I never thought I'd ever ask this.......

[Antihero]

Ok so a little background here. I wear glasses and without them my vision is very bad, so bad im not gonna tell you exactly how bad, but lets just say that without my glasses i cant see the front sight well enough on rifles, shotguns, or pistols to be totally sure of my accuracy with said gun.


A couple of nights ago i was getting ready for bed and was looking at my Hi Point carbine that i bought awhile back and i shouldered it, looked down the sights and thought "You know ive always liked these sights". I looked thru the sights for a second or 2 and put it down. I then realized...


I wasnt wearing my glasses and i could see the front sight!

Im not entirely sure why this is happening but i have to say i like it!

So fast forward to today where i pick up a gun magazine that did a review on the Hi-Point compact 9mm pistol and it mentioned that they are now available with peep sights/ghost ring sights. A little light bulb appeared above my head, so here is the question that id never thought id ask..


How good is the Hi-point Compact 9mm? What do you think about the peep sights?

Disclaimer: i am aware that Hi Point pistols are fugly. I am aware that the slide looks like a misshaped moldy Twinkie that weighs several pounds. I am aware that they are mostly GSO's (gun shaped objects). I am aware that they are cheap, i have plenty of guns and enough money to buy better, but i want to try peep sights on a handgun without spending loads of money.

 

[Mjoilner1911]

Well......
The high point pistols are all you said and more.....if looking for simply a "sight test platform" and not a defensive handgun, go for it. i've put about 300 rounds through one in 9mm and it chambered and fired ok with fmj ammo, but accuracy was pretty dismal. i'd check out the brownells catalog and see if you can find sights of that style for a gun you allready own. or check out XS sights 24/7 big dot tritium sights. Not a peep sight but the double size front sight is hard to miss.


just my .02

 

[brentwal]

My High Point in .45 has worked every time I pull the trigger. I wear glasses as well and I did notice a little better sight picture with the peeps.


Disclaimer: i am aware that Hi Point pistols are fugly. I am aware that the slide looks like a misshaped moldy Twinkie that weighs several pounds. I am aware that they are mostly GSO's (gun shaped objects). I am aware that they are cheap, i have plenty of guns and enough money to buy better, but i want to try peep sights on a handgun without spending loads of money.

 

[Antihero]

if you can find sights of that style for a gun you allready own.

Ive done a short search and havent found peep sights for the Ruger p Series or GP100, but my connection is very slow tonight on Brownells and search so i might be wrong there.

check out XS sights 24/7 big dot tritium sights. Not a peep sight but the double size front sight is hard to miss.

Im fairly certain that i could have a small monkey holding a flare on the front of my gun and i still couldnt see it. The thing is, is big isnt necessarily good, as it blurs into a big blob. I think that the ghost ring sights combine a thinner blade with a large sight picture with the ring.

I wear glasses as well and I did notice a little better sight picture with the peeps.

Im not worried about the picture while wearing my glasses, its when im not wearing them is what what id like to find out about.

The high point pistols are all you said and more.....if looking for simply a "sight test platform" and not a defensive handgun, go for it.

It would mostly be that, BUT, and this is a big but, if i can see the sights without my glasses it would be very valuable to me as a beside-my-bed gun. Right now i can point shoot my p-85 well enough to feel safe, but being able to see the sight would be great.

If and i stress if,the Hi Point is accurate and i fire a couple hundred rounds thru it without any reliability issues and the sights are good enough, i could see it as a defence weapon.

 

[brentwal]

Ok, I pulled out the High Point .45 and did some testing.

Standard 3 "dot" sights
With glasses - the sights were easy to make out even with only my computer monitor for light and using a flashlight worked well.

Without glasses - worked ok until lights got dimmer (lights are on a dimmer) but still worked fine with a flashlight.

Standard rear sight reversed with only orange front sight
With glasses - worked best (in some ways better then the 3 "dot") in bright light, but not as well as the 3 "dot" in low light, still working well with the flashlight.

Without glasses - same thing as above, works better in bright light, the 3 "dot" setup gives you something to line up in lower light, flashlight is the same.

