Which Night Sights and why

[Glockafella]

I have some experience with different brands

OK for glocks...

I have broken 2 seperate Trijicon front night sights off my gun through riggerous training and use as a duty weapon.

Trijicon brightness scale = 9/10

I replaced them with Meprolight night sights...also broke a front sight off

Meprolight broghtness = 10/10 I loved how bright they are.

SO after runnig through 3 different front sights I decided to just stick with the glock night sights...They have never broken off and people say they are pretty tough...

Glock Brand brightness = 7/10 ugh...

So I just get the glock sights now...for 48 bucks they are good for about 5 years then turn a nasty yellowish hue.


MY 2 cents...

 

[Flfiremedic]

I really like the Trijicons, and strongly urge you to get different colored rear sights. And on a related note, our armorer got really mad when I kept calling them Captain Crunch sites since they glowed in the dark.

 

[NCHornet]

I have decided to go with the TruGlo TFO sights. I have done lots of research and I believe they are the best option for me. I will be installing these on a 11 year old G23. Everyone says how easy they are to install and you can do it yourself. Can someone who has done this please tell me how this is done. Do I use a drift and knock the old ones out or what? I really don't want to scratch my gun. The cheapest I have found is $85 unless somebody knows of any cheaper. Thanks for the help.

 

[RyanM]

For a Glock front sight, just pry it out with pliers. The rear sight can be knocked out with a punch, but it'll be ruined in the process. For installing the new sights, however, you will pretty much need a clamp-on sight installation tool (and don't forget the little wrench thing for the front sight; a standard hex wrench will be too wide). I managed to install my TFOs using a dremmeled standard hex wrench, a C-clamp, and a couple blocks of wood, but I am never trying that again. When I have to get a new pair, I'm definitely buying the correct tools.

Definitely do not attempt to use a hammer and punch to install the new sights. 1, they will not budge, even if you use a sledgehammer. 2, you'll mar the finish on the sights. 3, very hard impacts can break the tritium vials, which will ruin the sights.

Oh, when putting the front sight in, it's helpful to take a pencil or something and hold it against the side of the front sight blade, and line that up with the ejection port. That way you know it's perfectly even.

 

[Anna's Dad]

I prefer a laser.

And if you get a bright enough laser, you don't even need the gun! Must stop watching the Sci Fi channel...

 

[SevenMichael]

RyanM - Tritium Sites

Night sights that are bright enough to affect your night vision would also be radioactive enough to give you cancer.

Sorry, being a Nuclear Engineer and Health Physicist, I must respond.

Tritium has a maximum beta energy of 0.0186 MeV, which determines the range of travel and the depth of penetration.

The approximate MAXIMUM range in air is:

< 0.5 cm (or < 1/4 " )

http://www.oseh.umich.edu/TrainH3.pdf (if you want a reference)

So, unless you sight with your eyeball LESS THAN 1/4 " away from the tritium site, the radiation will NEVER REACH YOUR EYE !

Furthermore, if it does reach your eye it will penetrate very very little distance because the density of the eye is much greater (~ 775 times) than the density of air. For all purposes, when you consider the probability of cancer associated with the dose from tritium sites, it is essentially ZERO.... even if you held the sight 1/4" from your eye for 24 hours/day !

That's why you don't have to have a radioactive material license to get your gun/sights !


PLEASE DON'T submit this kind of GARBAGE STATEMENT when you don't have any idea what you're talking about ! :banghead:

 

[RyanM]

Sheesh. Remind me to never say things like "this gun kicks like an angry mule" to Mr. Literal over here.

I can hear it now. "As an expert in mules, I can safely say that a mule kicks with 800 pounds of force, nowhere near the amount generated by .357 magnum 125 grain Remington SJHP! PLEASE DON'T submit this kind of GARBAGE STATEMENT when you don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

 

[benEzra]

For a Glock front sight, just pry it out with pliers

Actually, the front sight on my wife's Glock is held in by a tiny bolt that screws into the sight from the inside of the slide. Take the slide off, remove the barrel assembly, and look at the roof of the slide from the inside. There should be a little hex head bolt near the front; that's the bottom of the front sight. Get a tiny little socket or wrench (or a pair of very small pliers), unscrew it, and the sight will come off.

 

[SevenMichael]

Sheesh. Remind me to never say things like "this gun kicks like an angry mule" to Mr. Literal over here.

If you had used a similie such as the one in the above quote, instead of a statement representing "fact", I would not have bothered to comment.

The real problem is the significant misunderstanding/fear of radiation, and the incorrect references to cancer causation when radiation is thought to be involved.

I just hate to see myths perpetuated, and statements which are not based in fact, presented as factual.

I apologize for not responding in a more professional manner; I'm sure you weren't intentionally trying to misrepresent radiological issues or safety.

 

[GunTech]

Most of the night sights only vary by design and shape. It's my understanding that almost all vendors get their tritium capsules from the same company.

Also, bear in mind that tritium sights only have about a 10-12 year lifespan.

 

[NCHornet]

I realize how the front sight is held on and you are right it is a small 3/16" nut, but I would like more info pertaining to the rear.
Thanks
NCHornet

 

[RobMoore]

Trijicon may have a better overall reputation, but within the glock community, Mepros are the way to go.


PS: I seem to remember reading in a manual somewhere that it would take something along the lines of 10,000 or more tritium night sights in a 10'x10' room to exceed safe radiation levels.

 

[glockgod]

+1 on the factory equipment plastic Glock sights. That's the first thing I change on any Glock I get! I like Meprolight for nite sites.

 

[RyanM]

Oh, yeah, I forgot that some Glocks now come with steel front sights. Those have to be unscrewed, but the plastic ones, you just yank out with pliers. Mine was a plastic one.

 

[skinewmexico]

TFOs. Because 99.99% of my shooting is in the daylight.