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Old June 18, 2018, 07:38 PM   #1
exit30
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Blacked out rear sights

New to the forum, need some insight. Just bought a Springfield 1911 Range Officer, and love this gun, but here is my question. When I test shot at the range, it was the model with the blacked out rear sight, but the one they sent me is with the 2 dot combat rear sight.

I am thinking of blacking the rear sight out as I think I preferred it that way. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome.
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Old June 18, 2018, 08:18 PM   #2
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This may seem silly, but are you sure you got the right model?

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Old June 18, 2018, 08:47 PM   #3
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I have blacked out the rear sight on several handguns, mostly J frames.
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Old June 18, 2018, 10:12 PM   #4
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Most of my autoloaders have Ameriglo Hackathorn sights.
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Old June 19, 2018, 01:13 AM   #5
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It's just personal preference. I have some guns with black rear sights, and black, Tritium or fiber optic fronts. While I have a gun or two with 3-dot sights, I admit I've never been a particular fan of that configuration......ymmv
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Old June 19, 2018, 01:49 AM   #6
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I prefer either all black or the three dot types. One I won't tolerate is the fiber optic. It changes greatly whether the sight is in sun or shade .We found it meant two clicks at 50 yds , in metallic silhouette. Going through the woods with some shade and some sun is not to my liking !
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Old June 19, 2018, 01:31 PM   #7
Dragline45
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I prefer blacked out rear to three dot, makes the front sight slightly faster to pick up. I used a little acetone and a qtip and removed the white paint from the dots on the rear sight of my S&W Shield, though I'll eventually be replacing it with a blacked out rear and a fiber optic front
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Old June 19, 2018, 03:55 PM   #8
peacefulgary
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I've been known to black out my rear sights.
Sometimes it just makes it quicker and easier to put lead on the target.
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Old June 20, 2018, 01:49 PM   #9
Gary Wells
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Previously posted by "mete"
I prefer either all black or the three dot types. One I won't tolerate is the fiber optic. It changes greatly whether the sight is in sun or shade .We found it meant two clicks at 50 yds , in metallic silhouette. Going through the woods with some shade and some sun is not to my liking !
---------------------------------------------
I own a SA TGO1 and I also found the fiber optic front sight totally worthless for indoor shooting. I had the slide milled, including milling off the front sight, had it railed and a Ultradot Matchdot II installed.
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Old June 20, 2018, 04:14 PM   #10
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The fiber-optic is used to find the front sight, not in place of it.
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Old June 20, 2018, 05:03 PM   #11
TheGunGeek
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Many people like to black out the rear sight as it's easier for them to focus on the front sight. I'm the opposite; I'm able to acquire the sight picture faster and perform better with a 3 dot sight. It's all personal preference, use what works for you. It's easy to black out the rear dot if desired.

PS - Welcome to the forum.
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Old June 20, 2018, 06:17 PM   #12
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I happen to be a big fan of F.O. front / blind tactical rear sights, shooting in or outdoors. My STI Trojan came with the Dawson F.O. front with the blind adjustable rear sights, and I’ve loved this setup since the first time I shot the gun.

And I just put a set of the CZ Custom blind rear / F.O. front sights on my 75B, and with my middle-aged pair of eyes. I feel that these new sights further improve the shootability of this pistol that was already a great shooter with the tiny stock sights.
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Old June 24, 2018, 07:34 PM   #13
exit30
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I tested the model with the all black target sight, but I wanted the one with the combat sight since it has a rail if I want to add something, the other model does not. I took the others advice and simply blacked out to rear sight, I really prefer it, lets chalk it up to old eyes All in all, I love this gun, my shooting has improved a great deal. Thanks again everyone for your input.
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Old July 7, 2018, 07:08 AM   #14
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Blacked out rear sight allows me to more quickly focus on target after recoil.
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Old July 7, 2018, 07:43 AM   #15
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I'm a fan of 3 dots myself, I find I can find it much faster and concentrate on my target more than where the sights are with white or fiber sights.
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Old July 8, 2018, 06:28 PM   #16
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Quote:
I'm a fan of 3 dots myself, I find I can find it much faster and concentrate on my target more than where the sights are with white or fiber sights.
Yep, me too. And I didn't start using them until I was 61. I find them, the three-dot sight alignment does not hinder my speed nor accuracy at combat distances out to 10+ yards.

Actually, I'm not sure how you'd use a blacked out rear in real darkness conditions...without being able to account for lateral deflection, ie. windage. In use, at speed, I find that I tend to shoot a little high when compared with my slow fire, precision shots. All of this is at or inside 10 yards.

I've never tried 'dot over dot' sights, but suspect they'd be just a hair faster, but would lack precision.

Rod
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Old July 8, 2018, 07:08 PM   #17
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Quote:
Actually, I'm not sure how you'd use a blacked out rear in real darkness conditions...without being able to account for lateral deflection, ie. windage. In use, at speed, I find that I tend to shoot a little high when compared with my slow fire, precision shots. All of this is at or inside 10 yards.
In real darkness how are you going to see the dots, unless you're talking night sights.

