What is the general attitude regarding night sights? I have very mixed feelings about them and have recieved many different opinions already. Trying to get a general feel. I have night sights on my G23, but don't really notice any benefit. I can see the sight,yes, but it doesn't make the target any easier to acquire. It also seems to light up my position for the BG to now where I am. My thought is, at night, you are so close you use instinct shooting only so sights are only a second thought. Any opinions out there, especially with the cost of most of the sights available
Night sights
- Thread starter mdlmanrn
- Start date
triangletactical
New member
Nobody but me will see my night sights, so they definitely do not give away my position.
I currently run a blacked out rear sight with a tritium front post. It's a setup that works well for me.
I currently run a blacked out rear sight with a tritium front post. It's a setup that works well for me.
Kalamity023
New member
Every carry gun I own has night sights on it. They provide a better sight picture in low light scenarios. A good tactical flashlight should illuminate your target before you shoot at the target. The night sights are to help you be more accurate when the light is dim and not in total darkness.
Tritium sights CAN be seen by someone slightly to side of dead behind you. you can easily be seen looking like a lighting bug, outside, at least. **** Heinie stole my idea of putting one glowing dot below the rear sight notch, and one in the front sight, so that it looks like a 2 bead shotgun set up. this lets you shoot 6" groups at 50 yds, if you can sort of see the target. 
It's very, very fast to use. having only the front sight lit up lets you be WAY off target, really easily. but with 2 of them glowing, it's very accurate, and it "draws" your eye, making it very fast to use.
It's very, very fast to use. having only the front sight lit up lets you be WAY off target, really easily. but with 2 of them glowing, it's very accurate, and it "draws" your eye, making it very fast to use.
sourdough44
New member
I have night sights on a few guns, don't think they are essential for average real world use. I am big on situational awareness & 'bent elbow' shooting, which is shooting without aimed fire. Self defense shooting isn't a targeting competition.
+1 for the Heinie 'straight 8' sights. It's the only sight I'll buy now. I'm not a fan of only having a dot on the front sight. As an AF civil engineer, I repaired the baffles on our firing range several years ago. The first group of shooters to use the range after we repaired the baffles was our security forces. Part of their qualification was a night shoot; we ended up with over 300 bullet strikes on the baffles during the night qualification. Seems the guys and gals were raising the muzzle to make the front sight more clear against the rear sight. With no reference against the rear sight, the muzzles went WAY to high. During my own shooting, I also found that with three dot sights, I couldn't distinguish the order between front and rear sights during rapid fire. I ended up with several shots WAY right. The Heinie solves both problems.
Wingnut01
Proud Veteran
Standard Glock factory sites are plastic. They are easy to knock off, especially the front site. Metal night sites in a metal slide will stay put.
Metal night sites also allow you to perform one-handed reloading drills.
If you take a low-light class you'll learn the advantage of night sites and the proper use of a flash light.
wolf_fire
New member
I have trained in low light and no light situations. If you have not done so, I strongly urge everyone to take a class. It's been said most shooting occur in low-light situations. The night sights are phenomenal and you can not be seen from the business end of your firearm. In no light situations you are taught to acquire the target with a flash light for only as long as necessary to sight the firearm and then shoot. Therefore, the flashlight is only on for a quick moment and after shooting you should take cover or concealment. Personally, I like the TFO from Tru-Glo. They are both tritium and fiber optic for better day time sights as well.
I have to echo Wingnut01 on the Glock. Plastic sites suck and can be easily knocked off especially if you are trying to rack the slide one handed (in case you've already been shot or stabbed) using the heel of your boot. Nite sites are made of metal to shroud the radioactive tritium.
