Greetings,

 

Just bought a Gen4 G23. Thread can be viewed here....

rauchman's Gen4 G23

 

I'm going to order a set of night sights for it and would like some input.

 

I currently have Trijicons on my Gen2 17 & 19. Also have Mep's on my Gen3 G19. They are both good and very comparable in sight picture layout. Mep's have slightly larger vials/dots, the Trij's seem finer and more precise, ...... but they are not all that different.

 

I'm looking for something a little different

 

Some possibles that come to mind are some flavor of Heine's, Warren's, whoever makes the TFO fiber optic/tritium sights, etc. I want something different. I've have Big Dots on a Beretta 96 Centurian some years back and DID NOT like them. While the front dot was really big (IIRC, they had a smaller than their normal front sight, which was what I ordered), precision was out the window. I have to believe there is something that offers a better solution. I shot an HK45 owned by a fellow sight member that had, I believe Heine's, w/ a dot over dot configuration. Dont' know how I feel about the dot over dot, as the Big Dots had a similar layout and found it easy to loose my sense of vertical distance between the sights when being in a nonlit area. I did like the sights themselves though. Liked the proportion of front sight blade size in relation the size of the notch in the rear sight.

 

Can I also have your opinions on various color combo's between front and rear sights? I think I'm starting to buy into this idea. In the couple of years or so, I've starting practicing 2 eyes open using my dominant eye. I'm righty but w/ a left dominant eye. It's made a difference in my shooting for the better. I would think the contrast between front and rears using different colors would allow for great front sight acquisition on the draw.

For a non competition gun, I would suggest you look at Heine Slant Pro Straight eight sight, night sight. 2 dots, line them up and you are on target.

 

http://www.heinie.com/product_info.php?cPath=9_11&products_id=90

PM Sent

Can I also have your opinions on various color combo's between front and rear sights? I think I'm starting to buy into this idea. In the couple of years or so, I've starting practicing 2 eyes open using my dominant eye. I'm righty but w/ a left dominant eye. It's made a difference in my shooting for the better. I would think the contrast between front and rears using different colors would allow for great front sight acquisition on the draw.

 

Thats my problem too.

I have Warren Tactical 2 dots on my 19. I like them. Easy to pick up - accuracy is there when I do my part (rare). Front is green and rear is yellow (at night), with the rear dot being much smaller than the front dot, so it's easy to find the front dot in the dark and not get distracted by the rear dot.

 

I find 3 dots sights (2 rear, 1 front) to be a little distracting and my focus would sometimes shift from the front sight to the rear. Hasn't been much of a problem since switching to the Warrens.

Tru Glow TFO.

I suggest more practice! Not a fan of night sites. I'll take muscle memory over night sites anytime. Heres a question, if its that dark that you need to pick up the night sites, can you positively ID your target?

I suggest more practice! Not a fan of night sites. I'll take muscle memory over night sites anytime. Heres a question, if its that dark that you need to pick up the night sites, can you positively ID your target?

 

 

Shane you're killing me.... This has been my contention all along. I have one pistol with nite sites, and it came that way.

I suggest more practice! Not a fan of night sites. I'll take muscle memory over night sites anytime. Heres a question, if its that dark that you need to pick up the night sites, can you positively ID your target?

Valid point - but, in your opinion, is there any downside to having them on the gun?

The down side would be the concern of someone chasing the sight instead of getting light on the subject and shots on the BG. My recomendation is to really try these things for yourself. What I cen tell you is this. As we all theorise the way stuff works, how it would be deployed, how I would use XY and Z is all talk, sounds good. But you guys see what I do. I take a buncha stuff out and try it. Hell I have yet to take a single optic and rifle to a match, its always at least 3! That has taught me that very, VERY few times it worked like I thought it would. So far, only 1 has worked as designed and planned AND THATS FOR ME so it may not work for you! So I would recomend really trying this out. Get to a low light shooting class from a reputable instructor. If you cant, clear your weapon. Good, now clear it again! Now try it out in your home. Observe what you can really see at a light level that the tritium becomes effective. How long are you taking to pick up the sights? Is there enough ambiant light to id a target? Practice and competition have taught me that I can rely on muscle memory and "point shoot" to some degree. For example at a IPSC match I forgot to turn my optic on. I ran through the entire stage with NO SIGHTS! I had NO misses!

