iron sight suggestions for dual purpose handgun (carry / idpa)

[azrocks]

Got a Walther PPQ I'd like to use for both concealed carry and idpa (possibly uspsa also) matches.

I know I want to change the sights, I just don't know what I want to change them too. My main concerns are composition (tritium, fiber optic, etc) and sight height/width.

Right now I'm leaning towards something like This Set From Dawson, which features a .125" front tritium sight with a large outer white ring, and a .145" notch rear sight with smaller tritium inserts. From what I've read .125" is about as wide as you'd want to go on an action-shooting gun, so I'm thinking it might be a good compromise for dual-duty (plus its as small as I could get from Dawson in tritium).

Would anyone out there choose something different, and if so why? Would fiber optics be a better choice even in low light defensive situations? Would an all-black rear make sense for carry, or is a 3-dot setup better?

For what it's worth, I'm in my mid-40s with approximately 20/20 vision when corrected (glasses). Just starting to have minor problems with irons I didn't have when younger but for the most part see well.

 

[egd]

I have a ppq 5" and I use it for only shooting matches. I don't carry. I put the 10-8 rear and Dawson fiber optic front sights on mine. I don't remember the width and height I used exactly, but I did put one size narrower on the front than the back. And, IIRC, the factory front was 180 but I went with 165...I think?

 

[Lokichoki]

As for the blacked out rear or 3 dot it is whichever you shoot better , my personal preference is to run a 3 dot but shoot better with the blacked out rear specifically the battle hook series so sometimes what you want isn't what's best, I have noticed I personally prefer for a comp/carry gun that a blacked out rear with 2 tritium inserts in them will give you something for reference at night time but still allow you to focus heavily on the front sight in competition

 

[ny32182]

Personally I wouldn't feel bad about having the same type of sight picture on a carry gun that I use in competition (Fiber optic front, black rear). .125" is wider than I would go in competition for sure. For carry... probably wouldn't care much either way.

I like adjustable rears in competition, but would probably want something fixed like a Warren/Sevigny for carry. The adjustable rears that I've used/seen are very tall and have sharp edges; probably not so good on a carry gun.

At IDPA distances you are probably fine with a fixed rear as long as you have the right front height and get it dialed in well for your favorite load. I'd do that for a true dual use carry/IDPA gun. If you start introducing longer shots (USPSA, etc) and/or start changing loads, then the fixed rear is going to become a problem in my opinion.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I'm using a Dawson .10" front fiber optic front sight matched to a 10-8 all black rear sight with a .140" "U" shaped notch. I've found that this combination works pretty well out to 30 yards without giving up much accuracy. I don't have a problem using this same combination for a carry gun or home defense gun.

I used 3-dot night sights for a couple of years and found that their limited usefulness didn't offset the additional time it took to align them.

I do have a couple of guns with a single lamp mounted in the front sight, but I'm not sure that additional width of the front blade is worth the ability to located the front sight in the dark...since you should be shooting at things that you don't have enough light to identify. I will say that the glowing lamp makes it easier to locate the gun on a night stand or closet in the dark