With a blacked our rear you can either just center the front dot (which the human eye is surprisingly good at doing) or use the old equal height, equal light adage.

I've never found any of the sight styles really lack precision. Shooting today is mostly taught as front sight focus, in which case the rear dots aren't particularly useful. The only sights I'm not a fan of are XS sights, simply because I feel the very large front sight can be limiting at distance for me personally.
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Old July 8, 2018, 09:34 PM   #18
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I have found that all black (not shiny) or three-dot sights are much more precise for slow, relatively long distance shooting for pistols, say 25 yards and longer.

Meanwhile, a big, bright orange front sight and blacked, half-moon or -rectangular rear sight are very fast for me. This is the setup I have for self-defense shooting.

Guns for other uses I keep stock or have electronic sights.
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Old July 9, 2018, 08:46 PM   #19
rodfac
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Tunnel, I was referring to real darkness, or semi-darkness where the rear sight just isn't visible...the dot is there, but not the rear sight for alignment. And I meant tritium night sights...

Quote:
With a blacked our rear you can either just center the front dot (which the human eye is surprisingly good at doing) or use the old equal height, equal light adage.
Yep, we're in agreement if there is enough light to see the rear sight for alignment. But without that amount of light, I can't ensure alignment without the dots...in my case, two on the rear, and one on the front....or for others, one on the front and one on the rear....this last interests me, but an expensive experiment that i'm not willing to fund...

Too, I find that really well blacked target sights are difficult to use with a center hold on a black target bullseye, or a really dark colored silhouette. The dots (two rear, one front) make this type of hold possible for me. (ie. front sight level with the rear sight, and the tip of the front sight centered on the desired POI). Rod
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Old July 9, 2018, 11:26 PM   #20
TunnelRat
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Yea when I do a blacked out rear I usually do a fiber optic front. A blacked out front has never worked for me.

As for enough light, if you can't see the rear sight without the tritium vials then you're likely getting close to the point of needing illumination in the form of white light, both for target identification and sighting, and in my experience at that point the white light is so bright as to render the night sights useless. That said I use a straight eight type setup with night sights on carry pistols (Ameriglo iDots). However, the only lighting condition I really find it useful in is certain parking lots where I could definitely make out a person and probably an object in his hand. If that's a place you find yourself in fairly often, and I do, then I do think tritium vials have their place. That said even just a tritium front will usually be good enough. If your front is slightly off target it will be occluded by the rear sight and to get it completely off target to the point where it is completely to the left or rear of the rear sight generally involves such a rotation of my hands that it feels unnatural.

I'm not opposed to tritium, obviously as I carry it. But I wouldn't feel too diminished with a blacked out rear and fiber front. During the day with my astigmatism it is by far the clearest sight for me.

Last edited by TunnelRat; July 10, 2018 at 10:10 AM.
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Old July 10, 2018, 07:14 AM   #21
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Good points, Tunnel...I do have a Sig P220, an old one, with the dot over dot type of sights...painted not tritium. I've wondered how it would do with tritiums; two-dot type...obviously less cluttered than the two in the rear and one on the front post.

As it is, it does ok for me, but the entire gun is nickle plated as delivered from the factory and is as bright as a quarter that's been through the washing machine. Shooting it, I get precision but it's an eye work-out to say the least. Thanks for the explanatory remarks on your take regarding dots. Rod
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Old July 10, 2018, 11:38 AM   #22
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"...the one they sent me..." You do have the option to send it back.
If you didn't specify what sights you wanted they'll(whoever they are) decide for you. Oh and Plan 'B' is to just change the rear sight. Be at additional cost though.
Plan 'C' is a wee bottle of Testor's model paint or an auto body touch up pen and cover the dots.
Mind you, you shouldn't be looking at the rear sight anyway.
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Old July 10, 2018, 11:50 AM   #23
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I have both and have used them interchangably for decades. In fact, until I saw this post, I had never really given much thought to one style over the other.

For me, aiming is about putting the blade of the front sight inside the notch on the rear sight and putting the combination on the target. That may be a little too simplistic an approach for serious target shooters, but it has always worked well enough for me.
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Old July 10, 2018, 12:17 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tunnel Rat:
...But I wouldn't feel too diminished with a blacked out rear and fiber front. During the day with my astigmatism it is by far the clearest sight for me.
Exactly, your own visual acuity is going to determine in large part which set of sights will work best for you. Once I had a chance to shoot a CZ 75B that had the CZ Custom F.O. front & blind tactical rear sights installed, I didn’t waste any time getting the same sights installed on my own 75B. Since this gun points so naturally anyway, it was a no-brainer to get these sights installed on my gun after I had a chance to try them out on someone elses. Find out what works for you & go with it.
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Old July 10, 2018, 03:36 PM   #25
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In my opinion, 3 dot is the most precise. While some may find that you can mix the front sights with the rear, you can always get a different colored front sight. I especially find this helpful for night sights. If wide the gap for the rear sight is narrow or the front post is wide, I feel it obscures the target.
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