Peep sight
With glasses - much easier to keep on target, even in low light (a little glow in the dark paint or trinium front sight and your uptown), flashlight test is perfect, easy to keep track of front sight.

Without glasses - same thing as above

Conculsion
The peep sight makes it easier to keep the front sight on target. It might not let you shot the X out of the bull, but if MORE then enough for BGs. YMMV

 

[RyanM]

I suggest getting a gun made out of actual steel, and putting on a set of Big Dot night sights.

 

[Antihero]

I suggest getting a gun made out of actual steel, and putting on a set of Big Dot night sights

Again, big dot bad, unless the back sight is huge basically...

Im fairly certain that i could have a small monkey holding a flare on the front of my gun and i still couldnt see it. The thing is, is big isnt necessarily good, as it blurs into a big blob. I think that the ghost ring sights combine a thinner blade with a large sight picture with the ring.

As for a gun made out of actual steel i agree, but i dont know if there is a major brand gun that has Ghost ring sights available for it that can be had for somewhat cheap. If someone has a suggestion of one im all ears, im definatly not set on a hi-point.

Ok, I pulled out the High Point .45 and did some testing.

Standard 3 "dot" sights
With glasses - the sights were easy to make out even with only my computer monitor for light and using a flashlight worked well.

Without glasses - worked ok until lights got dimmer (lights are on a dimmer) but still worked fine with a flashlight.

Standard rear sight reversed with only orange front sight
With glasses - worked best (in some ways better then the 3 "dot") in bright light, but not as well as the 3 "dot" in low light, still working well with the flashlight.

Without glasses - same thing as above, works better in bright light, the 3 "dot" setup gives you something to line up in lower light, flashlight is the same.

Peep sight
With glasses - much easier to keep on target, even in low light (a little glow in the dark paint or trinium front sight and your uptown), flashlight test is perfect, easy to keep track of front sight.

Without glasses - same thing as above

Conculsion
The peep sight makes it easier to keep the front sight on target. It might not let you shot the X out of the bull, but if MORE then enough for BGs. YMMV

Thank you very much! this helps me considerably.

If you dont mind me asking is your vision on the bad side of the spectrum without your glasses? Im close to a cave dwelling flying rat in the vision department myself without my glasses.

 

[brentwal]

If you dont mind me asking is your vision on the bad side of the spectrum without your glasses? Im close to a cave dwelling flying rat in the vision department myself without my glasses.

Bad, but not that BAD. I can stand about three feet away from my 17" monitor (1152x864 res) and read this, but it very blurry, at 2' it just fuzzy.

 

[Powderman]

Brent, try this out:

Visit your gun shops and try to find a pistol with Ashley Express sights. Give these a shake.

Also, take a look at the sights on a Mossberg with ghost-ring sights mounted. You might be pleasantly surprised.

 

[wally]

Considering the cost of the HiPoint vs. what a gunsmith would charge to install and the cost of the ghost ring/peep sights, it might actually make sense as a way to see if these sights really work as well as you hope before changing out a gun you might regret having done so later.

--wally.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Antihero,

This is curing the problem from another direction.
My eyes are 69 years old. Not really all that bad but I've been wearing tri-focals for years.
The center lens is focused at a little more than arms length for seeing the computer monitor, aircraft instrument panel and the pistol sights. This works pretty good for shooting.

The last several years I've become a big fan of (good) lasers on pistols and shotguns, like the Crimson Trace Laser grips and Streamlight TLR-2 laser/light.

Without going into a big thing, with a little practice here's what you can expect to do without glasses with a laser in darkness or near darkness, with the laser equipped pistol.

If you can see well enough to see the Red Dot, daylight or dark, you will hit the target.
(like all other shooting you must know what you are doing and it takes practice to use a laser well)

 

[Robo_Railer]

I was wondering if the rear sight ring is acting like that thing with all the little holes that the optometrist tries in front of each eye when figuring out what your prescription should be. "Is this better . . . or worse?" I never notice much difference with that, but it might be what's happening in your situation.

