To do or not to do....Night sights.

[C/O]

Ok, I have been thinking of getting night sights for my G19. The problem is; I have limited extra cash so I have to spend money on worth while equipment.

I have went back and forth on the need for NS's. I know they could come in handy, but I also know that most self defense situations are basicly point and shoot and with in 7 to 10 yards. I have a good flashlight and train with it for night shooting for work (w/ revolver), and (w/ G19) for CCW.

I am not a cop and it will not be a duty weapon. It will, however, be my main CCW.

So give me your opinions, please.

[dfelix121]

Im in the process of researching these www.nitesiters.com I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for, but i figured i'd check. I'll let you know what I come up with.

-Doug

[glockman19]

YES get them. Night Sights are a great tool in low light acquisition.

[rcmodel]

IMO: Luminous paints, stick-on luminous dots, etc. are a useless gimmick on a combat gun.
Why?

Because they all have to be charged, or exposed to light, before they work.

CCW weapons hide in the dark!
Bedside home defense guns hide in the dark.

Will you always remember to charge them before going out, or going to bed, or before someone kicks in your door in the middle of the night?

For cheap, use Testers White model paint on the front sight.
White picks up the most available light.

For slightly more, get just a real Tritium front sight.
A front you can see is better then nothing.

Or really consider getting a Tritium sight set for your Glock from Trijacon or Meprolite.

Your initial investment, spread over the 10 - 14 year life of the radioactive elements will be less then $8.00 a year.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[Harold Mayo]

I used to have night sights on all of my firearms but I've since stopped caring about them. I've taken a lot of firearms training at night and, while they helped in scenarios in the classes, I haven't noticed that they actually help at any other time. You have to identify the target before you shoot and if you have enough light to positively do that, you should have enough light to see your front sight, otherwise you shouldn't be shooting. Force on force training has reaffirmed this.

Lots and lots of people will disagree with me on this one but I've been from one extreme to another and I just don't see the utility of night sights on a carry gun any more.

[Zak Smith]

I've come to the same conclusion as Harold. I'll take or leave tritium sights. It's more important to me that the sights be made of steel and the rear sight the right shape for one-handed manipulation.

[enfield303]

i just put a set of Mepros on my P99. charging them does not seem to be much of an issue as the bloody things are just as bright in the morning when i get up as they were when i went to bed. i keep the gun on my nightstand(the one AWAY from the door). i have woken in the wee hours wondering what the hell that glow was. yep its the Mepros.

[birdbustr]

MEPROLIGHTS. YES! GREAT QUALITY.

I have 2 sets I bought for about $80 each. For home defense and/or any night situation they show bright rear and forward sight without ruining your night vision like a light does.

[.41Dave]

I also agree with Harold and Zak, night sights are kinda nice, but not vital. If I can see my target well enough to identify it, I can also see regular sights. A good flashlight is vastly more important than night sights.

[ceetee]

I've got several areas of my home and yard set up where a motion-activated flood light will shine in the eyes of anyone entering, while anyone behind the light (namely, me) in left near-total darkness. I've found it very difficult to quickly pick up the sights by their silhouette alone. In such a situation, tritium sights would be a great assistance.

This changes, by the way, if there is some ambient light actually shining on the gun itself. Then I can generally see the sights.

[Ala Dan]

Tru-Glo TFO's work great on my Springfield XD; but I don't believe they
are curently available for all self-loading firearms~?

[LiquidTension]

The only gun of mine with night sights is my duty gun. The only time I've really found them useful is during night firing when shooting at a black silhouette target from more than 12 yards. Anything closer and you don't really need the sights anyway.

[Obiwan]

I am with Zak and Harold

Although I do think the stock Glock sites stink

[Striker]

I like them.

I find that after target identification, frontsight indexing on the target is equally important, especially if I've you're not the source of the
target illumination. Just another tool in the box.

As always, YMMV

[saltydog452]

I'll use all the help that I can get. That includes sights that I can see.

I don't know, but I think the folks who advocate larger, more visable sights will tend to be folks whose eyesight has started to dim.

It'd be kinda awkward to call for a 'time out' so the attacker will allow you to find and put on your reading glasses.

Its also kinda conforting when you wake up at dark thirty and you see that little green glow that lets you know exactly where you are in relation to where the pistol is.

salty.

[trueblue1776]

Nightsights are cool and useful to some folks, but for myself, the advantages have been grossly overstated. Plus I hate knuckleheads with tools touching my guns, and I'm not entirely sure I would notice any sights on my pistol in a gunfight.

[C/O]

Thats my thinking also. Where I work we train point shooting. The only time we use the sights is from 50 feet or more.

[Dbar111]

I was just at the range a couple days ago and wished i had nightsights on my G19. It wasnt impossible to see at dusk, but it would have been better with nightsights. Now its going to cost me around $90 for the sights and another $90 for the tool to install them. I think it would have been worth spending the extra $50 on the glock factory nightsights in the beginning. Oh well, i guess.