Cheeseybacon
Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2006
- Messages
- 246
I've been meaning to stick a flip-up front sight on my railed gas block for a while now. I looked at the offerings from YHM, MI, GG&G and others and none of them struck my fancy for some reason, so naturally I was very interested when Troy decided to produce a gas block-mounted front sight. I searched high and low and couldn't find any thing to be said good, bad or otherwise about this sight, let alone images of the darn thing on anyone's rifle, so I figured I'd take a stab in the dark and see what this sight was like. Here are my thoughts:
This sight is very well built. I already have a Troy's flip-up rear sight and this one appears to be built every bit as well. The fit and finish are top notch and the sight locks into place rock solid. If you are already familiar with Troy's same-plane front sights, this is extremely similar with the exception that the base is somewhat taller and also introduces a pair of QD swivel slots on either side. I have no concerns regarding the durability of this sight, if there is anything to be concerned about it would probably have to be the railed gas block that it sits on.
Unlike Troy's same-plane front sights, this sight is intended to be mounted on a 1913 picatinny gas block which is at a slightly lower plane than the typical flat top AR-15 receiver. The standard 1913 gas block has three slots and four "ridges" on it and this sight is designed to completely cover over all of them. Other gas block-mounted front sights often use less real estate at their mounting points, allowing you some degree of flexibility as to where on the gas block the sight is mounted. I had trouble installing this sight with a Magpul MOE mid-length handguard in place. The portion of the MOE handguard that wraps around the gas block conflicts with the two QD swivel mounts that protrude from either side of the sight. Be aware that some creativity with a dremel WILL be required if you wish to use this sight in conjunction a MOE handguard. I don't intend to use the QD swivel mounts and my dremel-fu is rather weak, so I didn't cut any more of the handguard than was absolutely necessary to get the sight on. No fitment issues were observed with standard handguards, but it definitely doesn't look as cool.
Overall, I suppose I am happy with this sight. It is definitely well built, but for the price I paid (right around $105) and the fact that I worry about the clamp-on railed gas block that it is sitting on, I almost feel like I should have ponied up a little more money for an entirely different gas block with a flip-up sight already built into it. I wasn't too thrilled that I had to perform surgery on my handguard either.
EDIT - Holy Sh*t, sorry about the image size!
This sight is very well built. I already have a Troy's flip-up rear sight and this one appears to be built every bit as well. The fit and finish are top notch and the sight locks into place rock solid. If you are already familiar with Troy's same-plane front sights, this is extremely similar with the exception that the base is somewhat taller and also introduces a pair of QD swivel slots on either side. I have no concerns regarding the durability of this sight, if there is anything to be concerned about it would probably have to be the railed gas block that it sits on.
Unlike Troy's same-plane front sights, this sight is intended to be mounted on a 1913 picatinny gas block which is at a slightly lower plane than the typical flat top AR-15 receiver. The standard 1913 gas block has three slots and four "ridges" on it and this sight is designed to completely cover over all of them. Other gas block-mounted front sights often use less real estate at their mounting points, allowing you some degree of flexibility as to where on the gas block the sight is mounted. I had trouble installing this sight with a Magpul MOE mid-length handguard in place. The portion of the MOE handguard that wraps around the gas block conflicts with the two QD swivel mounts that protrude from either side of the sight. Be aware that some creativity with a dremel WILL be required if you wish to use this sight in conjunction a MOE handguard. I don't intend to use the QD swivel mounts and my dremel-fu is rather weak, so I didn't cut any more of the handguard than was absolutely necessary to get the sight on. No fitment issues were observed with standard handguards, but it definitely doesn't look as cool.
Overall, I suppose I am happy with this sight. It is definitely well built, but for the price I paid (right around $105) and the fact that I worry about the clamp-on railed gas block that it is sitting on, I almost feel like I should have ponied up a little more money for an entirely different gas block with a flip-up sight already built into it. I wasn't too thrilled that I had to perform surgery on my handguard either.
EDIT - Holy Sh*t, sorry about the image size!
Last edited:
