How bright should night sights be?

[rfxcasey]

Hey all, I just purchase a new FN FNS 40 with night sights and while I'm no expert, they seem pretty darn dim to me. Looking at some pictures of other night sights online most of them seem much brighter then mine. I don't know exactly when the sights were manufactured but do you think it would be worth sending the gun back to the manufacture for?

[jabba21]

Have you tried actually shooting the gun in the dark or a lowlight setting? Are they useable?

I really am not sure what kind of answer one could give on how bright they should be. Bright enough to be usable I guess.


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[Pahoo]

I really am not sure what kind of answer one could give on how bright they should be. Bright enough to be usable I guess.

This can be somewhat subjective. However, if you are not happy with them then they are suspect. I know that they have a new rating and a life-span. Don't know if this will be of much help, but I can see mine from across a dark room. I know that they will certainly give good performance, in my hands. Take a second look and see what you think. ........

If I'm correct, these have traceable serial number and documented. ....

[rfxcasey]

Well I'm not exactly sure they are usable. If they were brighter I feel they would be much easier to acquire. In an emergency situation you don't want to have problems seeing your sights obviously. If its near complete darkness then yes they are someway visible, but it what its not quite dark enough that I find them difficult to pick up on. If its full on light like in a well lit room or daylight they are fine, and if its full on dark or near that they are ok. The problem is when its in between light and dark I find them annoying.

[Sevens]

I have to say that I find it to be VERY subjective. Me, personally... very sensitive to light in the dark. I find that Meprolight night sights are just plain more dim and sublime than Trijicons and that is EXACTLY why I prefer them.

Not a slam on Trijicons, but to my sensitive eyes, Mepro's look like night sights and Trijicons appear ELECTRIC.

Can't imagine everyone agrees with me.

[T. O'Heir]

Night sights on handguns are a marketing thing. The instant you fire one shot, you won't be able to see anything in the dark, anyway. And it takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes for full 'night vision' to come back.
If its near complete darkness you can't see well enough identify your target so night sights are moot.

[Snyper]

Night sights on handguns are a marketing thing. The instant you fire one shot, you won't be able to see anything in the dark, anyway. And it takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes for full 'night vision' to come back.

If its near complete darkness you can't see well enough identify your target so night sights are moot.

I've asked before and you've never answered., but do you really shoot at all?

[JohnKSa]

Night sights on handguns are a marketing thing. The instant you fire one shot, you won't be able to see anything in the dark, anyway. And it takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes for full 'night vision' to come back.

I've shot in the dark with night sights more than once and have never had any problems seeing the night sights after the first shot.

If its near complete darkness you can't see well enough identify your target so night sights are moot.

What I found in my experimentation was that shining a light directly on the target while shooting was distracting because the bright light shining on the discharge smoke and particulate matter from the discharge created a haze.

It worked much better to shine the light in front of the target on the ground. That illuminated the target well enough for identification and acquisition but didn't put enough light on the target to silhouette the sights brightly enough for shooting. That was where night sights really helped. The night sights provided the ability to line up the sights accurately on the dimly illuminated target and since the light was taking a "bounce" path to the target instead of shining directly through the discharge smoke, there was no distracting haze.

Night sights aren't as universally useful as some marketing makes them out to be, but they do serve a very useful purpose in some situations.

I don't know exactly when the sights were manufactured but do you think it would be worth sending the gun back to the manufacture for?

If you can see them well enough to line up the sights when you can't otherwise see the sights then they're bright enough.

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by T. O'Heir

Night sights on handguns are a marketing thing. The instant you fire one shot, you won't be able to see anything in the dark, anyway. And it takes roughly 15 to 30 minutes for full 'night vision' to come back.
If its near complete darkness you can't see well enough identify your target so night sights are moot.

T. O'Heir, your posts contain more nonsense than anyone else on this forum. Where do you come up with the ridiculous things you post? Do you just make this stuff up, or do you repeat any ridiculous thing you see posted on the internet?

[Theohazard]

Originally Posted by rfxcasey

Hey all, I just purchase a new FN FNS 40 with night sights and while I'm no expert, they seem pretty darn dim to me. Looking at some pictures of other night sights online most of them seem much brighter then mine. I don't know exactly when the sights were manufactured but do you think it would be worth sending the gun back to the manufacture for?

Your post makes it seem like these are the first night sights you've used. Before you try calling the manufacturer, try looking at other guns with night sights for comparison.