; Glock 19 Gen4

[Lambo2936 297]

Looking to purchase night sights for my G19. Its my "night stand" handgun and the XD big dots on there are both inaccurate due to the rear falling off (have to get it re-set and re-sighted in) and the fact that its a lollipop, with a giant dot.. not a big fan... I seem to do much better with 3 point sights like on my 1911... So, whats the best out there within reasonable price? OEM Glock? Trijicon? let me know what you think. Links/Pics a plus. A good place in Central NJ to have them professionally installed and zero-d/bore sighted/however they do handguns would be fantastic as well; maybe somewhere that sells them and has free installations (Like dicks sporting goods does with bow accessories and rifle sights). That'd be cool. I'm in East Brunswick, so the closer the better. I Work in Newark almost daily so around there would be fine as well.
Thanks :D!

PS: Wasn't sure if to post this with accessories or here. If needed, please move to the appropriate location. 

[Rob0115 1,105]

I have trijicon hd night sights in a few of my glocks.   I think they're fantastic. 

[sroc112 24]

I have the trijicon night sights on a g19 and the he night sights on a g27. I like both, but may like the regular night sights a little better over the he's.

purchased both on amazon, best prices I can find with free shipping and here the next day.

[High Exposure 5,661]

Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights are my preferred sights. You can find them for under $80 with a little work, Primary Arms often has them for sale. Usually they are around $90-$100.

I work in Middlesex County, and have the Glock install tool. When you get your sights, whichever kind they are, let me know. I'll meet up with you and install them for free.

Also, Atlantic Tactical on Worlds Fair Drive  in Franklin may still carry some Glock sights and they used to install them for free if you bought them there. Not sure if they still do that though.

[Lambo2936 297]

8 hours ago, High Exposure said:

Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights are my preferred sights. You can find them for under $80 with a little work, Primary Arms often has them for sale. Usually they are around $90-$100.

I work in Middlesex County, and have the Glock install tool. When you get your sights, whichever kind they are, let me know. I'll meet up with you and install them for free.

Also, Atlantic Tactical on Worlds Fair Drive  in Franklin may still carry some Glock sights and they used to install them for free if you bought them there. Not sure if they still do that though.

Yeah i remember you, You bought a holster from me back when i lived up in Avenel. You work fairly close to where i live (East Brunswick) So i'm sure we could meet up. I'd really appreciate that. When the sight fell off my glock i just threw it on there so im hoping i dont have to use it anytime soon as god only knows how far off the thing is right now, haha.

 

I'm going to order some soon and will contact you when i do.

[YankeeSC 1,204]

Seems like the Ameriglo referenced by HE is relatively the same as the Trijicon HD/HD XR, but yet the Trijicon is $50 more.  Am I missing something?

[Smokin .50 1,907]

At Zero Dark Thirty after the first two ignitions most old farts like me suffer "night blindness".  I did much better with a weapon mounted light than just night sights at an indoor range "experiment" I conducted as a Discipline Co-Chair with a single overhead fixture illuminating the entire range at the standard firing line (while the shooters were all 18 yards forward of the line to duplicate a dark parking lot scenario).  "Night sights" are great at "near sunrise" & dusk for me, especially the bright green ones.  Your mileage may vary  

[GRIZ 3,369]

34 minutes ago, Smokin .50 said:

At Zero Dark Thirty after the first two ignitions most old farts like me suffer "night blindness".  I did much better with a weapon mounted light than just night sights at an indoor range "experiment" I conducted as a Discipline Co-Chair with a single overhead fixture illuminating the entire range at the standard firing line (while the shooters were all 18 yards forward of the line to duplicate a dark parking lot scenario).  "Night sights" are great at "near sunrise" & dusk for me, especially the bright green ones.  Your mileage may vary  

A lot of that muzzle flash can be mitigated by using a longer barrel  and ammo selection.  The lowest flash 9mm I ever saw was WW 115gr Silvertip. Despite the bad rap it got I think it's a good loading.

[High Exposure 5,661]

On 7/13/2017 at 5:47 PM, Smokin .50 said:

At Zero Dark Thirty after the first two ignitions most old farts like me suffer "night blindness".  I did much better with a weapon mounted light than just night sights at an indoor range "experiment" I conducted as a Discipline Co-Chair with a single overhead fixture illuminating the entire range at the standard firing line (while the shooters were all 18 yards forward of the line to duplicate a dark parking lot scenario).  "Night sights" are great at "near sunrise" & dusk for me, especially the bright green ones.  Your mileage may vary  

^^ This is truth.

In reality, night sights are useful for about 20-30 minutes minutes at dawn and again for 20-30 minutes at dusk, or other occasional mesopic light conditions - such as heavy thunderstorms or being in structures with specific lighting conditions that can prolong a twilight like condition.

