Night sights for S&W Shield

[BudgetBucks1]

I would love to hear opinions on everyone's preferred night sights for a carry pistol. I need some on my S&W Shield and can't seem to make up my mind. Thanks in advance.

 

[Broker]

I recently bought a set of TruGlo night sights off eBay for my M&P40C. They were very reasonably priced, $63.00, I believe. I am very pleased with them, too. They seem brighter than most, & present a good sight picture day or night. My 2¢......

 

[Old Guy]

Ditto^

 

[rcmodel]

Same here.
I had used Meprolite & Trijacon up till now.
Just decided to try the new TruGlo.

http://www.opticsplanet.com/truglo-tg13mp1a-tfx-s-w-m-p-shield-22-models-sd9-sd40-3-dot-green.html

I like them a lot.

rc

 

[spazzymcgee]

The Truglo TFO sights have both tritium and fiber optics. They are intensely visible and pick up very quickly for me. I wouldn't use them on a precision target gun, but if you're looking to see them quickly in self defense, they're hard to beat.

 

[Chuck R.]

I prefer a rather simple sight picture of a plain black rear and a front sight that stands out. For my match pistols I've gone to Dawson Precision Fiber optic front sights and their plain black rear sights.

I find that a cluttered sight picture slows me down.

For night sights I've gone with Trijicon HDs, which are a 3 dot sight, but with the rear vials plain, non-outlined. They're not cheap at about $140 or so a set, but I've used them in a Low-light class in addition to shooting at my place at dark and they work well for me.

They also have the sharp front ledge that supports one handed manipulations.

Chuck

 

[cougar1717]

Handgun sights and grips are very personal things. What one person thinks is ideal fits another terribly. For CC, I think there is a slight advantage to "circle 8" type sights, like warren tactical or ameriglo i-dot series. Whether 3 dot, circle 8, etc, as long as you can pick up the front sight, that is all you would see at close range.

 

[Winkman822]

For a carry gun like the M&P Shield, it may be worth looking into something like XS Big Dots or Straight Eights for the simple fact they'd be a little faster to line up with their slightly streamlined sight picture design.

 

[Theohazard]

I mostly pick my night sights for my carry gun based on their daytime sight picture; after all, that's when I normally shoot it. And for the daytime sight picture, I don't like anything that has any color in the rear sight. That's why I've always preferred Trijicon HDs, they have a big, brightly-colored dot on the front sight and a large black U-notch in the rear. During the day, just drop that dot into the U-notch and you're good to go; there's no color on the rear sight to distract you from the front sight, which is where you're supposed to be focusing.

The problem comes with the sight picture at night. Since you can't see the black rear sight at all in really low light, there are two tritium vials in the rear as well as one in front. But for me, the problem is that in really low light there are three glowing dots and it takes me a brief moment to figure out which one is the front sight. That's why I now prefer Ameriglo I-Dots. They are very similar to the Trijicon HDs but they have just one tritium vial in the rear. I find it slightly easier to just line up one glowing dot on top of the other at night.

 

[Broker]

As someone said, no one set-up works for everyone. Some really like the i-dot, or figure eight sights,but I despise them. If I'm trying to shoot with them, I abandon the sights altogether, & do the best I can point shooting.

 

[Chuck R.]

The problem comes with the sight picture at night. Since you can't see the black rear sight at all in really low light, there are two tritium vials in the rear as well as one in front. But for me, the problem is that in really low light there are three glowing dots and it takes me a brief moment to figure out which one is the front sight. That's why I now prefer Ameriglo I-Dots. They are very similar to the Trijicon HDs but they have just one tritium vial in the rear. I find it slightly easier to just line up one glowing dot on top of the other at night.

You know, I've consciously tried to do this (bolded), but to get the dots "out of order" actually takes effort for me from my natural point of aim to the point I can "feel" it.

Chuck

 

[Broker]

Same here...............

 

[Theohazard]

You know, I've consciously tried to do this (bolded), but to get the dots "out of order" actually takes effort for me from my natural point of aim to the point I can "feel" it.

It's not that I get the dots "out of order" necessarily, it's just that it seems to take my brain an extra brief moment to be sure they're not out of order. I'm not exactly sure what's happening, I just know that I really don't like three-dot sights, especially at night.

 

[AnselHazen]

I just put a set of TruGlo TFX on my Steyr. I tried the stock trapezoid sights for about 2 yrs and finally came to the conclusion I just can't see the white markings on them well enough to shoot effectively. So I went with the TruGlo fiber optic and tritium combination. I wanted bright in your face dots to line up and my god don't they do it. I went this route because there was no way I was sending my slide out to get milled for an RMR.

I love them, they are just what I wanted. Simple to install with a pusher. I did mine in an hour.

 

[Water-Man]

I've got a set of AmeriGlo Hackathorn night sights on my Shield.

 

[avan47]

I installed Truglo TFO sights on my shield based on advertisements of what they could do. I would not do that again if I could do it over. On the plus side, they are very high quality sights. Outdoors, they show up very well, even in low light conditions. Indoors in very low light conditions, the conditions for which you want and need night sights, they do not show up very well at all. It seems the fiber optic tube is blocking the light from the tritium. They are visible in complete darkness, but you need some light to be able to see a target, and it seems that any light washes out the tritium.

I have XS Bigdot 24/7 sights on a Kimber, and I like them alot. They are not target sights, the rear sight is a shallow V, the same as should be on an express rifle for hunting dangerous game. The rear sight does not block out the front sight, and they are very fast on target. The big dot is white, and very visible in most lighting conditions. the front tritium insert is a green dot, and the rear insert is a green vertical bar, so your sight picture in very dim light is to dot the i - very fast and not confusing at all. Note that only the 24/7 series has both fromt and rear tritium inserts. There is a Bigdot sight that does not have tritium in the rear sight, and both are available for the Shield.

Be aware, the factory sights on the Shield are extremely tight. You will need a sight removal and installation tool, or pay a gunsmith to install them. I expected the Truglo replacements to be a little looser, and go in easier. Not so. I didn't bother using the set screw that comes with the rear sight, since no force short of something that would destroy the gun is going to move the sight.

XS sights advertise that their sights are easier to install than factory sights. I had no trouble installing them on my Kimber. When I replaced the sights on my Shield, I was not aware that the Bigdot 24/7 series was available for the Shield. they are my first choice for a defense pistol.