For those who saw my mention of stick-on bifocals in another thread (I think it was in "Safety glasses while hunting?" in Shotguns), I've received most of the "parts" from SafetyGlassesUSA. Haven't done any testing yet, but I'm going to find out which of the reusable lenses is best for me on handgun and shotgun sight pictures.

No optometrists on THR?

Disclaimer: i am aware that Hi Point pistols are fugly. I am aware that the slide looks like a misshaped moldy Twinkie that weighs several pounds. I am aware that they are mostly GSO's (gun shaped objects).

Priceless!

 

[Antihero]

Visit your gun shops and try to find a pistol with Ashley Express sights. Give these a shake.

Also, take a look at the sights on a Mossberg with ghost-ring sights mounted. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I just looked at the ashley sights and im intrigued, ill have to find a pistol with them.

I love ghost rings on shotguns, although at the moment i dont have one to test without my glasses.

Considering the cost of the HiPoint vs. what a gunsmith would charge to install and the cost of the ghost ring/peep sights, it might actually make sense as a way to see if these sights really work as well as you hope before changing out a gun you might regret having done so later.

--wally.

Exactly! Im perfectly happy with the sights on my rugers with my glasses so id really like not to change the sights. Hi-Points seem to be around $130 new here and i just wrote Hi Point to see if the ghost rings fit their older pistols. Worst case scenario is that i get a gun for the price of the ghost ring sights, best case scenario is i get a cheap gun with sights i like.

Antihero,

This is curing the problem from another direction.
My eyes are 69 years old. Not really all that bad but I've been wearing tri-focals for years.
The center lens is focused at a little more than arms length for seeing the computer monitor, aircraft instrument panel and the pistol sights. This works pretty good for shooting.

The last several years I've become a big fan of (good) lasers on pistols and shotguns, like the Crimson Trace Laser grips and Streamlight TLR-2 laser/light.

Without going into a big thing, with a little practice here's what you can expect to do without glasses with a laser in darkness or near darkness, with the laser equipped pistol.

If you can see well enough to see the Red Dot, daylight or dark, you will hit the target.
(like all other shooting you must know what you are doing and it takes practice to use a laser well)

Unfortunatly im relatively sure that i cant see a red dot without my glasses , ill definatley give it a try though.

Dont get me wrong my vision is corrected to 20/15 with my glasses, but it would be nice in an emergency to be able to have a gun that i could use without my glasses, say like if im woken up and dont have time to find my glasses.

Thanks for all the responses do far, they are really helping!

 

[Antihero]

I was wondering if the rear sight ring is acting like that thing with all the little holes that the optometrist tries in front of each eye when figuring out what your prescription should be. "Is this better . . . or worse?" I never notice much difference with that, but it might be what's happening in your situation.

Im not sure, but thats definatly a possibility. I was kinda thinking that looking thru the small back ring was forcing my eyes to really focus on the front I really dont know though. Hopefully an optometrist will chime in.

 

[brentwal]

Visit your gun shops and try to find a pistol with Ashley Express sights. Give these a shake.

I googled Ashley Express sights and they looked strangely fimilar.

Charles Daly's HP have that sight standard.

I guess my first HP might be a CD.

 

[RyanM]

If you're looking for a good home defense I'd suggest sticking a red dot scope on one of your existing guns (if any are suitable for home defense). Scout mount, if it's a long gun. My vision is somewhere around 20/2000, and I can't even see the gun in my hand at arm's length, just a black blob on top of a beige blob. But red dots work great. Just put that bright red blob center mass on the blob with the shiny blob in his blob.

A Millett red dot scope would run you about as much as a Hi Point would.

You also may want to start practicing point shooting every range visit, with and without glasses. Most times, I can get all my shots within 1" of each other, centered on the target, at 5 yards, with each individual shot being fired from the draw. With glasses. Without, it's more like 6", but that's still about the size of center mass.