Here's an example photo of an appropriate time to rely on night sights (taken from an article by I think Travis Haley):

Note - It is enough light to identify your target as friend or foe at reasonable pistol engagement distances and there is still enough background light to wash the brightness out of the tritium, but it is too dark to rely on the crisp outline of your sights to aim. This is the "sweet spot" where the use of tritium night sights shines (forgive the pun).

For the situations most people want night sights, what is actually required is a white light - either handheld or weapon mounted and preferably both are available. Because ultimately you can't shoot what you can't positively identify as a threat. And, if you have a white light, you no longer need those sloppy green dots, as the white light will provide proper background illumination to enable the proper use of the crisp outline of your iron sights for better accuracy. Remember, those dots are there for sight alignment and reference only under low light/no-light conditions. They are not for regular everyday aiming. You should still be using the crisp defined outline of the front sight evenly spaced in the rear notch and flat across the top as often as possible. The orange front sight on the Spartan Operators and Trijicon HDs is great for drawing the eye and getting that flash front sight picture, but before breaking the shot, you have to make sure your front sight outline is centered and flat to your rears. The orange flash isn't your aiming point.

Smokin .50 brought up another issue sometimes encountered with night sights. Sometimes they are just too bright. They can create a "wall of light" that you can't see past - like trying to see the face of the driver of a car when they have their high beams on. A quick fix for this is to take a green or black sharpie and color over the dots to darken them a bit. I have also found that sets with a green front sight and yellow rear sights, instead of the standard all green, provide a much dimmer rear sight while maintaining the bright eye catching green front and frankly work better for social occasions. The downside is the yellow doesn't last as long at the standard green tritium that everyone is used to.

I'm not trying to turn anyone off night sights. They are still useful tools and I have them on my guns and the Spartan Operator with the yellow rear is my go to set for my Glocks. It's just important to know the realistic limitations of tritium night sights before dropping 1/5 of the value of your pistol on them.

[Lambo2936 297]

16 hours ago, High Exposure said:

^^ This is truth.

In reality, night sights are useful for about 20-30 minutes minutes at dawn and again for 20-30 minutes at dusk, or other occasional mesopic light conditions - such as heavy thunderstorms or being in structures with specific lighting conditions that can prolong a twilight like condition.

Here's an example photo of an appropriate time to rely on night sights (taken from an article by I think Travis Haley):

Note - It is enough light to identify your target as friend or foe at reasonable pistol engagement distances and there is still enough background light to wash the brightness out of the tritium, but it is too dark to rely on the crisp outline of your sights to aim. This is the "sweet spot" where the use of tritium night sights shines (forgive the pun).

For the situations most people want night sights, what is actually required is a white light - either handheld or weapon mounted and preferably both are available. Because ultimately you can't shoot what you can't positively identify as a threat. And, if you have a white light, you no longer need those sloppy green dots, as the white light will provide proper background illumination to enable the proper use of the crisp outline of your iron sights for better accuracy. Remember, those dots are there for aight alignment and reference only under low light/no-light conditions. They are not for regular everyday aiming. You should still be using the crisp defined outline of the front sight evenly spaced in the rear notch and flat across the top as often as possible. The orange front sight on the Spartan Operators and Trijicon HDs is great for drawing the eye and getting that flash front sight picture, but before breaking the shot, you have to make sure your front sight outline is centered and flat to your rears. The orange flash isn't your aiming point.

Smokin .50 brought up another issue sometimes encountered with night sights. Sometimes they are just too bright. They can create a "wall of light" that you can't see past - like trying to see the face of the driver of a car when they have their high beams on. A quick fix for this is to take a green or black sharpie and color over the dots to darken them a bit. I have also found that sets with a green front sight and yellow rear sights, instead of the standard all green, provide a much dimmer rear sight while maintaining the bright eye catching green front and frankly work better for social occasions. The downside is the yellow doesn't last as long at the standard green tritium that everyone is used to.

I'm not trying to turn anyone of night sights. They are still useful tools and I have them on my guns and the Spartan Operator with the yellow rear is my go to set for my Glocks. It's just important to know the realistic limitations of tritium night sights before dropping 1/5 of the value of your pistol on them.

Thanks for the info.

I intend on selling the XD big dot set i have to offset a large chunk of the cost, anyways.

I also have a weapon mounted light (tlr1 or whatever, i forget) on the HG as well as a standard flashlight. Got all my bases covered, ill be damned if not seeing my sights costs me or my loved ones any harm.

You should sticky all that info on night sights too. Im sure im not the only misinformed one LOL

[YankeeSC 1,204]

On 7/13/2017 at 6:57 AM, High Exposure said:

Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights are my preferred sights. You can find them for under $80 with a little work, Primary Arms often has them for sale. Usually they are around $90-$100.

Just ordered these for my M&P from OpticsPlanet, $85 shipped with a 5% discount code MGNG5.

[YankeeSC 1,204]

On 8/24/2017 at 10:21 AM, tomk62 said:

Just ordered these for my M&P from OpticsPlanet, $85 shipped with a 5% discount code MGNG5.

