A video idea for handguns low light..

[WrongHanded]

I know some people who create YouTube content frequent THR. I'd be really interested to see a video on tritium night sights.

Do they help, and in what lighting conditions? Are some designs better than others? For example, is the Heinie Straight 8 as intuitive as they claim? Does muzzle flash make them worthless after one or two rounds? Then maybe how they compare to a RDS, or day sights but with a weapon light.

My assumption has been that because they show up in lowlight better than other irons sights, and because I can walk from broad daylight into a dark area and still see them, they must have some benefit. But I've never done live fire testing, and certainly not comparisons with a shot timer. So I thought it might be quite interesting, and I know coming up with new content isn't always easy.

 

[Pat Riot]

I don’t know if this will help in any way as I did not fire my pistol in the dark and photograph it, but this is something I put together on my Glock 45 with Tro-Glo TFX tritium and fiber optic sights. My only complaint about the sights is the white ring on the front sight. It’s harder for me to pick up now. My eyesight has changed since 2019 when these were installed. I should have gone with the TFX Pro sights with the orange ringed front sight.

 

[Pat Riot]

I forgot to mention that the pictures I compiled above were the best I could do with my iPhone in one hand and the pistol in the other. If I got the front sight focused the rear blurred out and vice versa.

 

[sgt127]

In pitch black, they are useless. Since, well..you can’t see what you are shooting at.

If you have a strong flashlight or weapon mounted light, they wash out and, you see a normal sight picture.

In low light, dusk or when the target is illuminated but you are in the dark, they work.

For me, they were generally reassuring to look down on a building search of something and seeing those glowing green balls.

Only once did I wish I’d had them, when I didn’t. It was a barricaded person. Guy walked out with his mother held hostage with a knife. They were illuminated by the glow of a street light. Barely. I had a new 1911 that I hadn’t put night sights on. And, I was in pitch black. I could not have taken a shot, with confidence, as I could not see my sights and, they were not in enough light to give me a good silhouette of my sights.

They are cheap. All my guns that I carry have at least a Tritium front sight. Why not?

Given a preference, I prefer green front and yellow rear. In a hurry, you don’t have to juggle the three balls to see which ones the front one. And, the eye is naturally drawn to the green.

If one practices enough, the front sight should be centered anyway. But..visual confirmation helps.

 

[Varminterror]

Do [tritium sights] help, and in what lighting conditions?

Dark gun + relatively dark target = tritium sights.

I personally prefer orange rear dots with a green front. Green is the brightest tritium color, and is also the most visible color to the human eye, but when all 3 are green, the rear dots are closer and seem larger and brighter. Orange is relatively weak, so the farther-away green front sight seems brighter and more prominent, and is not blown out by the rears. Note the difference in apparent size and brightness between front and rear in the photos @Pat Riot posted above - that’s distracting. And swapping to orange rear dots minimizes that effect.

 

[chicharrones]

From my limited experience, tritium is a good solution for those that can see the sights clearly. Whether that means someone with young eyes or an older feller that has his natural vision locked into to handgun sight distance.

For me at my age, the tritium needs to be fresh otherwise my eyes have a hard time using it. I've had several sets on different guns, with varying levels of ease of use.

My current examples are the front sight on my LCP Max bought new in the fall of 2022 and a brand new set with the XS big dot on my CZ PCR. The Max’s front sight with thin white ring is much harder for me to find than the XS sights.

As much as I do keep going back to tritium sights, they aren’t as good in low light to me as a red dot or even the publicly hated laser.

Edit: Pics added. I can't get these in proper focus with my phone camera. Also know that the photos make these night sights look brighter than they do to my eyes.

 

[WrongHanded]

As much as I do keep going back to tritium sights, they aren’t as good in low light to me as a red dot or even the publicly hated laser.

I finally decided to swap out the factory polymer sights on my G29 for some tritium. I have a TLR-8A on the gun which means a light and a laser, for the darker times of the year. But with summer here, I was having a hard time finding a holster to accommodate it. So it was time for a sight upgrade and a summer concealment holster that would take the gun without the light/laser.

