Sights on carry gun

What type of sights do you prefer on a CCW type (non-duty) carry gun?

 

Don't like laser sights on a carry gun, have never been convinced of the durability of the fiber optic types (but there may be a brand or two out there that's worth trying), night sights don't seem spectacularly useful (and I tend to line up dots rather than the actual edges of the sights, and since the dots are rarely dead center which leads to not hitting where I intended).

Regular irons work for me. They can be painted or black, but preferably non-adjustable on my carry gun.

 

I voted "Night Sights" they are nice but not a must have.

Don't care for Lasers. Fiber is pointless to me.

Good fixed sights are the preferered. Tritium is a bonus.

 

I don't care as long as they are accurate and work properly.

 

I was doing low-light level drills with a new pistol a few years back, and not doing too well. I painted the front sight white with typewriter correction fluid, and it made a huge difference. Since then, I've painted all my sights.

 

I voted for tritium sights. They don't bother anything when it's light out and more or less work the same as 3-dot sights and when the lighting is poor, they still make sights useable be it as either as sights were intended to be used (all three dots lining up) or at least as an index for point shooting scenarios.

 

Where's the option for no sights?

 

During the day iron sights are fine but if I go out at night I'll carry a Kimber with a Crimson Trace laser.

I learned a long time ago if you can't get enough light to see your sights and target, you ain't hitting that Rattlesnake.

It's a simple fact, right now (it's dark) I can grab one of my 3 CT laser equipped pistols, step outside and hit any person size target out to 50 yards and beyound. I certainly can't do that at night with any kind of iron sights.

 

I used to like the 3-dot night sights on my SIG P228. That was until I got a P220 with the bar-dot. After some initial difficulty, I've found that to be very fast and accurate enough for SD/HD use. It might be nice to have a night-sight version of that, but I'm happy with it as is for now.

 

Im still shopping around trying to find out what sights I like. I definitly dont like black iron sights for the front post, so Ive painted all mine oarnge. Gives me something to focus at in low light, disadvantage is there is no difference in brightsunshine, as the oarnge fades away. My Xd-9 has a three dot style and my 1911 has novaks with a dot in the front. I definitly dont like the three dot style, so im looking to upgrade them. THe novak is ok, but I think Id like a tritium night sight for the front. I am sending in my xd-9 to the springfield custom shop, and i think I will have them install 24/7 standard size night sights. I played with a few in a store, and like the idea.

I just recieved a crimson trace lasergrip for my j-frame, and I love them. Allows me to aim at things farther away, and seems to work from a varitety of shooting positions. I still have to go to the range and see if they are shooting at poa, but so far like them.

 

For me night sights are a must have. I have seen the scores from night quals with and without nights sights. A good flash light is also essential.
Pat

 

at combat distances, i only use sights as a reference in my peripheral vision. I'm usually looking directly at the target. Night sights help a bit at night, but at 7 yards, the gun could be missing sights and i'm confident i'd still hit.

 

For speed of acquisition, simplicity, and can't-possibly-miss-it-without-being-blind obviousness when aiming at the target, I use Ashley Outdoors (now Express Sight Systems) Big Dot Tritium Express sights.

 

Night sights help a bit at night, but at 7 yards, the gun could be missing sights and i'm confident i'd still hit.
END QUOTE

I agree to a point if your talking about com shots. However if you need to do a fail to stop drill. You need to get a good sight picture even at 7 yards for the head shot.
Pat

 

I have a set of low Novaks on my Vertec.

 

Both of my carry guns have night sights.

Glock 19 and a Kimber Pro Carry.

 

Night sights.

I've spent a fair chunk of change putting night sights on various pistols. I'd say my favorite are the Big Dot Ashley Outdoors/XS/whatever they're calling themselves nowadays sights. Nothing wrong with Trijicon Novaks, either, but the AOs are unbelievably fast on target.

 

Ditto on the Ashley big dot tritium sights. Fast indeed!

 

Just about the time I turned 50 I decided that night sights weren't such a bad idea. Flashlights are great, but the night sights are always ON when negotiating dimly and/or erratically well lit houses, hallways, attics, basements, garages, etc., etc.

The standard 3-dot tritium capsules are okay for me, but I find the dot-over-dot & dot-over-bar combinations to be excellent & fast acquisition sights for low light use ... again, for me.

I've never cared for the different color combinations I've tried, but I realize that some folks DO like them. That's cool ...

My only complaint with some tritium capsuled sights is that the "thickness" of the white paint around the tritium capsules is a bit inconsistent from one set to the next, and naturally isn't as easily visible in "normal" indoors/outdoors light conditons due to its thinness compared to solid white dots. Fortunately, it can be resolved to some degree by the proper application of white sight paint as the original paint wears & thins.

I like the Big Dot front sight post for the bright white synthetic "ring" located around the tritium capsule. I can see it in my peripheral vision while the weapon is still quite a bit below my line of sight. I only have the Big Dot on an off duty .45, as I like to retain the potential for making an accurate handgun shot out to 50-75 yards with my service weapons ... and the Big Dot doesn't seem to lend itself to easy use at ranges much beyond 10-15 yards. Not quickly, anyway.

I like brass beads on my large revolver's front sights ... and my 5-shot revolvers have bright neon orange sight paint applied to the serrations of the front sights periodically. It works very well for my eyes.

I still find the regular 3-dot (white) sights to be okay for many circumstances, but they're just a bit less distinct than they used to be.

Plain black sights apparently aren't as practical for me as they used to be ...

 

I voted night sights. Only because I am not allowed to use Crimson Trace laser sights. When I asked why, I was told the Sherrifs department had the SWAT team expirement with them and it was discovered no one could tell which dot was theirs.

Like a civillan CCW was going to be working in teams with multiple people use laser sights. :banghead:

 

My preference is for a green tritium front dot without a white outline around the vial and a plain black rear; however, I also like all plain black sights as long as I have my flashlight. For me, front sight acquisition in low-light conditions is getting harder as my eyes age, so the tritium helps me "lock" on the front sight.

For some reason, the white outline used on some tritium sights causes me to lose the sharpness of the front sight when well lit, and my groups open up. Thus, the preference for no outline around the tritium vials.

 

I carry an S&W 340pd with an XSsights (use to be Ashley Outdoors) tritum bigdot front sight. a great sight for this gun, big and easy to see. I put the dot on top of the rear groove - it helps point the gun higher because it usually shoots low.

 

I would like to put better sights on a S&W J frame 640, but have not been able to find any. Any suggestions?

 

CT laser sights on all 3 of my CCW's!

 

Even though if there's a need, it probably will be up close and personal, I'm most comfortable carrying with night sights in case of reduced visibility. They're rugged and don't need batteries.

Larry