Compared all of my night sights. Surprised.

[Trey Veston]

I bought a set of XS night sights off of Amazon last week for $67. All of the negative reviews for them were from people who didn't know how to install sights. So, I decided to try them.

They are the standard 3-dot configuration, but the front sight has a bright orange circle around it to aid in sight acquisition. Plus, they have slightly taller profile and are not as long so they work on a slide with an RMR cut.

Got them in and installed them in a NORSSO slide using a jeweler's file and my sight tool. Required a little bit more filing than normal, but that may have been due to the aftermarket slide.

They went in perfectly and look good.



Then, I got a wild hair and decided to compare them to my other night sights in terms of brightness.

All of my other sights are factory OEM night sights and less than 4 years old.

From left to right: G23 with the XS sights, G19 with factory Glock sights, S&W M&P40c with factory S&W sights, and Sig P365 with factory Sig sights.



Same order, but with lights off...



For the front sight, the XS was best, followed by Sig, then Glock, then S&W. For the rear sights, XS was a tiny bit brighter than Glock, then Sig, then S&W. But, Both XS and Sig had rear dots in which one was dimmer than the other.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with them and will hopefully get to the range soon and see how I like them in sunlight and shooting fast.

 

[ms6852]

What a great comparison and thank you for posting. I have been disappointed in some of the night sights in my higher end weapons. Do good for a couple of years and than poop out. Surprising the ones on my 911 Springfield are fantastic.

 

[Old Dog]

Thanks! I'm big fan of the XS sights. The factory SIGLITE night sights are some of the best of the breed as far as OEM sights.

 

[Madcap_Magician]

It is important to know what the date of manufacture was for the sights, though, since the tritium is decaying over time and your night sights will gradually go noticeably dimmer over the years.

 

[Trey Veston]

It is important to know what the date of manufacture was for the sights, though, since the tritium is decaying over time and your night sights will gradually go noticeably dimmer over the years.

I did note that all pistols were less than 4 years old.

 

[trackskippy]

I think he was getting at the age of the sights. The age of the gun really doesnt mean anything.

 

[Trey Veston]

I think he was getting at the age of the sights. The age of the gun really doesnt mean anything.

Since all the sights were factory original, then I assume they are all the same age as the pistol, or am I wrong? Do pistol makers put older night sights on new pistols? Is there some date code on factory sights indicating when they were made?

 

[trackskippy]

Age of the gun is one thing, age of the sights another. You might buy the gun "new", but who knows when it was made, and who knows when the night sights they put on it were made. Id guess they were probably within a year or so each other, but whos to say. Ive bought new guns and the date code on the sights was already two years old.

Ive had a number of sights that did have a date code on them. Ive bought a number recently that didnt. I believe most of the makers warrant them for 12 years, but without that code, how do they know?

I usually end up swapping mine out around 9 or 10 years after I put them on. At that point, they are or have been noticeably dimmer than a new set. They still work, but they arent as quick to pick up, especially in places that arent "dark" and/or your eyes arent adjusted.

Just out of curiosity, you mentioned a file in getting the sights on. Just seemed a bit extreme. Usually, a sheet of emery is all you need. What were you filing?

 

[peeplwtchr]

The VP9L ships with the XS front night sight, it's pretty good.