Trijicons: Difference between Novaks & regular?

[Teufelhunden]

In my first combat match (IPSC variant) ever last week, I had a graphic demonstration of how helpful night-sights are. On my XD, I've got the factory sights, and until last week, felt comfortable with planning to use them with the Surefire I carry with me all the time. However, on the range, the RSO forbade the use of flashlights, and we had to shoot that string using only the light from a slow strobe. By the time you got your pistol on target, the light was gone, so you had to shoot from memory and feel--memory of where the target was, and feel of where your weapon was pointing.

We had one shooter with Trijicons on his Kimber, and he cleared the course with a faster time and higher hit ratio than anyone else, which led me to think that I've got to get night sights on my XD. Granted, night-sights do NOT illuminate the target and allow you to make a positive identification, but they sure come in handy once you've determined that what's out there needs to be shot.

My question is this: What's the difference between Novak style Trijicons and regular style, besides $17? The Novaks that I saw were longer, and sloped on the edges and front, and appeared to have a longer sight channel. Having the back edges beveled would be nice for carry I suppose, but the sloping front concerns me as it doesn't seem to be necessary since the front of your sight wouldn't be interfering with your draw anyways, and would interfere with how I charge my weapon one-handed (hooking the rear sight over the belt and pushing down on the frame).

So what makes Novaks worth $17 more?

-Teuf

 

[Kobun]

I think you have answered your own questions.

I don't care much for the Novaks myself, because of the slanted front.
I like the ability to rack the slide with the rear sight and a belt or holster.

So what makes Novaks worth $17 more?

See the small print on the Novak sights?
They say Novak.
They claim to be better, so they charge a higher price. More expensive = better, right?

 

[BerettaNut92]

The back of the Novak is a little concave giving a different sight picture than Trijicons which are flat. I really like the Novak sight picture.

I have a plain black WITHOUT the tritium. The Novak Trijicons just mean that there are Trijicon tritium inserts in the Novak sights.

The Novak front night sight is also serrated instead of the Trijicon which is basically again a block with a tritium insert.

Before you get a pair of sights also look at the Heinies. No one is really better than the other, sights really really come down to personal preference. Some people prefer plain black sights (no tritium) for target and competition shooting.

 

[Erich]

I can't tell you about the differences between the various sights, but I found myself studying the Novaks on my Springfield and S&W last week. I was just pretty amazed at how many subtle improvements they've managed to pack onto the sights, compared to the old-timey revolver sights that were status quo when I was a kid.

We live in good times!

 

[Rusher]

So how are the inserts that Novak installs


do they last as long????


Have any bad experiences ....where maybe they have fallen out???

 

[BerettaNut92]

The inserts are by Trijicon, AFAIK, and are warrantied for 12 years. I don't know if they last longer than that or not.

As for bad experiences, it just comes from people not liking the sight picture. Everything else is a QC one from whoever installed the sights like Springfield, Beretta, etc. I never heard of the tubes falling out.

 

[Rusher]

Skunk


Thanks for the info.


I want some night sights for my Springfield 19111A1. My local smithy says cuz of the dove tail cut for the Novak Lo profile sights .....he says that it will limit my night sight shopping. Apparently there is not alotof dove tail sights out there.





Rusher

 

[Teufelhunden]

Well, I guess I'll just have to find someone with those on a pistol then...worst case scenario, I suppose I can just operate on the 'If it ain't broke...' theory and just get standard Trijicons as they're similar to the sights I've already got, and those work for me.

Skunk, do you find that the concave-ness of the Novaks makes the rear aperture seem to shrink or be darker?

-Teuf

 

[BerettaNut92]

Skunk, do you find that the concave-ness of the Novaks makes the rear aperture seem to shrink or be darker?

Hmm...not sure, I haven't really thought about it that way...maybe it seems bigger because the front sight doesn't SEEM as blocky....to me anyway? I like how it's contrastier than the plain Trijicons, where the rear sights look just like the front sights. I don't know why it seems that way to me, but I find the Novaks less distracting?