What are your preferred sights on a defensive pistol?

[MemphisR32]

No matter the brand my preference stays the same for fiber optic front and blacked out rear.

Warren Tacticals or Dawson Precision adjustables for non red dot guns.

Red dot dot is a Trijicon RMR with Ameriglo full blacked out suppressor irons. I tried Dawson MOS irons and the design of the rear blocked 1/3 of the RMR window.

 

[dpetreikis]

What are my preferred sights on a defensive pistol?

Pretty much anything that's NOT a stock Glock sight - those things are terrible and Glock should be ashamed to still be selling pistols equipped with them after more than 20 years. I know they *work* but that doesn't mean they're not terrible.

I usually prefer some sort of tritium night sights on my carry pistols. Not really picky about what brand. Trijicon is fine. So are Meprolight and a few others. I'm not a fan of those reactive sort of glow-in-the-dark-if-you expose-them-to-light-first sights. Like, seriously... who has time in the middle of a nighttime gun fight to say, "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Timeout - I gotta charge up my sights. Can we take five and come back to this in a minute?"

Almost completely useless.

 

[D.R.SCOTT]

Tritium Sights, set up may vary on the Firearm

On my current carry, a Ruger SP101 .357 Mag with a 3 in barrel, its an XS Big Dot Tritium front sight with a in frame trench sight for the rear. Quick and easy to see

On my old carry, a Springfield XD Sub Compact in .40 S&W, I had contrasting Trijicon HD tritium sights, The front dot was green and the rear sights were red. Easy contrast and pick up with the green and the red made it stand out enough to not effect aiming speed at all ala mix ups, but it still allowed proper aiming if it was desired.

My 2 cents: The one time I actually had to use my gun for self defense, it was not my normal carry gun... but a stupid big .44 mag that I took to the range and didnt want to drive home to switch it out and miss out on a party. A party where some guy from Chicago tried to crash and wouldnt leave so he pulled out a knife and started stabbing my friends. I didn't even use the sights or aim. After that I went to the single front sight, I did Instinctive point shooting training for SD situations it took over and I didnt even think to aim down the sights like at a range.

It may sound weird at first, but sometimes aiming is not the most important thing. Trigger squeeze and grip is more important in close ranges, the best sights and proper alignment dont mean jack if a bad squeeze and loose grip throws everything off. Especially when you can put just the front sight center mass and send a tight grouping into it.

 

[rhino]

The running bowling pin dude is amazing!

He's in a very small crowd of people who have earned a perfect score at the Rogers Academy and the only one to do it from concealment. And he uses real concealment, not a special IDPA vest.

 

[Archer]

After playing around with most sights that are available on the market, I had been running either Trijicon HDs or Ameriglo Hackathorns for years. But then I started carrying with a WML, and then I took a low light course. That changed my mind completely regarding the viability of night sights. I discovered that in low or ambient light, after either the first round was fired or I actuated the WML, the tritium in the sights would completely disappear and the sights would look like a black front and a black rear. I switched to the Dawson F/O front and blacked out rear and have never looked back. This set up gives me several distinct advantages: 1) during daylight shooting I have a thin, bright front sight, making precise shots far easier than the wider tritiums. 2) the brightness of the front sight made my shooting demonstrably faster, I shaved almost a half second from draw to firing. 3) I lost nothing at night, while gaining tremendous gains for daytime shooting. On occasion the splash back from the WML off of walls and other surfaces will illuminate the F/O strip as well. I’ve been running this setup on three 19s, a 17, 34, 42, 43, a P10C, and a CZ75 for the past two years. In that time the collective round count is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30K rounds. I have yet to break a fiber optic strip, and these are all carry guns.

If you don’t carry with or use a WML, this may not apply to you. But it’s worth considering and taking a low light course if one is available.

 

[Trigger Time]

After playing around with most sights that are available on the market, I had been running either Trijicon HDs or Ameriglo Hackathorns for years. But then I started carrying with a WML, and then I took a low light course. That changed my mind completely regarding the viability of night sights. I discovered that in low or ambient light, after either the first round was fired or I actuated the WML, the tritium in the sights would completely disappear and the sights would look like a black front and a black rear. I switched to the Dawson F/O front and blacked out rear and have never looked back. This set up gives me several distinct advantages: 1) during daylight shooting I have a thin, bright front sight, making precise shots far easier than the wider tritiums. 2) the brightness of the front sight made my shooting demonstrably faster, I shaved almost a half second from draw to firing. 3) I lost nothing at night, while gaining tremendous gains for daytime shooting. On occasion the splash back from the WML off of walls and other surfaces will illuminate the F/O strip as well. I’ve been running this setup on three 19s, a 17, 34, 42, 43, a P10C, and a CZ75 for the past two years. In that time the collective round count is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30K rounds. I have yet to break a fiber optic strip, and these are all carry guns.

If you don’t carry with or use a WML, this may not apply to you. But it’s worth considering and taking a low light course if one is available.

Excellent post

 

[rhino]

My modest experience suggests that tritium sights true advantage arises when the light is such that you can clearly identify a threat, but you can't see the sights. Can't happen? Go out in a full moon or in a parking garage with crappy fluorescent lights. Any time the lighting is diffuse, it can happen. When it does, you could use a light, but it's not needed if you have night sights.