 

[Clipper]

I have a Williams firesight hooded ramp & fiberoptic bead front, and peep rear sights on my MKII. I can guarantee you will not lose sight of the front sight if there is any light left in the day, and I simply unscrew the small apperture and use the larger threaded section as a ghost ring. Simple & accurate. If, unlike the Ruger, there is no dovetail or suitable surface for screw or solder-on mounting, I have made peep sights for handguns by grinding a section of hacksaw blade to shape with a drilled-through hump to replace the rear sight blade. However, I have recently mounted a reflex type red dot on my Hi-Point carbine, and it instantly became the big favorite-to-shoot gun in my battery...Everyone loves it, as it's the easiest to shoot accurately by even first-timers. As I get older, my visual accuity is failing, making iron sights start fuzzing on me, so I have to go to at least peeps. Some day I'll probably have red dots on all my 200-yard & under guns.

 

[armoredman]

I shot the CCW qualification course without my glasses, (I can't read the monitor from 2 feet, much less three! ), and I qualified 100%. Years of shooting the same gun help. I like the red dot idea, like that a lot!

 

[JohnKSa]

Good news and Bad news

Good news and Bad news...

Good news: A small aperture will help correct vision problems because it restricts the passage of light to the eye which increases the depth of focus. There's probably a better explanation somewhere on the web.

Bad news: The aperture needs to be fairly close to your eye to work properly. The peep/aperture sights for pistols work ok as a novel version of iron sights (sort of like an extreme buckhorn sight) but they don't offer the same benefits that an aperture on a long gun does.

 

[Antihero]

I googled Ashley Express sights and they looked strangely fimilar.

Charles Daly's HP have that sight standard.

I guess my first HP might be a CD.

Thats good to know, ill look around and see if i can find one. I wont buy it as im not a fan of the Hi Power though.

If you're looking for a good home defense I'd suggest sticking a red dot scope on one of your existing guns (if any are suitable for home defense). Scout mount, if it's a long gun. My vision is somewhere around 20/2000, and I can't even see the gun in my hand at arm's length, just a black blob on top of a beige blob. But red dots work great. Just put that bright red blob center mass on the blob with the shiny blob in his blob.

Well my vision isnt quite that bad so if it helps you it will help me. Thank you, ill look into them.

You also may want to start practicing point shooting every range visit, with and without glasses. Most times, I can get all my shots within 1" of each other, centered on the target, at 5 yards, with each individual shot being fired from the draw. With glasses. Without, it's more like 6", but that's still about the size of center mass.

I do practice point shooting with my P85 and i get groups at around 4 inches at around 7yds, but i can easily halve that with my glasses. Im sure it is still good enough for center of mass, but id like to be able to shoot as good as i can.

Good news and Bad news...

Good news: A small aperture will help correct vision problems because it restricts the passage of light to the eye which increases the depth of focus. There's probably a better explanation somewhere on the web.

Bad news: The aperture needs to be fairly close to your eye to work properly. The peep/aperture sights for pistols work ok as a novel version of iron sights (sort of like an extreme buckhorn sight) but they don't offer the same benefits that an aperture on a long gun does

Thats discouraging, ill probably still try pistol ghost rings out to see if there is any improvement.

 

[CajunBass]

I like the ghost ring sight on my C-9 High Point. I had looked into getting some for some of my other guns. Found this site.

http://www.xssights.com/store/handgun.html

 

[New_geezer]

Regards the Hi-Point, you know all about them good and bad. If the cost is not a big deal for you, why not. I've made worse purchases for that amount of money, you and most everyone else probably have too. You seem pretty capable of determining whether you can accept the cost. It's not like a huge investment.

Unfortunatly im relatively sure that i cant see a red dot without my glasses , ill definatley give it a try though.

Many sets of older eyes have found a red dot scope a God send. You don't need to take your glasses off - in fact you shouldn't - in fact you don't have to keep one eye closed to use one. It's meant for using both eyes opened. The beauty of a good red dot is you don't even have to be directly aligned behind the scope to hit the target; if you can see the target thru the scope and you can put the red dot on it - your shot will go true (assuming you're sighted in of course. And red dots come with variety of fields of vision, and optical sight patters from simple red dots, cross hairs, circles, and they all work the same way. Red dot scopes are an amazing little piece of optical hardware practically made for guys with your vision problems.