Night Sights...Yea or nay...and which are best?

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Snarlingiron

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Ok, at the risk of being thoroughly lambasted for asking a question that has already been beaten to death, I am exploring night sights.

I have taken 2 pistol courses where 2 different instructors had little use for night sights. However, my advancing age and declining vision make me think that for me, at least, they are a good option.

I recently bought a Glock 29 with Glock factory night sights on it. In darkness, they work ok. However, I went to the range on Sunday and discovered that in the dim light of the range, the tritium vials did not show up, and neither did the white outline on the front sight. In fact, I had to search for it. Not a good situation for self defense.

So, I have looked online at the following:

Truglo TFO's. Sexy, but they are huge. The rear is also a "no snag" design. Not a deal killer, but I have trained to use the rear sight to cycle the slide.

Meprolite They make the Glock sights I think. Enough said

Trijicon Pricey, but the look just like all the rest.

Ameriglo Have seen good reviews in one of the gun rags. Not sure that is indicative of anything other than advertising dollars spent.

XS 24/7 (Why hasn't somebody sued somebody?) Not a big fan of the Big Dot system.

So, bottom line, I am looking for some input. I need something that is highly visible in bright - mid - and low light conditions. I will be installing them myself, so ease of installation is a consideration, but first and foremost, I have to be able to see the darned things!

With all that said, I do pretty well with the standard factory sights, even at night, as long as I have a flashlight. I use the FBI flashlight technique.

So, yea, nay, and if yea, which ones do you recommend, and why?
 
I haven't heard that Meprolight makes night sights for glocks. How old was your glock and are you sure they are night sights? After about 6 years they'll be half as bright as when new but they should still show up.
The reason I ask was because on my Glock 26 i had factory non-night sights and obviously couldn't see anything in the dark. (ETA nevermind, I re-read your post and saw that they worked in darkness) I had meprolights installed and you can easily see the things from across the room as long as you are on the correct end of the gun. I have Trijicons on a springfield XD and honestly I can't tell any difference so considering the mepros cost about half as much I'd go with those.
I don't like the look of the huge dots either but haven't tried them so I can't comment on those.
Make sure you get actual tritium powered night sights. Some use fiber-optic sights that need at least a little light to see and are quite long (cue the people that say you can't shoot if there is no light anyway).
I think they all install the same way. I didn't install them because I bought them at a gun show and the seller was an armorer so he installed them for free but it looked easy enough. Front is a simple deal (remove plastic stake from the underside and pull it out, install the new one with a nut). Rear requires pushing/tapping into the dovetail. You might want to use a sight pusher because I have heard concerns about causing tritium vials to leak from hammering on them with a punch but IMO if it can handle the recoil of a slide that shouldn't be a problem as long as you are tapping it instead of beating up your slide with sledge.
 
I have Trijicon tritium sights on my new Sig P228, and I already love em. I can turn all the lights off in my bedroom and still see them just fine, which would be good in shadowy quasi-darkness of one's living room. Obviously you couldn't aim correctly in pure pitch black with anything, but they would be perfect for the kind of darkness you experience when retrieve a midnight snack...basically dark, but you can see shadows or dark lumps. Between these Lasergrips and the Tritium sights, I've been walking around the house drawing-down on every lamp and suspicious-looking chair in sight just to get a feel for the draw of this gun. Unloaded of course. BTW, the Trijicon sights are flat vertically, and work well for a one-handed charge of the slide on a table or whatever, in case you were wondering.
 
I've owned most brands, including MMC nites.
Far prefer the Tru-Dots.

tru14.jpg
 
I have Ameriglos on my M&P. They are very good sights. I have the green front and the yellow rears. I paint the front sight red. It gives better contrast and ability to find the front sight in daylight and as the light fades the dots become more evident while the redness becomes irrelevant. Its the best sighting setup I've used yet. The Ameriglos have a nice big rear notch and allow a good view of the front sight. I like to see a LOT of the front sight with a lot of light around it.
 
I, too, thought Meprolight made the stock "Glock night sights." Anyways, I've had Glock night sights, Trijicons, and Heinie Straight-8 night sights on different handguns of mine. IMO the Glock night sights are superior to Trjicons. The Trijicon sights have smaller, but more defined dots when they glow. The Glock sights are great IMO. They are very visible in all light conditions, and I find them to have very big dots when in low light or no light conditions. When in broad day-light, the dots appear to be big and white to my eyes.

Now the Heinie straight-8s are my favorite, but definitely more expensive. The sight picture is superior to the others, but they don't have big white dots around the tritium viles, so this might affect the way your eye catches the front sight in day-time conditions. At night though, they are my favorite. Lining up the 2 dots is easier than lining up 3 dots without a doubt. I still think they offer the best sight picture all-around.

I don't know why you aren't satisfied with your factory Glock night sights. I think they are as good as it gets for a 3-dot setup.

(I'm not a fan of the big-dots or 24/7 sights, or Ameriglo sights for that matter. Novak, however, makes a great sight but I haven't actually owned a set on any of my guns so I won't comment on them.)
 
