Anyone else prefer fiberoptic front sights to tritium?

With my old eyes, I *LOVE* my fiber optic front sights, but I do love the night sights on my self-defense pistol.

Not I. I've never favored FO sights in any format, and certainly not over tritium. I don't like "black on black" patridge sights, I prefer to have some added contrast, but if I'm looking for illumination, I prefer tritium over FO. The Tru-glo TFO's are an interesting blend which let a shooter have their cake and eat it too.

Replacing tritium sights every 10 or 12 years doesn't bother me.
I do have tru-glo sights on one gun, they are very nice.

The fiber optic front sight on my Para 1911 broke. I haven't bothered with it yet because a portion of the fiber is still there so I still get some visibility. When it goes altogether I'll likely replace it with something else.

I've used neither fiber optic or tritium. I'd pick fiber optic if I were to choose between the two.

I think some has to do with perspective. If you're in your 20's or early 30's, and/or you go through guns every couple of years, a 12 year life span for tritium sights may seem like an eternity. In addition, if all your guns are Glock's, and you can just pop the sights in or out by yourself you may have a more favorable view point on tritium sights.

On the other hand, if you don't have any guns that are newer than 12 years old, and you may need the services of a gunsmith to install them, tritium may be a lot less attractive.

Tom Givens has done a bit of writing on the need, or rather the lack of need for tritium sights, as have several other trainers. Admittedly, there are a bunch that recommend them, but there are enough that don't, that means they've thought the issue through and come to a reasonable conclusion they aren't needed. If you think you need them, go for it. However, I think most would be just fine without them.

I love fibre optic sights, but they're not very effective in low-light conditions, if there's no overhead lighting, or if you've can sort of see the target but you're in the dark. Tritium sights work in any lighting situation, but aren't as good as fibre-optic sights when lighting is bright. As someone else said, if carry or self defense is you concern and you have to choose between the two, tritium is the way to go. For other things, you'll probably find fibreo-optics better. But...

There are sights out there that use both tritium vials and fibre-optic rods -- which gives you the best of both worlds. (In the dark, you see the tritium through the fibre-optic rods, and in brighter light the fibre-optics do their normal thing. That may be the best the way to go for a carry/self-defense weapon...and it works in all other situations, too. (And, if you get some replacement fibre-optic tubes when you buy the sights, you don't have to worry about the fragile f/o rods.)

I have fiber optic sights on my Shield, and had them on a Glock 22 before I sold it. I really like them. I have night sites on a Glock 23, but that is a bedside gun. I had to look hard, and finally found a set on Amazon, because I think Truglo has stopped making just fiber optic. That's what works for me, and cheaper than the ones with the tritium in them.

Having spent 13+ years on nightwatch, having tritium sights is a godsend. As great as they light up in daylight, fiber optic sights do need to have some light striking the tube in order to operate. So in a pitch-black space they're not any more useful than standard black on black sights. You don't always have light behind the bad guy that allows you to find sights that aren't visible in the dark, and there were many times that I did not want to illuminate myself or a partner (or give away our presence/position) by using a light or laser, so the self-glowing tritium sights work extremely well.

The tubes are also broken a bit easier than tritium inserts, as duty guns do occasionally get knocked about while in use.

With that being said, the fiber optic sight is a useful tool for most applications. If they are set in concert with a tritium dot for no-light, they should be about the perfect system for folks who like 1 or 3 dot sight pictures.

No thanks. I find FO annoying and replace them when possible.

Fiber optics are great outdoors, till late at dusk, but suck indoors. I rate them as the best front sights on an open sights hunting rifle. But on a handgun, where you have good chances to find yourself indoors, a gold bead would be more useful in low light.

In real darkness, tritium - no contest. If you don't have or don't want to use a flashlight, that is...

I heart the fiber optic sights...and honestly, see very little practical "need" for night sights other than for a "I feel tacticool cuz I got night sights on mah gun".

I worked nights for my entire career in LE. I was rarely ever in "total darkness"...and then, never really in "total darkness" because you DO carry a pair of good flashlights right???

Besides, if you're in "total darkness" you're not going to be shooting anyway because well...that whole pesky "being able to positively identify your target" thing will get in the way.

In low light...the Fiber Optic still works very well. So, I use TFO and TFX on my carry guns because the tritium actually makes the fiber optic even more usable.

I would argue, and correctly, that the need for tritium is blown far out of proportion to its actual combative value. Neither tritium or fiber optics do ANYTHING to help correctly identify a target.

Kano383 said:

Fiber optics are great outdoors, till late at dusk, but suck indoors. I rate them as the best front sights on an open sights hunting rifle. But on a handgun, where you have good chances to find yourself indoors, a gold bead would be more useful in low light.