 

Heres a perfect example. Sam and I theorised on several occasions that running an acog like an OEG sight would work of you could close the front off the optic and rely on the bindon aiming concept. On paper it looked great and I have found several that claimed that it works. The fact of the matter is it does. But the piece of info I didnt find ANYWHERE is the amount of shift you could experience at distance. So what we learned by trying was that it did indeed work, but only for maybe 15 yards or under, perferably 7 or under. Why, because at say 50 yds, the shift was measured in feet!

All good points, and I've done much of what you've suggested including adding weapon lights into the mix to see if I even needed the night sights. A low light class is on the list, but haven't managed to squeeze it in yet.

 

Anyway, the conclusion I came to is that I like having the option of verifying my index (for lack of a better word) quickly with the night sights. I've looked at them enough that I can pick them up fairly quickly... and aside from d*cking around at the range, I've never felt like I'm chasing the dot.

 

That said, I've also found that with even the slightest bit of stress (classes, matches, etc) I ignore the sights almost entirely and my resulting groups reflect this. I KNOW I need tons more practice to get to the where, even at 5 yds or less, I can reliable point shoot.

 

At the end of the day, I like the redundancy the night sights provide and, for me at least, I see very little downside (aside from the hit to my wallet).

 

Maybe when I've been shooting a while longer my opinions will change... time will tell

Caine, I appluad you for following the path of trust but verify! Very good. Since you verified the limitations and are aware of them, for you I would say there is no down side to having them. But the salient point is as you stated, when stress was induced, you did not use them. This is really likely due to the fact that you will default to what you do in training. If you dont train with them, you likely wont use them when the time comes.

An excersize I used to do. Sit, stand whatever. Pick an object. Close your eyes. Present to the object. How off are you? Correct and repeat. Make sure you pick objects at all maner of angles etc etc. The more you do it, the more you will be on. The more your on, the less you need your sights at bad breath distances

Well, I train with them in the sense that they're on the guns when I'm training... I just forget to use them I have been toying with the idea of an RDS on a handgun.. altho I imagine that would just ingrain even more bad happens... but that's a topic for another day. In the end, I need to learn to slow down and focus.

Tru Glow TFO.

 

I love these things because they are excellent day time sights as well. When I had a Glock 17, that's what was on them.

 

Now the only pistol I have NS's on are my XD40. I figure, how many pistols can I really use at night if the SHTF?

An excersize I used to do. Sit, stand whatever. Pick an object. Close your eyes. Present to the object. How off are you? Correct and repeat. Make sure you pick objects at all maner of angles etc etc. The more you do it, the more you will be on. The more your on, the less you need your sights at bad breath distances

Good tip. I'll give that a try

I figure, how many pistols can I really use at night if the SHTF?

Well.. you do have 2 hands....

I have a small ranch house. I leave a light on in the kitchen which also illuminates the dining room and te living room (the 2 most likely entrence points for an intruder). If I am in my bedroom or hallway there is enough light to identify a threat but not enough to see the sights. This is why my home defence gun has night sights.

How well can you pick up the night sights in that scenario? Ive never had luck with any tritium powered anything aiming from dark to a lit area. And for clarity I mean positively ID a BG, not just a silouette :ph34r:

As suggested above, I have practiced this scenerio and tried different options includig the back light. My TFO's show up enough to acquire a target. I have enough light to make out more then a sillouette but if the BG has a 3" scar on his cheek I will not be able to accurately see that. I'll also be able to see a weapon. Everyone needs to determine what works for them in their own situation, before the need arises. For me the TFO' provide enough light to acquire a target and they are fiber optic, making them bright in the daylight. (My attempt to get back to the topic).

I think thats what hangs me up with anything tritium powered. Im so used to aimpoints and such, that is what my eye is used to so if it isnt aimpoint bright, it just doesnt register well for me I think its great you guys are trying it in your AO. Its truly the only way to know I think.

Are Tritium sights "charged" like glow in the dark stuff?

Are Tritium sights "charged" like glow in the dark stuff?

 

Its a radioactive isotope-- so it is actually decaying, and, on average, has a life of 10-years (can't be charged)

Are Tritium sights "charged" like glow in the dark stuff?

Yeah, they're absolutely radioactive.

It has a half life of 12.5 years. So in 12.5 years it will be half as bright.

Trijicon night sights on my Gen 1 Glock 19, XS 24/7 are going on my Gen 3 Glock 19. I like big sights, and their perfect. I'm not a fan of all black sights or different colors. Three white dots or 1 big one.

AmeriGlo Yellow/Green Operator regular on my G22