Night sights for semi-autos

[OhioGuy]

I'm going to take a class that teaches low-light shooting, and I need night sights for it. At some point I'm sure I'd want them anyway.

I've searched around and it seems people have all sorts of ways of accomplishing this, from purchasing specially designed sights ($$$) to dabbing glow-in-the-dark paint over the factory sights (like $0.99 at Hobby Lobby). I also found "Night Sighters" kits that provide little glowing stickers that you can put onto any sights. I think they were $12.

What experiences do you have? Are the expensive, brand-name night sights just a waste of money, or do people end up buying them anyway after their DIY methods fail a few times?

My gun's front sight has a factory fiberoptic. I don't know if that changes anything for the DIY methods.

[Jeff2222]

What gun are these going on? You should be able to get a set of meprolights and have them installed for a total cost under $100. Spend the money and buy the nicer sights. It's worth it.

[CDR_Glock]

Trijicon is the way to go.

TruGlo if you want Fiberoptic and Tritium but it's bulky.

Hobby Lobby? [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]


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[Andy Blozinski]

I bought some glow in the dark paint specifically advertised for gun sights. It was worthless. Glow-On is the brand name.

[MandolinMan]

On a self defense handgun, nothing compares to a good set of night sights. Yes they can be expensive, but I think you'll find that they are worth every penny.

I've tried various sight paints with mixed results; suitable for range and hunting guns, but no so much for carry guns.

My next set will be Truglo TFX sights.

[Uncle Malice]

Trijicon HD or TruGlo TFX Pro.

[Nathan]

The best of the diy methods are worse than luminous hands on a watch where you "charge" with a bright light. The worst are a total waste of time!


Real night sights work as advertised. They are a pain to install, but worth the effort.

My preference is for a single luminous front dot.(~$50) During the day, the single dot centers up quick in a wide notch during the day and makes a quick easy aim point at night.

A cheaper, but good solution might be a fiber optic front sight.(~$30)

Full sight sets are $60-$150.....my preference are ones with Trijicon tubes.

[jackstrawIII]

Truglo TFX all the way. They're easy to install yourself and work great. A bit bulky, but I can live with that.

[g.willikers]

Are you sure night sights are required?
Every low light or night exercise I've done involved a flashlight rather than night sights.
Knowing about the target was considered more important than just seeing the sights.
With good technique, the sights are lit by the light, making night sights less important.
Guess it depends on what is meant by low light.
Any idea what the lighting circumstances will be?
Are night sights an actual requirement or are you assuming such?
No sense in spending a bunch of money needlessly.
Just a thought.

[Nathan]

Be a little careful with TFX sight sets. They have a very small fitted area for a very large sight. This makes it hard to get a great fit to the slide. It can be done, but it can be screwed up easily enough too. Ask me how I know....:(

[pblanc]

I also bought a small jar of the Glow-on paint out of curiosity. It is the only item I have ever returned to Amazon.

It was worse than worthless. A gritty, paste-like consistency that makes it difficult to apply accurately and it dries to a dull, off-white color that makes your sight less visible during daylight conditions.

If you "charge" the paint by placing it directly under a strong light bulb for hours, it glows very weakly for a matter of a few minutes before it fades to a useless intensity.

[ericuda]

Just purchased meprolight tru dot for my pps and trijicon bright and tough for an upcoming g36. Just my opinion but meprolight is way brighter at dark and easier to see in daytime due to a larger white dot.

[Rogervzv]

The thing to know about "night sights" is that there are two kinds; one good, one worthless.

The good night sights are Tritium. These are powered by slightly (safely) radioactive substance that will stay bright for about 8 years.

The worthless night sights are powered by phosphorous. This substance will stay bright for a short time after being "charged" by a bright light. So for home defense they are worthless since you are likely not going to have just "charged" them when you need the handgun.

All "dab on" glow paints are the phosphorous kind. So this is not a good solution if you want true night sights.

