I am considering some Williams adjustable F.O. Sights for my xd9. I think it will help with contrast at the range. Do any of you have pros/cons of using such a system? Thanks for any insight

I tried them and gave up on them. I found that I focused on the light stick rather than the top of the front sight. I had to lower the rear sight to compensate. None of the rest of my handguns have the FO sights, so I just wanted consistency in my sight picture.

They do help with acquiring a target quickly. If you are looking for more precision shooting, I would recommend Dawson Precision black serrated sights.

What are your uses for this pistol and the sights? Range use? Accuracy/distance? Protection/defensive use?

 

Usually that dictates what sights you will install, or at least does have an influence on them.

What are your uses for this pistol and the sights? Range use? Accuracy/distance? Protection/defensive use?

 

Usually that dictates what sights you will install, or at least does have an influence on them.

 

This ^^^^

 

For me my HD gun has XS-Big Dot on it, but for my game guns I have changed them all over to Fiber optic front and all black rear. As was said depends on what you want to use the gun for, and what you like and works best for you for what you're doing with that gun.

Fiber optic will rule outdoors or in any conditions where there is plenty of ambient light. They provide no help beyond a plain iron sight in low light so may not be the best choice for a defensive gun. The fiber rod can also get damaged although you would still have a perfectly functional iron sight and the rod is cheap and easy to replace. My Dawson fiber front sight has gone through 6k rounds and going strong on my M&P despite some rough treatment in MDTS pistol classes.

I like fiber optic sights. I have them on a lot of different guns. Some have smaller fiber optics for more precise shooting, others have bigger rods for faster target acquisition.

I have a set of tritium fiber optics on my XD, they glow during the day and at night. The only problem I've had with these specific sights was that the front rod fell out. I recovered it and had to epoxy it in. Now the rear dots are significantly brighter then the front. I've gotten used to it but hind sight being 20/20: I wouldn't spend the money on the TFO's again (I simply don't use the sights in the dark).

My HD guns have flashlights mounted on them, the center of the beam is where the bullets land (tested and adjusted as necessary).

It is my HD gun but I also use it a lot at the range both indoors and out. I would like fast target acquisition. I have also considered a laser for this purpose at night.

I did also paint the stock sights with the glo paint which is great (if "charged")