POA/POI is something I like to have fairly close at 25 yards, maybe 1 to 1.5" high at most and preferably not below the top of the front sight. So, as I have in the past, I went with Dawson Precision for my tritium sights. That way I can just get a no-charge replacement front sight if the first one doesn't get me where I want to be on paper. The down side, is that they don't "pop" quite as much as some other tritium sights. But the rear vials appear smaller than the front when sighting, so that's a plus.

Anyhow, buying and installing those is what got me thinking about someone doing a video on it.

 

[chicharrones]

Anyhow, buying and installing those is what got me thinking about someone doing a video on it.

I think it would take a mighty good camera set up to capture tritium sights while firing from the shooters point of view.

I can tell you that my personal experience with firing tritium sights at indoor ranges that happen to be fairly dimly lit, is that I seem to shoot the sights as well as any other handgun sights when shooting in a hurry.

But reverting back to the LCP Max with small diameter front tritium with thin white ring, well I just simply lose the whole mess against the target. Which means I'm really just point shooting. I really do better with a red fiber optic front sight, which needs some ambient light, of course.

I can actually make out the XS big dot, but it is a true "cover hold". Which means if you're attempting a "head shot" at sufficient distance, the big dot front sight completely obscures the target making the shot improbable.

Blame all of the above on my vision through progressive eye glasses. There is a silver lining to it all though. If I take off my glasses, handgun sights are in perfect focus. And my eyes aren't so bad that I can't identify and hit certain targets up to 25 yards* away with those glasses removed.

*not with the LCP Max.

 

[WrongHanded]

I think it would take a mighty good camera set up to capture tritium sights while firing from the shooters point of view.

Ah, no. I was thinking more along the lines of timed and scored drills in low light, as a sort of comparison between various kinds of sights, with a focus towards tritium designs. Not so much video footage of the sights during shooting.

I figure if content creators are doing frozen mud bath tests on an array of pistol models, this should be pretty feasible.

 

[wayneinFL]

In pitch black, they are useless. Since, well..you can’t see what you are shooting at.

If you have a strong flashlight or weapon mounted light, they wash out and, you see a normal sight picture.

In low light, dusk or when the target is illuminated but you are in the dark, they work.

For me, they were generally reassuring to look down on a building search of something and seeing those glowing green balls.

Only once did I wish I’d had them, when I didn’t. It was a barricaded person. Guy walked out with his mother held hostage with a knife. They were illuminated by the glow of a street light. Barely. I had a new 1911 that I hadn’t put night sights on. And, I was in pitch black. I could not have taken a shot, with confidence, as I could not see my sights and, they were not in enough light to give me a good silhouette of my sights.

The thing I like about my night sights is that I can be in my bedroom or office with the lights out and see anything in the kitchen or living room with a clear sight picture, and without having to show myself by shining a flashlight or turning on the lights.

Even in low light situations when you can see your sights, it doesn't hurt to have a bright green dot to look at. When all I had was a Glock 30 with night sights, I was more competitive at indoor matches than outdoor.

 

[someguy2800]

I would encourage you to just try a set and see for yourself. This is one of those things that is very hard to capture on video or in photo's since digital camera's have a really hard time dealing with contrasting light and darkness. They are very effective.

 

[WrongHanded]

I would encourage you to just try a set and see for yourself. This is one of those things that is very hard to capture on video or in photo's since digital camera's have a really hard time dealing with contrasting light and darkness. They are very effective.

I think you have misunderstood the intent of the OP. But points for caring.

 

[someguy2800]

I think you have misunderstood the intent of the OP. But points for caring.

I understand you are looking for a comparison or review comparing different types, but in my opinion that is kind of like asking the internet what the best size of shoes are. Your eyes are your eyes and nobody else's so what works for someone else's eyes to focus on isn't going to mean much for you. I assume you already know what kind of sights work for you in daylight so I recommend buying a similar set of sights with green tritium vials and do your own testing in different lighting conditions, and then you will have a basis of what is working for you and what isn't and you can move on from there to try to address what isn't working.