Meprolights and Tru-Glos (the Tritium kind) are both good and I have used both to good effect on various handguns.

[BoogieMan]

You can sent your slide into these guys hp-tactical.com. they will send it back with your choice of trijicon night sights. No charge install as along as you have removable sights. My buddy sent them his Glock 18 slide. Had it back in a week aND it only cost him what others charge for sights only.

[ericuda]

I should have explained my thoughts better. I have just recently started carrying and found that regular sights that are on most guns are worthless at best in low light. A night sight to me is a must and the nightnsight also needs a good sight picture with good white dots during the daylight. Get a good sight and dont rely on a paint or a gimmick that needs to be charged by light to work. I hope I will never need to use them but once i have installed I feel more comfortable shooting at night when 3 glowing dots are on target.

[OhioGuy]

I have a Springfield XD Mod.2 subcompact 9. It comes with a fiber optic front sight from the factory. So far I've used it for training. I expect it's likely to be my carry as well as home defense gun, and I'm getting involved in a tactical shooting league soon too. I don't mind spending money on something I will use often.

[jbarbourtrim]

I have truglo tfx and the tfo's. Love them. You get the best of both worlds. Fiber for day time and lower light and tritium for low light and no light.

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[P71pilot]

Dawson precision

[michael t]

My night sites died in a few years ( older sights shipped on a new gun):mad: . I went back to a flash light. I never really liked them all that much

[rodfac]

I really like the night sights on my Sigs (3). I've come to the conclusion that a defensive, night stand gun needs them and probably a light as well for target identification. A flashlight held in the non-firing hand requires just too many acrobatics to be useable in a high stress environment, for me. In that regard, my current night stand gun is a Sig P226 Mk25 with a TLR1 light attached. Rod

[Doc Intrepid]

Additional thoughts --


As noted, get either Trijicon or Meprolight Tritium night sights if you are comfortable with a 3-dot configuration. Either are high quality. Both offer 10 year warranties. I have returned Trijicon night sights that failed after 8 years and they were replaced under warranty with no issues whatever.
The TruGlo TFX sights are also excellent - I've installed them on my Glocks. Pay attention to what was said above regarding their 'fit to slide' issue (which is not an issue with Glocks). These sights offer very bright dots during daylight.
Another excellent option for those among us who are "(wo-)men of a certain age" are the XS Big Dot Tritium Night Sights. As a 60-Something the XS Big Dot sights are much easier to pick up rapidly (for me). https://www.xssights.com/Products.aspx?CAT=8208
Pay attention to what was said above regarding flashlights. Most high quality low-light courses will spend considerable time teaching you flashlight techniques.
Finally, beware of flashlights mounted on pistols. Like all tactical tools, they are of value in a limited number of circumstances. Their drawback, however, is that they facilitate violation of the Gun Handling Rule "Never allow your muzzle to cover anything you are not willing to destroy". In many cases they become used as a flashlight with a pistol attached, rather than a pistol with a flashlight attached. If you are in a situation where you need a flashlight, it is far more likely that a separate flashlight held in your non-shooting hand will offer you significantly more techniques that can be employed in absolute darkness than any flashlight attached to your pistol. A good course will cover many if not most of these techniques.


Best with your decision.

[Skans]

While I like night sights like Trijicon, they don't last forever, or long enough in my opinion. About 10 years is what they are good for. I really need to replace them on my Glock 17 but don't want to spend the money on a gun I only use occasionally (car-carry while driving at night). I really wish someone would come out with night sights that glow for at least 30 years.

[g.willikers]

Heck, who keeps their guns that long?
Anyone who does just isn't giving their best efforts for the economy. :)
This is from a fellow who kept his last vehicle for twenty years and his best pistol for 25 years.
My wife sez she's glad I'm like that.

[Ricklin]

Glock owners can send their slide to Glock for night sights, 57 bucks

[Jeff2222]

I have a set of the meprolight tru dot sights. They are just now becoming noticeably dimmer after 11 years of being installed on my glock 19. They are still good enough but I'll probably have them replaced in the next year or two.

