Fiber Optic Front Sights: What Color?

JR24 said:

My colorblind eyes seem to like the red fiber optic over the green.

Yet the lime green Ameriglo CAP sights work best for non FO sights.

I've long since stopped wondering why my eyes do what they do.

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You bring up a good point that isn’t often discussed. Color Blindness!

My son is color blind. He has a hard time with people not believing him as he can comprehend color just not see it like most people do. From what he understands greens are real bad for him. So if someone is color blind they should consider it in what color sights to use.

Also if someone thinks they may have an issue with color then mention it to your eye doctor when you have your checkup and they’ll do a test. That’s how we found my son’s color blindness. Our eye dr said the test isn’t done on adults as most adults who are color blind and haven’t been diagnosed don’t worry about it unless theirs an issue. In other words they compensate and make do.

So if you’re having an issue seeing a sight the quick colorblindness test may help and may help you decide what color to use. Or an alternative is to simply try different colors and see what works best for you.

I have a buddy who is partially color blind, not sure exactly how it breaks down for him. He is quite the avid shooter and is my mentor for reloading. I'll have to ask him how his blindness affects his choices in sights.

somethingbenign said:

I have a buddy who is partially color blind, not sure exactly how it breaks down for him. He is quite the avid shooter and is my mentor for reloading. I'll have to ask him how his blindness affects his choices in sights.

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If I’m not mistaken
Most color blind people are bad in part of the spectrum and less so in others.
So it would be interesting if he knows where as my son doesn’t recall if the dr told him. I don’t either!

I might get in trouble for this but I can't pass this up.
I have a cousin that is color blind and someone asked him how he knew what to do at a stop light.
He told them it was easy. Stop on top, go on bottom and hurry up in the middle DUH.

Now I'll ask, even if someone is color blind doesn't the FO kinda light up for them any way? I've seen FO sights with a white tube and it worked pretty good.

Not for this guy. I find them too distracting

I just recently went to fiber optics after receiving a used CZ PCR pistol from someone that had mounted an aftermarket green fiber optic front sight and blacked out rear sight on it. Once I tried the green fiber optic front I was hooked.

I kind of went overboard and ordered a green fiber optic front and a red fiber optic rear set for my second CZ PCR (I have two PCR's).

Front fiber optic sights and rear fiber optic sights going on at the same time was way too much for me to handle. Now both pistols have a green fiber optic front with a blacked out rear. This is perfect for me.

k4swb said:

I have a cousin that is color blind and someone asked him how he knew what to do at a stop light.
He told them it was easy. Stop on top, go on bottom and hurry up in the middle DUH.

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He must be really really color blind if he can’t tell green from red. I would not want to be around him where they have those silly sideways traffic lights.

So talked to my buddy about his color blindness. He is green-red blind so basically green and red both look about the same to him. He said green-red is the most common form or blindness and blindness is also much more common in men in general. FO sights or red dot optics all work for him and it doesn't matter what color he just couldn't tell between the two. As far as the sideways street lights those are in a specific order as well, green on the right and red on the left, it is part of the driver's test here. He says the ones that really mess with him are when they put flashing yellow on bottom or something.

Why are there no yellow FOtubes?

The lights that control the on/off ramps here are horizontal.

k4swb said:

I might get in trouble for this but I can't pass this up.
I have a cousin that is color blind and someone asked him how he knew what to do at a stop light.
He told them it was easy. Stop on top, go on bottom and hurry up in the middle DUH.

Now I'll ask, even if someone is color blind doesn't the FO kinda light up for them any way? I've seen FO sights with a white tube and it worked pretty good.

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Red can ''burn'' my eyes in bright sunlight.
Green while a little less bright in direct sun, is clear enough to grab a little light when it's getting dark outside. Red gets dim quicker.

Advantage green. Don't forget to paint the inside of the sights rod holder white before putting the rod in. White reflects into the tube better than black steel obviously.

Painting the inside of the sights rod holder white is an interesting suggestion. I have never heard of that before.

Been doing it for years. Also keep a lighter handy to darken your rear sight.

I've never tried green, but I use red fiber optic front sights and blacked out rear on everything except those guns with night sights. It doesn't make much sense to me to color code the action of your handgun.

Train/practice like you fight...find the front sight quickly (red or green, just be consistent so that you train your brain to look for the same thing every time), pull the trigger if the threat presents. Look for that front sight after recoil settles, assess the threat, squeeze again if threat persists. Repeat as necessary. KISS

If you're gaming (like me), eliminate the target (2 to center mass), transition to the next target, find the front sight, squeeze quickly. Repeat as necessary. KISS

P5 Guy said:

Why are there no yellow FOtubes?

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Amber is available https://ameriglo.com/collections/glock/fiberoptic

Green works for me, indoors and out!
You'll have to find what works for your eyes, though.

Hokie_PhD said:

If I’m not mistaken
Most color blind people are bad in part of the spectrum and less so in others.
So it would be interesting if he knows where as my son doesn’t recall if the dr told him. I don’t either!

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It is different for everyone, but usually the issue is differentiating certain colors along the various confusion lines.

https://www.color-blindness.com/2009/01/19/colorblind-colors-of-confusion/

Myself, I have very poor results on most tests, especially the dot tests, but I can still see plenty of colors and tell them apart, it's just when colors along those lines that cant tell apart. Rust, olive, darker shades of anything all look the same to me. My wife often has to tell me when my clothes are dark blue or hunter green (or whatever) all look black to me. Or when I asked her why she bought me 3 of the same shade of shirt. Apparently they were different greens and one brown, who knew?

When it comes to sights it's usually not so bad, especially with FO as I'm focusing on that, and its bright, so for the most part it's ok. A dim red or green? In less than perfect light it might as well be blacked out.

Put a red target on green grass, even bright red, at anything further than about 10 yards and gone.

For hunting I had to learn to look for shapes of animals, not their coloring as that was a waste of time, and when hunting deer I pretty much have to lose 10 minutes of shooting time as dusk/dawn is just a big blur to me, I'd never be confident in a shot during that light.

I do, however, have excellent night vision once it gets full dark. Somehow.

My match pistol uses green Dawsons. My carry pistol has a red tube up front. My woods carbine has a reflex sight that allows either red or green lighted reticles. It's usually on green, but red is just a little easier to see when target shooting in sunlight.

What color do you want?
http://shop.fiberopticproducts.com/Fluorescent-Fiber/Fluorescent-Fiber-Gun-Archery-Sight

I like red.

Just the front sight. I like the rear to be solid black.

cheygriz said:

I like, and use red. Also use red reticles in my ACOGs.

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I like green better and use it on my FOs, ACOG, and Trijicon Accupoint. Interesting answers here.

For years, I used Red. One of my Red tubes broke, so replaced with the backup Green. Enjoyed shooting with the Green, found I could get on target better and quicker, so I have since changed all my FO to Green.

I used red for many years competing in the USPSA. The green fiber optic front sight seems easier for my eyes to pick up now though.

Tried red, tried green. Prefer red for now. I'm used to looking for the red dot.

Hokie_PhD said:

You bring up a good point that isn’t often discussed. Color Blindness!

My son is color blind. He has a hard time with people not believing him as he can comprehend color just not see it like most people do. From what he understands greens are real bad for him. So if someone is color blind they should consider it in what color sights to use.

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People who are red-green color blind (like my father... I grew up watching some humorous clothing combinations!) still seen green light and red light. They just don't perceive the color itself very well. So if you had a green-tinted light shining through a hole in a dark red wall, they would absolutely see a bright light in the center and a dark surrounding. It's just the color that would be suppressed.

Red and green fiber optics both work by transmitting light.