Red dot vs. Tritium for low light shooting?

[dave3006]

I am curious about the effectiveness of the XS tritium sights for low light shooting. They have them for AR15s and M1a's. Can you see the tritium dot clearly in near dark conditions? It seems like it is a long way from your eye to pick up. I am trying to do the pros and cons vs. a red dot scope.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Grump]

I've tried some 25- to 50-yard rifle stuff under varying degrees of moonlight to no moon at all. Tritium shines just fine, even 16 years after installation. Scopes with lighted aiming points work ONLY as long as you can discern your target.

Got something going bang underneath that bush out there? Iron sights with tritium give you a chance to get there. A scope will or won't depending on how well you're indexed and how "bright" it is. I've never met a red-dot that was low-light friendly. You might as well use an Armson OEG (occluding Eye Gunsight or whatever) that you DON'T see through once it gets too dark for your optic.

Generally, your tritium sights disappear when it's too bright--then you can see the sights anyway. I strongly recommend keeping the white ring around the tritium's glass CLEAN for those intermediate-light settings.

 

[mainmech48]

While I only have them (tritium) on handguns myself, they are quite easy to see at arm's length. Can't see why a rifle or carbine would be any different.

Personally, I think that there are many practical advantages to them over any battery operated 'red dot' or holographic sight out there.

As they supply their own power, they won't ever be rendered hors d'combat for want of a battery.

They are much more tolerant of rough handling or hard use. Even if one of those little vials should break, you still have a usable set of irons. If your battery goes out, or a component fails, a red dot is essentially useless.

A set of tritium replacements has no affect on the handling characteristics of your weapon. Most electronic sights that I've seen impede carry at the weapon's balance point, at the very least, as do most telescopic sights when mounted in the conventional manner.

While there are some 'tactical' types who worry about the possibility that emmanations from tritium or electronic sights will 'give away their position', it's my personal opinion that a red dot is more likely to do so than tritium, as it's visible from more angles on both sides of the muzzle than are tritiums. On my CCWs, I don't give it much thought as I don't go looking for trouble and, if it should find me, we'll both already know where I am.

FWIW, the sights on one of my primary CCWs, a Para C7.45, are XS Big Dot tritiums. IMO, they're about the fastest to acquire a good usable sight picture with of what's out there at this time.

 

[DMK]

One advantage I can see for the red dot is that you focus your eyes on the target and not the dot. In low light, it can be hard to make out your target and even harder if you are focusing on the bright tritium dot on your front sight.

Neither is good for complete dark. If you can't see your target, a better sight is going to help. You'll need a light source, preferrably behind your target, but that's probably not going to be practical so mount one on the weapon.

Military and police use red dots in low light, but they also use night vision equipment and red dots that dim enough for use with night vision.


And yes, you can see the front tritium dot on an AR very clearly. It's bright. I have one and replaced it with a Bushnell Holosight which is much dimmer on it's lowest setting. I also didn't like how fat the front sight had to be in order to fit the tritium vial in.

 

[montyh]

there are advantages to both. with the tritium sights, you don't have to turn them on, and you can find your gun in total darkness (those three little green dots are a real comfort on the nightstand). so for a handgun i'd prefer the night sights for a primary weapon.
but for a rifle/carbine, i'd go with a quality dot sight like Aimpoint or Eotech. better during the daylight and just as good until almost total dark. my aimpoint M2 works well until i cannot see with naked eye. the "two eyes open" system works even if the optics of the sight darken the image. (try aiming at something with the sight turned on and the front (objective) scope cover shut. it is very easy).

monty

 

[AK103K]

my aimpoint M2 works well until i cannot see with naked eye. the "two eyes open" system works even if the optics of the sight darken the image. (try aiming at something with the sight turned on and the front (objective) scope cover shut. it is very easy).

The Aimpoints with the front cover closed, as montyh pointed out, work exactly as an OEG type sight does. I've owned the OEG sights and have a couple of Aimpoints and they do in fact work very well that way. I noticed that with the Aimpoints you can see light from the front at certain angles. The closed cover takes care of this. I also had flashkills in mine for daytime use and they drove me crazy. If your concerned about flash in the daytime, you can still keep the front cover closed and use your sight. I have a SOCOM that has a tritium front sight. It does work well in the dark, I just wonder if you will ever see it again after the first shot, even with a rifle with a flash suppressor. That would not be a problem with the red dot.