I feel like I got my money's worth out of them so I don't mind replacing them if I need to. They also still work 100% for day light and I like them better than the factory U.

[Doc Holliday 1950]

I just got my new Glock 19 and it came with Ameriglo front night sight and
it works very well in dim and complete darkness.IMHO

[Skans]

Glock owners can send their slide to Glock for night sights, 57 bucks

That's a good deal! Link?

[OhioGuy]

It seems that phosphorescent paint/dots would be better than nothing.

Does anyone have any experience with this? http://www.nitesiters.com

Seems that it might be at least a good short-term solution to a class that wants me to have sights visible in low light (and with a flashlight).

For those who do NOT see value in actual night sights, why not? Seems intuitive to me that seeing the sight alignment in the dark would be helpful--but maybe it's distracting? I have no experience in night time shooting.

[g.willikers]

Night sights allow you to see the sights, not what is beyond.
Good flashlight techniques illuminate the sights, the room and most everything in between.
So if you have to go with the sights and a flashlight, there's no harm in that.
Personally I just never saw the need for both and much prefer the flashlight.
Lots more versatile.
If you decide on having and using multiple handguns, one flashlight will do instead of needing night sights on every gun.
And if you trade or sell one, there goes an expensive accessory out the door, probably without compensation.
You might get away with just using the ones that require charging with your light for the training course - it depends on how fast they run down and how long the courses of fire are.
No harm in using them to start each drill.
When they begin to fail, just depend on the flashlight and just use your sights as normal sights.
Once you get the hang of it you will be able to see your sights just fine using the flashlight - you'll see.
Hope this helps some.

[Doc Holliday 1950]

Have to amend my last comment. What a dodo. Of course a good flashlight is perfect for very dim light or darkness. I think that after using my front ameriglo
sight during range practice, the only thing that it's good for is it makes it easier for me to shoot for range or daylight aiming. Sure beats the dickens out of trying to line up a black sight like why is a 8 Ball so hard to see in shooting Pool.

[RickB]

I'm a huge fan of shooting in the dark with night sights . . . but, you shouldn't be shooting in the dark.
If I were military or LEO, and could be sure that everything "over there" is a threat, night sights are great.
In a self-defense situation that is probably going down in your house or somewhere in public, I'd go with a good light, so you can positively ID the target, instead of night sights.
With any ambient light at all, your fiber-optic sight will still be noticeably glowing, and if it's dark enough that you can't see the sight glow, it's too dark to shoot without a light.
I've saying you, you, you, when, of course, I mean in my somewhat limited experience, "I".

[shaunpain]

Trijicon HD is the way go. They are spendy but excellent and the big orange or yellow dot in front is great if used in light. I'm unaware of any other manufacturer that makes night sights like this so they are worth the money.

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[TunnelRat]

Good night sights these days often have a ring around the front sight (often a photo-luminescent paint) that aids in daytime shooting. As for their usefulness at night, to me no they're not for complete darkness. You need to be able to identify your target and there are plenty of tragic news stories where people didn't. That said I do think there are low light situations, i.e. parking lots, where night sights can help you acquire your sights (though as mentioned fiber optics work well at that too). And yea lights work in low light too, though handhelds can take a bit longer to get ready and not everyone has a holster that accommodates a mounted light. As a secondary benefit flashlights can fail whereas tritium vials are pretty tough in terms of breakage and maybe your light goes down mid fight (I'm well aware that's quite the hypothetical but hey this is the Internet).

To me there really is no downside to having night sights and honestly the cost as compared to ammo and the price of the gun is relatively small. Divide that cost over the years they last and it's really quite minor. But if someone was strapped on funds and had money for either night sights or a light I'd tell them to get a light, handheld or otherwise.


