Night Sights?

What are y’all a opinions on Night sites? I have a carry gun with fiber optic sites, and then two other self defense guns with standard stick sites. I’ve heard different things:

Night sites are a must because you can get site alignment quickly in low light situations.

They are unnecessary because you should have light on your target before you shoot. Even without night sites you should have enough of an outline of your sites to make shot.

I’ve heard that they can give away your position in a situation where you want to remain unseen.

I don’t know about the setup of every tritium sight, but on my EDC (on P365 this sight is factory issue), it isn’t visible on the receiving end of the barrel, only the giver sees it.

I want them… I just don’t have the money right now :rofl::joy:. I don’t think they’re a requirement. I’ve also heard the line “without nightsites, you only have a 12 hour gun”. I don’t believe that.

I think they’re cool though. Does anyone know of cheaper night sites that are good quality?

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The story I read was about a cop searching a dark building and the perpetrator was in an elevated position out of sight. He claimed to have spotted the cop because of his sights. It doesn’t personally concern me. I’m not planning on clearing warehouses… I thought it was interesting.

I hear and read a lot of things. Just always interesting to see what y’all have to say about it.

I’ve decided I don’t need them. I firmly believe in lighting up the target first and always have tactical lights on me and available around the house. The last thing I want to do is shoot an ‘intruder’ only to find out it was one of my children instead. However, someone in another post did make a good point - the tritium sights help him to find his gun on the nightstand in the dark. I just have a tap light mounted to the side of my nightstand.

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Scoutbob- I feel you and can’t speak to your question about night sights, but I can tell you that having factory N/S on my EDC, I still wanted a light on the gun (the woods surrounding home block a lot of the moon’s light), w/o spending a fortune. As I searched, I found a slightly older model Streamlight light/dot rig for a very reasonable $88. While some may care that there are newer models to be had, I don’t- if it meets my needs and costs a little less, all the better. You may not be interested but just in case…

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I would like to get a mounted light for my home defense gun. I agree that would be a better upgrade. I do have a flashlight near my gun. Though I practice getting a good sore picture. I also know that in a bad situation, a good site picture is not always going to happen. The night sites for me would really be more beachside I think they’re nice… I do think getting a quick site picture is probably a benefit. That being said, sometimes I feel more accurate with standard sites than I do with my fiber optic. I think it may because I line the top of the sites up, not the dots.

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Iron sights are how I learned to shoot also, anything else is an adjustment w/ a learning curve

And then one day you wake up 70. (Not so bad, considering the alternative.) Both front and rear sights are blurry, which might be okay in the daytime. I read an article written by an aging shooter who said he got the Big Dot Tritium front sight for his snub nose. He said it was quite visible in the rear fixed sights. I own a Ruger SP101 snub nose and I’ve been dealing with this for some time now. I just bought the Big Dot Tritium replacement for it and I’ll see how it works out when it comes back from the shop.

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Hard for me personally to say if they’re a necessity or not…depends on what you currently have on there and if they work for YOU. I personally put them on every gun I purchase unless they come with a set from the factory I prefer (I.e. Sig X-Ray 3). I do have one gun, a P229 Enhanced Elite I put a fiber optic front sight in and that’s because it’s just a target gun for me, but I’m probably going to replace them soon anyhow. Fiber optics are just not for me, but it’s very subjective. The reason I choose night sights for my EDC gun is I feel they’re quality sights I can count on. Will the tritium make the difference in a low light situation? I have no idea, but I do know I get an excellent sight picture, they’re tough, and make training better for me which means I’ll get more benefit out of them in the end.

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Hope it works out to be what you need

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Hi @Jeff4,

I’m talking about a Ruger SP101, which comes with a pinned, fixed ramp sight. I’ve tried hot pink, red, and white nail polish. Each was better than the flat black factory color, but still not right. I expect this will be a big improvement.

Alex

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I have them on almost all my pistols. I really like them. While they don’t replace the need for a flashlight, they are very handy.
As far as other people seeing them, I would bet that’s only a concern with combat and NVG.

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I have seen only a couple of these types of sights and I recall the top portion being open enough to collect ambient light. The fiber optic “rod” then transmits this collected light back toward the rear gun sights. So I am having a difficult time understanding how anyone could “see” me in the dark, just because I have such a sight attached to my gun.

I just reread the packaging (XS Sights Revolver Tritium Night Sights, Big Dot Tritium - S&W J Frame & Ruger SP101 fixed rear), and took a close look at the sight itself. There does not appear to be an opening on the top or the sides, and certainly not on the front. The packaging sheet says “White dot reflects light for the best visibility in low light.” And, “Convex dot maximizes visible surface area.” This is a tiny all-black part with a black dot inside a larger white bulge, like a bug-eye.

My conclusion is that only the white ring reflects light so unless the bad guy is behind me, he will not see it. And then, as tiny as it is, he would have to be close enough to me that this advantage wouldn’t matter much.

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Night sights are cool to have but in reality are only effective in “low light” situations where you need to pick up the sights against a dark background. That said in “most houses” if you get up at 3 AM and DON’T turn on a light your eyes will be able to see fairly well with no lights on and the Tritium will help. Turn on a light and that is gone.

I disagree with the assessment that "flashlight’s (either gun mounted or hand held) are the fix in that now you are looking at the target and not your sights. That said, I point shoot out to about 10 yards and don’t look at the sights any way. I know where my hands are and know where the gun is pointed in my hands. Developing muscle memory and proprioception (awarnes of your body in space) is significantly more valuable than finding and perfecting a sight picture.

I like night sights but have never felt under gunned without them and IMHO are worth the $$$ to put on for those “tween” hours.

If someone got popped with night sights the bad guy was behind them. They are not like red dot sights that project light forward and aft, or lasers that given a dusty or smoky environment point back at you.

Cheers,

Craig6

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I think so too. I personally benefit a great deal from a sight that “draws” my eye to it.

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I like a fiber optic front sight better than the glowing ones. But, I can work with either. I don’t like to rely on a firearm mounted light because the firearm is pointed at whatever you look at with the light. I prefer to operate my light with my support hand. That does make accurate shooting more difficult. But, that difficulty can be largely overcome with training. It wasn’t very long ago when pistols were almost always shot one-handed.

Be aware that fiber optic sights might better serve you. If you have a WML installed, and activate it those night sights won’t illuminate with the light in the room. But under a WML fiber optics sight will light up like a Xmas tree…

So in the age of WMLs the only time you might benefit from Night Sight is if your WML fails.