Night Sights

[luzyfuerza]

My carry guns all have TFX tritium/fiber sights. The tritium inserts are a big help in low-light conditions where a flashlight may not be necessary to identify a target but seeing regular sights is difficult. They are also somewhat useful in very dark conditions, but this benefit disappears once a flashlight is turned on.

The fiberoptic inserts have been durable and effective through thousands of rounds fired through my guns.

 

[george burns]

I find that fiber optic are great during daylight or even low light, but in darkness, you have to have at least a front night site, otherwise you are just guessing where the front sight is, and although I also have a light/laser on my night time carrys, you may not want to light up a room or even an outdoor situation and give away your position. One thing you all know is you have to see it before shooting it, "whatever it is". So no sight will help you if you can't see the target, so once again, at least a front NS, a Tac light and or weapon light /laser for dusk till Dawn.

 

[Flechette]

I do not use night sites as they will eventually expire.

My night set up is a laser on the gun and a separate flashlight so I can illuminate things without pointing a gun at it.

The only downside is that it requires two hands (gun and flashlight) but today's flashlights can be so bright and so small that you can easily do things like turn a door knob and open the door with the flashlight in your hand.

 

[Warp]

I do not use night sites as they will eventually expire.

My night set up is a laser on the gun and a separate flashlight so I can illuminate things without pointing a gun at it.

The only downside is that it requires two hands (gun and flashlight) but today's flashlights can be so bright and so small that you can easily do things like turn a door knob and open the door with the flashlight in your hand.

...but batteries expire far, far, far, far sooner than night sights, and might do so unpredictably...

 

[Stony]

In my opinion, night sights can be really over rated as far as being all important for night use. I do have them on quite a few of my handguns, but only actually have used them on one I carry hunting with me....a .40 Cal Glock that also has a light attached to it.
I hunt quite a bit for hogs at night and occasionally have to finish off a hog or shoot a coon with it. They might be better for man sized targets, but shooting for any precision in very dark situations is a real challenge as far as I have seen. Trying to pick up the dot on the front sight while aligning it with the rear sight and getting this all on the target in the dark is not a quick thing to accomplish. I have better results just using the light and ignoring the night sight dots.
Not trying to talk anyone out of them....just saying this has been my experiences with them.

 

[Flechette]

...but batteries expire far, far, far, far sooner than night sights, and might do so unpredictably...

But batteries are easily replaced.

You do not have to send your gun into Trijicon to get the batteries replaced.

 

[Darkstar888]

You don't have to send your gun anywhere to replace night sights which are good for at least 12 years.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Warp]

I have a pair of night sights from 2005. Still work. Haven't had to even consider replacing them or worry about them going dead for over a decade now.

 

[george burns]

My NS last 10-12 years, and I called Tijicon a few years ago, and get this, they will replace the vials in any of their sights, forever. You just have to send them the slide. They won't mail you a new sight blade, they will replace the radioactive element for free, you pay postage.
I called and I spoke to CS, and they couldn't have been clearer or nicer. So they are lifetime gaurantee, unless they changed policys.

 

[230RN]

The tritium sights on my SKS are WELL past their useful lives (based on a 12.32 year half-life for tritium)*.

I can make them glow again for a short period by shining a flashlight on them. This replaces the energy supplied by the radioactive decay of tritium by the energy of the flashlight's photons.

If the rifle has been stored away in the dark (regular room light re-excites them for a short while), you can just barely see them in a very dark room if (A) you know where they are in the dark in the first place, and (B) your eyes are as dark-adapted as your last day in your mother's womb.

Terry

NOTE; REFs:

* This does not mean they just quit after 12.32 years, they're just half as bright as originally. In another 12.32 years, they will be 1/4 as bright as originally. This half-life decay persists until the very last tritium atom in the sight pops its cookies and turns into helium-3, which is not radioactive.

This same process is true of the tritium-powered "EXIT" lights you see all over the place.

(This screams out for a telling of the old joke about "What happens if you start out with an odd number of tritium atoms in the first place?")

Note this atomic decay half-life is different from the biological half-life, which is the time it takes for the body to eliminate (pee, sweat, crap, exhale, or metabolize) half of whatever you're talking about. Coffee, for instance, has a biological half-life of 3 to 7 hours, depending.

And my checking account has an economic half-life of 3.962 days.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium#Self-powered_lighting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium

 

[RX-79G]

My NS last 10-12 years, and I called Tijicon a few years ago, and get this, they will replace the vials in any of their sights, forever. You just have to send them the slide. They won't mail you a new sight blade, they will replace the radioactive element for free, you pay postage.
I called and I spoke to CS, and they couldn't have been clearer or nicer. So they are lifetime gaurantee, unless they changed policys.

That's a new and radical change in policy. Trijicon re-lamping used to cost about $50 - like last month.

 

[Mike J]

I have meprolights on a couple of my pistols. They work well. One has all green dots. The other set has a green dot on the front/yellow rear. If I had it all to do over again I would go green front yellow rear or only the front. They have been on there about 10 years and are very slightly dimmer than when new but still show up well.

 

[Warp]

I have meprolights on a couple of my pistols. They work well. One has all green dots. The other set has a green dot on the front/yellow rear. If I had it all to do over again I would go green front yellow rear or only the front. They have been on there about 10 years and are very slightly dimmer than when new but still show up well.

I really like green front/yellow rear.