Just to follow up on this thread, I shot a match yesterday using my Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights as recommended by HE. Wow that front sight really POPS in the outdoor light. I couldn’t be happier! Thanks!

[ECsandstar 28]

ameriglo and meprolight. even though id like to go with trijicon, you read stories of their white rings around the dots fading/peeling/ falling apart due to it being painted on? Ive never seen it in person. Just something i noted when doing some research

[YankeeSC 1,204]

Can’t find any references for that. These sights have orange paint. 

[High Exposure 5,661]

48 minutes ago, tomk62 said:

Just to follow up on this thread, I shot a match yesterday using my Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights as recommended by HE. Wow that front sight really POPS in the outdoor light. I couldn’t be happier! Thanks!

Awesome Tom! I love it when good guys get good gear.

[tony357 386]

On 7/13/2017 at 5:47 PM, Smokin .50 said:

At Zero Dark Thirty after the first two ignitions most old farts like me suffer "night blindness".  I did much better with a weapon mounted light than just night sights at an indoor range "experiment" I conducted as a Discipline Co-Chair with a single overhead fixture illuminating the entire range at the standard firing line (while the shooters were all 18 yards forward of the line to duplicate a dark parking lot scenario).  "Night sights" are great at "near sunrise" & dusk for me, especially the bright green ones.  Your mileage may vary  

You just have to shoot faster to keep it lit up.

 

[Lambo2936 297]

Lol nice to see this pop up, after having a conversation with my buddy at the range the other day about all of this..
Were shooting my glock with the lollipop versus the VP9 night sights (VP9LE) and the sights that come on the P226 Legion.. Was new to both the VP9 and 226 (Got a good deal on them one month after the other, was my first time shooting both)..
Insane how big of a difference there is in the daytime.. Couldn't hit sh*t with the glock (i think the sights are off, plus i just suck with a lollipop). Did great with the 226. Vp9 sights are pretty hard to see during the daytime; my eyes had a hard time focusing properly so that i could really see anything. I think i'm going to stick with fiber optic sights for the glock along with a flashlight rather than night sights... Will keep the VP9, probably, for HD near the bed. At night the sights are great, just not so much in daylight..
 

[Lambo2936 297]

Looking at the ameriglos, there are green and yellow rear tritium models. Does it matter which i get or just get the cheaper one?

[YankeeSC 1,204]

I got the yellow just for contrast with the front green.  In daylight they are black.

I was really surprised at how bright that orange photo-luminescent paint is!  Easily rivals fiber optic.  I wanted something that could double as night sights and daytime brightness, these fit the bill perfectly.

https://ameriglo.com/collections/glock/products/glock-spartan-operator-sets

[tony357 386]

On 10/24/2017 at 11:30 AM, tomk62 said:

I got the yellow just for contrast with the front green.  In daylight they are black.

I was really surprised at how bright that orange photo-luminescent paint is!  Easily rivals fiber optic.  I wanted something that could double as night sights and daytime brightness, these fit the bill perfectly.

https://ameriglo.com/collections/glock/products/glock-spartan-operator-sets

I was wondering how the orange outline would be..

[PD2K 115]

On 7/13/2017 at 5:24 AM, Rob0115 said:

I have trijicon hd night sights in a few of my glocks.   I think they're fantastic. 

Ditto

[Matroskin 29]

I was wondering how the orange outline would be..

I posted pictures of mine here: https://www.njgunforums.com/forum/index.php?/topic/85890-Glock-fiber-optic-sight-recommendations#entry1105868


Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rauchman 3]

On 7/13/2017 at 6:57 AM, High Exposure said:

Ameriglo Spartan Operator sights are my preferred sights. You can find them for under $80 with a little work, Primary Arms often has them for sale. Usually they are around $90-$100.

I work in Middlesex County, and have the Glock install tool. When you get your sights, whichever kind they are, let me know. I'll meet up with you and install them for free.

Also, Atlantic Tactical on Worlds Fair Drive  in Franklin may still carry some Glock sights and they used to install them for free if you bought them there. Not sure if they still do that though.

I've got Mepros, Trijicon old school 3 dot with white outline and Ameriglo Spartans on 5 9mm Glocks.  I by far like the Spartans.  I think the front sight is a little thinner than the 1st gen Trij HD's.  I wouldn't mind going a little thinner still.  For the $, the Spartans work really well.

[YankeeSC 1,204]

For what it's worth ... I put the Trijicon HD Night Sights https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/product1.php?id=HDNS (got them as a gift) on my Glock 26.  Trying to do a self install, I ordered the nylon punch set from Brownells but had a hell of a time punching in the new rear sight, I wasn't able to get it past half way.

I went and ordered the NCStar rear sight tool https://www.ncstar.com/optics-acc/tools/handgun-tools/vtuprs-univ-rear-sight-adjust-tool for $44 figuring I would have to spend at least that to get a gunsmith to install, and it worked perfectly.  The sight pushed right in with a little effort.

The Trijicon is great, but isn't any better then the Ameriglo from what I can see.