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[BoogieMan]

Trijicon is the way to go for night sights. US made quality, no battery, no fake glow in the dark paint. The idea of a flashlight or even a laser is that you lose your advantage. If im in my home and armed I have an advantage over someone who is not familiar with my home. If I put a light on my person or my gun they know exactly where I am before I know where they are. In an outside of home experience you will not/should not be hunting someone down. If your attacked its point and shoot. If your LEO and need to find BG the flashlight becomes a better solution. Otherwise your job is to protect yourself/family until LE arrives.
Send your slide to a reputable dealer (like hp-tactical.com) who will install a sight on your slide or get the tools and sight and do it yourself. And feel confident that you have the best possible tool to protect yourself.

[TunnelRat]

If I put a light on my person or my gun they know exactly where I am before I know where they are.

Right but you still have to be able to see a target to aim at it. Maybe you have a lot of ambient light from outside of your home, but where I am it's pitch black outside. Without any source of light I have no idea what I'm shooting at and in a house with dogs and cats noises happen.

The idea also isn't to leave the light on as you move around. The idea is to use the light to scan, then move, then scan, etc., so that you aren't a walking lighthouse.

In an outside of home experience you will not/should not be hunting someone down. If your attacked its point and shoot.

Again, that person can move away and then come back, or there might be someone in the background that could look like he's an accomplice but isn't. There are reasons you'd want a light to identify what's going on around you during and after an attack (not least of all is identifying other civilians or officers arriving on foot).

It's not really a lot of effort to carry a small handheld light. Frankly even if I'm not carrying my pistol I still carry the light. I use it on a daily basis.

Otherwise your job is to protect yourself/family until LE arrives.

I agree. But what seems weird to me is you're advocating searching your house but not searching outside. I am not advocating searching your neighborhood or outside location either. But why are you searching your house? You could always shelter in place and wait for the cavalry. An easy response to that statement is you have a multi-person dwelling and need to get to those other people so that they can shelter with you. In that case I absolutely want some kind of light to make sure I can ID that person moving through the house.

[L-2]

"I'm going to take a class that teaches low-light shooting, and I need night sights for it."
Whether the class requires night sights or if it's just what you want is up to you to determine. Subsequent to taking the class, you should be able to make a better decision on night sights as to what you want rather than buying the before the class.

"I have a Springfield XD Mod.2 subcompact 9."
There are several sources for night sights, as mentioned. Having tools to remove and install them can help. Otherwise, getting someone else to install them for you can complicate the process.
Here's one source of sights: http://ameriglo.com/collections/sig-xd

I suspect the low-light shooting class will concentrate more on flashlight methods than on night-sights. Participating in the class will likely still be doable with a non-night-sighted handgun and a handheld flashlight, but do double-check ahead of time.

[BoogieMan]

Right but you still have to be able to see a target to aim at it. Maybe you have a lot of ambient light from outside of your home, but where I am it's pitch black outside. Without any source of light I have no idea what I'm shooting at and in a house with dogs and cats noises happen.
I live in a neighborhood so there is always light somewhere. Even without neighbors lights there is usually enough ambient light from moon/stars etc.. to see well enough. The idea of a flashlight makes sense. I just wouldnt hold it in front of me face. I am prepared for likely situations, not all situations.

[TunnelRat]

I live in a neighborhood so there is always light somewhere. Even without neighbors lights there is usually enough ambient light from moon/stars etc.. to see well enough. The idea of a flashlight makes sense. I just wouldnt hold it in front of me face. I am prepared for likely situations, not all situations.


I'm in a neighborhood too, but my town seems to have an aversion to street lights. I also have an astigmatism that makes my night vision less than ideal. I did a low light pistol course a while back and I realized how bad it actually is :(.

I hear you, but to me needing a light is a very likely situation for the reasons mentioned and more. Again even a small handheld light isn't overly expensive nor do they have to be bulky. When I compare the intensity of the light I can get out of some of the small lights I have to the old Maglites I have it really blows my mind how far lighting tech has come (or at least how much the cost has been reduced so that the same tech that was prohibitively expensive in the past can now be had for so little).


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