In real darkness, tritium - no contest. If you don't have or don't want to use a flashlight, that is...

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Um...in "total darkness" without using a flashlight...are you identifying your target, pointing your gun at that target (which may be your kid) and then shooting that target using your Jedi skills and The Force?

Tritium does nothing to help identify your target.

Just sayin....don't "Use the force Luke"...use your stinkin flashlight.

I have Tru Glo TFO sights on my G17 and they are by far the brightest sights I have in daylight conditions. They are also okay in low light conditions. I'm in my 80's and they work great for me. I will add TFO sights to more of my Glocks.

I did buy a set of the Truglo TFX (FO + tritium) sights for my SIG P226, and I love them, except... they are not adjusted properly and the sight picture is off, plus the front sight is not tight in the dovetail, and keeps falling off despite my best efforts.

It is mostly a match gun, so I am replacing the Truglo's with LPA sights which are FO only (no tritium), but have an adjustable rear sight and I will have to file the front sight to install it (much preferred).

As I mentioned earlier, my SD guns all have night sights (and I have a flashlight).

Why does it have to be an either or proposition? I like both, on different guns for different uses. If I only had one gun, I'd pick fiber optic sights.

For whatever it's worth, competition practical/action shooters almost all use fiber front sights. If you have enough ambient light to make them work, they are measurably better than tritium or other inserts for that kind of shooting.

I have Truglo sights on my S & W Shield. They show up like fiber optic during the day and look like tritium night sights at night.

Creaky_Old_Cop said:

Um...in "total darkness" without using a flashlight...are you identifying your target, pointing your gun at that target (which may be your kid) and then shooting that target using your Jedi skills and The Force?

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Exactly why tritium sights are only useful for finding your gun in the dark. I am definitely in the FO camp.

Doublehelix said:

I did buy a set of the Truglo TFX (FO + tritium) sights for my SIG P226, and I love them, except... they are not adjusted properly and the sight picture is off, plus the front sight is not tight in the dovetail, and keeps falling off despite my best efforts.

It is mostly a match gun, so I am replacing the Truglo's with LPA sights which are FO only (no tritium), but have an adjustable rear sight and I will have to file the front sight to install it (much preferred).

As I mentioned earlier, my SD guns all have night sights (and I have a flashlight).

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Do this...

I like FO for competition shooting and night sights for carry guns.

Creaky_Old_Cop said:

Um...in "total darkness" without using a flashlight...are you identifying your target, pointing your gun at that target (which may be your kid) and then shooting that target using your Jedi skills and The Force?

Tritium does nothing to help identify your target.

Just sayin....don't "Use the force Luke"...use your stinkin flashlight.

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Not "total darkness", of course... Didn't think it needed mentioning. Lights off at night, most of the time you can see quite well what's moving in your backyard, provided there are no street lights blinding you from somewhere else. Here we have no street lights, and no-one is going to be exploring the house while you're snoring away: have to climb the fence wall and kill the dogs first, then cut steel bars before entering, and our houses are brick and mortar, not glued sawdust on pine frames...

We have two main breeds of night critters: silent and loud. Silent, hopes to sneak in, or steal something around the yard, usually not armed and ready to leave in a hurry. All it needs is a warning shot, and you get a departing low level cruise missile. The other kind doesn't mind making noise, and has AKs. For these, it's free season, and no bag limit. These are the ones you'd rather not tell where you are with a flashlight.

Regarding loose dovetails:

Hitting the bottom (flat part) of the dovetail with a center punch (nail set) will dent an area, but raise UP the surrounding area a bit. That's how some gunsmiths tighten up a sight that is loose in the dovetail -- as it pushes the entire sight UP in the dovetail, which
pushes the sight against the sides of the dovetail, making it tighter.

(Doing this also does not risk damaging a visible part of the slide and can be easily remedied by filing or sanding the raised areas...)

I have tru-glo TFO's on my Glock 17 and they are definitely the best of both worlds for me. Plenty bright during the day and the same at night. If they died tomorrow I'd replace them with the same.

Creaky_Old_Cop said:

Um...in "total darkness" without using a flashlight...are you identifying your target, pointing your gun at that target (which may be your kid) and then shooting that target using your Jedi skills and The Force?

Tritium does nothing to help identify your target.

Click to expand...

I've walked through my homes and found plenty of positions where my gun would be in the dark and an intruder would be in the light.

My wife is 5'3" and my son (4yrs old) is 3'7". Anyone but them shouldn't be in my house in the middle of the night... Pretty easy to rule out any those body types, even without a flashlight.