I have a set of mepro adjustables on my g21. In low light they are great and at night they really work nice. I have heard lots of people say that "cops dont like them so they suck" or "they are worthless", I disagree. I live in a rural area and about 2-3 times a month I have to dispatch a pest animal at night on my back deck or right near it. In low light or night time my night sights are fantastic. As long as its light enough to see the outline of the animal, I can drill it. If its so totally dark I cant, a flashlight on the animal and I can still see my three dot sights brilliantly. As far as daytime useage, they are just like any 3 dot white sights. As an advantage, I use my g21 for competition, and the small front sight makes it great for accuracy shooting and quick acquisition.
 
I like Meps the best. Ameriglo are nice and brite, but had issues with the plastic rings crumbling apart. Meps do look like factory glock night sites, as they both cover the white ring with clear plastic making them easy to clean.:)
 
I don't think you are going to find any night sights as bright as you are wanting. IMO night sights are only bright enough to see when its too dark to see who you are trying to kill.
 
I was never interested in night sights until last year when I got an incredible deal on some Trijicons for my S&W 3906 -$29.99 (I paid a gunsmith $25 to install them so as not to void the warranty). I figured that price was low enough to take a chance and try them out. I was very impressed. I recently put some Meprolite sights on my Sig P225 ($80 installed) and find them to be equally impressive.
 
I don't think you are going to find any night sights as bright as you are wanting. IMO night sights are only bright enough to see when its too dark to see who you are trying to kill.
Click to expand...

I probably didn't state it very well, but I'm not expecting to see the sights glow in bright or even marginal (dusk) light. I just want a white (or whatever) outline that I can see under these conditions.
 
After owning them I would never have anything else on a carry or HD pistol.
They really do make a huge difference in very low light. Many folks will argue that "if the light is that low you can't ID your target and shouldn't be pulling the trigger anyway," but it does not have to be that dark for them to make a difference. Even in dim light that is still enough to ID your target, your sight acquisition will be a lot faster and more positive.

Jason
 
Snarlingiron, are you sure you got "Glock" night sights ? (which are Meprolite)....Glock installs trijicon night sights on some pistols and these are not as useable (to me) in more than low light conditions due to less white around the tritium vial....the (Meprolite) "Glock" night sights appear as three white dots in the lighter conditions and work fine on my G26. I also have the Tru-Glo fiber optic night sights on a G17 and they look like they are "ON" all the time - real easy to pick up in any light.
 
All of my self or home defense guns have night sights. Well all but one, I haven't put one on my SP101 yet but intend to. I have a mix of Meprolight and Trijicon. While both are good I definitely prefer the Meps. They seem easier to pick up in any range of light.

The glow on the bedside dresser is quite comforting either way.
 
One other thing I meant to mention earlier, I have found that the yellow rear/green front combo helps focus on the front sight a bit more than all green. At least for me. The difference is not earth-shattering, but if the cost is the same, I'd rather have the Y/G combo. Not everyone's eyes are the same I suppose, but it really helps for me. The flip side to it is that yellow supposedly is harder to see as the vials start to fade. I haven't seen this yet personally, as none of mine are that old.

Jason
 
....the (Meprolite) "Glock" night sights appear as three white dots in the lighter conditions and work fine on my G26.
Click to expand...
What that guy said is what I was trying to say. You shouldn't have a problem seeing the massive white dots that the Glock night sights offer in day-time use. I also agree that the Trijicons don't offer a large enough white ring around the tritium. I think the Meps (Glock) are superior in every way to the Trijicons. Besides the Heinie straight-8s, I'd probably go with Meps every single time.
 
I didn't think much about night sights until I got my CZ with (I think) Trijicons. They are bright! At night you could find the gun from 20' away. I notice them glowing when I open the safe. Now I wish my other guns had sights as bright.
 
I also have the Tru-Glo fiber optic night sights on a G17 and they look like they are "ON" all the time - real easy to pick up in any light.
Click to expand...


This is exactly why I like the TruGlos. In bright light they appear as 3 green dots. In low light they're slightly brighter than normal and in complete darkness (as complete as you can get with ambient light in suburbia) they glow clearly.

They really are able to function well in all levels of brightness which is something I haven't found in Trijicons.
 
I've used pretty much everything listed here. In the end I've found that as far as standard 3 dot night sights go, most everyone of the big names makes a decent usable product. The XS 24/7 big dots are exteremly fast, but you'll have trouble winning a bullseye match with them. Tru-Glo TFO's probably are the brightest in ANY lighting conditions thanks to their fiber optics and titrium.

I've gone back and forth between XS and TFO's on my primary duty weapon, and at the moment the XS are on my weapon. The main reason is that the front fiber pipe of the TFO's shots loose in about 3-4K rounds, and I get tired of going to the local cop shop to get them replaced every 3-6 months. If you don't shoot as much, they are great sights. The XS of course doesn't have that issue, and they are faster then conventional sights.

-Jenrick
 
The main reason is that the front fiber pipe of the TFO's shots loose in about 3-4K rounds,
Click to expand...

I've put about 1000 rounds through my G27 and haven't had any issues...is this something you've seen is inherent with the Truglos, or with a particular firearm?

So far, mine's as tight as the day they were installed, and it's my primary carry weapon.
 
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