Background - I'm used to shooting stock Glock and sevingy tritium or plain black sights. In these situations you line up the top of the front sight with the top of the back sight and the dot is in the middle, making your POA/POI right in the middle of the sight. See below:

 

I have recently put a set of fiber optic sights on my Glock 34 and purchased a Wilson X-Tac with the F/O battle sight. Both (and all) F/O sights seem to have the of dot towards the top of the sight and not centered for some reason. When the top of the front sight is lined up with the top of the back sight the F/O dot is higher. See below:

 

When shooting fast I typically align the F/O dot in the middle of the back sight causing me to shoot significantly low with both the WC and G34 because I do this:

 

Does anyone know of a F/O font sight that has the F/O tube in the middle of the front sight, it's driving me crazy!!! I don't know if I can make the mental change at this point although my eyes are getting old and could use the extra visibility.

 

I called Chris at CPWSA and he agreed that all F/O sights seem to have this discrepancy, I may have to change back over to plain fonts or tritiums if I can't find a solution although I do love the visibility of the F/O sights. Any suggestions or leads greatly appreciated.

First off, I love your visual aids.

 

The way I use them, the FO is for fast sight acquisition. If the target is close (less than 10 yards for a body shot out less than 7 for a head) I just put the FO on target and fire.when I need to hit more accurately than that the FO just helps find the sight - I use the outline to make the sight picture - the dot might just as well not be there any more.

 

Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

^^^ this.

 

The dots should not be used for a precise sight picture. Excluding XS type sights, the actual edges of the sight and the spaces between - what we know as traditional sight alignment: flat across the top, equal light on each side of the front sight blade, front sight crisp, rear sight notch blurry - is what is necessary to hit what you are aiming at with certainty. You may have a perfect storm of ammo, "dot" height, and distance to make a centered dot work, but that is not its design.

 

Tritium, FO, GitD, gold beads, etc... dots are the for fast sight acquisition, not precise target engagement. The tritium and FO especially are for assisting in locating the sight and obtaining a rough alignment in low light/no light situations prior to using white light to ID a threat. The white light giving you the means to discern the shape outline of the iron sights.

I get it but why would they choose to make ONLY FO sights with this discrepancy? Why not center the stupid things?

First off, I love your visual aids.The way I use them, the FO is for fast sight acquisition. If the target is close (less than 10 yards for a body shot out less than 7 for a head) I just put the FO on target and fire.when I need to hit more accurately than that the FO just helps find the sight - I use the outline to make the sight picture - the dot might just as well not be there any more.Sent from my SCH-I800 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks, created the rear sight then made a modular version of the front sight to show the differences out of layover post it notes. It's hard to describe in words so thought that may help the discussion.

I get it but why would they choose to make ONLY FO sights with this discrepancy? Why not center the stupid things?

 

I can't say for certain as I don't make them, but as the FO needs ambient light to work I guess they need it high up in the sight so they can expose the fiber. With Tritium there is no need for the ambient light and more need to protect the phial so it it mounted lower down. Maybe. Possibly. Shrug.

I get it but why would they choose to make ONLY FO sights with this discrepancy? Why not center the stupid things?

Because the point of the FO is to draw the eye to the proper portion of the sight for aiming - the tip top of the front sight. Putting the eye catching FO dot in the middle of the post would defeat the purpose.

 

ETA: Tritium is typically a bigger "dot" than the FO so it has a wider post and has to be mounted lower.

I am resurrecting this, because I must want to make sure I have a clear understanding. If I am reading the above correctly, with fiber or tritium, I am not really using the "dot" as the sight? In other words, I am not placing the dot on where I want to strike the target?

I'll say that I now have quite a few fiber optic front sights and I've learned to use them appropriately.  If I line up the top of the front sight with the top of the back sights the poi matches the fiber optic dot perfectly. 

 

This has worked with multiple sets of Dawson Precision sights for the G34, G19 and G17 and Battlesight on the X-Tac.  If you find that the poi is a little different with this technique Dawson will help you get the "perfect impact" you desire, but I have not had to do that since lining up the tops of the sights as the recommended sets come from the factory with the fo dot right at poa/poi.