I have to echo Wingnut01 on the Glock. Plastic sites suck and can be easily knocked off especially if you are trying to rack the slide one handed (in case you've already been shot or stabbed) using the heel of your boot. Nite sites are made of metal to shroud the radioactive tritium.
umm, how does the sight have anything to do with the reload with one hand? Does your Glock's slide not lock open at the last shot, or what? you turn the gun butt up and clamp it between your knees after ejecting the spent mag, muzzle pointing at the ground somewhat in front of you, stuff in the new mag, grip the gun and as you raise and twist it to fire, you drop the slide lock, readying the gun to fire. Nothing about the front sight is involved at all. Ive always just used the outside seam of pantleg to catch the front of the rear sight, to cycle the slide one handed. that's much faster than using your boot, and you aint sticking the muzzle in mud, snow or sand when you do it my way, either. Not that I favor Glocks or plastic sights, mind you. Just pointing out a superior way to do this.
Wingnut01
Proud Veteran
Yes my slide locks back on an empty mag. In a gunfight it would be just my luck the slide wouldn't lock back. Drop the mag, rack the slide with the rear sights off a belt, boot or any other object depending on what position/shape my body might be in. Could be I was hit in one arm and one knee. Just pointing out not to assume what condition you might be in or what limbs might be operationale.
maine04619
New member
What?
Night sights make you able to acquire your target much faster in low light. If you have a place you can shoot any time of day or night set up 5 targets at different distances there. Go out in the am at noon at dusk and then again at 9 or 10 pm ( this don't work in Alaska at some times of the year ) Walk to the line and shoot each target in the same order from the same position but walk to the shooting position form a different angle each time and keep your eyes tot he ground. Try this with one pistol with night sights and one without. The night sight firearm will preform better the majority of the time. The only people who I have seen who can not do htis are those who do not shoot correctly IE keep the FRONT sight in focus on target and the rear out of focus. For some sights like big dot's front only night site can help.
wolf_fire
New member
Yes, on the last shot the Glock slide stays open. However, you are one handed, you take cover/concealment, drop to your knees, release the mag. Place the gun upside down in between your knees in order to grab the next mag with your one good hand and place it in the mag well. At this point, you have several options to rack your slide. The quickest and dirtiest method, of the methods I've tried, is to put the rear site on the heal of your boot and rack it. The gun isn't pointed straight into the dirt... kneel down and see what direction your foot is in ... it is not straight up and down. This method will break a Glock's REAR site clean off since it is plastic, hence another good reason to get night sites. You can also lift one leg to put your foot on the ground, place the gun in the inside joint of your knee with the gun pointed forward, squeeze the gun in between your hamstring and calf, racking the gun in a forward motion. I've practiced this as well, and have had issues with it. However, the heel racking method has worked every single time. In a stressful situation where I've already been shot or stabbed, I'm using what works every time not most of the time. Using the seam of a pant leg doesn't always catch the rear site well since fabric can be loose. Again, a method I wouldn't recommend in a high stress situation.
As for "dropping the slide lock", most manufacturers highly recommend you don't make a practice of doing this for it wears out the metal of the lock and thus prevents the gun from locking backwards later. This is why we rack the slide. If you are practicing a way to handle a one-handed situation to change mags and rack the slide, I wouldn't ever recommend using the slide lock. In addition, you have been shot/stabbed, your adrenaline is going overboard, your fine motor skills are shot... do you really think you will have the ability to take your thumb and with a fine motor skill find the slide lock and drop it? I would doubt it. I practice gross motor skills in the handling of my firearm always so that when I am in a high stress situation, I have that muscle memory and will not depend on fine motor skills that will not work at the time.
their slides must be made of pot metal if so, cause i've done this many thousands of times, with a score of 1911's, and never had the slide lock area round out. it does so QUICKLY on the Colt .22 conversion unit slide, however, so I know that it can happen. I'd never practice wasting the time of doing all that slide manipulation when it's not necessary. the whole thing in IDPA, about always reloading from slidelock is bs. It's TEACHING yourself to do what is STUPID, which is shooting to slidelock in the firsst place. i understand that many guys DO endup in slidelock, out of lack of nerve-control (which is what panic IS, you know), but you should train yourself to NOT do it, instead of doing it on purpose. That defeats the entire point of this training.
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