 

[WrongHanded]

I understand you are looking for a comparison or review comparing different types, but in my opinion that is kind of like asking the internet what the best size of shoes are. Your eyes are your eyes and nobody else's so what works for someone else's eyes to focus on isn't going to mean much for you. I assume you already know what kind of sights work for you in daylight so I recommend buying a similar set of sights with green tritium vials and do your own testing in different lighting conditions, and then you will have a basis of what is working for you and what isn't and you can move on from there to try to address what isn't working.

Okay. It's not that I want someone to tell me which set of tritium sights is best for me. It's that I thought having several guys doing timed and scored testing in low light conditions, with a variety of sights, would be an interesting video and something people might enjoy.

 

[sgt127]

Okay. It's not that I want someone to tell me which set of tritium sights is best for me. It's that I thought having several guys doing timed and scored testing in low light conditions, with a variety of sights, would be an interesting video and something people might enjoy.

Ok. At close range, I’ve found he night sights make no difference. If your draw is clean and consistent, the front sight will be in the center mass of the Target.

When I’d teach a shooting school, I demonstrated, and we practiced, a perfect draw. Where the front sight came up between your eye and the target….every….single…. time.

Day three of the school, I covered their shooting glasses with Vaseline. And, had them shoot a target at 3-7-10 yards.

those who hadn’t practiced. Showed.

Up close, in low light, the Tritium confirms your sights are where they are supposed to be. If you are still fishing around for them, you didn’t do it right.

 

[trackskippy]

Ok. At close range, I’ve found he night sights make no difference. If your draw is clean and consistent, the front sight will be in the center mass of the Target.

When I’d teach a shooting school, I demonstrated, and we practiced, a perfect draw. Where the front sight came up between your eye and the target….every….single…. time.

Day three of the school, I covered their shooting glasses with Vaseline. And, had them shoot a target at 3-7-10 yards.

those who hadn’t practiced. Showed.

Up close, in low light, the Tritium confirms your sights are where they are supposed to be. If you are still fishing around for them, you didn’t do it right.

I agree, at close range, and even further than many people seem to think, you really dont need any sights, "if" you put in the time shooting that way. Most of it is already ingrained into your subconscious brain anyway. You may not be looking at your sights, but your brain is, and the other cues its gathered while you shoot in practice, so its really not "unaimed" fire.

I do like the three do night sights, as they still give you sight references across all situations, not just "dark". In lower light, shadow, dark target background, shooting "through" a suppressor, etc, you still have useable sights. Might not be the traditional "target" type alignment youre accustomed to, but there is still some decent precision there, with horizontal and vertical alignment, should you need it.

Just having that front sight alone lit (with a standard rear) and stand out is a plus, and seems to be a popular option these days. Ive really come to like the bright orange ring around the vial on the front sight too, but I still want the three dots.

those who hadn’t practiced. Showed.

This really needs to be in bold, and amazing how that works, isnt it?

It doesnt matter what kind of sights you have/use, the constant repetition of presentations in practice from how you carry the gun, low ready etc, live fire, and dry fire, ingrain things into your muscles and brain, to the point of thoughtlessness.

I think something that seems to be lost on a lot of people too is, this is all a package deal, and not just a one thing will solve all problems. Think map, compass, GPS ........ gun, sights, lights. They all can work alone, but all work much better together.

 

[sgt127]

This really needs to be in bold, and amazing how that works, isnt it?

Absolutely. The ones who didn’t practice and dry fire as much as I told them, were also “Fishing” for their night sites in low light. I’ve got them on all my carry guns. No reason not too. But, they are assuredly not a magic fix.

 

[JohnKSa]

Do they help, and in what lighting conditions?

They help when the target is dimly lit but still visible. If it's too dark to see the target, you can still aim your handgun but you don't have anything to aim at. If the target is well lit, say by a flashlight/weaponlight beam, the sights will silhouette clearly against the target and the night sight feature isn't necessary.

Does muzzle flash make them worthless after one or two rounds?

I haven't tried a lot of different ammo or different calibers, but I didn't have this issue with the low-light shooting I have done.