Problem is I REALLY like the Trijicon HD sights and I had a hell of a time getting green front/yellow rear in those. In fact, I only have a single set that is setup like that, even after contacting Trijicon and offering to pay more for a special order if they could switch the lamp color for the ones where it isn't offered. And the one I did get, I waited like two months for on backorder.

 

[Old Guy]

The all green TruGlo, are good for 12 years, but I send a slide in when they start! Going dim, not seriously dim, just a little dim.

$12.50, and send with your dime, they send them them back. They are the best.

You need to be able to see your sights! Daylight/Night.

Both eyes open.

 

[MadMurdock85]

I REFUSE to train using handgun sights. Having trained at night, you will have night blindness after the muzzle flash and be running on situational awareness. At 25 yds(as a civilian in most states you have a good bit of explaining to do past 7 yds) I do not need sights to hit a 5x7 target. A flashlight is far more useful to me.

 

[X-Rap]

Lot of difference between blackest night and low light. Lot of good can be done with sights and low light if one can see them. Total darkness that requires light will still benefit from from sights that are visible, especially the front sight.
Tritium is on all the time so if muzzle flash temporarily takes their usefulness away it's no sweat.

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[Old Dog]

I REFUSE to train using handgun sights.

Not ever? Really?

Having trained at night, you will have night blindness after the muzzle flash and be running on situational awareness.

Well, I train a bit at night myself, and don't consider what happens after muzzle flash to be "night blindness." At any rate, the point is to make one's first shots count. But yeah, a flashlight is key, for sure. I still maintain night sights have distinct usefulness in low-light situations, where there's enough ambient light to see the silhouette of one's target. It's not always pitch dark and some of us do train using our pistol sights.

 

[MadMurdock85]

Not ever? Really?
Well, I train a bit at night myself, and don't consider what happens after muzzle flash to be "night blindness." At any rate, the point is to make one's first shots count. But yeah, a flashlight is key, for sure. I still maintain night sights have distinct usefulness in low-light situations, where there's enough ambient light to see the silhouette of one's target. It's not always pitch dark and some of us do train using our pistol sights.

I use pistol sights when a customer asks me to sight one in for them, when a buddy wants to shoot for groups, or when I get a new handgun that I want to see how tight the groups can get. I modify the handguns I keep to shoot where I point. I can, under pressure/stress, keep it on an 8.5x11 at 25 yds drawing and firing 13 rds in under 5 seconds. If stress isn't involved I can keep it on the same sheet at 100 yds in about 10 seconds. Either way I think the bad guy is dead.

 

[Warp]

I use pistol sights when a customer asks me to sight one in for them, when a buddy wants to shoot for groups, or when I get a new handgun that I want to see how tight the groups can get. I modify the handguns I keep to shoot where I point. I can, under pressure/stress, keep it on an 8.5x11 at 25 yds drawing and firing 13 rds in under 5 seconds. If stress isn't involved I can keep it on the same sheet at 100 yds in about 10 seconds. Either way I think the bad guy is dead.

13 rounds into an 8.5x11 at 25 yards in 5 seconds, from the draw, no sights?

13 rounds into an 8.5x11 at 100 yards in 10 seconds, from the draw, no sights?

 

[george burns]

A flashlight won't light up your front sight, "unless you hold it behind the gun". So I don't get that argument. I would prefer to be able to light up my target and have the option of turning off the light or using a strobe. The front NS, "on all my guns the past 20 yrs, aides in seeing the front of the weapon in darkness, you can't really point shoot at something if your gun is not level, or off target, it is necessary as a reference point to see at least the front of the pistol or rifle in darkness, why anyone would not take advantage of the ability to see if they were pointing where they intended, is beyond me. Especially if there were people close enough to be hit by the gun being even a little bit off to the rt or left let alone level.

 

[MadMurdock85]

The light that filters back from the target is enough to see a front sight if one is so inclined but at under 7 yds it's hard to miss a person sized target if you even half ass keep your wits about you.

 

[JR24]

I like Ameriglo CAP night sights on all my guns. I like the mostly blacked out rear with the high contrast front sight, and the green SQUARE (not circle) is the easiest for my colorblind eyes to pick up, for whatever reason.

They do have the glowing paint also, should I take about 5 seconds to charge the front sight with my flashlight, but overall I find a flashlight better in low light myself.

I have also liked XS Big dots for the same reasons, nice high contrast easy to pick up.

 

[Warp]

The light that filters back from the target is enough to see a front sight if one is so inclined

Maybe, maybe not.

And only if there is light at the target to begin with, that won't always be the case.

Your target may or may not be the size of a person, your target may or may not be inside of 7 yards, and even if those are both true, simply hitting a "person" size target isn't necessarily particularly helpful.

 

[RX-79G]

The light that filters back from the target is enough to see a front sight if one is so inclined but at under 7 yds it's hard to miss a person sized target if you even half ass keep your wits about you.

That is absolutely not what I've experienced on a low light range.

At night your 20/20 vision becomes 20/200. The front sight is too small to accurately see with 20/200 vision.

 

[Robert]

I can, under pressure/stress, keep it on an 8.5x11 at 25 yds drawing and firing 13 rds in under 5 seconds. If stress isn't involved I can keep it on the same sheet at 100 yds in about 10 seconds.

We'd love to see this in action, maybe a video is in order. That is some world class shooting.