 

[dudley0]

Gabe White, and yes he is.

Also known as OragamiAK I believe...

I think he is anti-sports or some such... I always see him shooting bowling pins and tennis balls.

 

[breakingcontact]

After playing around with most sights that are available on the market, I had been running either Trijicon HDs or Ameriglo Hackathorns for years. But then I started carrying with a WML, and then I took a low light course. That changed my mind completely regarding the viability of night sights. I discovered that in low or ambient light, after either the first round was fired or I actuated the WML, the tritium in the sights would completely disappear and the sights would look like a black front and a black rear. I switched to the Dawson F/O front and blacked out rear and have never looked back. This set up gives me several distinct advantages: 1) during daylight shooting I have a thin, bright front sight, making precise shots far easier than the wider tritiums. 2) the brightness of the front sight made my shooting demonstrably faster, I shaved almost a half second from draw to firing. 3) I lost nothing at night, while gaining tremendous gains for daytime shooting. On occasion the splash back from the WML off of walls and other surfaces will illuminate the F/O strip as well. I’ve been running this setup on three 19s, a 17, 34, 42, 43, a P10C, and a CZ75 for the past two years. In that time the collective round count is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30K rounds. I have yet to break a fiber optic strip, and these are all carry guns.

If you don’t carry with or use a WML, this may not apply to you. But it’s worth considering and taking a low light course if one is available.

The 1 night course I took really taught me a lot too.

Using a handheld light I found the painted outline of the sights to be far more useful for me than either tritium or fiber optics (I tried 2 different guns in the class).

Using a WML it seemed I was just dealing with an outline either way. I couldn't really get the fiber optic sights to pop like they do in daylight using either light.

Tritium I found to only be useful in very limited lighting, when the target was illuminated.

 

[Trigger Time]

The 1 night course I took really taught me a lot too.

Using a handheld light I found the painted outline of the sights to be far more useful for me than either tritium or fiber optics (I tried 2 different guns in the class).

Using a WML it seemed I was just dealing with an outline either way. I couldn't really get the fiber optic sights to pop like they do in daylight using either light.

Tritium I found to only be useful in very limited lighting, when the target was illuminated.

I'm not a tritium blow hard. If I get them cool, I wont turn them down if they are free with a gun, but I wont go out and blow $150 on some tritium sights just because they are tritium. I know not all night sights are 150. I just got some ameriglows that are basicly trijicon HD's but they are sharper and better for me and I love the rear blacked out sight and I only paid $50 new for them. I dont have to have the same sights on every gun. I shoot with my guns and I know where I'm going to hit when I pull my trigger.
I'll pay whatever for good sights that work but I've had low light training and use and as a civilian I dont need Night Sights.
Daytime I love absolutely love fiberoptics but I really dont "need" those either. But I'm gonna use them

 

[Archer]

Excellent post

Thanks brother! Hope all is well with you man!

 

[Glock10MM]

I like contrast. If there is tritium in the rear sight, the lamps either need to be a different color than the front or dulled with a sharpie. YMMV.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[tcecil88]

I have 3 different brands installed currently. Aro-Tek, Meprolight, Trijicon. The Aro-Tek give me the best sight picture as it has a narrower front blade. The Trijicon HD's are the fastest on target with the big orange outline on the front. They all are quality sights and have good warranties. I have had Novak's in the past and were happy with them. Glock OEM's are good as well.
I would say if I were to buy a new set today, it would be the Trijicon HD's. They seem to be of the best quality and are the most secure on the pistol.

 

[Opie]

As my eyes age I find that I need Trijicon HD's or similar to pick up the front sight fast. I am getting away from standard glock/trijicon 3 dot night sights for that reason.

I am in the minority on this, but I also like the idea of a plain black rear and fiber optic front even on defensive guns. I run weapon lights on most defensive guns, so the light would shadow the sights for me. You hear that fiber optic rods can fail, and that is true. With that said, the front sight is still steel, and it will still be there if you break a rod.

FWIW I have Trijicon HD's on every gun I carry, even though the sharp corners have cut my forearm and a couple T-shirts once or twice.

 

[Leadeye]

Anything that helps me see. I like the MOS sight on my G40 but that doesn't go on everything.

 

[dudley0]

FWIW I have Trijicon HD's on every gun I carry, even though the sharp corners have cut my forearm and a couple T-shirts once or twice.

I got so tired of cutting up my shirts as well as some belly that I took a file to the edge of my carry sights. Just knocked it down a bit. I was worried that it would make a shiny spot that my eye would catch, but it didn't.

 

[Amishman44]

I like the Ameriglo Hackathorn sights on my Glock 43.

I'm finding I like the Ameriglo with the Hackathorn sights on a few of my Glock's...love the orange front sight during daylight and the green tritium for low/no light if needed!

 

[ogtruckin]

there is some really good information about sights in this thread. thank you everyone.

 

[Elmoh01]

I have these on my Gen5 Glock 17 and love them. will be putting on a set on Gen5 19

https://www.nightfision.com/

 

[breakingcontact]

to go RDS or not is the million dollar question