what night sights?

[Axis II]

looking to put night sights on my M&P 4.5'' 9mm. I want quality and that will be bright. I have read about putting say green on the back and red or orange up front. what's the purpose of that?

what's your thoughts?

 

[toivo]

I've always had good luck with Trijicons.

The reason for different colors between the front and rear sight is that when you're lining up three dots, it helps to know which one should be in the middle. Sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not.

 

[Axis II]

my eyes aren't 100% either and right now ive got large dots does anyone make them with large dots like the factory?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I have Tru Glo TFX sights on one of my carry guns. The dots are larger than the Trijicons that I have.

 

[toivo]

my eyes aren't 100% either and right now ive got large dots does anyone make them with large dots like the factory?

Yes -- XS Big Dot tritium sights.

https://www.xssights.com/Handgun_Sights_pr-8208.aspx

 

[gotboostvr]

I'm a big fan of a standard trijicon front sight and a plain serrated black rear for general purpose pistols.

Same rear, but a fiber optic front for "range only" guns.

I'm ok with 3 dot night sights for defense guns, but still slightly prefer the plain rear. I generally prefer the "regular" trijicons over some of the other options.

 

[JTQ]

Here are a couple of threads on sights that may be helpful...

Painting front sights https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...ts-orange-with-testors-modeling-paint.814250/

XS vs Heinie vs Warren https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/new-sights-xs-vs-heinie-vs-warren-tactical.816763/

M&P 9mm Sight upgrade https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/s-w-m-p-9mm-sight-upgrade.644849/#post-7976587

 

[diyj98]

I have Tru Glo TFX sights on one of my carry guns. The dots are larger than the Trijicons that I have.

I normally don't bother with night sights, but do have a couple guns with the Tru Glo TFX sights and like them. They work great in daylight or dark.

 

[Axis II]

its a work gun so would be classified as a defense gun so night sights would be helpful.

what color combo do you guys use?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

All of my night sights are green and I'm happy with them. I can see why some like different colors front and rear. Night sights are mandatory on a carry gun IMO.

 

[JTQ]

Night sights are mandatory on a carry gun IMO.

A different opinion https://revolverscience.com/2016/04/01/low-light-red-sights-and-tom-givens-glock-35/

 

[DMK]

JTQ, you really like to play devil's advocate don't you?

That link is interesting, and Tom Givens definately knows a thing or two about violent critical incident. However the logic of that blog post is flawed.

Just because you might be able to see your plain jane iron sights just fine in low light doesn't mean lit tritium vials won't help. I like to give myself all the help I can get.

I also love when people say don't waste money on X, spend it on ammo instead. I keep about 5,000 rounds of 9mm practice ammo and I shoot my carry guns at least four hours a month (plus dry fire practice for an hour a week). It's not like we're all giving up ammo to buy gizmos.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

JTQ, you really like to play devil's advocate don't you?

That link is interesting, and Tom Givens definately knows a thing or two about violent critical incident. However the logic of that blog post is flawed.

Just because you might be able to see your plain jane iron sights just fine in low light doesn't mean lit tritium vials won't help. I like to give myself all the help I can get.

I also love when people say don't waste money on X, spend it on ammo instead. I keep about 5,000 rounds of 9mm practice ammo and I shoot my carry guns at least four hours a month (plus dry fire practice for an hour a week). It's not like we're all giving up ammo to buy gizmos.

I have many thousands of rounds on hand as well. A hundred bucks for night sights doesn't bust my budget.

 

[JTQ]

However the logic of that blog post is flawed.

Just because you might be able to see your plain jane iron sights just fine in low light doesn't mean lit tritium vials won't help. I like to give myself all the help I can get.

Conversely, I think his logic is sound. However, tritium definitely gives you an advantage finding your gun on the table in the dark.

These are all just data points to help people make an informed decision. You can do whatever you want.

 

[JTQ]

How about some fiber optic sights...

Jerry Jones http://www.personaldefenseworld.com...ber-optic-front-sight-everyday-carry-pistol-1

Frank Proctor http://www.recoilweb.com/a-few-thoughts-on-fiber-optic-sights-and-carrying-a-light-59795.html

The logic is sound. You need light to see what you're shooting. If you have enough light to see what you're shooting, you have enough light to see your sights.

 

[DMK]

... If you have enough light to see what you're shooting, you have enough light to see your sights.

I'm not willing to bet my life on that assumption. My CCW has night sights, a Crimson Trace white light, and laser.

 

[JTQ]

my eyes aren't 100% either and right now ive got large dots does anyone make them with large dots like the factory?

