Talk to me about night sights.

[HungryHunter]

Cheapshooter is right. The technology coupled with a violence of action, and proper defensive/offensive techniques can be very effective.

[AK103K]

I have the Glock factory night sights, and I'm perfectly happy with them.

Yup. Me too. All my Glocks, and a number of others wear them, or the equivalent.

I just wish they were still offering them on the guns to the general public as an option. That was the most cost effective way to get them.

I also like the Meprolights in their place.

And, night sights are the one thing you don't want to replace with used ones.

Some seem to differ here. Not that I dont agree with you.

I have made out quite well selling off the the used sights on EBay. I usually get about half what a new set goes for. Paid for a couple of sight tools and offset the cost of some of the new sights with the proceeds.

$100 every 5-7 years doesnt seem that significant.

Its not, and $100 is on the high side. I usually pay $60-70 for a new set of Meprolights (around $30 for a front alone), which works out to $5-6 a year over their lifetime.

There are lots of situations where its too dark to see the sights but still light enough to ID a threat. Even in the daytime...unlighted interiors of buildings.

Absolutely.

I agree a GOOD quality flashlight is essential kit. But so are night sights IMHO

I agree in both cases.

Maybe, with a 60's era Eveready. Ever look into the beam of a modern flashlight like a streetlight, or other modern ultrabright flashlights. Being able to shoot accurately wouldn't be the BG's problem. Being able to see at all for several minutes would be!

Todays lights are weapons in their own right.

The above is easily proved by yourself as well. Just "flash" yourself in a mirror and try to acquire a sight picture immediately after.

If your the one with the flashlight, a quick flash identifies, and a quick side step after its out, and using the welders principle of dropping his shield and striking an arc, you can shoot with good precision in total darkness. Even with the gun below your line of sight, your sub conscious brain still gets a good index off the night sights.

[diggler1833]

Quote:

"Maybe, with a 60's era Eveready. Ever look into the beam of a modern flashlight like a streetlight, or other modern ultrabright flashlights. Being able to shoot accurately wouldn't be the BG's problem. Being able to see at all for several minutes would be!"


Sir, that would be assuming that there was only one threat, and that you had already found them and identified them. For the other very large percentage of possible scenarios, placing the lightsource right next to your most vital area of the body is not a good idea IMO.

For the record, I completely agree with you on the functional benefits to a good flashlight. I just disagree with the tactical employment.

[Cheapshooter]

For the other very large percentage of possible scenarios

I can't really think of any as a private citizen in a SD situation. Even in my own home, the first thing I'm going to do is turn on every light switch I can reach. That alone could well scare off any intruder.
As far as outside, my house is well lite around any entrance area.
Being away from home, as a defense I concentrate on not being in an area with insignificant lighting to be able to know what is going on around me.
But, with all that being said, I did just yesterday order a new XS front sight for my Ruger LCR. Not so much for the night sight, but just for a better sight than the black ramp that came with it.

[AK103K]

I can't really think of any as a private citizen in a SD situation. Even in my own home, the first thing I'm going to do is turn on every light switch I can reach. That alone could well scare off any intruder.
As far as outside, my house is well lite around any entrance area.

Im typing this after just now installing a set of Meprolights on a new Glock. Sitting at the well lit dining room table, and aiming across the room into the somewhat dark bathroom, at a fixture in the tub, I can clearly see the dots, and a perfect alignment. I cant see a traditional sight picture against the dark fixture, itself, in a shadow. If there were no tritium there, Id have basically no sights at all.

Even in well, to semi well lit rooms or areas, you can still have issues with seeing your sights. It doesnt have to be "dark", all it takes, is less than perfect lighting, weird lighting, a dark background or target, and you simply loose your sights/sight picture. The "lit" dots, or whatever floats your boat, give you an instant alternate sighting system, and you dont skip a beat.

At this point, Im so used to shooting with three dot sights, I actually see them first anyway, so they are my first line sights, and it doesnt matter if its the white rings, or the glowing green dots, its what I focus on as the gun is coming up and Im acquiring the sights. With the night sights, theres no loss of sights.

[Snyper]

Even in my own home, the first thing I'm going to do is turn on every light switch I can reach. That alone could well scare off any intruder.

Or it could just show them where you are, when before you had the element of surprise.

[Cheapshooter]

Or it could just show them where you are, when before you had the element of surprise.

Maybe it's just a difference in the location of residence, but the surprise would be if they got that far in the first place.
I have no enemies, nor am I in any activity to produce any. A burglar breaking in while I'm in the house is highly unlikely. A home invasion by multiple intruders is less likely than me winning a Megaball lottery.
Others may be in a different situation.

But back to the topic. I agree that the night sights are an advantage in less than perfect lighting situations. Unlike a laser, if they fail, it is gradual, and most likely with enough advanced notice that you know they are getting dim. On the other hand, a battery, or circuit can fail without any notice.

[jimbob86]

I have no enemies,

It is nice to think that ..... but it is just not so:

There are people in this world that name you an enemy and would cut your head off because you are an American, or for the color of your skin, or the fact that you enjoy bacon, or have enough intelligence, drive and discipline to become financially secure when they did not, or any of a hundred other reasons ...... scarier still, there are those that don't name you an enemy, but would kill you just the same, because you have something they want, and they do not value your life at all ..... if killing you is the easiest path to what they want, they will do that......

