Will night sights help my old eyes focus on the front sight?

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3Putt

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I wear no line progressive trifocals and they're a PITA to shoot with. I can't really focus on the front sight, I fire when the 3 fuzzy dots seem to line up. I'm trying different things but nothings worked very well.

Anyway, the other day I looked a t FNH FNS-9 with night sights and it seem a whole lot easier to see the front sight. I couldn't really tell if the improvement came from the sights, the well lit room or maybe the dots were just bigger.

This is a long way of asking what works best for those of you who need reading glasses?
 
I wear trifocals lens's as well. My Springfield TRP 1911 has night sites that I can see really well and don't have any problem. I shot a sig the other day that just has dots, I was at an indoor range and I couldn't see them at all. Had a very hard time hitting the target. I know what you are feeling, so yes night sights really help me.


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I wear no line trifocals. When I shot IPSC in competition, I had a fiber optic front sight installed on my 1911. A huge help under almost all indoor and outdoor lighting condtions. I have a KelTec PMR 30 that came with fiber optics front and rear, also a great combination. My Sig 220 has night sights. I can't tell any difference from regular sights using them in the daytime.
 
While I cant speak from experience with the glasses, if your using the weapon as a self defense and not so much as a target gun then have a look at XS Big Dot sights.

Essentially they are just a bigger version of there other night sights, which would hopefully help you pick them up a little easier. With them being so much larger they do cover alot more of the target, making "precision" shots a little more difficult however.
Perhaps something for you to look into anyway.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. The gun in question is a Beretta 92FS. I haven't looked into what sights can be mounted yet. I'm new to all this.

Oh, I'm in Rockford, IL.
 
Anyway, the other day I looked a t FNH FNS-9 with night sights and it seem a whole lot easier to see the front sight. I couldn't really tell if the improvement came from the sights, the well lit room or maybe the dots were just bigger.
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I had never been impressed with night sights - I wasn't willing to give up the lack of clarity during the day. Somewhere along the line, either they changed (or maybe it was my eyes?), but a few years back I started installing 'em on a few of my guns - newer models seem to be much better during daylight than I remember all the old ones I checked out?

The Trijicons I have (all green) have a bigger/brighter front dot than the rears (advertising doesn't stress that well), and my eyes automatically latch onto the front sight. I thought 'bout going green front, amber rear, but after playing with a set, I don't see any way I could ever confuse the front site with the rears. I guess it's the bigger/brighter front sight, and I'd also know by the extreme angle I'd have to be holding the gun in order to mistakenly line up one of the rear dots in the center!

Trijicon Night Sights (type I have)
Trijicon HD Night Sights (no experience with 'em)
 
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I wear bifocals to read but shoot with contact lenses (no bifocals). Get a good fiber optic front sight you'll be amazed at how clear it is.
If you must have nite sights try TruGlo's fiber optic/ Tritium sights. They're bright all the time. I have a pair on my HD gun. It's a compromise but its still pretty good.
 
I'm old and I wear progressive bifocals, and I can see no difference between night sights or plain black sights.

I don't care for most white-dot sights or fiber optic because sun flair makes the front sight wash out in bright sun and groups will drift left or right depending on sun angle..

I think if you can't find a sweet spot with your progressive lens & black sights?
You need to talk to your optometrist about changing your prescription so there is a sweet spot at front sight distance.

They can do that.

For optimum front sight sharpness while target shooting, try this.
http://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html

rc
 
I have similar issues.

I really, really, really dislike big dots. I had them, didn't care for them. Can you make hits? Yes. But you'll spend quite some time attaining the same skill level you are already at...in other words you spend time (and money) learning to use them. Not only that, some targets at distance will end up completely covered. You can still get hits, but you won't be too precise on small targets.

Try using sights similar to what most IDPA competitors use. They're concerned with speed and accuracy, so if big dots were the next greatest thing...more folks would use them. I like the warren tactical sevigny sights...the all black rear halps me focus on the front. Faster than big dots, too.

Here are tritium and fiber optic examples:

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70eb7378.jpg
10-8 sights, and the front post painted red along with fiber optic insert: today009.jpg
 
I agree on Big-Dots being pretty useless for precision fire.

I suppose they might be the greatest thing since sliced bread for very close range SD.

But they suck big time for target shooting or hunting sights at any longer range.

rc
 
Rc I didn't find them to be faster or easier to find at close range. I tried both on a timer on two glock 19's. I tried them and really wanted to like them. I had gotten accustomed to the big dots after several hundred rounds and I was able to reach out past 25 yards. It just boiled down to anything big dots did, standard sights with a wide, black rear notch and a thin front post just did it better.

DSCF1528.jpg
 
I started wearing bifocals about 10 years ago. Only thing that's going to really help you now is one of the red dot sights.

Your focal point with a red dot is the target plane. The red dot is focused at infinity, so it's sharp no matter what the distance is to the target.

Makes you shoot like you're young again, but even something small, like a Burris Fastfire II, makes the gun feel clunky.
 
At night, yes. In the daytime, they will just appear to be another white dot. Possibly, the XS (?) type of sight, with a large front dot sitting in the "trough" of a wide-angled vee rear, might be helpful, but it requires the accompanying rear sight.
 
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