All tritium vials are about the same size. It's what's put around the vials on the sight that will make one seem bigger than another. Some makers don't paint anything around their vials, and because of this are actually difficult to quickly pick up in daylight. These options from Ameriglo show the differences in painting around the tritium vials ...

Classic has a small ring http://ameriglo.com/collections/smith-wesson/classic

The Hackathorn has a bigger ring http://ameriglo.com/collections/smith-wesson/hackathorn

The CAP sights have a big square http://ameriglo.com/collections/smith-wesson/cap

 

[Zerodefect]

Dawson or Warren front night sight. Warren Sevigny comp plain black rear sight. Then training, tons of training, until what I just said starts to make sense.

In the meantime, Warren tactical 2 dot sights are perfect. The rear sight is almost as good as a plain black sight, it just has a DIM lamp, no white circle. In the dark, in the extreme rare chance you can see the night sights, just bring the dots together. Much faster than obsolete 3 dot sights.

If the front sight is .125" wide, then you'll want a .150" wide rear notch.

Also get a Surefire XC1. Lights are critical training. More critical than fancy sights. 99% of my nighthouse practice, has shown night sights too be pretty much useless. Day time sights work best with a light (by a slight margin). And at normal night time ranges, point shooting is the best technique. Training, training, training. Professinal night house training will completely warp everything you ever thought about shooting, and you ego will be shredded by the end of it. (that's the 2nd biggest reason people don't take training this far IMO)

Ps: XS big dots are rubbish. Useful only at ranges where a trained shooter doesn't even need sights. Inaccurate and slow at longer ranges where a shooter absolutely needs his sights. I gave my XS big dots away for free. In hindsight, I should have just tossed them in the garbage. I didn't do that guy any favors.

 

[Zerodefect]

I've always had good luck with Trijicons.

The reason for different colors between the front and rear sight is that when you're lining up three dots, it helps to know which one should be in the middle. Sounds like I'm kidding, but I'm not.

Noones got time to play "figure out which dot goes where". ( At least noone civvy. And non-civvies are going to have something better than a pistol) 2 seconds is a lifetime.

My experience is:
-put one dot on the target and blast them.
-bring 2 dots together-ish and blast them.
-screw the sights, the target is only 10 feet away, point and shoot.

3 dot shooters get caught wasting time playing with the dots all of the time. We actually joke about it. "Who's going to get hypnotized by dots 1st tonight." LOLz.

 

[Axis II]

Noones got time to play "figure out which dot goes where". ( At least noone civvy. And non-civvies are going to have something better than a pistol) 2 seconds is a lifetime.

My experience is:
-put one dot on the target and blast them.
-bring 2 dots together-ish and blast them.
-screw the sights, the target is only 10 feet away, point and shoot.

3 dot shooters get caught wasting time playing with the dots all of the time. We actually joke about it. "Who's going to get hypnotized by dots 1st tonight." LOLz.

not to be rude but when your either clearing a building at night, walking a junk yard at night, or walking the projects at night where it goes from bright lights to dark as charcoal I cant pick a dot and blast away. i don't want to send rounds through someone window because I'm just pointing and shooting. I have become pretty proficient with my 3 dots and lining them up when coming out of a level 3 holster and firing 2-4 rounds they all seem to hit in a 10'' circle. this is why we train with our equipment and not just blast them.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I must be getting old. My handgun sights are obsolete, I don't train as if I were going into urban warfare tomorrow and if I ever go to a public range people might laugh at me.

 

[Varminterror]

looking to put night sights on my M&P 4.5'' 9mm. I want quality and that will be bright. I have read about putting say green on the back and red or orange up front. what's the purpose of that?

what's your thoughts?

I've done a lot of independent testing of these lamps, and studying of their materials for many years. Meprolight is what I recommend the most (which is basically third of the market, often rebranded). Trijicon lamps (effectively the other half, also rebranded) are CONSIDERED tougher, but I have yet to see how, and they are not as bright, nor as readily picked up. The XS sights (remainder behind mepro and Trijicon and only self branded) are my least favorite option. The Truglo TFO's are pretty niche still, I prefer them over the XS, slightly over Trijicon, but not over Mepro so far.

You have it backwards on your colors. Orange is one of the dimmer colors of tritium AND one of the duller colors for reception in your eye, and should be used in your REAR sights, with green in the front - which is the brightest of tritium and most visible/eye catching color to the human eye. By giving a fainter glow to the rear dots and a brighter dot out front, your acquisition will be faster, and your sights will appear much more evenly bright in the low light conditions.

I tend to agree with orange/red fiber optics in front and green fiber in rear, but NOT for tritium. Totally different product and system mechanics.