Is it likely that such people will show up in your house, or mine? The odds are long, but it's not the odds that concern me, but the stakes......

[hartcreek]

I used to have a bottle of tritium paint. Dont know if it still can be bought but I put night sights on everthing that I could CC including my antiques. The paint cost me $20 back then and it was enough to do a hundred or more handguns.

[dayman]

There are people in this world that name you an enemy....

Maybe so, but if we spend our lives cowering behind locked doors obsessing over them, then we've allowed them to win.
Statistically, the western world (or at least the USA) has gotten safer every year for a very long time.
Remember all those statistics we cite when we're arguing that increasing our gun rights, and ability to legally CC has been a good thing? Violent crime has been on a general downward trend since the 60's.
But with 24 hour "news" regurgitating every scary story from across the globe to drive up ratings, we've somehow become convinced that the world has gotten more dangerous.


As far as night sights, I like them.
I use trijicon HD's because that was the first thing I bought, and I've never had a problem with them. The price difference is negligible when spread over 10 years.
I bought a set of the TFO's once, but the 2" front sight wiggled, so I returned it and bought yet another set of HD's.
I assume it was out of spec, but I decided that I didn't care for the design. That long of a sight might work okay on a dovetail, but it seemed like it was too long to be supported well by the tiny little front sight bolt on the glock.

[1stmar]

You don't give up anything by having them. They can't fail in a way that impacts you. I like them, they work for me. And if they gradually fail I will replace, if I don't, I still have sights. Trijicons I have have a good sight picture with or without the dots.

[Pond, James Pond]

You don't give up anything by having them. They can't fail in a way that impacts you.

This.

I've been following this thread since the outset.

As a light source, they do not allow you to see but do allow themselves to be seen.

As previously said, if the BG can see them you have way bigger problems coming your way and if not they either make aiming easier or make no difference, in which case you lose nothing but can gain a lot.

Their presence precludes neither the use of a laser, nor that of a flash-light.

They can make locating your own gun in the dark easier, seeing as you should know roughly where it is anyway.

Cool-headed would be the BG who can spot, ID, and take a gun in the darkness based solely on nightsight dot glow, when they are trying to navigate a property alien to them, without making any noise. Plus I would not advocate leaving a gun in an area where an intruder is likely to encounter it before the owner does.

If folks don't like them or have alternatives they prefer than fine, but I think to suggest they somehow create a real weakness to be exploited by one's foe is not realistic IMO.

[Cheapshooter]

Quote:
There are people in this world that name you an enemy....
Maybe so, but if we spend our lives cowering behind locked doors obsessing over them, then we've allowed them to win.

There is a difference in paranoia, and awareness.
The chances of those enemies invading my home are so miniscule that the high blood pressure, and stress related illnesses from worrying about would be a greater threat to my health than the threats that were mentioned!

[jimbob86]

There are people in this world that name you an enemy....

Maybe so, but if we spend our lives cowering behind locked doors obsessing over them, then we've allowed them to win.

Oh, I don't advocate cowering behind locked doors. Or cowering at all.

Locking your doors at night, OTH, is a good idea. Just like night sights, it does not harm anything, and might come in handy.

They can make locating your own gun in the dark easier, seeing as you should know roughly where it is anyway.

They do make it easier to find the pistol when I open up the pistol safe at night- the grip is always just to the right of those two green dots .....

[Catfishman]

I'm perfectly satisfied with Glock factory night sights. Besides the glow in the dark feature I like that they are much more durable than the plastic junk that comes on the gun.

[tipoc]

One of the most useful things a person can do is to simply pull your piece out and take a look at it and the sites in a variety of lighting conditions and places. Take note of what you can and can't see. If having a gun in your hand at a restaurant or movie theater would be troublesome use something else as a stand in, using it like a barrel and observe. Pay attention to lighting.

The Tru-Glow, or fiber optic, sights are useful in low light situations. They work by picking up any residual light in the area, natural or artificial, and focusing that through the bit of colored rod. Over the last decade or so they have shown up on hunting rifles and a variety of handguns. You can notice that sites on rifles and handguns can wash out in the shadow of forests, some times of the day, when aiming from shadow to deep shadow, etc. The fiber optic sites do not work in complete darkness or very low light because they require some light to work.

The Trijicon type do work in complete dark and in dim lighting conditions.

Where ever you happen to be note the lighting. If you can't have a piece with you and pull it to check what you can and can't see, use a stand in object. Can you see the edges of the phone, or pen clearly? If not you won't see your sites unless there is an optic on them. Draw your own conclusions.

tipoc

[Snyper]

The fiber optic sites do not work in complete darkness or very low light because they require some light to work.

The Trijicon type do work in complete dark and in dim lighting conditions.

Tru-Glo now builds combination sights that use fiber optics and Trutium so you can have the best of both worlds

http://www.glockstore.com/truglo-tri...r-optic-sights

TFO gun sights use the same proven technology as our TFO archery pins. These sights are the most revolutionary innovation since TRUGLO, Inc. introduced fiber optics. TFO refers to our patented combination of Tritium and Fiber Optic technologies.

The tritium maintains the brightness level of the sight in low light (or NO light) conditions. That means you can see your sight even in complete darkness—with perfect transition through all light conditions. Tritium does not need batteries and does not need to be charged with light—it simply glows!

[tipoc]

Thanks for the update Snyper! That innovation had passed me by.

tipoc